Originally Posted by Walter S

I'm pretty new to touring. What should I be checking before going on a three week tour?

I've always been a little mystified about tires. Knowing they're totally worn out doesn't seem too hard. Knowing that they're nearly worn out is harder. How do I tell? I'm running a set of michelin Comfort Contacts that have a few thousand miles on them. I can't tell that they're significantly worn. But rather than just look for signals and not know exactly what I'm looking for I'd like some kind of measurement or specific method to be following.

I'm going all over the bike tightening stuff, especially hardware that holds my racks on (Surly Nice Rack). Where would I find some replacement allen bolts that hold my racks & water bottle cages etc? It would be nice to have spares. I don't know if my bolts are different depths. Do I need to remove them all to find out?