Convert Hybrid to Touring bike

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by [censored] Smallboy
Can a good hybrid be made into an adequate good touring
bike? By adding dropped bars and going to bar end friction
shifters? It seems that it would be cheaper for me to get a
hybrid because they have a 26" tires, canti breaks, and low
gears. These three things add a lot of cost to a bike.

I would want to be able to add front and rear bags and I am
not sure if racks would fit.

The touring bike I like would cost 4k and is more than I
can afford.

Which hyrids have 26" wheels?

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by [censored] Smallboy
Can a good hybrid be made into an adequate good touring
bike? By adding dropped bars and going to bar end friction
shifters? It seems that it would be cheaper for me to get a
hybrid because they have a 26" tires, canti breaks, and low
gears. These three things add a lot of cost to a bike.

I would want to be able to add front and rear bags and I am
not sure if racks would fit.

The touring bike I like would cost 4k and is more than I
can afford.

$799 will get you either the 26" wheeled REI Safari:
http://tinyurl.com/vcqi
or the 700C wheeled Randonee with drop bars:
http://tinyurl.com/2fus3

Converting a hybrid can work, but mounting racks is usually a challange.
There are also many other toruing bicycles worth considering that are far less that $4K.
Adventure Cycling's magazine just published a page full of choices, including some recumbents, and "folding" bicycles suitable for touring. They also have an article in the most recent edition about touring with a BOB trailer.

Check out the new surly long haul trucker. It is a real
touring bike and the frame/fork is going to sell for $400
range. The 54cm and smaller frames are spec'd with 26" wheel
sizes for clearance. You could mount your mountain bike
components. It's going to have front and rear rack mounts,
all the brazeons including a spoke holder. It's supposed to
be available in April or May. It's only drawback is the ugly
pea soup green color.

www.surlybikes.com

On Sat, 20 Mar 2004 10:29:53 -0800, [censored] Smallboy <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

Can a good hybrid be made into an adequate good touring
bike? By adding dropped bars and going to bar end friction
shifters? It seems that it would be cheaper for me to get a
hybrid because they have a 26" tires, canti breaks, and low
gears. These three things add a lot of cost to a bike.

I would want to be able to add front and rear bags and I am
not sure if racks would fit.

The touring bike I like would cost 4k and is more than I
can afford.

I looked first at the REI bikes but I would like steel -
maybe there are no steel hybrid bikes 🙁 ??

Quoted message said:

The touring bike I like would cost 4k and is more than I
can afford.

Dunno who told you that but there are many tpuring bikes way
under $4000. Hell, I'd buyild you one for $2500 that would
make you the envy of every tour you went on. For starters, a
Bruce Gordom BLT with racks is about $1850 and they don't
get any more touring than that. www.bgcycles.com Phil Brown

Have you tried looking into used machines? I'll bet you can
find some good deals there.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"May you have the wind at your back. And a really low gear
for the hills!"

Chris Zacho ~ "Your Friendly Neighborhood Wheelman"

Chris'Z Corner geocities.comczcornerOpen ↗

From: [email hidden] (Jonathan=A0Kaplan)

Quoted message said:

Check out the new surly long haul trucker. It is a real
touring bike and the frame/fork is going to sell for $400
range. The 54cm and smaller frames are spec'd with 26"
wheel sizes for clearance. You could mount your mountain
bike components. It's going to have front and rear rack
mounts, all the brazeons including a spoke holder. It's
supposed to be available in April or May. It's only
drawback is the ugly pea soup green color.

Quoted message said:

surlybikes.comsurlybikes.comOpen ↗

"Ugly pea soup green color"? You mean Celeste? lol

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"May you have the wind at your back. And a really low gear
for the hills!"

Chris Zacho ~ "Your Friendly Neighborhood Wheelman"

Chris'Z Corner geocities.comczcornerOpen ↗

You can tour on lots of different types of bikes. I have.

The two musts are

1. You must be able to carry your luggage without it banging
off your heels or similar.
2. You should have low enough gears for the terrain you
are going to.

I've toured (mostly) on touring bikes, but have done several
tours on mountain bikes, have done about 4 on a Moulton APB
small wheel bike and done a couple on a hybrid.

In article <[email hidden]>,
[email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

Can a good hybrid be made into an adequate good touring
bike? By adding dropped bars and going to bar end friction
shifters? It seems that it would be cheaper for me to get
a hybrid because they have a 26" tires, canti breaks, and
low gears. These three things add a lot of cost to a bike.

I would want to be able to add front and rear bags and I
am not sure if racks would fit.

The touring bike I like would cost 4k and is more than I
can afford.

My touring bike was inexpensive because the manufacturer did
more or less what you suggested (back in '97 he used a
longer than usual CrMo hybrid frame added drop bars, RSX
brifters and cranks, cantis, mtn rear derailleur, 11-30
cassette and MA2 36h rims). I lengthened the stem a bit and
have a comfortable fit. I bought it in 98 for about 1/3 the
price of a Cannondale tourer and it has been fine for me.

I suspect it would be much less cost-effective to retrofit a
hybrid unless you have a supply of used parts and the spare
time to find out what works.

On Sun, 21 Mar 2004 01:12:46 -0500 (EST), [email hidden]

(Chris Zacho 'The Wheelman') said:

From: [email hidden] (Jonathan Kaplan)

Quoted message said:

Check out the new surly long haul trucker. It is a real
touring bike and the frame/fork is going to sell for $400
range. The 54cm and smaller frames are spec'd with 26"
wheel sizes for clearance. You could mount your mountain
bike components. It's going to have front and rear rack
mounts, all the brazeons including a spoke holder. It's
supposed to be available in April or May. It's only
drawback is the ugly pea soup green color.

Quoted message said:

surlybikes.comsurlybikes.comOpen ↗

thanks I need to call them and find out why they say spec a
38 triple chainring. It sounds like I could not use a 20 or
22 chain ring

Quoted message said:

"Ugly pea soup green color"? You mean Celeste? lol

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"May you have the wind at your back. And a really low gear
for the hills!"

Chris Zacho ~ "Your Friendly Neighborhood Wheelman"

Chris'Z Corner geocities.comczcornerOpen ↗

On Sun, 21 Mar 2004 01:07:44 -0500 (EST), [email hidden]

(Chris Zacho 'The Wheelman') said:

Have you tried looking into used machines? I'll bet you can
find some good deals there.

everyday

daveornee said:

censored Smallboy said:

Can a good hybrid be made into an adequate good touring
bike? By adding dropped bars and going to bar end
friction shifters? It seems that it would be cheaper
for me to get a hybrid because they have a 26" tires,
canti breaks, and low gears. These three things add a
lot of cost to a bike. I would want to be able to add
front and rear bags and I am not sure if racks would
fit. The touring bike I like would cost 4k and is more
than I can afford.

$799 will get you either the 26" wheeled REI Safari:
tinyurl.comvcqiOpen ↗ or the 700C wheeled Randonee with
drop bars: tinyurl.com2fus3Open ↗

Converting a hybrid can work, but mounting racks is usually
a challange. There are also many other toruing bicycles
worth considering that are far less that $4K. Adventure
Cycling's magazine just published a page full of choices,
including some recumbents, and "folding" bicycles suitable
for touring. They also have an article in the most recent
edition about touring with a BOB trailer.

thanks I will look for this magazine

[censored] Smallboy <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

Can a good hybrid be made into an adequate good touring
bike? By adding dropped bars and going to bar end friction
shifters? It seems that it would be cheaper for me to get
a hybrid because they have a 26" tires, canti breaks, and
low gears. These three things add a lot of cost to a bike.

I would want to be able to add front and rear bags and I
am not sure if racks would fit.

"Hybrid" implies 700c wheels. I tour on a bike that
started life as a Specialized Crossroads hybrid (42/32/22
front, gripshifts, seven speed rear, straight bars,
cantis, etc.) It now has drops and bar ends. I've yet to
use front panniers, but have an old-style handlbar bag and
BikeBucket panniers.

I typically tour about a week a year, and cover 6-800
km. Works for
me.

"[censored] Smallboy" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Can a good hybrid be made into an adequate good touring
bike? By adding dropped bars and going to bar end friction
shifters? It seems that it would be cheaper for me to get
a hybrid because they have a 26" tires, canti breaks, and
low gears. These three things add a lot of cost to a bike.

I would want to be able to add front and rear bags and I
am not sure if racks would fit.

The touring bike I like would cost 4k and is more than I
can afford.

Not advisable. I've never seen a steel hybrid for sale
anywhere. And a hybrid won't be built for touring. It won't
stand up to the loads.

As Co-Motion states: "a touring bike also carries a heavy
load, puts extreme strain on wheels..." A touring bicycle
will usually have 40 or 48 spoke dishless wheels.

What touring bicycle costs $4K? You can get an excellent
touring bicycle for around $2K.

Check out the Koga-Miyata Randonneur:
kogausa.comRandonneurspecs.htmOpen ↗ Still $2100, but
touring bikes are few and far between these days. This
looks like the best touring bicycle on the market. Wow, a
lugged frame in this day and age. Even Bruce Gordon doesn't
do lugs anymore.

I like this model better than some of the more expensive
touring bicycles such as the Co-Motion Americano (co-co-Open ↗
motion.com/Amerc.html), because on a long tour you often
want a different riding position than the dropped bars
provide, and the Americano has a threadless headset which
limits your range of height adjustability, unless you start
adding extenders. Also, the Americano is $500 more.

A Bruce Gordon BLT is about $1850 with racks, see
bgcycles.comblt.htmlOpen ↗, but I think that the Koga-
Miyata is worth the extra $400, it's complete with
everything including fenders, Nexus dynamo hub and Lumotec
lights, pump, water-bottle cages, water bottles, lock (not a
good one), kickstand, saddlebag, etc.

A cheaper way to go would be with the Fuji Touring bicycle.
Around $600 for a 2003 model, see
<http://www.sheldonbrown.com/harris/closeouts.html>, and
spending a few hundred dollars equipping it with racks, etc.

If you're committed to that $4K tourer in the future, then
for the present consider a used touring bike; look for a mid
1980's vintage Miyata 1000 or Specialized Expedition (not
the new hybrid Expedition, the old classic touring model).
As Sheldon Brown wrote: "The mid-80s Miyata 1000 was
possibly the finest off-the-shelf touring bike available at
the time." You can spend money to upgrade these, but the
simplicity of downtube mounted friction shifters has its
appeal when touring.

For a touring bike you want: -Steel frame, preferably a
lugged frame, rather than a tig-welded frame. -40 or 48
spoke dishless wheels -Quill headset for adjustability -Braze-
ons for front and rear racks and for three water bottle
holders. -Clearance for fenders -Very low gears

"Steven M. Scharf" <[email hidden]> wrote
in message >

Quoted message said:

Not advisable. I've never seen a steel hybrid for sale
anywhere. And a hybrid won't be built for touring. It
won't stand up to the loads.

As Co-Motion states: "a touring bike also carries a heavy
load, puts extreme strain on wheels..." A touring bicycle
will usually have 40 or 48 spoke dishless wheels.

A hybrid bike won't stand up to the loads of touring? The
hybrid bikes I've seen are usually pretty solid bikes. More
than strong enough for loaded touring.

A touring bike will usually have 40 or 48 spoke dishless
wheels? When did this become the norm? Do you work for Co-
Motion? Co-Motion is the only one I've ever heard of
promoting this wheel concept. Many people have successfully
toured many miles without worrying about trying to fit a
tandem wheel into a normal bike. I would not buy an
Americano bike because of the oddball rear wheel. I've
toured enough to know you want standard parts on your bike.
You do not want rear wheels only a tandem bike shop would
have. Accients can and do happen. You want to go into any
bike shop in Italy or the Czech Republic and buy a wheel and
put it in your bike and be off.

Quoted message said:

For a touring bike you want: -Steel frame, preferably a
lugged frame, rather than a tig-welded frame.

Why steel? Why lugged over TIG? Steel is easier to repair in
remote parts of the world but other than that aluminum will
work just as nicely for a loaded touring bike. This lugged
steel frame preference sounds more emotional than factual.

Quoted message said:

-40 or 48 spoke dishless wheels

No. Go with standard 36 spoke three cross wheels front and
rear. You are far more likely to find spokes, rims, hubs for
these standard 130 or 135 wheels. You want standad parts on
a touring bike so any bike shop will have parts to get you
on the road again. You do not want exotic parts on a loaded
touring bike. Buitl with adequate skill, these standard 36
spoke wheels will work perfectly.

Quoted message said:

-Quill headset for adjustability

I presume you meant quill stem and threaded fork steerer.
Adjustability? I toured an entire summer in Europe and I
never adjusted the quill stem on my bike. I doubt many
loaded tourers ever adjut their quill stems. They get it
right before starting the tour and leave it that way. I've
heard racers will adjust their stem lower throughout the
season as they become more fit, but I doubt tourers do such
nonsense. Threaded forks and quill stems have the advantage
of keeping the headset adjusted correctly as you try to get
the bars straight. But neither is superior or inferior on a
touring bike.

Quoted message said:

-Braze-ons for front and rear racks and for three water
bottle holders.

And preferably double eyelets on the rear dropouts and fork
ends. The Blackburn clamp on low rider can work fine if the
fork does not have the through hole for the non-clamp low
rider rack.

Quoted message said:

-Clearance for fenders -Very low gears

For loaded touring in the Alps or Dolomites I recommend a 22
inner ring paired with a 32 or 34 rear cog. The Rockies are
not as steep and you may be able to get by with a slightly
taller low gear, but I would not recommend it. A 22x34 will
get a nice 17.5 gear inches on a 700C/27" bike.

As for finding a 26" wheeled touring bike, there aren't too
many. Bruce Gordon has his BLT in 26" now. Saint Johns
Street Cycles in England has their Thorn touring bikes in
26" wheel. Some of the Rivendell bikes come with 26" wheels.
And of course you can convert a mountain bike to a tourign
bike by replacing the fork, shifters and/or brake levers,
handlebars and tires. I figured it up as about $300 to
convert my Raleigh mountain bike to a loaded touring bike.

"Russell Seaton" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

A hybrid bike won't stand up to the loads of touring? The
hybrid bikes I've seen are usually pretty solid bikes.
More than strong enough for loaded touring.

They look solid, but they won't stand up to loaded touring.
A classic chromolloy frame mountain bike would be a better
starting point for a conversion to a touring bike.

Quoted message said:

A touring bike will usually have 40 or 48 spoke dishless
wheels? When did this become the norm?

In the 1980's.

See: sheldonbrown.comjapan.htmlOpen ↗. The main
competitor to this was the Specialized Expedition, also with
40 spoke wheels (I have the 1984 Specialized Expedition).

Quoted message said:

Do you work for Co-Motion?

No

Quoted message said:

Co-Motion is the only one I've ever heard of promoting
this wheel concept.

Other manufacturers of touring bicycles also use 40
spoke wheels.

According to Jobst Brandt, renowned wheel builder and author
of The Bicycle Wheel, "The greater the dish or asymmetry,
the weaker the wheel and the sooner the spokes will break
from fatigue."

One other solution to this problem, that can be
achieved without wider spacing, is the use of the off-center-
rims and hubs.

Quoted message said:

Many people have successfully toured many miles without
worrying about trying to fit a tandem wheel into a normal
bike. I would not buy an Americano bike because of the
oddball rear wheel. I've toured enough to know you want
standard parts on your bike. You do not want rear wheels
only a tandem bike shop would have. Accients can and do
happen. You want to go into any bike shop in Italy or the
Czech Republic and buy a wheel and put it in your bike
and be off.

The point is that you don't want to have to rely on there
being a bike shop out in the middle of nowhere. I cycled
through Russia, where you had send to Finland for
replacement parts. One person had their bike "professionally
boxed" for the trip, and the bike shop left out the QR
skewers. By a sheer stroke of luck, I had brought a load of
odds and ends that I had laying around the garage, including
a pair of skewers. They were too long, but we found some
rusty nuts on a fence to use as spacers (no Home Depot to
run to). If someone had broken a wheel, there would have
been no shop to buy a replacement at, no matter the spacing
or number of spokes. And in fact someone did have a rim
problem because they failed to follow the advice I sent out
prior to the tour to equip their bicycle with touring
wheels, not racing wheels. The Russian mechanic (whose main
tool was a hammer) managed to get the wheel somewhat
straight, but it kept popping spokes.

Quoted message said:

Why steel? Why lugged over TIG?

Much less likely to fail. When touring, you want very
reliable equipment. You can't count on phoning someone to
bail you out.

Quoted message said:

Steel is easier to repair in remote parts of the world but
other than that aluminum will work just as nicely for a
loaded touring bike. This lugged steel frame preference
sounds more emotional than factual.

It isn't emotional. It's a fact that steel frames are
stronger than aluminum frames. Lugged frames are easier to
repair, both in remote and non-remote parts of the world.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

-40 or 48 spoke dishless wheels

No. Go with standard 36 spoke three cross wheels front
and rear.

These are too prone to spoke breakage or complete
failure. 48 spoke wheels may be over-doing it, but 40
spoke at a minimum, for 700c wheels. For 26" wheels 36
spoke might be okay.

Quoted message said:

You are far more likely to find spokes, rims, hubs for
these standard 130 or 135 wheels.

Bring spokes with you. Though in the past 20 years I have
never broken a spoke on my touring bicycle, but have broken
spokes on 36 spoke rear wheels. You can always improvise
something with a replacement wheel with a narrower hub, if
necessary.

Quoted message said:

You want standad parts on a touring bike so any bike shop
will have parts to get you on the road again. You do not
want exotic parts on a loaded touring bike. Buitl with
adequate skill, these standard 36 spoke wheels will work
perfectly.

They work fine until they start popping spokes. Pop a few
too many spokes in rapid succession and the wheel collapses.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

-Quill headset for adjustability

I presume you meant quill stem and threaded fork
steerer. Adjustability? I toured an entire summer in
Europe and I never

<snip>

Quoted message said:

straight. But neither is superior or inferior on a
touring bike.

Many riders prefer a less crouched over position on the
touring bike. If you look at the picture of the Comotion
Americano, the bars are too low for a comfortable riding
position. Sure you can buy those funky extenders to solve
the problem, but it's inelegant and costly.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

-Braze-ons for front and rear racks and for three water
bottle holders.

And preferably double eyelets on the rear dropouts and
fork ends. The Blackburn clamp on low rider can work fine
if the fork does not have the through hole for the non-
clamp low rider rack.

The clamp-on Blackburn Low-Rider is a pain in the butt with
the hoop over the wheel. It's usable, but unnecessary on a
touring bicycle that supports the custom low-rider racks.

Quoted message said:

As for finding a 26" wheeled touring bike, there aren't
too many. Bruce Gordon has his BLT in 26" now. Saint Johns
Street Cycles in England has their Thorn touring bikes in
26" wheel. Some of the Rivendell bikes come with 26"
wheels. And of course you can convert a mountain bike to a
tourign bike by replacing the fork, shifters and/or brake
levers, handlebars and tires. I figured it up as about
$300 to convert my Raleigh mountain bike to a loaded
touring bike.

Yes, a good quality mountain bike can be converted to a
touring bike. But a hybrid has a frame and wheels that are
not well-suited to loaded touring.

If I wanted to do long distance touring on a budget then I'd
buy a used Miyata 1000 or Specialized Expedition for $200 or
so. These are strong and simple machines. If I had $2K to
spend I'd get the Koga-Miyata Randonneur.

As to the original subject, odds are that a hybrid could be
used for touring just fine. But you're taking a chance by
using it for purposes for which it was not designed.

One other thing; I've installed rear racks on three hybrids
in the past couple of years. In each case it required some
custom aluminum flat fabrication because the geometry of the
hybrids did not lend themselves to racks. I had to run a
center support down from the rack to the hole in the frame
that would be used for fenders. Thank goodness the
manufacturers use common frame around the world, or that
hole wouldn't be there on bikes sold in the U.S.. While this
set-up is fine for a small rack-top bag, I wouldn't hang 50
pounds of panniers on the rack.

Steven M. Scharf said:

"Russell Seaton" <[email hidden]> wrote in
message

Quoted message said:

A touring bike will usually have 40 or 48 spoke dishless
wheels? When did this become the norm?

In the 1980's.

These 48 spoke rims are like your $400 dynamo systems,
aren't they?

In Britain we are fortunate to have several companies who
still build traditional touring bicycles. A new Dawes
Galaxy? 36 spoke wheels. Chas Roberts? 36 spoke wheels.
Orbit's Romany (their heavy-duty model)? 36. Longstaff? I'll
give you three guesses.

Needless to say people have used all these manufacturers'
bicycles to ride in remote parts of the world.

[Admittedly, Thorn have 48 as an option on their heavy-duty
26" tourers.]

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

happen. You want to go into any bike shop in Italy or the
Czech Republic and buy a wheel and put it in your bike
and be off.

The point is that you don't want to have to rely on there
being a bike shop out in the middle of nowhere.

You don't want to, but sometimes you must. Without a sag
wagon, you're not going to be carrying spare rims.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Why steel? Why lugged over TIG?

Much less likely to fail.

Why are lugged frames less likely to fail?

Quoted message said:

It isn't emotional. It's a fact that steel frames are
stronger than aluminum frames.

Actually, it depends on the design of the frame in question.

Quoted message said:

Lugged frames are easier to repair, both in remote and non-
remote parts of the world.

Sure they are - if you find a blacksmith in India, he's
going to be set up to do silver brazing, and not just weld
some big lumps of metal on. No, wait...
--
David Damerell <[email hidden]>
Distortion Field!

"David Damerell" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Steven M. Scharf said:

"Russell Seaton" <[email hidden]> wrote in
message

Quoted message said:

A touring bike will usually have 40 or 48 spoke dishless
wheels? When did this become the norm?

In the 1980's.

These 48 spoke rims are like your $400 dynamo systems,
aren't they?

In Britain we are fortunate to have several companies who
still build traditional touring bicycles. A new Dawes
Galaxy? 36 spoke wheels. Chas Roberts? 36 spoke wheels.
Orbit's Romany (their heavy-duty model)? 36. Longstaff?
I'll give you three guesses.

Needless to say people have used all these manufacturers'
bicycles to ride in remote parts of the world.

[Admittedly, Thorn have 48 as an option on their heavy-
duty 26" tourers.]

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

happen. You want to go into any bike shop in Italy or
the Czech Republic and buy a wheel and put it in your
bike and be off.

The point is that you don't want to have to rely on there
being a bike

shop

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

out in the middle of nowhere.

You don't want to, but sometimes you must. Without a sag
wagon, you're not going to be carrying spare rims.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Why steel? Why lugged over TIG?

Much less likely to fail.

Why are lugged frames less likely to fail?

Quoted message said:

It isn't emotional. It's a fact that steel frames are
stronger than

aluminum

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

frames.

Actually, it depends on the design of the frame in
question.

Quoted message said:

Lugged frames are easier to repair, both in remote and
non-remote parts of the world.

Sure they are - if you find a blacksmith in India, he's
going to be set up to do silver brazing, and not just weld
some big lumps of metal on. No, wait...
--
David Damerell <[email hidden]>
Distortion Field!

All I can say is MTB, MTB, MTB There are very few places
that you can't find a shop selling crappy MTB's and the
accompanying crappy parts - though in Nth Burma a friend did
have to buy a whole bike (for all of US$79) to get a new
rim. (The alternative was to wait for a week for a rim to
come up from Yangon - a no brainer.)

Hugh Fenton

"Hugh Fenton" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

All I can say is MTB, MTB, MTB There are very few places
that you can't find a shop selling crappy MTB's and the
accompanying crappy parts - though in Nth Burma a friend
did have to buy a whole bike (for all of US$79) to get a
new rim. (The alternative was to wait for a week for a rim
to come up from Yangon - a no brainer.)

This is a good point, if touring in third world countries,
not only for the availability of cheap whole bikes from
China, but for the extra ruggedness of the mountain bike.
Though again, you'll want a quality steel mountain bike to
start with.

Start with the best quality equipment that's suited for the
job, so the chances of having to obtain replacement parts is
smaller to begin with. Don't intentionally go low-end to
start, just because replacement is easier.