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Newbie question.

Picture (if you will) 2 fellas.

Number 1 from Yorkshire, early 40's, fit + experienced cyclist w/multigeared super light whizz bang bike.

I'm number 2, nearly 50, enjoying riding FG/SS bikes, sometimes to work on a 40 mile round trip commute but nowhere near as fit as fella number 1.

Northener chum is coming down this weekend for a ride around, I've got a fun 62 mile loop from Dartford to Wandsworth Bridge north over the Thames then back Sarf of the Thames to D'ford I'd like to take him on. I've done it before on my own and it's right at the limit of my abilities energy/fitnesswise, IE-I'm proper-pooped when I get back. This Saturday there's a reasonable headwind thats gonna nobble us a bit on the way back making it even harder. Is there anything Nutrition/foodwise I could do before or during the ride to help me be less-pooped on the way back? Its exposed alongside the Thames and previous experience has taught me wind from the east makes that last 20 mile or so stretch back home a killer (for me).

Attention! Attention! All points Bulletin!

Woaaahhh! Be careful out there today people......There's a 20 mile stretch of cycle path and road tarmac betwixt Dartford and Holborn that I've just set on fire as a result of the heat generated from my new super speedy tyres and my nuclear powered short fat hairy legs. 1Hr 25min 03secs (ish). Deffo better than last week. Speeds of 24 MPH were obtained in one place with an av of 13.8, I just phoned the Guinness Book of Records office but all they did was laff and put the phone down. Some people eh! Pfft.

The wind. Yesterday I battled E to W (Dartford to Chelsea Bridge) via Pall Mall, it was soooooo windy I had to pedal hard to get down a small hillock in Belvedere. Crazees.

Mind you I used it to my advantage on the way back, for the 1st time ever I 'did' Shooters Hill on my fixed Dawes. I had to stop 2/3 of the way up to stop my heart from try to break my ribs from the inside. But I didn't give in and walk, oh no, I rode up the rest of the way. Thank you Mr Wind for some payback. Going down the other side was fun, 34.98mph, thats close enough to 35 for me, double whahey!

Doh! Not a good commuter choice Mr Hippy?

Heheheh, ouch! harsh but true!

I've splashed out on 2 x 32mm Gatorskin Hardshell tyres, if I get another puncture EVER again I'm giving up all together :-)

So after this mornings rear blow out I got a puncture on the front this time coming back home 13miles into a dry but dark 20 mile commute. This mornings pneumatic prangage has resulted in my rear Continental 'City Ride' tyre having a ~12mm open wound across the centre tread area, its got less than 500miles on it and its mullered already, thanks random sharp things.

I think I shall retire from cycle commuting and go back to motorcycle commuting, its cheaper!

Hit pebble or stone or summat on cyclepath near Crayford, instant flat rear. 3 miles into the 20 mile damp commute, meh. 1Hr 34mins, times getting worse. Maybe I'm not cut out for cycling.

Thanks Oliver, yeah I've been spoilt for the last 18 months since I started riding (properly!). This winter feel's like its been the 1st proper one in ages. I can still only manage the commute by cycle maybe twice a week max at the mo. It does take its toll on my nearly 50 y/o legs but its a lorra fun :-)

My place of employ changes from Holborn to St Pancras in January next year so I'll need to figure out if its still do-able. Any recommended flat and safe routes from (say) Silvertown to St Pancras anyone?

1Hr 27Mins 01Sec. 20.1 miles NW Kent to Holborn. 2nd time this week. Winter has taken it's toll, I used to do it in under 1Hr 20mins in Autumn. Even picked a quiet week to start riding into the metropolis again but still failed time-wise.

Multi Grain goodness with a slight sugary flavour 1st thing in the morning?

You Sir, are the Cheerio-type.

Bit late the show but worthwhile IMO.

Ta for the thoughts and info on BB's again.

Another lunchtime spent measuring and BB fettlin'.

OOOoooh, I see what you mean M_V, I can move the crank boss actually inside the BB shell housing due to the shape of the crank casting. By doing that I can get the chainline at least 7-8mm inwards which gets it down from 50mm ish to 42-43mm ish. Cookin'... I believe the correct phrase is.

A 103mm BB is the smallest I've found after a quick trawl through eBay. If it's symmetrical, that would 'buy' me 5.5mm per side closer. Well, its a start!

Thanks for the input M_V, I appreciate it. I would keep the wrong OLD rear wheel but unfortunately its pretty much pooped. It was the cheapest the original owner could find by his own admission and boy oh boy does it look it! Single wall and buckled enough to make setting up the brakes 'interesting' I've found, the rim is also damaged where he's ridden it with low tyre pressure and it's contacted the road in places by the looks of it plus its dished, it was designed for a geared freewheel I believe and its threaded on one side only. The front is fine, its a modern double walled deep rim and its still true but the rear is bleeeuuugh! I've got one of these on my other bike -> http://singlespeedcomponents.co.uk/wheels/700c-flipflop-black-549.html and it done really well so I'm tempted to buy a 120mm OLD variant and be done with it.

Tomorrow I'll see how close I could get the crank to the BB without a mash of either. IIRC there's only about 4mm or so gap at the moment but I see your point re:- gettting the chainline in the right ball park by reducing the BB axle width further rather than relying purely on Stackbolt spacers at the chainwheel/Spider interface.

Thanks again for your guidance M_V (and everyone else), its much appreciated and is helping me a lot.

EDIT. A further question, are modern cartridge type BB's symmetrical? Is there usually the same amount of axle sticking out of each side when its fitted into a 68mm shell?

News from the front! Witness cutting-edge measurements being taken post-sarnie....

OK, never assume all the information you're given is correct. This includes me!

After a chat with the original owner things are beginning to unravel a bit. It turns out there WERE chaintugs/adjusters but he found them 'fiddly' so just binned them (!) when the original wheel broke....as a result when he replaced the rear wheel he found the wheel would slide forward when peddling hard. It was then that he asked me to have a look a few years ago which resulted in me fitting a series of washers to keep the stays parallel. aha!

Look what the frame spacing is when the rear wheel has been removed...

So, lets go back and measure the OLD of the rear wheel the original owner used as a replacement...

Aaaah! Thats where the missing 5mm went which resulted in me suppling washers to make up the gap.

Original owner also confirmed this bike never had gears ever, and the BB is original, he bought it from Halfords new and its never been in a bike shop so its as was supplied excepting the rear wheel.

The Chainring and guard are located correctly (or at least as it came from Halfords) so I'm beginning to think that either Carrera did use a wider hub to get the chainline closer to to the 49-50mm or so I read at the BB... OR maybe..... they just didn't bother as Mr Suffolk suggests.

I've got a hefty clearance betwixt chainring and stay... observe...

and even more betwixt pedal crank and stay...

So, if a I purchase a new 120mm O.L.D. Flip Flop wheel and chain tugs at least it'll give me a 42mm chainline to aim for at the front by using stackbolt spacers (I think thats their correct name yeah?) to get the chainring in closer to the frame which it can take.

Sound like a plan?

You're not one for the easy life! :)

Aaahhh! You must've read about my previous project/triumph!!! :-) http://www.lfgss.com/conversations/231778/

Yeah, I learned a lot from that project and looks like this one is going the same way doesn't it.

I'll delve deeper at lunchtime and have a look at the Crank spider and frame spacing again but yeah, I agree the frame looks huge for an off-the-peg SS/FG bike but thats what it was sold as according to the original owner, no de-gearing or conversions, he's not 'that type'.... whereas I am. In the flesh it does look like a 'Mountain Bike' but with the addition of Track Ends in place of vertical dropouts. My 27 y/o Daughter has a geared version of this bike if it comes to it I'll get her to do a few measurements for me, I'd do it myself but she lives with her fella down in Surrey.

I like a challenge :-) I build Valve based Hifi Amplifiers for a hobby too, usually in Single Ended topology. pushes glasses up bridge of nose and blinks awkwardly

Aha, I've found a vid on You Tube which shows what it should look like even better, roughly halfway through. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hIVZD5wkGUQ

I still don't know what to do mind.

enters thoughtful pondering mode and strokes hairy chin

OOOoooo, summat weird going on with this bike maybe then?

Looking at these pics of this one on the eBay -> http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Carrera-Subway-Zero-Singlespeed-Fixie-ROAD-RACING-BIKE-/111492455022?pt=UK_Bikes_GL&hash=item19f577da6e
it looks like there's chain adjusters on it. The gifted one doesn't have these. Could that be the missing the 6mm betwixt what I measure and what n3il had on his?

Aye, deffo 68mm Mr Smolders, I check with a Vernier gauge face to face, 67.88mm actually.

The original BB was a 'Chin Haur CH52-68 113.5L', the replacement is one of these -> http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SHIMANO-TYPE-SEALED-CARTRIDGE-BOTTOM-BRACKET-SEALED-BEARINGS-110mm-to-127-5mm-/261272331430
in 113.5 sizing, seems identical. I do still have the old BB but damaged one of the 173110-2RS bearings. I was attempting to replace the actual bearings (I repair centrifuges and Lab equipment for a living so have access to a Bearing Press and pullers (which is handy!)) but then looked up the price for a complete BB and for £8.95 gave up!!! :-)

Yeah, I know what you mean re the Chainring to stays distance. To me it makes sense to utilise this big spacing and get the chainring inboard a bit. I think my only recourse to get the chainline back to match the 42mm at the rear hub is to use chainring spacers to offset the chainring.

I took the chainring off the crank spider to clean everything and reassembled it the same way it came apart. I don't think it had ever been cleaned (or seen oil either in the last year). There were no spacers so I dont think I've put anything back together wrong. See why I'm puzzling so much!? The Chainring is mounted on the inside of the spider already so I can't see how I can get it any nearer at the moment unless there's someway of mounting the chainguard inside too and then mounting the Chainring on top of that?

Dunno. I more puzzled than a Monkey Puzzle tree doing a tricky Jigsaw in the dark.

Good guess Mr Clockwise but I don't think thats the case, but I'll check with the previous owner for sure tomorrow.

Another reason I don't think thats the case is that the gap between the crank and the BB shell looks OK. A 107mm BB would bring it in even closer to the shell wouldn't it? Close.... very close, here's a piccie to illustrate...

Can anyone offer any advice to this little problem I'm currently playing with.

I've been "gifted" (some might call it dumped on!) a 2nd Hand Carrera Subway Zero. Its a purpose built SS/FG Halfords-esque cash in on the SS/FG market as far as I can see but at heart its too good to send to the knackers yard just yet and I could do with a back up to my trusty 34 y/o Dawes conversion.

Its been used as a 4 mile-a-day station to work to station bike by a work colleague. Maintenance is a bad word in his book and has pretty much been non-existent, my book differs but there y'go! Anyway, underneath the grime and neglect is a purpose built 'modern' (ish) bike I want to use so I started fettling it during lunchtimes and after-work. The Brakes didn't, but after fettling and block replacement do now. The bottom bracket was creaking, so I replaced with a same 113.5mm replacement. Chain is totally beyond it, no biggie to replace.

The Rear wheel however is where things start hotting up. The original got damaged, so the owner replaced it not really knowing anything about O.L.D or chainline. Frame spacing is 126mm but the owner bought a 120mm O.L.D replacement. He only realised this when he went to fit, being in a workshop nearby he asked me to have a look and I ended up using washer's as spacers to make up the 6mm or so and he was stoked he could ride it again and has done for about 3 years. He doesn't need it anymore so he remembered me and donated it.

I've measured the chainline at the rear wheel and its 42mm... however at the BB it's closer to 51/52mm! s far as I know 42mm is usual for FG/SS flip flop hubs yes? So... did Carrera use wider hubs originally to get the chainline out to 52mm or so at the rear or summat? Or is it that I'm missing something really obvious here.

I've replaced the original clapped out BB with the same 113.5mm width, its a standard 68mm housing, English thread, nothing trickster that I can see. The frame doesn't look bent or nowt as far as I can see.

Help! (Please).

Dave.

FG/SS rider spotted in.... no... wait for it..... Dartford, happily cycling up Burnham Road towards Crayford opposite way to me commuting back home tonight. Blimey! He must've been lost, no-one rides mono-coggerz this far out here!

gobs into spittoon and continues playing banjo up tree.

Nice and quiet ride in today, didn't see another cyclist for the 1st 11miles of the commute. Last 9 miles was only lightly sprinkled too. Whahey!

Ta Mr Scilly.

Now there's a few more folk reading it I'll update it more often!

I've recently had to replace the steering head bearings, they started feeling 'notchy' in the bars-centred position after only ~4500 miles. I did a bit of webbernet trawling and found a set of sealed tapered bearings marketed under the brand 'M-Part' that'd fit the old-school 1" threaded fork steerers that Aldous has. I tapped out the old open bearing races and fitted the super smooth 'modern' tapered type. You'd never know there's any dufference unless you actually ride the bike but I felt an obligatory picture wouldn't go a-miss!

I also 'fully-prepped' it for winter too....yup, I got a light at each end now! :-)

Ta! Yeah, I know what you're getting at....But.... those bars are soooooo comfy for my 'odd' build TBH. I regularly knock out 40 mile round trip commutes from NW Kent to Holborn and back and 60+ mile weekend fun rides on it. I know it looks odd but its so comfy. I've tried the classic chop n flop but it just feels like there's so much weight on my wrists, after about 30 miles I started to feel 'irritable' and by the 40 mile mark I'm in pain! I'm no spring chicken at 49 years old and I'm not used to riding in the aerodynamic head + shoulders down position. I think it'd take a lot of 'undoing'.

The ugly bars and those 'ergo' grips give me a lotta hand positions and in combo with the lard-arse-width bouncy Brooks '67 Sofa-saddle allows me to go for miles n miles in simple fixed oblivion land. I luv it. It's my bestestestest bike ever (so far).

I'm willing to try other bar types and set ups if other more experienced bikey peeps can think of any other options.

The Bike n me are doing the two Tunnels Greenway a few times next week. We're on Hols down near Bath. Whahey!

PS. Weight loss update, down to 12st 7Lbs now. Thats OVER 3st gone in a year, just through discovering and enjoying fixed gear and Yoga when its raining. Result!

Still not been spotted, I'm now convinced I'm invisible. And I got a puncture today.

Life is tuff like that I suppose.

Ah! Seen him, too. That Onwheelerfixiefella rides all the way down Commercial road and out past East India Dock road often. I've seen him a few times.