kmcrawford111

I came up with a pretty good idea. I run Nokian Extremes in the winter, which are obviously very aggressive. I had a spare wheel built. On it, I mounted a Marathon Plus. Now, if the roads are clear, and there is no snow forecast, I'll swap in the wheel with the smoother tire, which makes tbe commute a little easier. This takes only a minute or two, vs. much longer for mounting another tire on the same rim. I don't swap the rear because I don't think it's worth the hassle and expense, especially with IGH. Benefits:

1. Reduced rolling resistance on clear days

2. Spare wheel available which may be desired for another reason (i.e., wear) anyway

3. Very quick change

4. Reduced wear on (more expensive) studded tire

5. Less desire for having multiple bikes

The only concern is keeping the wear caused by braking relatively even, so adjustments aren't needed. But I found that my older wheel's rotor, which has at least 4,000 miles, worked well enough at the brake pad position for the new rotor's gap. I can swap rotors later as needed to equalize wear. With rim brakes obviously a little more work would be in order - like rotating rims at the end of the season.

I'm using locking skewers, but with any wheel-locking system this is much easier than remounting a tire.

This makes more sense for longer rides because the benefit of reduced resistance is compounded.

alan s 

It's a great idea, however the use of a second wheelset or having a separate winter bike is pretty common, at least among the folks here. I'm in the camp that uses one wheelset with Gatorskins and another with Marathon Winters on my commuter bike. I hate the slow ride with studded tires, and take them off as soon as conditions allow. The studded tire wheelset will be back on tomorrow with 1-2" of snow on the way tonight.