As the life of my stock 700cc wheelset on my 520 comes to an end, I was checking out prices of replacement wheelsets. Mtb wheelsets of the same quality seem to go for around 100 bucks cheaper, and from my experience on mountain bikes, take a beating and ask for more. Advantages i am seeing: 1. cheaper. 2. tires, tubes, wheels available around the world. 3. tougher. 4. more tread/width versatility. For a touring, commuting setup, what other disadvantages are there other than stopping power? I run32s and am not planning on going any skinnier.

Are you speaking of wheel differences for a new bike or are you thinking of 26" wheels on your 700c 520 bike?

I think 26 inch is better for touring but you'll get lots of argument on this and the differences are not great. Both are good choices for touring. But you can't just throw a 26 inch wheel onto a frame built for 700c wheels without running into problems. Even if the brakes would reach (and you have cantilevers, right?), the drop in BB height may well mean you will clip your cranks when cornering (which is no fun unless you happen to like falling).

Bjforrestal, Changing your 520 to 26" may also require a change of the brakes as the canti studs are positioned for a 700C rim. If you can, test fit for adaptability the 26" wheels from the mountain bike.

Brad

So it's a pretty significant size change, more than 27 to 700c . I have v brakes now, and yes, come to think of it there is less room for adjustment than I expected. I now plan on just having a new wheelset built with my current hubs once the braking surface is done for.

I'd build the wheels with high quality 700c rims like the mavic a719 or the velocity dyad.

Generally a 26X1.5 tire that is about 37 to 40mm wide is considered a narrow tire for 26 inch wheels. But a 700cX37 tire is considered to be pretty wide as 700c tires go. But, they are both about the same width.

Bottom line, if you are likely to stay narrower than 37 to 40mm, go with 700c. If you are likely to use a 37 to 40mm width tire as your narrowest, consider 26 inch.

I have several touring bikes, my 700c bike is my "pavement" bike, my 26 inch wheel bikes are my "off road" bikes. That said, I have used one of my 26 inch touring bikes with 40mm wide tires on a 500 mile on-pavement tour and it worked fine for that. Thus if I was going to pick one size for all purposes (on and off pavement), I would pick 26 inch. But if I was going to do all of my touring on pavement, I would consider both options.

This topic has been covered in great detail, do some searches for more info.

Stick with whatever wheel size your frame is designed for - putting different-sized wheels on there will seriously affect the handling of the bike, and almost never in a good way - as people have noted in this thread.

Wheels are just another wear item -- like tires on your car; when they wear out, get some more. Grumbling at the price is allowed for both.

You might consider putting new rims on your old wheels as a winter project. Get (a) identical rims to what's on there now, or (b) rims with the same ERD. Tape the new rim to the old wheel, transfer spokes one at a time, then true and tension. Cost for the rims only will be about $120-200, depending on what's on there now and what you replace it with. Repack the bearings while you're in there if spring hasn't arrived by then!

You shouldn't be paying much more for the 700C wheels, there are identical component wheels for touring bikes, same rims spokes and hubs.

Concept for 26 inch wheels was same diameter with a 2" tire as the 700c with racing skins on it. So in a sense they thought 700c was the right diameter. I have ridden a lot on 26 inch with 1.5s, and I think it is a great option, but then the MTB dudes burst a vessel and get all trendy on running the big tires on 700c (29er). Only thing I can get excited about is that smaller wheels can have less compromise on smaller frames, other than that it is anyone's guess.

As far as parts replacement is concerned, all touring gear is a relative nightmare. If you really want to run the stuff you started with you need to carry the spares. They may have 26 incher gear overseas, getting a rim or tire replaced on the spot is a long shot. If you are really going off track you can carry folding tires, and you can even stash a rim in pieces.

Cannot stop the bike grabbing the sidewall of the tire, want a 26" wheel touring bike now ? go Buy One.

sell the 520 .. others will appreciate it for what it is..

Even if it was doable it would screw with the handling.

Not to mention lowering your bottom bracket by more than an inch. Pedal strike will become a problem.

Just a general comment but I've discussed with some people the fact that it seems like when you're under 5'9" (or under 175cm), you may find 26 inch more compatible with your size than 700c wheels. And I prefer the turning circle of 26 inch wheels.

I wouldn't put 26 inch wheels on a frame made for 700c wheels however. There's often sales of frames from places like Nashbar, Chainreactioncycles and Cambriabike etc.

I swap 26" and 700c wheels on my bike regularly, with no noticeable change in handling, in part because the overall diameter of the wider 26" tires is about the same as narrower 700c tires. Of course, this requires having disc brakes and a frame that will accept wider tires.

For the OP, you'll most likely want to stick with the original size wheels.

One thing I've found is this: it's far easier to get the tire off a 700c (wide hybrid rim) than a 26" wheel. Fixing a flat on the road, that's a big deal for me.

Unless you have some kind of super fancy known-to-last-forever hub like Phil Wood, why would you rebuild with those? Just buy some new wheels and have done with it.

The issue of getting good quality rims would appear to be less moot these days with 29-er wheels.

However, in my experience, Mavic 719A rims are excellent -- they're used in 32H spec on our tandem, and we have them on each of our touring bikes.

If you think you are capable of relacing the new rims on to the old hubs, give it a go. All you have to do is tape the new rim to the old, undo the spokes, transfer them across to the corresponding new holes, true the wheel, and you are good to go. No worries about which holes in the hub. You do, however, have to make sure you have the correct number of holes in the new rim. Even transferring over the rim tape shouldn't be a major issue, whether it is adhesive or not.