Thanks for the replies, sorry for the broken link. I just copied and pasted from my previous post. Here are the links in working order:

http://www.amazon.com/Shimano-UN54-B...om+bracket+cup

http://www.amazon.com/Shimano-Tapere...bottom+bracket

I took the BB out for two reasons. Firstly, the cup was broken and I wanted it out before it got any worse (and more jammed) so I could replace it. Secondly, it's a 2nd hand (probably 8th hand by now - ha ha) bike and I wanted to make sure it would come out and was properly greased so I could replace it in the future if anything broke.

I don't think I'm going to upgrade the crankset at the moment because this is going to be my around-the-towner and I'd like to keep it relatively low-key (for the moment).

However, I did briefly look at some cranks and from my understanding a 9/10 speed crank will work with a 7 speed cassette, correct?

I'm sure I will find more information online, busy working at the moment.

-Alex