Mountain Biking - 700cc Wheels on 26" Bike

Sorry guys I know we just had a thread somewhat similar to this, but the only thread on this topic I could find was from '06 & turned up few replies.

I have that old Gary Fisher Wahoo. I'm getting it back from the friend I loaned it to because I definitely want to put some road tires on it & use it for road biking with the family. Assuming my fork & stays have enough clearance, would a 700cc wheel have any adverse affects on handling/geometry? I realize it would raise the height of the top tube & I would have to switch to disc front & rear, & those are concerns for sure, but is there anything else I'm not thinking of?

I probably won't be able to find any wheelsets or breaks cheap enough to justify the change either way, but it's still fun food for thought & gives me new biking stuff to keep an eye out for :)

Sorry guys I know we just had a thread somewhat similar to this, but the only thread on this topic I could find was from '06 & turned up few replies.

I have that old Gary Fisher Wahoo. I'm getting it back from the friend I loaned it to because I definitely want to put some road tires on it & use it for road biking with the family. Assuming my fork & stays have enough clearance, would a 700cc wheel have any adverse affects on handling/geometry? I realize it would raise the height of the top tube & I would have to switch to disc front & rear, & those are concerns for sure, but is there anything else I'm not thinking of?

I probably won't be able to find any wheelsets or breaks cheap enough to justify the change either way, but it's still fun food for thought & gives me new biking stuff to keep an eye out for :)

Would a 650 set work? another member has these posted.

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php/792404-650c-wheelset-Velomax-Easton-Ascent-Conti-tires

No reason you can't go with a road-type wheel in the 26" size. Or fit 650c wheels/tires on it, which are essentially 26" I believe, but give you the skinnier road tire look and performance.

700cc road tires and 26'' mountain tires have approximately the same circumference of 2100-2200mm

if you go fatter, you will run into chainstay clearance issues long before you notice any quirky handling.

Are you putting a road tire on 29er rims or putting road wheels on the bike? If its the latter you have to make sure the rear hub is spaced 135. If its the former you have to makre sure the skinny tires will stay on the wider 29er rims.

700cc road tires and 26'' mountain tires have approximately the same circumference of 2100-2200mm

if you go fatter, you will run into chainstay clearance issues long before you notice any quirky handling.

Are you putting a road tire on 29er rims or putting road wheels on the bike? If its the latter you have to make sure the rear hub is spaced 135. If its the former you have to makre sure the skinny tires will stay on the wider 29er rims.

Didn't realize that about the tire circumference, that's really helpful.

The general idea I was going with was that I really like the way my brother's Surly LHT feels, but they're expensive & a bit excessive in terms of the kind of riding I really do (no more than 40 miles on a long day), so I was going to try putting some wheels as close to the size/width of those on the LHT to hopefully simulate the feel without dishing out so much money. I know the geometry of the frames alone are very different & it's never going to be a Surly, & that I probably won't be able to get the exact same measurements as the LHT wheels, but that was just the basis of the idea.

700cc is a measure of volume... 700C is a wheel size.

http://saptstrength.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/8e634c2b_homer-doh.jpg

http://www.dreambike.com/69.htm

^Heh, a fun idea, but I could just go ahead & get a LHT or a number of other touring bikes for $900.

^Heh, a fun idea, but I could just go ahead & get a LHT or a number of other touring bikes for $900.

http://www.blueskycycling.com/product680_70_-2010-Avid-Mechanical-Ball-Bearing-Five-Disc-Brake-BB5.htm

http://bikeisland.com/cgi-bin/BKTK_STOR20.cgi?Action=Details&ProdID=2349

There you go....700c'ed for under $200

I went the other way, hung up the road bikes for a year and installed semi-slicks on the hardtails for road use. I guess you COULD do what everyone else does and install skinny tires, but I personally didn't think they were ideal for road conditions here.

So I ended up with 26 x 2.3 Geax Tattoos which are incredibly light and don't reduce the gearing the way skinny tires would so my top end is still excellent. I had no problem running with friends on roadies. Also tried some Maxxis Hookworms which are heavier to spin up but again, really didn't slow me down and handled construction sites really well. You don't really NEED to go 700c on those rims to go out with your buddies. A change of tires would be a lot cheaper and maybe a lot more fun. I know everyone is of the opinion that FAT tires are slow and it ain't so! CHEAP tires and / or treaded tires are slow!

A 700x23 wheel/ road tire is about the same height/diameter at a 26x2.1 wheel/knobby tire so not much ride difference. Actually, the 26x2.1 tire/wheel is a bit taller, throw on some semi or semi slicks and they'd be about the same so not much difference in ride handling aside from the slick / knobby tread difference and handling. That said, I had a set of Mavic Speed City (135 rear/disc hubs/700c rim) wheels that I used for training on one of my mtbs. Being a disc set up, it was a hella easy swapout between the two wheelsets. Would be difficult to say the same on a rim brake set up.

I would just put some slicks on your MTB and ride whatever wheels you currently have. As you said it's never going to ride like a LHT so why bother trying? Just ditch the knobbies for long road rides and enjoy it for what it is.

http://farm5.staticflickr.com/4111/5022960291_7f1cb48b52_b.jpg

My GF used this MTB with slicks on it for a year as her only road bike until we built her up a dedicated commuter rig. She has no issues at all.

That's the direction I'm leaning. The main reason I was willing to dish out a few bills on a 700c conversion is because it needs a new wheelset anyway--the current wheels are off a 10+ year old Schwinn X-Mart bike & are just dead...two bad hubs & the rear wheel is out of true. But what I forgot is just how often my friends ask to tag along on the trails, & for the last year I've had to let them use my mom's bike or tell them I don't have a spare. May as well just get a cheap 26" wheelset & some bald tires & call it a day.

That said, any recommendations on wheelsets not exceeding $150, new or easy-to-find used? I was planning on Rhino Lite/XT for $150 from Jenson (Deore hubs are just too cheap), but if there's something better for my purposes then I'm all ears.