I think Charlie the BikeMonger does a threadless BB – the two sides basically tighten against each other rather than relying on the threads. Worth an email.

My company does their scheme through Halfords as well – the good news is that you're not restricted to the bikes Halfords normally sell. They can get pretty much anything through on special order, but you need to ring their central office to put the order in. The bike is then delivered to your local store. I've had two bikes through the scheme in this way, both of which were pretty "niche" for Halfords – a Dahon Jetstream folder a few years back and my Cotic Roadrat the year before last. It takes a few phone calls to sort out, but worth it.

If you shop around you can get M525 hydraulics for a similar price.

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=7884

If you do go down the cable route, would recommend Avid BBs, for a few quid more.

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=31350

+1 for cartridge pads. Make a massive difference if set up properly. I wouldn't bother with cheap cable disks – you'll have similar problems and be continually faffing with them.

Obviously disks are a good thing, but people tend to forget that we managed for years without them. Well set up Vs can be great.

I live in Kent too, and would say that 32:16 should be fine for most off road conditions round here. Have cleared muddy climbs on the North Downs in that ratio, and generally only have to push on stuff that I'd be walking on a geared bike anyway. As others have said, maybe go slightly higher if you do a lot of road riding and don't want to spin out too much (or build another singlespeed for that!).

Skinny cross tyres rule in the mud :D

The downhill you're thinking of is probably the one down from Bitchet Common/ Wilmot Hill. A few nice sections of singletrack around Oldbury Woods / Seal Chart…. some of it semi-cheeky. Bridleway dropping N from Raspit Hill towards the A25 is good fun.

How muddy is it around Bedgebury at the moment? Haven't ridden there for over a year but was thinking of heading there this weekend- last time I remember it was suffering a bit – I think there was a post on here about some trail building days there? Anyone know anything about that?

I live near Mereworth – some fun trails round here, but most are gungy beyond belief at the moment. If I don't head for Bedgebury, may head over Ightam Mote way for some more sandy trails.

What ratio are you running currently, and how hilly is it where you live?

I run a 42:18 on my roadrat, which is built up as a crosser, and I find it's a pretty good ratio for mixed road / off road riding in medium / rolling terrain. Have only had to push it on a couple of really muddy climbs so far and have been running it like that for a year or so.

I'd agree with the others that neither change is difficult – probably a 10 minute job either end with the right tools. Would also agree that you want to avoid shortening the chain if you can get away with it.

Doh!.. . Am clearly an idiot. Was reading the document wrong (was reading the specs top to bottom). It's actually an 110mm or 113mm spindle I need, which explains why the setup was working OK on the old frame.

Thanks for the help folks…

I'll get my coat…

thebikechain – checked myself on Madison earlier, amongst other places. Am starting to think its a misprint in the spec.

trebord – yes, it's a triple, and was running it as such on my old bike when not in singlespeed mode. When running singlespeed, I was running at 32T Salsa ring in the middle chainring position (outer ring gave me a dodgy chainline). New frame is only ever going to be run SS, so I reckon I could easily get away with a shorter spindle, although as I said, the 1×1 does have really wide chainstays, so will need some clearance.

Mister P – yes, that's where I got the info from…

Cheers – Nearly there with the build. Need new BB though so haven't been able to fit cranks. Just brake and chainline fettling and the jobs a good un.

Any more out there?

I feel a bit inferior, not having any bad-ass military anecdotes.

Not original but becoming a dad last year definitely tops everything.

Apart from that, have surfed the Severn Bore on a number of occasions. Most memorable one involved a 15 minute ride before shooting under Over Bridge (with loads of spectators) before finally kicking out just before the bore finally hits the weir at Maisemore.

Have you tried posting this on the T4 forum? Have always found the guys there really helpful in the past. May be able to point you in the direction of a reconditioned unit.

http://www.vwt4forum.co.uk/

That was the review that set me off. To be honest I was curious more than anything. Having just acquired a Surly 1×1 on top of a singlespeed Roadrat, I don't think I could justify another gearless bike anyway!

I asked the same question a week or so back, and I think its fair to say that the consensus was that they're a complete tub of toss.

If you're in the market for a cheap singlespeed hack, search for the thread as someone posted a link to what looked like quite a good deal on an SE Draft at Winstanleys Bikes (who bizarrely have the Create Fixie on offer for over twice the price of on ebay!)

Billy Childish. Stretching the term celebrity a bit but have seen him tootling around on a couple of occasions on some vintage steed. Wearing tweed…probably, although I may have imagined that. Also did an album named after his Mum's old cycling club.

http://www.mojo4music.com/blog/2008/07/wild_billy_childish_the_buff_m_1.html%5B/url%5D

Retrodirect. Thanks

Flash. Anyone would think you had something against fixies.

Thanks – took a look at those. A couple of other reviews I've read suggest that some of the quality issues have been sorted out in more recent models though. Bike Radar gave a pretty positive review on the later models but I guess you get what you pay for at the end of the day.

Why do you need a trail centre. Buy an OS map. Seek and yea shall find…

Bedgebury is OK, but I can think of tons of far better natural trails in the area… and despite being pretty densely populated, very few of the South East's denizens actually venture off road on bikes, so once you get away from the honeypots around Surrey, you can quite often find yourself riding all day and not meeting another soul. When I ride in the Lakes and Wales, I often find it too busy! I live in Kent – am about 3 miles from the M20 so don't live in a particularly remote area, but can do a 30-40K ride from the house – probably 80% offroad (lots of woody singletrack), and maybe see a couple of walkers or horse riders all day.

downshep – it's actually the east cost of South Harris. Just off the Golden Road between Finsbay and Rodel.

Blimey…

No 1 looks like Wales… Brecons or Black Mountains perhaps?

Is no 2 Skye?

3 somewhere in the Lakes?

Not a clue on the others

I'd second RRR's comments. £500 would get you either decent separates or a really nice mini system from Richer Sounds. The Onkyo stuff is particularly good value at the moment (I'm considering one myself), or they also had a Denon system in there for that price point a while back.

Perhaps not exactly what you're looking for, but also worth taking a look at the Brennan hard disk system if you're looking to reduce clutter.

Jase_MK – how do you get on with the Zocchis on your 456? Presumably they're the 100mm MX Comps?

Was considering a 456 myself but wasn't sure about the shorter fork, although the original blurb said that they were designed to give slacker angles around a shortish fork.

Any photos of a green slot-dropout built up?

Spot on! Extra points for where in Harris.

Ok, any guesses on these?

Presumably S or SE of Cheddar so Westbury Beacon perhaps? Isn't that still the Mendips?

If I'm not mistaken the photo above is the Forest of Dean Sculpture trail, isn't it, Nunuboogie?

Malverns?

I thought that for the first pic, but no reservoirs or lakes that I can remember that way.

An inbred slot dropout frame hopefully!

Is the second picture Mud Dock in Bristol?

First one somewhere up in the Mendips perhaps?

Subscription to Dignitas?

Embarrassing incident a few years back… flew into Denver for a work trip, arriving early hours of the morning jetlagged and absolutely knackered. Signed in at car hire desk and was ferried out in a little van and dropped off in the middle of a vast, poorly lit parking lot roughly the size of Norfolk. Wind was howling and it was snowing, and all I wanted to do was get to the hotel. Found the car and only realised it was an auto when I got in and started it up (van had driven off by now). Had never driven one before, and couldn't get the damn thing into drive. There was no-one around to ask, I had no idea which way the office was, mobile was dead, and by this time it was snowing a blizzard. Ended up curling up the car and trying to get some sleep for a few hours until I heard an airport maintenance truck drive by. Ran after it and asked the driver (a Native American lady) to help me. She pointed out that I needed to push the brake pedal to get it into drive and gave me a withering look. Doh!

Not been out on the bike nearly as much as other years due to lack of time and no big all day epic rides, but the arrival of our little one has more than made up for it in other ways. Just can't wait until he's old enough to take out in a bike seat!

Sorry….another weird thing I've noticed lately is that there still seem to be loads of bats around. Isn't it a bit late in the year for them to be flitting around?

i put gears back on my bike for a trip to the Lakes a few weeks back after riding pretty much exclusively singlespeed for about a year. They will be coming back off again very soon. My rear cassette is basically a crud magnet, and although I know it sounds daft, I really do notice the extra weight. The bike just doesn't feel as lively as it does in singlespeed mode.

They're coppicing our local woods at the moment. Freaked me out the first time I saw strange lights in the woods, and then found that they were charcoal fires burning. Still find them quite eerie though.

Weirdest experience was a few weeks back. Came caning around a blind corner and had to slam on the anchors as a tramp (complete with manky dog on string) had set up camp in the middle of the trail. He had a little fire and a brew on and everything. He looked like he'd been on the mushrooms so think I scared him more than he scared me. Wished him a cheery good evening and sped on my way.

I use both flats and SPDs (flats in winter on local, deeply rutted routes when it's particularly muddy / sticky and danger of comedy slo-mo headflips).

I do find unweighting the bike over ruts and roots etc a bit more tricky in flats due to the "shimmy factor" , but generally get used to it after a couple of rides.

I would definitely agree that shin-pads are a good idea – the pins on my V8s have claimed a fair amount of skin tax over the years!

I like it too.

Is it just me or does it look like it's made of Lego?