The next step....spare wheelset
 

I just ordered a spare wheelset. I'm tired of switching back and forth between Nokians (days like yesterday and today) and the gatorskins (dry days) so I bit the bullet and bought spare wheels. The ones I'm using are 36 hole mavic a719 3cross laced to 105 hubs. The spare set I got the black rims/hubs/spokes of the same rim, but with deore front hub (in case I ever switch to disc brake up front). So here's the big question...

Should the black wheelset get the good weather tires or the bad weather tires?

I plan to run an 11/32 on with the nokians and a 12/25 with the gatorskins. Now I just have to wait for them to arrive!

It was quite a trick convincing my wife that the mavic ma3 on 105 hubs wouldn't work as a spare on the commuter because I'm using them as the training wheelset on my roadbike while using the rollers over winter.

"so you need a spare wheelset, even though you already have a spare wheelset?" :)

Good thing you weren't trying to convince me.

I'd have asked why you needed to change tires just because it's raining. :D :beer:

Dude, SNOWING, not raining.

Sorry, my bad. Didn't check the location. Snow? That's that white fluffy stuff that falls from the sky when it's cold out, right? Was working outside today in a T-shirt, myself. :D

I am thinking of getting a new wheel set also...

But am thinking the "same" rear Cassette would be better on the chain?

I thought about a spare wheelset, but then decided I'd give it a shot one winter before dropping more money on the bike. By February I might be singing a different tune, but now I stand ready with tire levers in hand wondering if I'll need to change over for Monday's storm.

You may luck out and the swap might go very well when you need it.

You may run into..
Having to readjust the rear derailleur each time (the end stops and the other one too). The wheels might have a different offset so the brakes might need adjusting.
If one cog set is new and the other is old you have a different amount of wear on the chain, you might get some skipping.

All you need is another bike for the Nokians. :D

There ya' go. Just get another bike. I have multiple bikes and don't even get the fluffy, wet, cold stuff here. :)

All those reasons just make it smarter to match wheelsets as close as you can. Works for me.

I did the same thing for the same reason, but I got cheap wheels at the LBS to run the studs on. I am not happy with them and regret that decision a little bit, but I keep them around - in summer I put knobbies on one set and my slicks on the other so I can commute of venture off road with less hassle.

use the black set for bad weather, then it wont look bad dity, keep the lighter shades for cleaner weather.

I got a spare wheelset for my Nokians, because changing tires is a pain and leads to flats (at least when I do it), but also because the Nokians are 26x2.25 or so and my slicks are 26x1.2, and rims that fit one don't really fit the other. No problems with the cassette or derailleur, but rim brakes need to be adjusted because of the dramatic difference in wheel width. So I got disc brakes.

I think my next purchase will be a snow bike.

Maybe just get a spare front wheel, so you'll only have to change the one tire. The headache is cut in half. Otherwise you might be switching the headache of changing tires for the headache of chain skipping. I tried a spare wheel set a few years ago because I was tired of changing between off road and street tires. It didn't really work well for me.

Just got an idea.

I'd get a spare set of knobby 26" tires and wheels - used - or a whole used bike and slap an 18 tooth track gear on that thing.

50 screws later on each wheel and voila! ... instant snow bike.

No need for brakes to tool around, not commute, on the trail with 18 tooth

That's the trouble with women. They always resort to irrefutable logic.

Changing wheels is a pain. Better to get a second bike!

+1 to the second bike. Or third. Instead of fixing the hubs on my ice bike [Brodie], I'm just going to buy another set of wheels to ride in the summer. And cranks. And a BB. My wife is very understanding...

A second set of wheels are nice......I normally keep a spare set incase of broken spoles and bent rims. But the second bike option is a lot nicer. I keep 2 commuter bikes going, but then again I don't do snow and ice. To old for that ****......

used to do the spare wheel thing when I commuted on my MTB. One set with slicks for the weekdays, one set with knobbies for the weekends. Same rims, same hubs, same cassete. Never had a problem with the rear derailuer. My biggest problem was that I had discs. It seemed that I could never really get the rotors to sit clean in the pads. The tollerances were too close. PITA. Finally solved the problem by getting a road bike.

I will make you a good deal on some Sun rims on deore hubs though!