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If you get onto the drops, the front of it will be perilously close to your chain...

Alu frame/steel screwdriver strikes me as having definite unamusing possibilities. Worth either reusing the cups or finding someone with the right tool.

cranks gone

Thank fuck for that. I don't need them, but they're nice enough and were cheap enough that I was having difficulty resisting their "good to have for the future" qualities.

I think for "good" you can read "reassuring and thus good for beginners". I can just about do it on my bikes, but I've ridden bikes in the past quite happily where it wasn't possible. You quickly get used to sliding forward off the saddle when you stop.

Aye, I'll be along. Ta!

While they're looking for the XDA pouch, could you ask them to have a sprot about for a pink LCEF cap? I think I left it there on Saturday. Pint on offer for its safe return :)

Realistically though, where does Hatton go from here? Retirement does seem to be the most obvious option...

He should definitely retire - he just doesn't have the style for a prolonged career without an inevitable sad descent into punchdrunkness. He's got the patter to be a decent commentator/summariser but it's noticeable that most of the ex-boxers who do that were better at not getting hit than Hatton.

Opinel!

Fantastic blades for the money, but too fiddly to open for me (no fingernails) and I've been spoiled by Benchmade - one-hand opening is too convenient to do without.

The nearest to perfect waterproof/breathable balance (at the cost of a lot of bulk and dosh) is Cotton Ventile - magic stuff. If I were rich, I'd have one of these for winter like a shot: http://www.hillgear.com/acatalog/Cycling_Double_Ventile_Jacket.html

Talking of Montane, they do a very, very thin pullover windshirt which packs down to the size of a small apple (water-repellent rather than waterproof). Highly recommended as you can stick it in a jersey pocket and forget about it until the weather goes bad, at which point it's just enough to stave off hypothermia.

Strictly speaking the second time. At the junction of TCR and Oxford Street ~1.30pm. That's why they call me Cool Steff Smooth...

Also, they're made (beautifully) in the UK and that spaceframe has about a million tiny, perfect brazes on it. Well worth having a close look at should you spot one, just for the quality of the workmanship.

Campag ergo-lever rebuilding service noted for future reference :-)

I think this is what you want for a fixed folder http://www.foldingbikes.co.uk/xootr_swift.htm assuming you can get hold of just the frame. As used to win the Smithfield Nocturne folding race IIRC. You could also do the magic gear trick on a Dahon - mine (a Helios SL) is several years old now and holding up OK, but you might be better off trying to find one of the steel-framed models.

One of them appears to be SuperTed, or maybe I've just been reading Fixed mag 3 too much. Both of them lack lateral movement to a degree previously only seen in Streetfighter II.

Oh, I had no worry about them taking the abuse. It's just that if I'm going to split wood with something, I'd prefer not to feel as if I'm tearing off a corner of an old master to use for kindling ;-)

Point taken about the knurled finish. Thing is, what with it not looking so nice, I'd have no worries about wrapping it in cloth tape or something similarly expedient and minging-looking.

Those Fosters look utterly lovely - as you say, real craftsmanship there. If anything, they're a little too beautiful for me - if I were spending proper money on a fixed blade (khukuris and the like excepted) I'd probably go to Chris Reeve, whose stuff is pretty plain and industrial looking. That way I wouldn't worry about hurting it.

I know pretty much dick about SEO, but just a quick word of thanks. I used edd to do my first ever set of spoke calculations in anger the other day and got them more or less spot on. Ta ever so! Please apply to me for a pint if you're ever at Easts or WHY.

Aimed at walkers, but fantastic stuff all round: http://www.paramo.co.uk

I have a Pajaro coat, some waterproof trousers and a couple of Mountain Pull-Ons. I generally go walking in the Rhinogs late November/early December which is as good a test as you'll find in this country - they're ace.

Finish Line red does the trick for me. I used to use the green, which is amazingly long-lasting, but it attracts too much shit and makes it a pig to get the chain even slightly clean. The red is easy on, easy off, so requires slightly more frequent application, but is otherwise smashing stuff.

15 posts and no one has brought up the best handgun about

http://www.mek-schuetzen.de/Blueprints/desert_eagle_pic.jpg

http://img512.imageshack.us/img512/2448/deserteagle357mag3qh9.jpg

Best in the sense of being chambered for rimmed rounds that don't actually work very well in a semiauto pistol? Or best in the sense of being absurdly large?

Not however as much fun as this, which Her Majesty used to pay me to play with at weekends a decade or so ago:

Not a huge amount of fun to carry, mind.

There can be only one. Had one as a kid - ace fun.

Oh, I'm not really blaming the driver - if the incident is as described* the fault is all with the cyclist.

However, when stopping by the side of the road it's both more considerate and safer to stop **right by the side of the road, irrespective of the type of vehicle. It avoids blocking more of the road than necessary and makes it unambiguous which side is safe(r) to pass. If one's job is driving a very large vehicle that stops by the side of the road a very great deal I'd have thought this would be fairly obvious. Agreed that London bus drivers are a world better than the rest of the country's though (Cambridge being a possible exception).

*and that may not be a safe assumption
** really, really unambiguous - there are a lot of arseclowns out there like the cyclist in this incident. Some of them are on scooters, and I've seen them try this too.

Fair enough, but that's what mirrors are for, and i know that a huge % of drivers can be ridiculously careless, but surely some must have some sense when turning off a busy road...

"Some" being the operative word. If you count on any given vehicle you're near being driven competently, you're in effect making a bet with your safety that you will eventually lose if you ride somewhere with as much traffic as London. Very glad to hear you're not hurt.