After a few cycle tours, I have a good idea of how to avoid mechanicals. With a mountain bike frame and custom built wheels, the only issues are likely to be wear and tear.
Hydraulic disk breaks, although a bit heavier than rims, mean no maintenance, always perfectly adjusted and no worries about break fade even in the wet and fully loaded on the steepest downhill section.
So, as the current components already have over 3,000 miles on the clock, I thought it best the replace the following:
- Tyres: Schwalbe Marathon 26"x2" front and 26"x1.5" rear
- Tyre Liners
- Inner Tubes
- Crank and Chain Rings: 24/34/42T
- SPD Pedals
- Bottom Bracket
- Brake Pads
- Cassette 11-32T (a change from 11-40T I needed for touring in Scotland, or Switzerland for that matter)
- Gear Cables
Just to be on the safe side, I will get the wheels checked over by Wheelsmith's who originally built them.
So, apart from a puncture or two, I can't see anything go wrong with the bike.