Thanks, Mike. The LBS isn’t too L, unfortunately - it’s about 50k off. On the upside, we always ride pretty slowly anyway.

Thanks. I did try that - not. Ton, but several kg anyway. I didn’t find anything beyond how to adjust them, but I don’t think it’s a maladjustment issue.

Thanks, Patrick. I’ve never looked at how these work. We’ll leave it up to the bike shop to see what they can do. If I’m lucky, they’ll be able to repair it. And if I’m really lucky they’ll speak English and be able to explain what the issue is.

Hi Scott. Here is an image of the "spring" and pads.

https://247cycleshop.com/shimano-m05-br-m515-resin-disc-pads-spring.html

HI Scott.

It could be a problem with the spring that keeps the disc brake pads separated in the brake itself. It does not look like a spring, but acts like one. It keeps forces the brake pads away from each other and allow the piston to press the pads together. I would check that out!

I read somewhere that at least 2/3 of the braking should be done by the front brake so just ride slowly to the LBS.
I have not rushed to adopt discs and imho in the touring environment the old V brakes are just as effective on dry rims at least. After one revolution in the rain you have wiped your rims and you are back in business again, so as always ride to the conditions. Of course you need new rims every now and then.
I went Rohloff for both our tandem and my single some time ago and for touring will never go back to a derailleur bike. There is far less maintenance with a Rohloff.

Mike

You might learn something about your specific problem by watching some YouTube videos. There are a ton of them.

Good luck!

Okay good luck! Hopefully Bike Friday has used Shimano or equivalent quality disc brakes and parts are available and easily repaired. Good luck....I don’t think the noise is a terminal illness 😷

The bike’s locked in a garage for the night now, but on the road I did flip it and spin it. It clicks multiple times per revolution, sort of as if I had a baseball card flapping in the spokes. And there is some sort of movement happening in there.

We’re getting quite late in the maintenance cycle, and were planning on a complete overhaul at the end of the tour. Hopefully we can find servicing that will see us through the last days here, but at least we’re on a train line.

I’m guessing too but does the clicking/ ratcheting sound happen at the same place on each wheel revolution? Possible damage or war page to brake rotor surface. Spin wheel slowly while the bike is upside down and watch for movement. Also watch your fingers!

Thanks, and our sympathies as well. I’d seen that you have your own problems to deal with. Things could be worse. We have a layover day in a small town, so we’ll just go for a hike tomorrow. The next day is virtually flat, and ends in Foggia, a larger place with a bike shop. Worst case, we could just take trains for the rest of the tour and hang out on the beach ourselves like normal folks. Enjoy the pool!

We are sending all our sympathy but haven’t any advice. Keith has managed to get his bike running in a rudimentary sort of way, hopefully enough to get us to a bike shop tomorrow. We are sitting poolside as I write this, so not exactly suffering!

Hi, Carolyn. Thanks for following along, and for your generous comments. You’re in for a real treat - Puglia is such an amazing region, with so much of interest and such diversity in a small area.

My favorite roads here are scattered apart, too far apart for a reasonable seven day tour - the north Salento coast from Leuca to Lecce; the Alta Murgia; and right here, in the Gargano. You could do worse than to spend your whole week here on this little promentory.

You haven’t said how you’ll manage logistics or what distances you like to cover, but here’s one idea. It’s based on averaging about forty miles per day to allow enough time and energy to see something at the end of the day. I would make it a one way trip rather than a loop, and then find a way to get back to your starting point. You could bike from Lecce to Trani, with overnights on the way at Ostuni, Alberobello (the famous trulli town, which we biked through the first time we were here), Matera (I’d stay two nights), and Altamura. From Trani you could take the train back to Lecce (very easy to do, in our experience), but unfortunately it doesn’t run further east past Lecce.

And, thinking outside the box, you could steal another four days from your schedule somehow and add in a loop from Lecce east through Salento, staying at Porto Cesareo, Santa Maria di Leuca, and Otranto. Ten years from now, you’d remember these four days far more than whatever else you were planning to do with them!

Have fun with the planning, and have a wonderful tour! I’ll bet it’s beautiful in October. I hope you’ll blog your trip so we can have a look.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen clouds described as cute. I see I should have added ominous to the list of suggested adjectives. If folks can’t do better than this I may have to go back to supplying my own captions again.

Hello, I have just been planning a cycling trip in Puglia for 7 days in October. It's been difficult finding any information on the web apart from the organised cycling trips. I was very excited to stumble upon blog yesterday as I was looking up a loop cycle from Lecce. I have spent this morning very much enjoying reading my way through your trip. I had decided to concentrate on cycling through Puglia North of Lecce, starting in Matera and ending in Lecce. But after reading your posts I wonder whether I should still be including some of Salento. Where were the best roads you had for cycling? After having done the whole area what would you recomment as a 7 day itinerary? I must admit I love the thought of becoming a cycling vagabond. How wonderful and thanks for the great read!