Make my MTB faster by switching out rear wheel?
 

I got a new rear wheel for my nishiki alien MTB (cl find) because the skewer was jacked. Had lbs transfer cassette to new wheel since was comparative to repair of original wheel. Curious if it is a possibility to get a more 'road appropriate' cassette and put on the old wheel so I can change them on the fly depending if I want to gear note for flats vs hills?

Putting a differently geared cassette shouldn't be a problem - within reason. As long as your RD can take up any added chain slack, which is should.

Still biggest air resistance is you on the saddle , sitting Up. and air pushes back harder the faster you Go.

Thought it may be a good use of spare wheel. What would you do if you had a spare wheel?

Install a thinner high pressure slick tires .. same wheel.

You may be thinking of putting a wheel on that the brake Pads wont reach the rim, for all I can guess

your post being devoid of measurements and specifics.

26" wheels.

it was cheaper to get a new wheel than replace a skewer?

putting a cassette on there shouldnt be an issue

it's the old wheel so the brakes will reach, one way or another

all 559_26" wheels? Go for it .. But, faster is still about the effort you put out .

wise enough words.

thank you all for your replies.

i didn't have the tool to remove the cassette and thought it would be done a lot faster if let them do it. labor included, quote was same for new singlewall rim vs rebuild of old wheel.

so... :\

Your current cassette has smallest cog of what, 11? 12? 13? The RD is presumably able to take up slack on that cog, so it will also be able to do it with a road cassette which will have probably an 11 smallest/fastest cog.

Your limiter on a mtb though would be that you could spin out in the top gear because your mtb chainrings are smaller than typical road chainrings.

If you replace the mtb cassette with a road cassette, that will not buy you more speed, all it will do is exchange climbing ability for close gearing, i.e. your gear range would get compressed towards the top of what you already have.

If you want to go fast on a mtb, as recommended above, #1 criteria is to make sure you have tires that are smooth enough in the center profile that you can roll fast on asphalt.

Missing from previous posts is any mention of the front chainrings contributions to the overall gearing. IMO a bigger front ring than the standard 48T is the ticket to lower ETA's but Fietsbob's observations have some validity. Still, I like to have a couple of big gears onboard when there is a tailwind, or when I'm on a downgrade (whee!!) or when the yellow signal is stale (!!!). YMMV.

Did you say Alien? An elevated stay one? Please post a pic

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=506497 ..before

https://goo.gl/photos/n5VBMjbaAzy8MahLA ... after, so far..

http://www.bikeforums.net/touring/10...endeavors.html ... initial post with some of the issues i found when i got carried away with this little project ...

I bought a 1997 Nishiki Blazer MTB in 1997 for commuting. I put a 53-tooth ring up front, the largest that would physically fit. It took a while to dial in the front deraillieur, but it made a slower-cadence "masher" like me much faster and very happy. I switched out the original knobbie tires for hybrid-knobbies with a smooth center-line, but knobs on the sidewalls. Those made cruising even better and faster, but cornering was dicey. I eventually switched to full road tires 26 x 1.75 and have never looked back. Over the years I added inboard bar ends and an aero bar. Stretched out low on the aero bars I can maintain 24mph for a while on the flat (and low traffic) sections of my commute. Last year I bought a new commuter, a light, steel, semi-touring bike. I put knobbie studded tires on the old bike and have been enjoying the snow and ice.

If "skewer was jacked" = stolen, sorry about that, and sure you can. Slicks on a MTB for commuting are great. And the idea of a higher cassette to go with it is a good one too.

If "skewer was jacked" = bent or broken, you should probably check for a broken axle

Keep in mind that you'll have two different cassettes wearing differently, and if the road one wears much faster (comparatively), then you may get skipping issues if you switch back over.

Make my MTB faster by switching out rear wheel?
 

.. For one with an Electric Motor In it? :rolleyes:

ha... i've resolved that i'll just stick with my gear set and put my slick tires back on (i switched to some conti top contact ii winter tires for a few weeks of sporadic snow here in st louis... crazy weather here. 4 inches of snow in morning. gone by afternoon. wish i hadn't splurged on tires almost).

skewer jacked = severely bent.

so... i rebuilt my bottom bracket again because of crank jiggling (they both jiggle).

discovered that one of the ball bearing cages was looser than the other (during my initial work, i had bought replacement for just one side because i didn't realise that when replacing bearings you should overhaul all of them not just the one that was mauled)..

so.. bearings an issue probably.

also noticed a fracture line on the threading of the chain-side bottom bracket cup/race..

does this warrant a replacement of the bottom bracket assembly?

[h=1][/h]

only 12 months for Mfg Defects , New parts , (ask bike shop you bought From)

Pardon, I meant warrant as in reason enough to replace, not warranty. Warranty probably would not be available since CL/used bike.

Created separate thread for that specific problem earlier.