Changed wheels
 

Tonight, after a bit of consideration, I decided to change wheels on my bike. I have an REI Randonee that I am taking on a 350 or so mile trip with my daughter next week. I am not carrying anything except extra water, since it is a supported ride and I weigh in at 230. My road bike, which I bought 16 years ago is great, but feels too big for me and would not be comfortable for a 70 mile day. So, I took the wheels off,( Mavic Open Pro, 34 spoke, Ultegra hubs, and Gatorskin 25's), and put them on my Randonee after changing the cogset. All went together well and the bike lost about 3 - 4 pounds in wheels and tires. Hopefully, tomorrows test ride will be fine, but I was wondering if anyone sees any issues in what I did.

Same number of gears in the rear, should be no problem. IIRC the Randonee used road wheels (130 mm) spacing, so you shouldn't need to worry about hub width. Did you take a spin around the neighborhood to test everything out?

The things I'd watch for have to do with tires. Do you have adequate tread life left on the road bike tires for 350 miles? Will the roads be smooth on your tour, or will you encounter chipseal or expansion joints and wish for a bit more volume in the tires?

I think it will be fine, do some shake down rides for the next few days to be sure that everything is shifting and braking fine.

I was doing the same thing with my touring bike but no matter what I do, its still heavy and feels clunky.

34 spoke? Is that a typo for 32 or 36? Either way I assume that will be sufficient for a 230lb rider (I'm 227 nowadays, but rode for years on 32spoke wheels at 245-250 plus up to 30lb of baggage).

Gatorskin 25's seems like a good choice, personally I would bump that up to 28 if they fit. But only when the 25's wear out.

Thanks for the replies. Will be going on a ride tomorrow with my daughter - it was just too smoky again today for me. Hopefully about 60 miles, which should tell me if everything is OK. I did purchase new tires - Gatorskin Hardshell 28's, as I found a cut in the sidewall of one of the 25's as I was looking for a manufacture date (which I never found), and hopefully, these will offer better goat-head and farming debris protection on the roads I ride.