How heavy/light

[Rykard]

Hi,
I was out on my 25? yr mtb at the weekend. It was an odd experience. On some of the roads it seemed to fly on others it was like a slug.. this got me thinking as to whether the wheels/tyres could be the issue.. get them rolling and it retains the speed etc.. so my question is how heavy / light should a decent set of 26" mtb wheels weigh?

and moving on from there - how much should I pay for a decent set of 'light wheels '

 

[Wester]

I find that my MTB/ tyres perform much better on rough road surfaces than on smooth road surfaces

 

[HovR]

Not sure what the standard is, but I just weighed my Spesh Hardrock Comp's front wheel (complete with tire, skewer etc) as 1.8KG.

If you're riding your MTB primarily on the road, you will probably find that slick tires fit your riding style better. Not only is the rolling resistance lowered, but it gets rid of the annoying tire noise!

 

[Rykard]

sorry didn't give you the full picture... i was 'reliably' informed there would be tracks involved so put some wilko spec 'mtb' tyres on.. instead of my 'road' tyres.. but on the road they would sometimes roll well and sometimes not - which started me thinking about the effect of heavy wheels/tyres..

 

[HovR]

Well wheels are supposed to be one of the best upgrades to a bike you can make. I read somewhere that rotating weight is worth 3x more than if that weight was non-rotating (i.e. adding 200 grams to the wheels is equivalent to 600 grams on the frame).

Then again, wheel upgrades can be expensive (assuming your wheels are already alloy, not steel), so you'd have to consider whether the bike is worth spending that kind of money on which could be put towards a new bike.

 

[Rykard]

Well wheels are supposed to be one of the best upgrades to a bike you can make. I read somewhere that rotating weight is worth 3x more than if that weight was non-rotating (i.e. adding 200 grams to the wheels is equivalent to 600 grams on the frame).

Then again, wheel upgrades can be expensive (assuming your wheels are already alloy, not steel), so you'd have to consider whether the bike is worth spending that kind of money on which could be put towards a new bike.

that's my thinking - which is why I'm asking what constitutes a light wheel..no point in spending £2-300 on new wheels when the bikes 'worthless' or if the wheels are ok already

 

[Robwiz]

I've found on my road bike that out on rides, some hills feel 'steeper than usual' and require more effort or a lower gear. I put it down to my physiology - tiredness after a faster/harder section, need to re-hydrate, need a snack, etc.,

 

[Rykard]

it was all over the ride sometimes blast up the hill, other flat felt hard... it was bizarre

 

[Cubist]

You can get a good pair of quality budget MTB wheels for £130 at Superstar components. They will weigh about 2kg for the pair. Team them up with a lighter tyre and you should be on a winner.
http://superstar.tibolts.co.uk/product_info.php?cPath=40&products_id=536
Another £20 will get you these Superleggera , 1750g a pair. In terms of quality, I have owned a pair of these for three years with very few problems.
http://superstar.tibolts.co.uk/product_info.php?cPath=40&products_id=227