Interesting, I usually see people with seats too low, not too high. It has been my general observation that when people stick their knees out to the side, that is because their seat is too low. Such as my touring partner a couple years ago, photo below:

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...8cd16d99ae.jpg

Every tour we have done, I think he has tried a different saddle. I am consistent with a Brooks Conquest or Brooks Pro for all of my touring.

When I got home from my Pacific Coast trip, my brake pads looked like this.

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...e30724d614.jpg

I carried spares for one wheel, did not use them during the trip in part because I was not sure which wheel needed pads more.

I now mostly use Koolstop Salmon pads, they are softer and I expect them to not last as long as others, but I think my rims last longer with them.

I have found that exactly to be the case and have demanded Kool stops for a long time. I'll replace pads all day if it will ensure better and quieter stopping power, and my rims last longer.

bharrisonb, that is really neat what you did with that freewheel, well done

It's mounted on the right half of an old hub ... so it even spins on the plaque

Clever !

I've only been on about 6,000 mile of touring and these are the mechanical problems I have observed: flat tires, broken spokes, chains needing lubrication, a broken aluminum pannier rack (not mine) and a broken seat post (not mine). I broke a chain in high school on an old Schwinn hand-me-down on Thanksgiving afternoon. Since then, I have always carried a chain tool, but never broken my chain. I have helped a few damsels in distress with broken chains and other minor mechanicals. I agree with others that proper preventative maintenance should be observed.

Stuff I've had to fix on tour:

Flats (of course).
Broken cable.
Loose cotter/BB rebuild
Broken pannier (Interestingly, on a different tour by bro-in-law's pannier also broke)
Torn leather on my favorite Brooks Pro that retired it.

There have been others but these came most readily to mind.

Totally forgot about this one, a case of repressed memory probably:

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...500b358344.png

something doesn’t look right here. It looks like it was cut rather than broke as it’s a completely clean edge. Also, how did the remaining piece get removed if it sheared so cleanly. Lastly, it is a strange place to put the light as a touring cyclist as the Pannier and bike bags usually get in the way.

Is that an aluminum or a carbon fiber seat post?

If you zoom in it looks like asploding cf

Sherlock smells a rat :rolleyes:. Probably not very smart to use a carbon seat post on a touring bike but I had it laying around when I built the LHT. Used it for a test ride and then sort of forgot to order a new aluminum one. Served for over 40.000 miles and then snapped out of nowhere on a stretch of smooth asphalt.

I used to work with a gal that broke an aluminum seatpost. The single bolt that held the saddle on it snapped. Fortunately she was not badly injured, but she did not get to work that day as it broke on her morning commute.

I also had a bolt that held my saddle to the seat post snap. Not on a tour but instead commuting. Fell off backwards and more surprised than hurt. Figured it was enough of a fluke that I haven't worried on it for touring.

Wife and I both wore though our bar end shifters during our tour last year (32,000 km / 20,000 miles). The shifters were new at the start of the tour. These things have a reputation for lasting forever. In fact, they don't. The indexing clicks eventually wear away after enough use. Corrosion also takes a toll on the shifters because the bike is outside under the rain every day. I replaced the shifters during the mid-tour drivetrain replacement.

We also had one broken spoke from airline damage (replaced myself), one snapped shifter cable (replaced myself), and one failed cartridge bearing on a front hub (replaced a few days later in the next city on the route). The other three hubs were never serviced during the tour.

We also each wore through one cassette, one chainring, around six chains, three sets of bar tape, a few pairs of shorts, a leather saddle (replaced with plastic) and surprisingly only three sets of v-brake pads. I wore through 4 tires (2 sets). My wife wore through only 1 rear tire and kept the same front tire the whole tour, which was unbelievable.

Altogether there were surprisingly few mechanical problems. If you use a quality bicycle with self-built wheels, things don't break.

Exactly what I was thinking as I read through your post.
Were they Shimano bar-end shifters or another brand?

Microshift 12 speed bar end. 1X SRAM mountain drivetrain.
https://www.microshift.com/models/bs-m12-r/

Speaking of broken seat posts, I once was on an organized tour when this woman, who was extremely fit, had her carbon fiber seat post break off when she hit a bump. We were several miles out of camp and I'll be damned if she wasn't able to ride that bike in while standing on her pedals the entire time. I'm sure she took a breather or two but I was impressed.

I have heard that one of the worst bolts to break on a tour is a seatpost adjustment bolt on the frame.

On some of my bikes, I cut a slot in the threaded end of that bolt, so that if it broke I should be able to remove that half with a small screwdriver. I used to carry a spare of that bolt, but later realized that on most of my bikes the stem cap bolt is the same size, that could temporarily be used in a pinch.

I took my travel bike on a driving vacation a while back, overtightened the seatpost bolt and snapped it. Three bike shops in town, and none of them had a seatpost bolt that fit. :( Apparently it's not something they see a lot of, so they don't stock them.

Then I walked into a Real Hardware Store (not a big box store). Five minutes later I walked out with a bold, a nut, and a couple washers. Bicycling on that vacation saved for $2!

I'v only had two significant issues while touring. The first was in 1982 when I was touring through Shenandoah National Park along the Skyline Drive. The headset on my 6 year old Motobecane Grand Record stripped. Turns out it was the nut that was defective. Replacement was a nonissue. I was picked up by an older couple in a Mercedes sedan and taken to Big Meadows where my wife and I were planning to meet anyway. They were most generous with their help! We camped out only to have 10 inches of snow fall that night. We were allowed to stay in the lodge where I played doctor (no! not that kind!) for someone with allergies and another with an ear ache. My medical school education was helpful but residency in pediatrics far more useful. A very memorable trip!
The second was incident was in 2022 when a Campagnolo derailleur broke on a 1974 Motobecane Super Mirage when returning from a tour, fortunately very close to home. It flew into the spokes and I was unceremoniously thrown over the handlebars. No damage to self but the derailleur was toast and the dropout threads were stripped. All easily repaired and it lives to tour another day.
No issues with ANY other bikes and, in spite of the mischief, I still love the Motobecane label.

Problems I had:

• Flat tires.
• Worn brake pads.
• Air in the front brake caliper.
• Explosion of a tire sidewall. Used a lightweight Conti Speed Ride on the C&O Towpath. Had been riding in a downpour for the whole day and it exploded 1/4 mile away from the bike shop in Cumberland. Taught me to carry a spare tire on tours.
• Broken spoke. The wheel had chronic problems because I did things wrong, I rebuilt it with the new spokes later.
• Loosening spokes on a rear wheel. Newly built wheel, built in a hurry right before the tour.
• Loosening self-tapping screws attaching the rear panniers to the plastic rails.
• Cracked spoke holes on the rear wheel. I only noticed it when I returned home.

A huge factor was making changes before the tour. Once I changed the rear tire for a more durable one, but it somehow had something causing punctures which had not manifested itself before. Multiple slow leaks on the tour, I gave up and bought a new tire.

Years ago I had a fairly new tire, got a puncture, put in a new tube. A few days later, that tube was flat in about the same spot as the first one. I could not find the sharp thing in the tire that was causing the flat.

I cut one tube lengthwise on the inside part of the tube so that the cut tube went over my good tube to act like a tire liner when I put that into the tire. No more flats.

I normally wouldn't want to waste a repairable tube for that but I'm sure that's a solid option at times. Thanks