Cycling UK Forum

I have the cheap weinnemann brakes mentioned above, with no spanner flats.

I have already tried adjusting the cable length, to no avail.
The springs have no plastic jacket on them.
I've tried different set ups of the lock nuts.

So I got a 1/8 chain and all is fine. Do you think the quicklink is safe for fixed gear?

I have a set of brakes that i cannot centre, and i always have one pad dragging on the rim. its the type with two bolts and has no flat sections.

i have seen several recommdations on various websites but none have worked.

new cables, moving parts lubed
the parts have been cleaned and rust removed.
i have tried all possible tension setups on the fixing bolts.

what else is there?! for such a simple mechanism there is frustraitingly little possibilities for adjustment. what am i doing wrong here?


i see some places refer to hitting the spring with a hammer. does this mean to hit it hard enough to bend the spring?

The chain was from a six speed bike, does this mean it will be 32? The sprocket is 1/8.

Not new, but as good as

I'm putting together a fixed gear bike with a road frame. The chainline is good, but the chain runs rough and spears to be sucked where it joins and leaves the rear sprocket. Anyone know why this is?

just wear shorts and harden up. riding in wet trousers is rubbish, riding in wet sweaty trousers that rustle and bunch up is even worse.


IMHO its never cold enough in the summer months to worry about getting wet. even in scotland.

heh, yeah i probably should have mentioned i would be using mainly in the UK and Europe.

I have recently got myself a camping hammock with a bug net. I intended to just get it for my garden, but ive now fallen in love having slept quite a few nights in it. Its much more comfortable than sleeping on the floor!

Has anyone used one for touring, and what were your experiences?

How was finding suitable locations?

What type and shape tarp roof did you use?

Did you use any insulation or pads, or did you just use a thicker than normal sleeping bag?

How comfortable was it in the long run?

Id like to make the hammock even lighter by removing the metal S-hooks, but i dont want to have to tie knots every time i put it up/down. is there a neat solution?

single speeding is only worth doing if your already pretty fit. it will make it harder for you to build a decent aerobic base and you wont enjoy the ride as much.


just ride with the low gears and go out and ride alot. over time you will naturally become stronger, use larger gears, and be faster. sod having big heavy legs, id rather have light fast and efficient.

i would like to do this, but im not sure its financially viable for me. i dont mind some simple living and i would be by myself, but id need some kind of work to live on, but i dont want to work full time because then i might as well come back to blighty and live in a house.

south Portugal sounds nice, but how warm are we talking?

no, why do you want the name of a foreign bank on your shorts? just get plain black shorts and wear whatever jersey you like.

Yeah id assumed that it would need the surface keyed.

I was thinking of patching a 700c road tube, which has quite thin rubber. The patch would defiantly be thiner than a normal repair patch. Maybe i should use some rubber from a thicker tube?



I have a slightly unusual practice of of applying a lot of glue, lighting it on fire for a few seconds and then applying the patch. It works very well and ive never had a problem with any of the repairs ive made. Does anyone else do this?

I have heard of people using a patch cut from an old tube to fix punctures, obviously using the normal glue and the same technique.

Does anyone do this? Does it work well?


maybe use a thicker MTB tube?

they do bike covers made from a light tarp in the pound shop.