My touring bike came with a 700 wheels i have rode on gravel roads with it even sand by letting the tyres down a bit i really like my frame with this bike it is purpose built touring bike it is the vivente world randonneur hope fully you can see it on this link it comes standard with everything great bike have a read https://www.viventebikes.com/product/...nt/0/t/product but now i have been touring for a while i really like the idea of going on the back tracks getting away from all those trucks and caravans it looks like the 700 tyre is going to let me down in this area, the problem is i have invested a lot of money in this bike and do not want to have to fork out money all over again.

Can anyone share there experiences with what they know or have done with a road tourer on 700 wheels? To give you an idea i just met a guy traveling the world here in Australia www.brinkadventures.org who is traveling on the beaches down the east coast and camping on isolated beaches at night the whole beach to himself i love the idea

Looks like a really nice bike.

Since it comes OEM with 40mm wide tires, Schwalbe Marathons, can you put anything larger on there? Or, consider a tire with a more aggressive tread. I know Schwalbe makes several options, as do others.

Schwalbes new Dureme comes in 50mm wide. How much wider do you want? Or, their Extreme comes in 40, with a pretty aggressive tread.

I think you should be checking tire options, rather than wheel options.

The only reason I would consider changing the wheels is quick availability of replacement tubes/tires if needed. The only places I remember seeing 700 tubes is bike shops, but it seems every big box/hardware store/farm supply store have 26" tubes and tires. So just make sure you have spare tubes and possibly a spare tire and have fun

I have happily used 700x47 tires for on and off pavement touring for over twenty years. Only deep soft sand and large boulder fields present problems. Adjusting air pressure to the conditions is essential for traction, float and comfort on a rigid bike off pavement. Limiting your equipment load also helps on steep soft climbing off pavement.
If I could fit a larger width higher air volume tire I would do so as the 29er bikes allow. Try the widest tire that fits your bike and see how it works for your goals. Good Luck.

Consider that whether it is tires, wheels, tubes, rack, or bottom bracket you cannot expect everything to be local when you need a part. Look at worst case. If you are at a place where you can get a 26" tire you are probably at a place you can have something shipped in to you in a day or two. And if you carry a spare tire how likely is this to occur?

The only reason I would switch to 26" wheels was if the terrain was such that I needed the wider tread and lower tire pressures. Otherwise the 700c are just fine for me.

How wide a tire will your bike fit? How much room is there between the chainstays and the sidewalls of the rear tire? How much extra room is there between the fork blades and the sidewall of the front tire?

If there's room you could always fit a wider 700 tire, but 700x40 seems plenty wide to me for most off pavement use. Wider tires add weight, and at a certain point it becomes difficult or impossible to get an inflated tire past the brake blocks when removing or re-installing the tire for any reason.

If you can get them to fit between your chainstays and fork blades, Schwalbe has a selection of tires from 42mm to 62mm wide. Be warned, though, they weigh as much as 1 kilogram/2.2 pounds each.

Thank you to all you guys for the advice I thought before i bought this bike that i had done all the research i needed then as you gain more experience you find you could go with something else eg the 26inch wheel, but you are right the 700 rolls real well and i will look into putting a more aggressive tyre on that seems the easiest solution cheers

I agree. Where are you thinking of cycling?

I've cycled with 700x35 tyres on road across Russia (~1700km of gravel), road to Prudhoe Bay, Alaska (~500km of gravel) and road to Inuvit, NWT (~700km of gravel). On a gravel track such as Gibb River Road in Western Australia, I'd also use 700x35. If I knew I was cycling on softer roads or beaches, then I'd look at a wider tyre a least on the rear wheel. A spare tyre and some spare tubes is a good thing to carry.

As far as changing wheels because of availability of tubes/tyres goes - I'm not sure I would do that if you already have 700c wheels. While I have found 26x1.75" to be a more common tyre size - typically the quality in those out of way places may not be as good and so I end up in the larger towns anyways. When I cycled around Australia (on sealed roads), there weren't any places to buy either size tyre between Mt Isa and Katherine. Photo above shows wear on my tyres when I finally reached Katherine with back @ 4500km and front @ 9300km of wear. I did still have a spare (and probably should have gotten an additional one in Mt Isa). However, if I'd had 26" tyres I still wouldn't have been able to find one in that gap - and if the quality of the tyres was worse, then they would have been more worn. So, I concentrate instead on having good quality tyres and have a good folding spare than worrying too much about 700c vs. 26".

+1

I Toured northern Yunnan province, China, the Southern Himalaya, some god awful lanes and yak tracks on 700c wheels with Shwalbe marathon 35mm tires. I did not have to face deep soft sand, so had no problem. I did let air out a few times, ran with 45 pounds in them more than once. no issues.

that said, if you had to face real soft sand for a long way, i'd say a wider tire is in order, and possibly different rims. I imagine you can get by with 700c for almost everything if it will handle a 45 or 50 mm tire.

Nothing wrong with 700 wheels, you can argue it either way. I try to stay at or under 35 mm. If I needed 50 mm wheels I would prefer 26" wheels mainly to keep the weight in line.

I saw 700 tubes, not sure of width, with presta valves even in the WalMart this week.

In some conditions it helps to have wider tires.

I don't think it's a bad thing having the 700C wheels. A myth has somehow gotten around that they are limited to riding only on paved roads, or something close to it. They aren't. You can get way back out there into the wild.

As Niles says, considering 29ers are just MTBs built on 700 C rims. It is certainly feasible, the issue is whether the weight is worth it. I have always managed on 1.5" tires, normally slicks. But it doesn't take much imagination to come up with conditions requiring a lot more tire. I just don't have extended off-road touring options around here. For a mostly road bike I prefer easy rolling tires, and I get by by releasing tire pressure in sandy conditions. I have reduced pressure to as little as 25 pounds.

I rode 2000km Broome to Kununurra via Kalambaru last year, most of it on dirt, some of it very corrugated soft gravel, some of it rock hopping, on a stock Vivente Randonneur with 700 x 35 Marathons and I was surprised and impressed with how effective the tires were for cutting through the crests of the corrugation ridges, leveling out the ride.
I believe a smaller diameter and wider wheel would have been less comfortable and slower. on a fully loaded bike, fat tires can induce a lot of drag that wears you out and slows you down.
There was an occasional time I had to get off and push, but those stretches would have stopped a 26 inch bike weighing net 125 kg anyway.
that said, the spare tire i did take (and not need to use) was a 700 x 40.
Boy those marathons are magical tires

I've found 700x35mm tyres fairly capable for lightly loaded off road tours.

These guys think 700x35 -700x42 are OK for expedition touring with 20kg load.

https://www.sentient-entity.toucansur...ng_wheels.html

I don't get it.

I've ridden from Alaska to Peru with 700 x 35 tires so far and plan to continue on down to the tip of South America. I've been fine with them - including 400 miles of dirt on the Dalton Highway in Alaska.

punctuation can be helpful

That bike has disc brakes.... If you really want to spend the money, and think it will buy you that much more tire width to go with 26" wheels, you can always just pop in a pair of disc equipped 26" rims and ride on, no problem. For the record, I like my 700c wheels, but I don't ride on sand.