Pro-Trek Titanium – mine looks like I’ve driven over it a few times, but it still works, and somehow the glass is still unscratched…

Leatherman Charge Tti is what I use all day, every day in the shop – but because it has locking blades it’s not one you can carry about – so for that a SOG is the best I’ve found…

CoughRohloffcough ;-)

He is a bit shouty. I go for opening the back passenger door…

Without knowing who the OP is, who the company is, or any details of the technical problem, it’s hard to say anything.

However, attempting to make potentially damaging allegations in public about a company is a good way to get yourself sued, so if you do you better have good evidence from independent experts and be ready for a fight.

Most manufacturers are reputable – if someone finds a problem they want to fix it – to protect themselves from lawsuits if nothing more. So they may already be acting on the problem if it really exists.

Best thing to do, if you really are convinced there is a problem, is to privately ask some others in the industry if they agree with you…

I’m quite lucky in that the bikes I sell (recumbents and other oddities) are rare enough that the’re not sold cheap online and they only usually come in one size, so stocking a demo bike is easier – and they don’t launch new models every year, so a demo bike lasts until it gets scrappy, when I can sell it for at least cost price.

It’s still a lot of money to have sitting around doing nothing, though, and deciding which bikes I’ll sell enough of to afford a demo bike is a big decision.

You do get a feel for who is a serious buyer and who is just messing about – and, oddly, it’s usually the people who want long weekend / multi-day test rides who are least likely to buy I’ve found. Though, saying that, my current record is 12 years to sell a bike ;-)

I’ve also lost a couple of bikes to thieves – it’s just a risk you have to factor in.

Some people just aren’t mechanically minded. I’m not musical – parents and teachers tried to teach me a variety of instruments, from piano to guitar to oboe, and none of it stuck – I’m just not musical. In the same way, some people just aren’t mechanical.

There’s also a matter of time – there’s no way a home mechanic, even one with a stble of bikes, will spend as much time repairing bikes as someone who’s been doing it all day, every day for years. All that experience adds up.

I’m not saying all LBSs are perfect – the majority of the more complex Rohloff repairs I do, for example, are fixing the bodged repairs of other bike shops.

If it’s a tiny grubscrew that the allen key is just a bit loose in, get an allen key of the right size (one you can spare) and hit it with a hammer to flatten it slightly to get a better fit.

The bottom bracket is a good example, really. Most cyclists wouldn’t touch one. More serious riders, like most people on here, probably own the BB tool for the kind of BB they own, and can handle taking out a cartridge BB and replacing it with another.

But what if the new BB needs a new tool? What if the threads need cutting, or the shell needs facing? What if the BB is stuck, and you’ve stripped your tool and all the teeth on the BB trying to get it out?

Middle cog at the front, then set the limit screws at the back, then adjust the indexing. Put it in the middle of the cassette, and do the same for the front mech.

I mean this in the nicest possible way, but you lot aren’t exactly ideal LBS customers ;-)

It’s like computers – like quite a few people, I know a good deal about computers – I’ve got no problem ordering a new computer online to my spec, then sorting out installing the OS and drivers myself. But PC World, Dixons and John Lewis are still doing a roaring trade in laptops.

Most people aren’t all that knowledgeable about more than one or two things, and are happy to pay some money to leave the technical stuff to others. That’s where the good LBS comes in.

I don’t seem to be able to PM you – Hope used to make a remote master cylinder that fitted to the top tube. They discontinued it, but they seem to be working on a new version:

http://www.bikerumor.com/2011/09/07/hope-techs-integrated-cassette-almost-real-plus-new-wheels-lights-pedals-cross-disc-brake-converter/

Well, the “why” gets a bit metaphysical, or even religious if you’re that way inclined. Really, it’s because the universe is built that way. Then it’s personal preference whether you believe in the weak or strong anthropic principle. The weak anthropic principle says, simply, that the universe is the way it is because if it were otherwise then we wouldn’t be around to see it. The strong says that the universe was made for us to observe it.

The Maguras are a closed system, so won’t work with open system calipers. I’ve done it with a remote master cylinder from Hope – a bit cumbersome but works well, and the advantage is it works with STIs.

Le Verrier looking through a telescope 160yrs ago sees Uranus “wobble” and so predicts the existence and position of a completely different planet, Neptune. Aren’t humans incredible.

Yup, though it’s also possible to get the right answer for totally wrong reasons. Jonathan Swift got the number, size and orbits of the moons of Mars pretty much spot on, but through faulty logic. Venus had no moon (Mercury hadn’t been discovered yet), the Earth had one and Jupiter had 4, so logically Mars must have two, and since he couldn’t see them they must be small and close to the planet.

Years ago, when I first fitted a Rohloff to my demo bike, it definitely felt draggy in some gears. So I tried putting earplugs in and not looking at the shifter, and I could no longer tell which gears had felt draggy before. So for me at least, it seemed to be psychological – the gears which sounded noisier felt less efficient.

Especially on a MTB, it’s all a load of pish – get the saddle height right, and the rest of it is personal preference. One vague guideline I use is that, sitting on the bike and looking down, the bars should be about an inch in front of the front hub.

Also fine for aluminium – also for carbon, just don’t go trying to cold-set carbon ;-)

Steel will put up with a huge amount – I space 110mm frames out to 130mm, stuff like that, and never have a problem. If it’s a big change you need to realign the dropouts – so depending on the disc mount you might need to reface it or just use one more thin washer on one bolt, but probably not.

Well, they’re in an 1899 bike repair book I’ve got – it’d be pretty hard to say for certain, but I’d guess they came with the Ordinary, so 1870s or so…

Nope, it’ll be fine…

Fine-bladed hacksaw or Dremel. Watch out for the dust, if you’re paranoid that way.

My preference when building is side of the top tube – on top or underneath means the cable has to curve around the head tube and seat tube. With a Rohloff build especially, the left side is very neat.

Aye, I use the Meks quite a bit, there’s also Spinner ones which are cheaper alloy ones specced as standard on HP recumbents, but still good. Ballistic used to make some, but haven’t seen them for a while.