why have extra set of wheels when you can just change out the tires?
 

it's pretty common for people to have multiple pairs of wheels with different purposes. like for a gravel bike, you might have a set of wheels for light gravel, and another with knobbies for more rocky or muddy trails, and maybe one to go fast on smooth road.

However, it seems that with most disc brake wheels, you have to redo the caliper position with each wheel change, in order to prevent rubbing. I feel like it's almost easier to just have one set of wheels, and multiple set of tires. It takes hardly more effort to change out the tires than wheels, I feel.

What do you guys think about this?

I just bought a second set of wheels after too many pinch flats so I could run my gravel/dirt tires tubeless and lower pressures. I was tired of swapping between road and gravel tires as well. What had been a bit of fun had become a chore. Its not perhaps the most economically savvy thing to do, but fortunately i found some nice enough rims on sale, but i also had to buy a 2nd set of rotors. I find aligning post mount BB7 calipers pretty easy, maybe other systems are more tricky.

I hate changing tires when I don't have to. Too much that can go wrong and if I am doing it just before I head out, those delays costs me ride time or on time arrival. (You have just given me more reason to wait on discs. I love the fast reliable changes of rim braked wheels. Even my bolt-on fix gear wheels change fast.) I feel much better about changing tires when I have say a night for problems to become obvious.

All my bikes have or share at least one more rear wheel than I have bikes of that standard and I have several more front wheel than bikes. (Four rear wheel standards and 3 dropout spacings. I love being able to just walk into the garage, decide the bike, grab the wheels/tires I want and go.)

Ben

I use an extra set to switch between road and gravel tires- easy/fast swap and I don't have to reset the calipers to prevent rubbing.

If you're running tires tubeless, it's not so easy and quick to change 'em out.

Some people run different wheels for different purposes -- e.g., lighter wheels for racing.

Some people even run different wheel sizes for different purposes.

If you don't want a second wheelset, great. But other people have different needs.

Hydraulic calipers are self adjusting. May be a pain with cable operated.
I've heard of the problem but haven't experienced it.
Potentially you could have shifting problems with changing the rear wheel too.

I did get tired of adjusting the calipers when I changed rims of different widths.

Also, come winter, mounting/unmounting studded tires tends to result in bruised/bloody knuckles.

If you have to adjust caliper position when you change wheels, you're doing it wrong. That's a separate problem.

I can't run 650B tires on 700C wheels

Ditto. This and tubeless is really the answer.

I just run separate bikes. Much easier.

+1

But I've experimented enough last year and found that for road (paved, dirt, gravel) riding different tires and wheels don't make enough of a difference that it's worth changing, for recreational riding or really for most racing too. I have preferences but objectively the outcome is the same regardless of wheelsize or tire type.

Otherwise, tires, especially tubeless tires, have a finite amount of installation and removal cycles. Wheels don't, space/shim your rotors and wheel changes are easy and fast.

As someone stated above, if you only switch out twice a year, spare tires make sense. And if you have enough spare bikes, you can get by without spare tires or wheels. But otherwise, if you're at all serous about running different tires for different conditions, a second wheelset is the only solution. It's literally a 45-second swap. Compare that to prying off the tires, installing new ones (with possibly different tubes), and inflating them. Add tubeless to the equation, and it's even more of a PITA. I run the same brand and size of rotors on both wheelsets and have bedded them in with the existing pads, so there are zero brake adjustments necessary. Pull off the wheels, slap in the substitutes, and ride.

While I don't have multiple wheelsets, if I wanted to change out my tire regularly I would have extra wheels. Changing tires on my winter bike is simple - wire beads & no tubeless setup. My gravel bike is a little more labor intensive. It is setup for tubeless and the tires / wheels that I have are a very tight fit. The only time these tires will ever be dismounted is for flats and when they are worn to the point of permanent replacement.

I have enough trouble getting out of the house as it is

Spare wheels are a great time saver/convenience for travel rides and tours. I have a Seven Evergreen with HED Belgium wheels as the standard and bought a set of HED Ardennes as a second set. I generally run Schwalbe All Arounders on the Belgiums and alternate between road slicks or heavier treads for mud riding on the Ardennes, but right now I have studded knobbies on for Winter snow and off road riding. I'll change these up if needed for a trip where I'm bringing just the one bike and plan on doing more than one type of riding. With the permanent addition of a single washer on the thru axle wrench, the wheels fit my hydraulic discs the same with no adjustments needed.

Switching wheels is faster and much easier - The HED rims are 25mm wide tubeless ready, so many tires are an absolute ***** to remove and install. The All Arounders are particularly bad, requiring the use of a Park seating tool to mount, so I prefer to keep them on all the time. And I have broken quite a few plastic tire wrenches as well.