ruy lopez

There are four Bykebins at Bromsgrove, my local station, which is unmanned. They are the kind where you use your own padlock. I've never seen any of them without a padlock in place. The four padlocks are always the same ones. Last Friday evening I was there with my bike, not to travel but just to collect tickets from the automatic machine. As I was leaning on my bike looking at the Bykebins, a young lady got off a commuter train, unlocked one of them, took out her bike, relocked the now empty container, gave me a challenging look (as if to say 'No chance mate - I'm keeping this one.') and cycled off, presumably not to return until Monday morning for work. So there's the problem. Once selfish people get hold of the self-lockable Bykebins they never relinquish them.

Thanks David - I'll have a word with Norman. Regards RL

I agree. The rear brake on Mrs Lopez's recently acquired 705SE cannot be satisfactorily adjusted. Option 1 is to set the brake so that the rear wheel will run freely without the shoes binding. But then the large mechanical advantage and stretchy cable mean that when the brake lever is pulled so far that it contacts the handlebar, the brake is still not properly 'on'. Option 2 is to set the brake so that it can be properly applied. But then the shoes bind when the brake is 'off', and the wheel won't run freely.

I tried to edit that last post to acknowledge the fact that I'd said much the same thing earlier. I was getting confused by posting a similar thing on another message board. But my edit didn't appear (not yet anyway). I expect it will appear now I've posted this.

I see that for under a tenner I could get an long seatpost of the unicycle variety - up to 700 mm. Unicycle.UK.com - Product Page - "Nimbus Steel Seat Post (25.4mm)" That's 25.4 mm diam, but a shim would take it up to the required 27.2 mm. Questions are: Can you put a normal saddle on it? Can you feasibly ride a bike with a unicycle saddle/seat?

Hi Danny-K. Just seen your post. Yes, you are right. Thanks. I looked on the seatpost and it does indeed say 27.2 mm. So I know that a seatpost specified as 27.2 will do. However, the actual diameter is 27 mm measured with a micrometer and with a vernier caliper - well 27.05 anyway. I know about the usable length, etc. What I did was put the saddle in at the max safe height and measure saddle to pedal, which was about 36 inches. Then I measured saddle to pedal on my Ridgeback, set up how I like it, and that's about 40 inches. So I need another 100 mm of seatpost. Since the current Wisper one is 350, I could manage with 450. Of course 500 would be better, so I wouldn't have to put it at the max setting.

Well, here's an idea. But it means you have to use a unicycle saddle, I assume. Nimbus Steel Seat Post (25.4mm) £5.00 25.4mm diameter standard seat post. Four bolt fittings to fit Nimbus, Viscount, Dodger, Trainer, Kris Holm, Velo and the majority of unicycle seats. Six lengths available - 220 mm to 700 mm. Unicycle.UK.com - Product Page - "Nimbus Steel Seat Post (25.4mm)" Seatpost adjustable shim for 25.4mm post. £3.99 This seatpost shim is designed to accept a 25.4mm seatpost and the adjustment ranges from 26.4mm to 28.0mm diameter frames tubes. Raleigh Seatpost adjustable shim for 25.4mm post.

Mrs Lopez has got a 705SE, but the saddle doesn't come up high enough for me. If I could get a seatpost of say 500 mm (the existing one is 350 mm) then I could do a quick saddle swop if I fancied a go on it while she was not looking. I've measured the diameter as 27 mm, although seatposts in general seem to be specified as 27.2 mm. But I can't find any 500 mm seatposts for sale on the Internet anyway, either at 27 mm or 27.2 mm diam. Do such seatposts exist anywhere? I wouldn't need the tilting sort, just standard.