Should I Buy Another Set of Wheels and Tyres?

[G2EWS]

Hi All again,

Sorry, but I will ask a lot of questions as I try to work out what I am doing right or wrong and hopefully improving!

So this is my new bike:

• Frame: Lightweight carbon MTB race/trail chassis
• Fork: Rockshox Reba Race 100mm travel with remote lockout and pop-lock
• Chainset: FSA V-drive Mega EXO 22t/32t/44t
• Bottom Bracket: FSA Moto Mega EXO sealed catridge outboard bearings
• Front Derailleur: SRAM X-9
• Rear Derailleur: SRAM X-0
• Pedals: Alloy platform
• Shifters: SRAM X-0 Trigger
• Cassette: Sram PG-980 Powerglide II 9speed 11-34t
• Chain: Sram PC-971
• Rims: Mavic Crosstrail Disc UST wheelset
• Hubs: Mavic Crosstrail Disc UST wheelset
• Tyres: Continental Mountain King 2.2" UST
• Brakes: Quad Stinger Pro hydraulic disc brakes with 160mm rotors
• Levers: Quad Stinger Pro
• Handlebar: Ritchey PRO Rizer 670mm width, 20mm rise, 31.8mm OS
• Headset: FSA Orbit IS2 Integrated
• Stem: Ritchey PRO 4-Axis stem 31.8mm OS - 16"=90mm, 18"=100mm, 20"=110mm
• Saddle: Oultand El Ray MTB with cromo rails
• Seat Post: Ritchey PRO 27.2mm x 350mm

I started using it last week for my daily commute of 5 miles each way to the office. I also quite fancy doing something like the London to Brighton run. Obviously starting off a little bit less ambitious!
The idea was to change the tyres to hybrid ones as almost all of the commute route is on the road, with a little bit of dirt track near home.
Having enjoyed going off road today I am wondering if a better idea would be to get a new set of wheels with road tyres that I could use for my commute and be able to easily change when I fancy going off road.
It would of course save a lot of time and as the current tyres are tubeless ones, I am beginning to realise that taking them off and putting back on could be a bit of a fiddle.
They appear to be 26" wheels and I have seen a lot of deals from Chain Reaction Cycles for half price 2011 wheelsets.
So if it makes sense to buy another set of wheels, what should I go for?
Thanks for your help.
Best regards
Chris

 

[Deleted member 20519]

Why do you need new wheels?

 

[Lee_M]

Didn't he answer that on his original post? ie because it would be easier to swap between road and track use

 

[Deleted member 20519]

Oh, I see. That would make it easier and sure, if you have money for new wheels - I couldn't justify spending £100+ on wheels to save 10 minutes changing tyres though.

 

[Deleted member 23692]

That's what I've done on my MTB - one set with knobblies for off roading , and another with 2" Big Apples for knocking about on tarmac. As you've said it makes swapping very easy to do.. a 2min job in my case

 

[ColinJ]

It sounds like a nice mountain bike but is a dedicated road bike out of the question? (If it is, then I'd go for a second pair of wheels shod with nice skinny slick tyres.)

 

[G2EWS]

At the moment a second or should I say fourth bike would be a silly idea. I am getting rid of my first two, no value and of little use.

I always said I would never want a road bike and indeed a drop handlebar would be a problem I am sure, with two discs embedded in my spinal cord. Bending that far over may cause some difficulty.

So trying out a new set of wheels and tyres seems a low cost choice. If I get on with it, who knows I may just buy another bike, but not until I've proven to myself that this is not just a fad and I can stick with it! At the moment I just look forward to the trip into the office in the morning and return journey.

Hi Jazloc,

I understand that the tubeless tyres I have are a bit of a pain to put back on anyway, so again having another set of wheels seems a sensible idea.

So guys what should I go for given the spec I already have? Any suggestions?

Best regards

Chris

 

[RussellZero]

I always thought N + 1 applies to components, accessories and other be related kit as well as whole bikes themselves, so it's a no brainer.

 

[wheres_my_beard]

I always thought N + 1 applies to components, accessories and other be related kit as well as whole bikes themselves, so it's a no brainer.

The crimping on the end of one of my cables looks a bit off colour. Can I haz a new bike?

To OP, save your money for some decent 26" slicks & tubes for your current wheelset. You'll end up with all sorts of fapping about with your disc brakes if you chop and change between wheel. Can your mind can be changed about going off-road or on-road in the time it takes to change tyres...

 

[wheres_my_beard]

Also, go for tubed tyres. I bet tubeless are a fap to fix in an emergency. Never tried them. Probably never will.

Those are my thoughts.

 

[G2EWS]

I understand tubeless are brilliant for off road and only fail if the tyre splits. They suggest carrying a tube for spares.

As far as I can see they have a liquid in, hence being a pain and not a ten minute job to change tyres!

Chris

 

[MacB]

You certainly wouldn't want to be swapping tubeless tyres over on a regular basis. Much as I would favour the idea of a spare wheelset it may not be as straight forward as you'd hope. We can discount the cost of tyres and tubes as you'd need them whatever you did. But you need to factor in the wheelset, spare rotors to go on it and maybe skewers as well if they don't come supplied.

I'm all for less faff but you'd have to swap over the cassette each time. You could run two cassettes but wear rates could get tricky, maybe two chains would sort that. But you may also need to adjust the brakes every time to account for variances in hubs and rotor wear.

You mention you already have other bikes, it would be even less faff to set one of them up purely for the commute and keep the MTB setup for offroad. 5 miles each way I'd be looking at low maintenance and as few gears as I could get away with, maybe even singlespeed.

 

[G2EWS]

Hi MacB,

Many thanks for your thoughts, you seem to have explained in a similar fashion to wheres my beard that it might end up being a complicated job to change wheels not the simple swap over I expected. Not what I want!

However, Ffoeg seems to have managed a way round it. I wonder what he has done that makes it easy?

Regards

Chris

 

[Deleted member 23692]

I just bought complete wheels - with brake rotors, cassette et all. Obviously it's not the cheapest solution, but it's certainly the most convenient.

Mine are CRC custom builds. I used the same hubs and rotors as on my original wheelset, to minimise the chance of any caliper alignment problems between the two sets, and thankfully there isn't . Rims are Mavic XC717, and are spokes DT Swiss 2-1.8mm competition stainless.

Back in 2009 when I bought them, the complete wheels (inc sundries like rim tape, skewers etc) came in at a tad under £240. I've since bought a wheel bag to keep the non-use set in. As I live in a 2 bed flat, space is at a premium so two wheelsets/one bike gives the flexibility of two bikes without loss of space.

I've also got a spare set of wheels ready to go, so there's no down-time should I have a 'mishap'

 

[MacB]

If it's something you're going to do then, as per Ffoeg, the same hubs are going to give you the best chance of a lack of brake faff. This was something I gave serious consideration to and ended up with another bike instead, but I don't have much in the way of space limitations.

My problem was I wanted as little hassle as possible and no-one can deny the easiest of the lot is just being able to wheel out a different bike.

I'd still not rule it out but I would plan it carefully.