my Kona Sutra broke today.
i am currently riding my bike around europe. started a couple months ago and have ridden about 3000km on my Kona Sutra since i bought it in February. admittedly i have been carrying a lot of weight on my rear rack (about 40 kilos?)
well today when i was just outside of Munich, Germany the rack braze-on on the rear chainstay snapped off. i went to a bike shop and had them jimmy rig another attachment on the frame. my question is what would you recommend doing for a long term solution?
should i try to weld the braze on back to the frame or continue to go with the fastened brackets which i put on today? or perhaps it is time for a new bike.
overall i am very happy with the performance of the 'Sutra' but i would say that it is more suited as a commuter than a serious touring bike. it simply does not have the strength to carry heavy loads and the disk brake setup creates problems with the racks and fenders.
i know this is a very concise description but any ideas would be recommended.