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I'd like to have a go on one at least. There's a place near me that had one available for hire but they sold it.

Slightly related - dropped a 2kg lump hammer in the garage the other day. Bounced off the saddle on my Dawes, onto the drinks bottle on my Peugeot, then landed on my foot. Bloody hurt but I think that it was a good outcome.

Seek legal advice.

Presumably to fit the box under the handlebars, and also because a smaller wheel is inherently stronger for given materials/construction.

Although lowering the centre of gravity of a two-wheeled vehicle theoretically should make the handling less stable, not more - the physics behind it is basically like balancing a broomstick on your finger - it's a lot easier with a 10ft broomstick than a 10 inch one. If the centre of mass is higher, you have to move the point of rotation (i.e. your finger on the broomstick/where the wheel touches the pavement) a lot less to get it underneath the centre of mass. If you've ever ridden a penny farthing you'll know how hard it is to fall off one.

All excellent ideas. What about a bicycle-themed alternative to Kanye West slatted sunglasses?

If it hasn't happened since 1st April 2008 and today, then I don't think it's that bad a problem

an edit due to angry responses:

• a joke about thread resurrection is not the same as a joke about traffic collisions
  
• said joke does not mean I do not think traffic collisions are in any way funny or trivial
  

PMed, or rather, emailed.

Yes the chainring is swaged on i.e. pressed on shit-tight.

UTFS for all the answers, but yes, 700c wheels will fit the frame but if your frame was designed for 27" wheels, your brake pads will have to drop by 4mm to reach the rims.

Shimano UN54 bottom bracket is a good cheap choice so long as your frame threads are ISO/British (that is 24tpi). If your bike came with cottered cranks (some Raleigh town bikes still had them in 78... and even in 88) then the threads are probably Raleigh (26tpi), in which case either keeping cottered cranks or finding a suitable cotterless axle is the best solution. You need to work out what axle length you need before buying a BB or axle.

If your bike already has a BB installed then there's not much point in buying a new one - modern sealed ones aren't necessarily better than the old ones (although they are less maintenance). You can remove the fixed cup by using a bloody massive spanner, or by putting the fixed cup in a vice and turning the frame. Soak it in oil first though, otherwise you could damage something.

I think it'd be fine for bottle opening. Those little keychain bottle openers that estate agents etc always give you are aluminium.

Because there's a difference between negligence and assault.

Besides:
http://www.bikeradar.com/news/article/texting-driver-jailed-for-cyclists-death-14742/
http://blog.pannone.com/personal-injury-listing/personal-injury-blog/driver-jailed-for-death-of-racing-cyclist-major-gareth-rhys-evans
http://www.heraldscotland.com/sport/spl/aberdeen/driver-jailed-for-death-of-cyclist-1.521100
http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/article-16549133-bus-driver-jailed-for-killing-cyclist.do
http://www.irwinmitchell.com/news/Pages/Driver-Jailed-Over-Cyclist-Death.aspx
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/bradford/8332527.stm
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-11484475

They do get jailed.

Convention is to take photos of the bike from the driveside, so you can see the drivetrain. Looks good otherwise.

^ rarely gets that cold in Bournemouth anyway. I've heard mixed things about the modularity of the hub; I hope mine works out well.

^ Yeah I have access to a lathe. Already got a set of low-flange Record hubs though. I'd rather have a cool bottle opener tbh.

I think any 'flywheel' effect is more from the forward motion of the cycle rather than the weight of the wheel - i.e. forward motion drives the rear wheel which drives the chain which drives the pedals. I don't think the weight of the wheel would make any noticeable difference (since it weighs sub 2kg).

Not a dig at you Graeme, just thinking aloud!

I've also got a kickshift wheel coming for my bike - its arriving monday and I'm like a kid on christmas eve

On the plus side, steel chainrings are pretty easy to hammer flat again.

Ok, so my near miss yesterday....
Got to my dance class and lifted my bike slightly to get it into position to lock up to drainpipe and my back wheel falls out!!!
Had a look and the spindle wasn't there - WTF?!?!

Slightly related: visited my parents a couple of weeks ago and they said they'd bought new bikes (decent Giant hybrids with front suspension... well, they're old). Went into the garage to have a look and both the front QRs were loose enough to undo with a finger. And apparently they'd been riding them.

^ yeah I did a little research on the bastard and it seems he's done it before. Unfortunately I did the research after I realised he wasn't gonna pay.

He should get banned IMO.

^ thanks

Sounds wonderful. In York there's a nice company that does that sort of thing:
http://www.getcycling.org.uk/index.php

They'll happily lend tools and workshop space if they've got it. I've since moved to Oxford where I'm sure a similar thing would also exist.

That's a bit shit.

Anyway, another one:

Kushandorangejuice

Classic timewaster. Agreed to buy wheels off me, sent about a million questions (all of which could be answered by reading the advert). Said he couldn't pay until the next day as banks were shut (even though he said he would pay by Paypal... ?) which I reluctantly agreed to. Wheels are cleaned, tied, bubblewrapped, taped, boxed, and taped again. No payment or contact next day - PMs sent - no reply. Next day, no replies either.

Seems harsh to put a new-ish member in here, but this isn't how things should work on this forum. I've got a queue of people wanting those wheels and he's wasted everybody's time. I'll remove this post if I get an explanation and apology.

He needs to put his saddle up a bit.

I think it'd be better as a self-contained aftermarket thing, rather than having to buy a whole new wheel (which is how I understand it).

It'd be better, perhaps, to attach a magnet to the frame and have some LEDs with in-built copper induction coils bolted to the spokes. The coils wouldn't have to be big heavy ones - since LEDs use so little power they'd be tiny weeny.

Yesterday, in a tiny village just north of York: Cycling along a road with a little dirt track coming up on the left. Driver on opposite side of road looks me in the eye and then turns across my path - a bit annoying (drivers are normally more courteous in the countryside) but I just had to do a little leg-braking.

The driver stops just as they've turned into the junction, and puts it in reverse, at which point I'm right behind their car - I see it move backwards at speed in the corner of my eye so I do a little sprint to get out of the way. I'm pretty pissed off at this point.

Now I'm coming up to a fork in the road - the road carries on towards the right so I stay in lane. A shouldercheck confirms the idiot is right behind me, indicating left, and there's another car a little way down the road. I indicate just to make sure she knows that I'm staying on the road to the right. I hear the engine roar and the driver shoots past me, turns left across my path - I stop in time but do the one-foot-on-floor hop for a few seconds before falling over into the grass.

The car behind turns out to be a police car - the guy in the passenger seat winds down the window and asks if I'm okay. He says they both saw the whole thing, gave me his phone number and then the car put its sirens on and followed the lady's car at speed. I phoned when I got home and I'm expecting some paperwork tomorrow. Go North Yorkshire Police!

runs off to check PX website for deals... any publicity is good publicity

^ what happened?