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The stiffness issue is that indeed you could make an alu frame as flexy as a steel one - the problem is the different fatigue characteristics. Aluminium is entirely unlike steel in that it has a finite fatigue life regardless of the load. Steel has a limit below which it is effectively infinite...

My gravelly Dawes Edge XT, a real do anything bike that does nothing badly. Build thread here: https://www.retrobike.co.uk/threads/dawes-edge-xt-purists-look-away-it-has-drops.465985/

It's here: https://www.retrobike.co.uk/threads/1998-orange-p7-tourer-atb.493153/page-6#post-3767761

Good day out on my Pacific Reach last week - had to take the car to a specialist and the Reach is ideal to throw in the back. Part of the ride was along the Bournemouth Seafront and the Castleman trailway. The Reach with 28mm gravel tyres is surprisingly comfortable on unsurfaced stuff. The...

Yep, SKS ones in dark colour, IIRC the wider variety (65mm?) with all fitting kit etc. Alternatively I would be happy to switch them over to offer a 55mm silver set. £22 posted. I'll do some photos.

I'm not overjoyed with the elastomer rear shock on my Pacific Reach folder. It works OK, but the elastomer tends to squeak and I end up dismantling the thing to add silicone grease. Having had a look on eBay I can't see many old 150mm shocks, does anyone have good ideas what to look for?

If you want to run singlespeed full sus without a tensioner then you need a design that doesn't change the distance between bottom bracket and rear hub. This typically means a URT design. Trek Y22 perhaps?

One surprise left off the list in my mind is anything from Orange. The P7 soldiered on past the millennium in steel. I love mine, rides like a scalded cat.

Not sure that's always the case - definitely agreed that cheap nutted axles are thinner, but IME Shimano used the same dimensions and only switched the axle itself for nutted variants.

What's the advantage you are hoping to get from it? It will roll a little faster over bumps, but after all the engine is what counts.

TA or Stronglight rings from Spa Cycles will work every bit as well and last longer.

No way 30 years ago! It's Aluminium and got disc dropouts. A 30 year old one would be in 653. My guess is 2010s.

Campagnolo also made MTB seatposts. Euclid was black.

Had a 9000 2.3 Turbo for years. Went like a rocket but had hideous torque steer (overtaking never needed any steering input, the accelerator did it all). Definitely it would try to punish the cack-handed by understeering into the woods or losing traction with wheelspin. It was effortless for...

110 triple has been a thing forever. Have a look at Spa Cycles for a huge choice of TA and Stronglight rings. TA are superb and last way longer than Shimano.

Muddy Fox was a good brand at first, but it has made ordinary entry-level bikes for the past 25 years. There is little halo from a bike like that - bottom-end components, no racing history, no nothing. I'll keep my money elsewhere, thanks. For £50 you are still in the range of mid-90s hardtails...

You cannot mix V and Canti components - remember it's force x distance. Run Canti levers with V's and you have to set the pads 1mm off the rim and it all feels squishy. Run V levers with cantis and the brake will feel very firm, but you have to squeeze the lever impossibly hard.

Got both, B17 Narrow on the tourer, C17 on the drop-bar folder. Both fine, my go-to is the San Marco Regal, the C17 seems very similar. The B17N is a bit flatter at the back, not quite as comfortable but fine for an 80 mile day. For me a Flite is an instrument of torture.

Me too, the oil then stays in the bottom of the fork.

Got a pair of basic 36H wheels with 7s screw on freewheel. Basically unused, came off a Dawes utility bike. Say £20+ postage? IMG_3178 by Paul Gray, on Flickr