Backup equipment

With a trike using proprietary parts, I can't rely on the mechanics on the ride to have backup parts for my ride. I'm going through the list of things I need and this blog entry will be my list that I can refer to later.


TIRES:
The Schwalbe Big Apples should last awhile and for the rear, this is my ideal tire. However, I will need a backup. It needs to be the folding bead type so I can squash it into the duffel bag. Much pricier, but it's cheap insurance in case I need it. I don't want to be stuck somewhere on the 545 mile ride w/o a 20" tire. Everyone else will have 26" and 700mm ones which won't work for my trike. The Durano has a folding bead version. I had no idea relatively speaking, that the Big Apples I have on now weigh so much! 535g vs the Durano which is only 193g. That's a difference of 0.75 lbs! Doesn't sound like a lot, but the Durano weighs 36% of the weight of the Big Apples!

I haven't decided whether to use the Durano or the Big Apples for the ride, but I'll definitely need a Durano as my backup rear tire.

As for the fronts? Probably b/c of it's 305mm size, there's no folding version available. I'll try to stuff backups into my duffel. I haven't decided what tire to use yet. The choice is between the Primo Comet, Schwalbe Marathon Racers and the Schwalbe Spezials (maybe).

UPDATE: 5/3/11
I've determined the backup tires will the be Schwalbe City Jets that Mike got me (not Spezials as previously thought). I ordered two 16" (305mm) Marathon Racer tires from Calhoun Cycle and a single folding 20" (406mm) Marathon Racer from Utah Trikes.


TUBES:
I'll have emergency tube patches (which I still need to buy), but I should also have a few tubes. Perhaps two of each would suffice. 2 305mm ones for the fronts and two 406mm ones for the rears. I'll carry one of each in my pack during the actual ride. I'm using the gel kind so hopefully those will hold just fine. After all, I went through 65 miles w/o a flat! Went through tons of gravel and I think I hit some glass too.

UPDATE: 5/3/11
I ordered a couple of these from a new company I've never dealt with, called Calhouncycle. They had good deals on the Marathon Racers, so I went with them instead of Utah Trikes for the 16"ers.

CASSETTE:
I just ordered an 8-speed, so the current 7-speed will be my backup (assuming my new Stage 2 project works out).


SPOKES:
I realized that the mechanics won't have spokes small enough for my ride either, so I better pick up a few of these. They're only a dollar something apiece, so it's definitely worth getting.

UPDATE: 5/3/11
I just ordered 4 front wheel replacement spokes/nipples from Utah Trikes. Not cheap! Spokes were $2/each (normally $1). Nipples were $1/each. I'm sure they're cheaper elsewhere, but whatever. I don't have the spoke size since the hub on the front wheels are proprietary.