Froget about replacing the chainring, on cheap bikes this usually means changing the whole crankset too as they dont come apart or they are non standard sized.

What kind of gears does it have on the rear? if it is normal cassette/derailieur like a mountain bike. Just change this. Count how many teeth are on each cog, and then go buy a new casette with less teeth on each cog.

Will cost you £15 or so. But you may need a new chain too if you are beng perfectionist (they are supposed to be replaced together) while will be about £6 more.

With bikes, dont get caught up worrying about these sorts of expenses. Think about how much youd be paying for either Oyster cards or parking/fuel/insurance/tax for a car. Which is depreciating in value every day.

btw, thanks for the response.. I couldn't get a free cycle, and I decided to get a folding bike and keep it (as you can read from my earlier messages). I neglected the bike for a couple of weeks and let it stand in the rain and realised how badly it fares, there's already rus appearing everywhere, espeically the chain, I got some silicone lube and I think I sorted it out for now.. If I had just locked it outside the station I think over time the bike woud just fall apart, I've seen some bikes locked and it's amazing what some people would steal.

wheels, seats, breakpads, handlebar rubbers, bit by bit everything gets nicked until you've just got a skeleton frame..

What issues can I face, are there any tests I need to do? do I need to take it to a pro? I'm worried that I might render the bike useless and dangerous, the 20" wheels aren't great to steer and may the handbar may wobble a lot at high speed.

hi mate, i got a bike question can you help me out??

I got a folding bike, cheap chineses shit.. 14.5kg total weight, 20" wheels bought it off ebay for less than 100. Bargain considering that a brampton weiging a mere 2kg less costs around £200 more.

Plus I dont really care too much about the weight cos I can get a leg work.

It's 7 speed, the front chaning is obviously fixed. I'm not too keen on it though, the front chainring is too small which means I can't really ride fast without peddling like crazy, and that's just not efficient for me.

I'm thinking of just putting on a slightly biger chainring, that should get me more pedal power. And seems like the best thing to do because I start and stop and ride on the highest gear, and the lowest gears are walking speed right now, so pointless.

hey

I need to get a really cheap near disposable bike, basically my office is about 35 mins walk from the station, and driving is near impossible because of traffic.. I plant to take the tube to the station and there is a bike park right next door which i can keep a bike locked and cycle to the office from there.

Bascially I plan to keep the bike there overnight so im looking for a very very cheap a-b bike just for this purpose.

The crapper it looks the better because it will have less of a chance of getting nicked.. Do you know any places where I can get a bike for free?

Tried asking friends and family, none availabe.

mate the lithium grease is pretty good, loosed up my bar real good. Spins good, not as well as the bars with ball bearings, but good enough.. Hope this isn't because of the fresh application, and stays this loose for at least a couple more months.

Have a nice easter hols.

Hey mate

I read your thread on barbell maintenance.

I got these really cheap barbells without any ball bearings, or anything, and foolishly took out the hex nut, pulled out the collar and hozed it down with wd40. Then I realsied the wd50 breaks down grease..

Now I need to relube it, would ordinary bike chain from halfords do OK?

Cheers mate

HMMsss I actually dont like the £5 belt any more.. Prefer my older York belt that was consistently round all the way through... I just reread the bit on belts on SS, and realised that what he was saying was that if you're going to have a belt with a larger area, you might as well have the large area at the front. I forgot that he was saying that ideally you want a belt that's round all the way through.

Do magnificent mobility to fix up your injuries and infexibility issues.. it helped me heal my lower back from crap form.

I'd like to know your lifts to get some perspective on where you are coming form. I think you write a lot on powerlifting etc, and when I first came here I used to think you were an authority, however then I saw some of your videos and was a bit let down.. I was a bit pissed off with myself for being led on as well.

Im ok, just bought the same £5 belt as you. Really impressed with the quality actually. Im gonna get a leather one too, but this is good for now.

In terms of lifts, cannot really give an accurate answer, I have severe tendinitis in my hamstring (hurts to walk) and have just started using lifting shoes. So have deloaded a bit to give hammies a break and to get used to the shoes.

I hope you werent asking to purely take the piss. No matter how low my lifts are, bodybuilding is still not a sport. It is brutally challenging, requires lots of dedication and good genetics, but not a sport.

The same way I would not say I take part in the sport of weightlifting, because I dont. I just train with weights to get stronger.

If you werent writing to give me a dig/be a prick, then ill be happy to share some stats.

hey mate..

hows it going??

WHat are you lifting these days?