View Single Post
Old 02-02-06, 11:15 AM
  #6  
acantor
Macro Geek
 
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: Toronto, Ontario
Posts: 1,362

Bikes: True North tourer (www.truenorthcycles.com), 2004; Miyata 1000, 1985

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 43 Post(s)
Liked 12 Times in 7 Posts
It is good to be able to do wheel maintenance oneself, but the world won't come crashing down if you cannot. I have been riding bicycles for almost 45 years, and I have never had a broken spoke. I don't even carry spare spokes when I tour.

The most likely thing to go wrong on a tour is a flat. The ability to patch a puncture (or replace the inner tube) is the most important skill to have. (I usually get one flat per 7 - 20 day trip; one of my touring friends has a mountain bike, and he goes years between flats.)

I take-in the slack on cables as I tour, and make similar minor adjustments. Other than that, when something goes wrong, I start hunting around for a bike shop!
acantor is offline