WHEN I BOUGHT “Odysseus”, my Bike Friday New World Tourist, in 2007 I allowed myself to be convinced (against my instincts) to select the optional Shimano Capreo rear hub and cassette.  This was a risk, and I knew it at the time: specialized, limited-application bicycle components are notorious for being phased out and unavailable by the time they need to be replaced.  Even if they’re still in production, as relatively uncommon items they’ll likely not be on hand in many bike shops.

If you’ve followed the link above and read the article, you’ve already guessed my problem: the Capreo system has been discontinued by Shimano.  And, I want to start my tour with fresh drivetrain components (chain, cassette, and chain rings), so that puts me in a potential bind.

Better to find out now than just before I set off, though.  Fortunately, it appears from a quick web search that there are still some NOS Capreo cassettes available so it seems I won’t be entirely SOL when I need to replace the moving bits before the big trip.  And if there aren’t, my (admittedly incomplete) records tell me the original equipment has less than 3,000 miles on it so maybe, maybe, I wouldn’t have to replace it after all.  But I think I will, out of an abundance of caution.

But wait!  There’s more to consider than just the parts themselves.  In addition to the cassette itself, a Capreo-specific tool is required to remove and reinstall the lock ring that holds the cassette in place.  So, I’ll either have to buy that tool (and possibly carry it, to facilitate drive-side spoke replacement in the field should that become necessary) or trust to luck that whatever shop I find myself in, wherever I happen to be at the moment of failure, will have the tool on hand.  Not darn likely.  I could, I suppose, buy and use the tool before I go, then package it up in preparation for being sent to me “wherever” when I need it, at the cost of having to remain in place awaiting its arrival.

So long as the HUB itself doesn’t fail on me that should be adequate.  If the hub fails… well, that’s a fairly uncommon thing and hence a problem for another day (although I’ve had it happen to me on at least three occasions on other bikes).

[EDIT 27 December 2021

EVERYONE CAN RELAX AND EXHALE.  Both the replacement cassette and the lockring tool arrived today, more-or-less on schedule and certainly well in advance of the time they are going to be needed.  Crisis averted- you can stand down and rest easy now.  I know you were worried.]

[EDIT 1 January 2022

WHAT BETTER WAY to spend a gray, wet, foggy New Year's Day than to give your trusty touring steed some love?  For the first time ever (to my shame) I've disassembled and cleaned Odysseus' drive train.  When I had but one bike, I was pretty fastidious about this collection of maintenance work but my taste for it diminished in proportion as the fleet grew.  So now, all of my bikes have badly neglected drivetrains.

But for Odysseus at least, the chain has been run through several cycles of the ultrasonic cleaner (and will undergo further cycles after I change the solvent bath).  A friend of mine has loaned me his chain stretch measurement tool, which tells me the chain is pretty close to its wear limit; hopefully it will not exceed that limit in the coming half-year.

The cassette has been removed from the hub (something I could not have done before getting the proper lockring tool last week), disassembled (as far as it can be), thoroughly cleaned and wiped down, and reinstalled.  This should enable it to last at least until I preemptively replace it, along with the chainrings and chain, shortly before departure.

The chainrings have been dismounted, cleaned with solvent and wiped down, and remounted.  Knuckle skin was sacrificed in the process.  New rings have been ordered but the ones on the bike now should last until it's time for the new ones despite showing some clear signs of wear.  (I've seen- and ridden on- much worse.)

The jockey wheels on the rear derailleur are, for the moment at least, clean and free of the inevitable and unavoidable build-up of gunk that goes with running a lubricated chain over them hundreds of thousands of times.

And, lest you get the wrong impression, even though I've had Odysseus since 2007 he's got less than 3,000 miles logged so the abuse hasn't really been all that bad.  And now it's better.]