The simplest solution I've found to this is to get a second front wheel. They are cheap (relative to the rear wheel), and most of the benefit of larger/smaller tires comes from the front wheel anyway (as long as I don't get a pinch flat on the rear).
Odd that some people say its not a hassle. The hassle factor is totally dependant on your tire/rim combo. Its not hard when it goes well, its a nightmare when it doesn't Some tires just fit too loose to seat easily, some tires are so tight I can't even get then on the wheel when new. Only you know your situation.
Personally, it sucks when I do this and somehow get a leak in a system that was fine before I futzed with it. Is it the tape, the tire, the valve, something else???
Rule #1. Don't do this the night before a race or big event. Get one good breakin ride before you really need it.
- whether I need tubeless for the riding I do, if I got a second wheelset do I need it tubeless (two tubeless wheelsets even less necessary).
90% (or more) of my flats are on the rear. so, IMHO, I don't really *need* tubeless on the front. I do need in on the rear if I want to prevent flats.
So again, if I'm only changing out the front tire (I have 4, lol), I'll often just throw a tube in the front.
Originally Posted by
Noonievut
I have one wheelset (for now) with my allroad bike and I’m running it tubeless. I was considering the whole second wheelset thing but now I’m leaning towards swapping tires when I really want to, which may be only a handful of times a year, sticking to one wheelset:
- late fall, put on my winter tires (they’re on there now, tubeless, but I may even use tubes next winter)
- in the spring I would swap to my ‘summer’ tires, definitely tubeless and do my mixed surface rides
- maybe 1-2x in the summer I’ll want another tire (for an event or special trip)
I’ve set up tubeless once, and swapped wheels once. One wheel during the swap was easy, other had a tape issue and had to be re-taped.
While the above may be a bit of a hassle I like the idea of one wheelset, with some time spent swapping tires and possibly new tape or valves as needed, as part of what I’ll just deal with.
Anyone do this, or is the norm to use two wheelsets (even if infrequent changes like I’ve mentioned)?