darrenhopper

+1 for Nitromores But I reckon a wire brush should speed up the process. Try not to let the bits get on your skin though.

Wow, who pissed on your cornflakes? I reckon a 49cc stroker is the way to go. It's about the only thing you'll be allowed to insure anyway. They're real easy to rebuild when they do go pop, though that's really only liable to happen if you don't put oil in it. A 60mph scooterbike is only an extra £250 or so. And an afternoon tinkering with it to get it running right. If you're going to use go-faster parts on it at some stage, be sure to get a water cooled bike. And most important, they're just like a fat bird... Great fun for a quick ride but you wouldn't admit it to your mates! I'm on big bikes the last 6 or 7 years and I still use a 70cc scooterbike for going to work.

Alright mate, I've been using Reynolds in the UK as a supplier of high quality steel. They do a huge range of pre-formed tubesets in various grades of steel. A lot of their stuff is very thin & some of it really is Tig weld only but if you were to ring them up they'll be able to tell you all about that sort of stuff. There are some grades that can be Mig welded if you've a good low power machine & patience. They'll supply you with headtubes, BB shells & generic dropouts. The dropouts are a bit useless for a trials frame though, they're just not made for a 6" seat tube! There's also this tube notcher from Moss Europe. Really useful bit of kit and quite cheap considering the time saved.

I did measure it as it happens. I was only using a cheap inclinometer for the head angle but it measured up bang on. The photos really don't do the build quality justice. Everything is in pretty good alignment. Aside from getting the +20mm disk mount wrong on the fork, everything was tickety boo. I would buy another, if only because steel frames are fantastic!

Yes.

Morning, I forgot to take photos for you but the ones (I think) I've attached are the frame when it arrived.

Nah, it was the removal tabs fouling on the BB shell when I had a bashring on but I moved that to between the BB & Frame. Actually come to think of it that was another problem I had... Marino only threaded the first 10mm or so of the BB shell so the longer threaded section on my BB wouldn't go in past that. Fortunately I have a BB tap so I just made the threads go in further. I'll get you some snaps this evening & post tomorrow when I'm being paid for it!

Well Carbon lever blades don't bend...... They do shatter though. As for goodridge lines, I reckon they're always worth the money. Though if you've already got braided lines then I don't see how you'll notice any improvement, aside from them being prettier.

And remember that light colours should look well thin after the first coat or two but they'll fill out in later coats. The best you can hope for is an even thin layer, wait 20 mins and repeat. You should get a good few coats out of each can.

Morning all, I got astock frame sent across late last year, just before everything froze over. So I've not had much more than a kitchen session on it. The steel is alot more spring-y but it is a little heavy. I wouldn't buy a fork from him again. The one I recieved reminds me of an old Raleigh MAX fork. It's a long way too heavy & unfortunately he got the +20mm mount wrong so I had to chop it up & make my own. I had a rear disk mount added as well & have not checked to see if it is in the right spot. I'm using a maggy. Contact was good and regular through the build process. Once he'd told me the frame was built I had no contact for a few weeks but then out of nowhere he sent me a tracking number & the frame arrived in good time. The build quality is pretty good, all of the welds are perfectly acceptable. Better than mine in alot of cases! If you go for horizontal drop-outs, he offers a wee welded on pair of tensioners. These wouldn't work with a freewheel on my DMR hub. I had to go to front freewheel and a fixed screw on rear sprocket because it doesn't protrude out over the axle where the tensioner screw was to touch. The clearance on the chainstay & seatstay wouldn't allow me to run a 24t Middleburn chainset either (the chain fouled the frame), so again FFW was the only way around it. I had minor problems with an ENO fouling the frame around the BB but I think that's normal for any FFW & ENO, right? If you need to know anything else, send me a PM. I can get you some snap shots of anything you're concerned about too if you'd like.

You riding big wheels or little ones? I run 18/14 on big wheels but I think 18/15 seems to be more popular

Screw Extractors can be bought in any hardware place for relatively little money. All you have to do is drill out the centre of the bolt & insert the reverse threaded cone. As you turn the tool, it gets more & more stuck in your dead bolt. Then when it's good n'n tight the bolt will start to thread out of your lever body (or whatever it's stuck in).

Nah, don't use a bar. You may damage the flanges of the star. If you use a long M6 bolt threaded right into the star nut & hold it straight as you tap down it will work perfectly.

Brute Force & Ignorance all the way! Make sure you've a spare & then bash it. Unless your steerer is aluminium....

+1 for this! A good weld will make the strongest possible join to the sprocket and will heat it up well past blowtroch territory without directly heating the hub. And you can use the longest bit of steel you've got lying about.