Something to consider; the spoke count doesn't have to be the same front and rear. I have a 40-spoke rear and 36-spoke front wheel setup on my touring bike, but the number of spokes you need will depend on your loaded weight and will likely vary from my needs. Since you will have more weight on the rear, it makes sense to build a stronger wheel for the rear.

Good point. It's a question of weather, and whether I can be arsed to bundle up for it. As time has worn on my interest in cold weather riding has diminished considerably.

Bummer. How disapointing.
FWIW I would not be putting a new bike on the stand to test the gears and brakes, I would be riding it in my local area!

Thanks!

Heres a good explanation; https://www.bikeradar.com/advice/buyers-guides/disc-brake-pads/

Brake pads: as I know nothing about them except that there seem to be various options as to pad material, what knowledge can you share? I think mine will be the TRP HY/RD (hybrid cable/hydraulic) which I can't see would actually make any difference when it comes to choosing what material will rub against the disc.

But they offer "sintered" pads along with resin, semi-metallic (whatever *that* is). I have no idea either what my bike has on it now or whether some other choice might be superior. Can you shed any light on that?

I love my TRP hydraulic disc brakes. I've had the bike for 7.5 years now and have never had any issue with them. I replace pads as needed, but have never added any fluid - I wouldn't even know how to do that. The bike just rolled past 20,000 miles on a recent tour, and more than half of that distance was fully loaded touring. The bike loaded up weighs 100-105 pounds and I add another 220 or so - I can bring it to a quick controlled stop from a 35 mph downhill descent using only 2 fingers on each brake lever. I have shipped the bike cross-country 4 times now, and it's been turned upside down many times to change a flat or other such maintenance.

I was reluctant to use hydraulic discs on the bike in 2015 when it was being built up, but a trusted wrench at my LBS convinced me to do it. He was right. I discovered the "trick" to taking a wheel on/off and getting it back to the same adjustment for the disc brakes is to just unscrew the nut side of the quick release when loosening it - then when you put the wheel back on just tighten back the nut side - that way the wheel doesn't move laterally any and will be in the same position for the disc pads.

A bottled beverage can certainly be obtained.

It's 75 and sunny today and if this pattern holds an overnight is nearly a certainty.

Do you have any bottled beverages at hand, to try your nifty new opener? Jacinto has used his several times, every tour we've taken. It is an oddly convenient feature!

Is there any possibility of an overnight trial run, after the bike arrives?

Great story, Kelly.

I've often said that I bicycle to the grocery store so I can park right next to the front door. That makes no sense to people . . . . it's a certain degree of lazy.

Along with the panniers for each bike, they also have pump/patch kit, etc. I do have one bigger tool kit that goes on the touring bike. But, at least I can change a flat tire, no matter what bike I'm riding.

Many years ago, before cell phones, Jacinto was going for an afternoon ride. I reminded him to switch over his pump. "Yea, yea, sure." He tells me. I'm just started on an afternoon nap when the phone rings. It's Jacinto, with a flat tire, and no means to fix it.

The good part of the story is the ride he got to town. He was out in the middle of NOWHERE when a white haired ranching lady in a pick up truck stops for him as he's walking along. Would he like a ride? He certainly would! Jacinto loads the bike and hops in the cab. THEN he notices an unsheathed bowie knife on the seat between the two of them!

Jacinto was the most polite passenger you'd ever seen. Yes ma'am, no, ma'am - all the way to town.

Every bike I have has its own dedicated tool kit, tire pump, patch kit, rack (except for the road bike which isn't set up to accept racks), etc. With the exception of the GPS and my phone I have long since stopped trying to move things from bike to bike because I invariably forgot to do so and suffered accordingly, at some point.

I forgot to mention this. I linked up recently with another CycleBlazer who was touring relatively close to my home. He's on a 2021 model Trek 520 that he bought last November.

It turns out that Trek dealers have to place their entire order for a year's inventory well in advance. When he contacted the Trek store closest to his house they told him they couldn't get a 520 for him before 2023 (this was in the fall of 2021, remember) because they'd already put in their 2022 order and that was it for the year.

He started checking with other Trek dealers farther and farther away and finally found one in the right size, some distance from his house. But before he bought it his wife found another one in the same size, closer to home. I forget whether it was a purely leftover bike on one that someone had ordered then backed out of, but it was a lucky find in either case.

So, finding even "off the rack" bikes can be something of a crap shoot. Assuming the Rodriguez fits correctly, I'll be pleased to have a made-to-measure bike with exactly the parts I chose rather than one that came preconfigured from a mass producer.

Kelly, I had to laugh at your comment about being so lazy that you purchased a set of panniers for each bike so you don't have to switch them around. I'm so lazy that I've been considering new panniers too. (Oh, it would be so much easier if my beloved REI panniers still existed.) I bought a new pannier rack this summer so I wouldn't have to move that around from bike to bike, and I'm considering buying more water bottle racks for the same reason. It's too weird to reconcile such laziness with a desire to pedal a bike hundreds or thousands of miles.

I'm definitely open to name suggestions, Greg. No promise that I'll use it but I'm interested to hear your idea. What could possibly rise to the level of The Reckless Mr. Bing Bong, though?