Thanks for the reply, blakcloud.

Do QRs sometimes pop out with extreme braking? Didn’t know that... I think the Sequoia would fit my purposes a bit better, without duplicating what I Have already (a reasonable trail bike that’s easy to ride and can tour off road with some simple mods—the Farley).

Do you (or others) have any idea about hub/spoke/wheel maintenance to minimize the chances of wheel failures? I’ve heard something about routine bike washes washing away grease somewhere in the wheel? I have no idea about any of this stuff! I don’t want to get too crazy—I feel fine about rolling back into the LBS and having them replace stuff—I just want to minimize my chances of getting stranded on the commute!

Also, do ppl think tubeless is better for commuting on a bike like this (with tire size 38-42) or would tubes actually be easier to deal with if there was a flat or problem on the commute? i.e.,, How “bulletproof” would the tires be and how easy would it be to fix a tubeless flat (if I did get one) on a commute?

My farley has 3.8 in Hodag tubeless (love that tire, actually) and they have never failed me yet—probably over 500 miles, roads, gravel, technical singletrack — but this could be a factor of the beefiness of the tire itself, not the tubeless set up....