Fred Rafael Rednor wrote:
> > And if per chance you had any problems with
> > your Trek spec'd Helicomatic on your extended
> > tour of the U.S. it would always be a piece
> > o' cake readily finding replacements in any
> > hamlet, town or city...
> It's true that would be difficult.
Well, how far do you want to carry this? If you wanted something that could be replaced in any hamlet, etc. you'd probably ride a gas-pipe Huffy with Wald hubs, etc. :-)
Which reminds me of an anecdote. I built up my touring bike using sturdy, and what I considered to be readily available parts for those things I thought I might need to replace in the boondocks (27" wheels, 5-cog freewheel with bog-standard chain, and so on), but on a loaded tour in the extremely rural upper peninsula of Michigan (Porcupine Mountains, to be more precise), I had a hardware failure I hadn't anticipated. We were riding unloaded, having left our packs and such at the campsite, up to Lake of the Clouds and stopped part way up the hill for a short break.
I leaned my bike against a tree and was sitting on the ground when a gust of wind knocked my bike over. I picked it up and saw that the TTT stem had broken at the clamp, leaving my handlebars unattached. There was no way I could ride anywhere in that condition and had to walk all the way back to the campground (downhill, thank goodness) to ponder what to do next. There wasn't *ANY* kind of bike shop within 70 miles (Houghton), and we had no car. And to top it off, it was Saturday and the bike shop in Houghton was closed on Sundays.
I had just made up my mind to hitch-hike to Houghton to see what I could find there when a couple tandems cruised into the campground followed by a couple road bikes, and -- glory be! -- a sag wagon! I went over to talk to them, explained my predicament, and they generously sold me an SR stem and handlebar off one of their bikes! Wow! I did the transplant that night and finished the tour.
I still have that stem and handlebar, as a manner of fact...
--
John (john@os2.dhs.org)
Appleton WI USA