For clearing out a bit of paint it’s pretty easy, put the tap into a battery drill, give it a squirt of WD40 and run the tap in and out a few times. The threads should be free running after that.

I wouldn’t recommend using a drill, especially if you’ve never attempted this job before. Use a hand tap-wrench, it’ll give you far more control. It’s too easy to get a tap out of line and if you’re doing it with a drill you’ll chew the thread up before you know where you are.

Leave the battery drills to the professional bodgers!!

Not sure why everyone has to pick one or the other 26″ 140-150mm trail bike + 29″ 100mm hardtail is what both me and the missus have here.

Not sure why? I’ll give you a clue…

It’s because were not all made of money… 8O

That’s so true, 26 er riders are forever moaning about why 29″ wheels are from the devil and should be banned.

Bollocks. What I do object to is being told what is correct when no-one yet has come up with a cogent argument for adopting 29″ wheels.

The only place the argument is coming from is the marketing department. They have to justify their existence and unfortunately the vast majority are too thick/gullible to stand up and say “where’s the science???”.

I’m perfectly willing to accept new technology or ideas as long as someone can give me a good reason to do so.

I still don’t understand why 26″ wheels are no good all of a sudden…

Like listening to five stray cats fighting in a dustbin.

****’ awful…

Holy Thread Resurrection Batman!

More photos HERE[/url]

I’m pretty sure you have to use an X-Type BB with RaceFace Cranks

No, they’re all cross-compatible, I’ve checked that. It’s the Truvativ crankset that needs an adaptor to run with Hope.

Yes, you are being unreasonable. If it had been me, I would have offered to fit it for you and charged you for the pleasure. Or I might have told you to go forth and multiply.

Never EVER ask a mechanic/engineer of any sort to borrow tools unless you know them very, very well. Know as in the biblical sense.

Think you may need to lower your sights a bit. You’ll struggle to get a decent Golf/A3 for under £250 a month if you’re leasing.

If you are repping, is your employer not prepared to make a contribution?

Gianluigi Buffon. Don’t ask why.

Give Sunset in Cardiff a call

This. Can’t recommend Sunset enough – I’ve had all my Oranges from them (four now!!). Really helpful and friendly, plus they do 0% finance. Everyone wins!

A public bridleway is a public right of way. Unless it is subject to a Traffic Restriction Order (which it could be) then no-one can stop you from using it at any time of day or night.

The National Cycle Route marked on the OS maps is NOT marked as a public right of way of any sort.

The only way to check properly though is to enquire with the local authority who will have defintive maps and records of any TROs or by-laws.

Standing up to pedal, using handlebars as leverage – honking in the UK, w**king in the USA. 8O

Two great nations separated by a common language…

Your front is 20mm btw, not 25mm.

If the OPs using a Specialized or Hanebrink front end then it will be 25mm

Anyone recommend any good online dealers, that Canon honor warranties with?

Warehouse Express

A proper refurb won’t just be a dip-strip-coat job.

It should also include proper repairs to any rim damage (stop sniggering at the back) and checking for round/true.

£300 for a full set of four is £75 per wheel which sounds pretty good to me but just make sure about what you’re getting for your money. Ask the provider if he can show you examples of his work.

As far as decent aftermarket wheels go, depending upon the size of wheel you go for your probably looking at the thick end of £1200 for a full set plus tyres, if not a lot more. Team Dynamics, O-Z, Kahns, Borbets and the like do not come cheap.

Are you qualified to do this? With the gas meter particularly I’m fairly sure that it may be illegal to move it if you are not qualified/licensed.

Personally I’d speak to your service provider first.

A quick google of military acronyms usually throws up Brought Into Service, although it can also mean Backup Iron Sight, i.e. a non-optical aiming device fitted to a firearm or artillery piece..

304 st/steel every time. Best alrounder going. Don’t need any special tools, in fact I find HSS drills go through it better than Ti-Nitride or cobalts. No special tools for turning either.

316 is VERY expensive compared to 304 and it’s a lot tougher (as opposed to harder, different property), so harder on tools. Oddly 314 is harder than both yet it’s a lower grade than 316.

Straight pull spokes offer very little in the way of strength increase over conventional..

All decent quality spokes like DT and Sapim are formed by forging – that is the ends are heated and beaten into shape. It’s not just a case of the end being up-set then bent over.

Because the spoke is heated it allows the crystalline structure of the steel to re-grow in its strongest form around the j-bend as it cools.

Straight-pull spokes will be marginally lighter because they are slightly shorter for a given wheel/hub combo, but that’s all.

It’s full of tree-hugging sandal-wearing guardian-reading lentil-eating soap-dodgers. So I guess if you you think that’s cool, then yeah it’s cool.

Todmorden’s way cooler.

Use a set of hose pliers or footprints to grip the end caps but make sure you pad them well to avoid distortion/damage.It’s surprising how tight a fit an O-ring can make.

Oddly enough, you can download service instructions with exploded-view drawings from WTB HERE… :roll:

I know you said the the Marin frame doesn’t fit, but why? Too small/big/short/long?

Is it anything that a change of stem/bars/seatpost would cure?

Just thinking it might be the cheapest/faff-reduced option to get you rolling again and when SWMBO sees how much fun you’re having then she can’t really object to an upgrade. Well, she can and she will, but with less justification…

Surely different sized wheels, or circumferences, require different gear ratio’s, depending upon your preferred riding cadence?

The OP’s not changing wheel size, just gear setup. I expect.

The bigger the sprocket the lower the gear.

In any setup you’re bound to get duplicates – in a 2 x 10 setup (20 speed) you’ve probably got 18 usable gears (i.e. no small to small or large to large) and of those 18 usually 3 or 4 are duplicated or as close as makes no difference.

If you’re running an 11/32 cassette, changing it for 11/34 or 11/36 without changing the chainrings will give you lower gears at the bottom end and a broader spread, so fewer ratios are likely to be duplicated. Your higher gears will remain largely unaffected.

Um, because it’s winter?

^^This.

It’s not spring until 7:02am on the 20th March. Which is tomorrow. No complaints until then please.

1) Create collage in Photoshop
2) Send to http://www.theprintspace.co.uk
3) Pay money
4) Sit back and wait for goods to drop through the letterbox.

Photobox are good but god it’s expensive… 8O

Anything RWD without chains/socks.

Best was my old V70 auto, even with the nearly bald Potenzas…

Definitely going to need a tripod unless you’ve got a camera that has a stupidly high ISO setting like a D4!

That said if you have a lens with decent image stabilisation it’s possiblt to hand-hold down to about 1/10 second, but unless your subject is travelling fairly fast then you won’t really get much in the way of a ligh trail.

If you don’t have a remote release, use the camera’s self timer (assuming that you can figure out when the subject is going to be in frame) and don’t forget to cover the eyepiece to prevent light entering through the viewfinder.

do I need to get a roadie specific one?

Yes. You have to have all the correct kit for each bike. No crossovers. It’s the law.

^Catalogue pose^

I used WD40 a rag and a jet wash to clean 7 years of muck of my Father in laws rims

Falls off office chair laughing!!

My first act as Fuhrer will be to have anyone who mentions the C-word between 2 January and 23 December summarily executed.

but as i’m a) watching the pennies, and b) single, this is sadly very unlikely!!!

Sod that, get to Faliraki or Ibiza!!

definitely not mallards or goosander as I’m familiar with both.

Not in the biblical sense I hope…? 8O

I regularly use WD40 as chain lube on my road bike, and I spray it liberally on fork stanchions. I’ve been doing this for years and none of my bikes have ever exploded.

To be honest I didn’t include the washer stack when I bolted it to the forks. I’ve obviously misunderstood one of the earlier posts.

There’s your answer :D!

The wheel wouldn’t go back in as the rotor butted up against the caliper.

Do you mean that the rotor goes too far into the caliper? i.e. the caliper would appear to be closer to the axle than previously?

In that case a) are you sure that the discs are 160mm? b) have you got the mounting hardware (i.e. washers) on in the correct order? c) can you space the caliper off slightly with an extra washer/s?

wobbly ring

Snurk…