DenisMenchov

I want to get a pair of road wheels for my 29er, but not sure how that would work.

I'd like to get some Mavic Aksium wheels, and just be able to swap those out real quick.

Problem is my MTB has avid hydraulic rotors, etc. so trying to figure out how this would work.

esc8engn

um, it won't. unless you like throwing your money away and spending time in hospitals. square peg, round hole.

unless, of course, you never take your 29er into the woods. in which case, you should have bought a flat bar road bike.

mavic makes speed city 700c disc brake ready cyclocross wheels. which you should also not put on a mtb.

DenisMenchov

Care to elaborate why I should not put disc break ready 700c wheels on an mtb for road use? So perhaps I should just get another pair of DT Swiss 470 SL wheels with another set of rotors, and then mount some slicks on it? I just want to be able to swap the wheels out fast rather than have to constantly change the tires out.

yellowjeep

700c disc ready road wheels will be fine for riding around on the street.

Get some LX hubs and Open Pros and you are set.

rnorris

Well, not really all that fast a swap unless you keep identical cassettes mounted on both the road and mtb rear wheels (maybe you already had that in mind). The drivetrain may get a bit flaky as the wear on the cassettes (shared among 2) won't match the wear on chain and front sprockets, particularly if you use one wheelset more than the other. To keep things even I'd be tempted to just swap one cassette between the rear wheels.

BTW I have a Marin Point Reyes with discs and have thought of doing something similar, except in my case I'd be swapping out its 559 MTB wheels for a pair of lighter road 650s for summertime use. There's plenty of clearance in the frame to do this, but disc ready 650 road wheels are rare birds.

DenisMenchov

Yah, I was going to use identical cassettes. As for the flaky wear, I'll keep that in mind. I don't want to get another chain, then that would be almost as bad of a hassle having to swap chains, as it would having to swap tires all the time.

I wouldn't mind just getting some Mavic rims, buy the spokes separate, and build those up making it a disc ready wheel. I mean all I would need to make it work is a disc ready hub I believe. But if I can find a nice lightweight wheel that is disc ready then I'd rather just go that route. Kind weird though, to have 700x23 skinnies on a 29er MTB with disc brakes, and FS, lol.

ghettocruiser

stevage

Dunno about that comment about flaky shifting. Here was my scenario:
- Bought tricross 2008 in May 2008. Destroyed it in October 2008.
- Bought tricross 2009 in November 2009. Immediately removed rear wheel, and kept using the old wheel from Tricross 2008.
- Rebuilt tricross 2008 in June 2009, using the pristine wheel, for my gf. Barely ridden.
- Got a flat one day in July 2009. Grabbed the old wheel, rode to/from work a couple of times, didn't notice any shifting issues.
- A week or two later, the LBS reports that my cassette and chain are "badly worn" and needs replacing.

In other words, I was using a "badly worn" chain with a virtually brand new cassette - no issues.

Cross the bridge when you come to it.

Steve

DenisMenchov

That is what I'm trying to do. Is that your bike and how do you like it on road. I'm curious to know whether you are faster on the road with these.

DenisMenchov

Hey what do you guys think about these vuelta xrp cross wheels...6 bolt disc ready wheels? Will these work with my set up? The disc pattern on my current mtb is 6 bolt, so I'm guessing I could just mount the correct discs on these, and be ready to ride? Says shimano cassette compatible,

https://cgi.ebay.com/New-08-Vuelta-Cy...d=p3286.c0.m14



rim size is 700 x 18mm so I'm guessing 700x23c slicks will fit.

I might just swap out the cassette though before hand so not to mess with weird drive train wear.

RatedZeroHero

get a road bike...

DenisMenchov

I want to see how this goes first. My mtb is comfortable on long rides, but less resistance on skinnies for some road riding would be nice. I'm interested to see how this would work out first before pulling the trigger on a road bike.

Commodus

Looks like the spacing is correct, 700c on your 29er is good...I don't see a problem.

But you'll need another set of rotors right? Surely you don't want to change rotors each time?

This seems like kind of an expensive experiment, if you ask me. Why don't you just buy some cheap slicks for your existing rims and try it out that way? I know this won't give you the ability to change on the fly, but I suspect if you really like the slicks you'll end up buying a road bike, no?

Also, be aware that some tires that work quite well on the dirt also work on the street...my current fav tires, Kenda SB8s are a good example. Depending on your trail conditions, and how long your road rides are, you might be able to get away with one set of tires for most of your riding, keeping tire changes to a minimum.

I dunno, just tossing some ideas out there. Somehow the idea of dropping what...$400 or so? by the time you buy rotors and wheels and tires?...just to 'see how this would work out' seems kinda wrong to me.

kramnnim

You might have issues with the rotors lining up if the hubs on the two wheelsets are not the same... Shims/washers might solve the problem...but it might be easier to just get matching hubs.

ghettocruiser

Yes it is. I use the 700C with 28C slick tires for commuting and general recreational riding, and put on knobby 32C cross tires (2nd pic) for XC races where tire volume isn't a big asset, (i.e. no rocks). I use the old 26" wheelset for general off-road.

The skinny 700C road tires in the first pic are not used on this bike, other than for that dumb picture.

I also run a cross bike and a road bike, so I can compare them... and I'll say it's a step up from 26" slicks in weight and ride quality, but unless the road is very rough, there should be no speed gains from wheel size per se. It's still slower than a road or cross bike, mostly from rider aerodynamics, I suppose.

The real driving force for this build was the lack of 26" road tires with decent ride quality (subjective, I know)



True. Mine lined up, without any shims, totally by accident.

DenisMenchov

Yah I know this is crazy. Well pricing it up, the vuelta wheels are $237, rotors are going to be about $15 each, and then I will need 12 rotor nuts to complete the dirty deal. Tires, going to probably just pick up some cheap $10 ones at performance. Not sure how much the rotor nuts will cost but I'm sure I could get those cheap at a bike shop I would gather, so I'm looking more at $300 for everything with rotors, tires, and inner tubes. My mtb is really comfortable on long rides, so I don't think this is a bad alternative when I do get the road bug any way.

DenisMenchov

Well the specs on the vuelta XRPs are:

100mm spacing on the front
130mm spacing on the rear

Drop out measurements on my mtb:

100mm spacing front
132mm spacing rear

I suppose the rear spacing may be of concern perhaps?

DenisMenchov

I do, and I hardly ride all road routes, it's just that when I do, I'd like to use road wheels but still have the benefit of hydraulic brakes.

stevage

Btw, I find you can change tyres much faster if you leave the tubes inside them. On a good day, I can do both in about five minutes.

kramnnim

The distance from the rotor to the locknut might be different on the hubs...they should be close to the same, but even a .5mm difference could cause the rotor to rub the pads.

M_S

Just to clarify and consolidate, these are the specs you need on any wheelset you purchase.

-700c/29inch
-135 mm spacing for the rear hub, 100 for the front (this is why the Vueltas wil not work.
-Disc ready (either centerlock or 6 bolt mounting)

I would just get another set of 29er wheels, preferably with a narrowish rim. I don't know what your budget is, but I just bought a set of XT wheels for my 29er that would fit the bill. Probably overkill on the road, but you can just as readily use them off-road, and a 28mm road tire should be fine. If you do use them off road, they are also tubeless ready if that appeals. They can be had for about 500 dollars if you shop around, I think.

If you purchase the exact same hubs, however, you are most likely to not have to readjust your brake calipers at all when swapping wheels.

victim

I agree.

DenisMenchov

Well I wish those vueltas would of worked, would of made things easy peasy. So that 3mm is going to throw the brake alignment off? Makes sense I suppose. Maybe I'll sell my current 29er wheels and get the XT wheels your talking about. Did you get yours off ebay? I really don't mind the knobbies on the road lately, lol, that's why I haven't really pulled the trigger. It's fun to mix up a road ride and ride through the grassy fields instead of going around them. I probably couldn't do that in skinnies. I mean I looked at my speed last night with a descent cadence and I was pulling 25 mph at times on road. Of course it was a short ride and would of been tough to sustain. Gotta love these 29ers.

jtgotsjets

If you're just rolling through some grassy fields, that's no problem on skinny slicks. I occasionally take my road bike out on singletrack (the ironman, not the iro). not really any weirder than knobbies on the road

C Law

rotor nuts?

are those like truck nutz?