blargman

As the trails get wetter and eventually snowier. (Ugh) What sort of wheel upgrade/changes would you guys recommend for this bike? It's pretty solid right now in dry gravel but I wonder if that will still be true in a couple months

mstateglfr 

I dont change my wheels based on season, so I cant be of any help there. Not sure why I would change them- the ones that work in the spring work just fine in the following seasons too.
As for tires- thats for sure something that is changed by some, depending on season. Those who ride roads that are affected heavily by rain and get gritty/muddy will sometimes use a tread that is better in mud(lugs that shed mud, for example).

veloz

Takes < 20 minutes to change tires. The only reason I’d change wheels is road salt. If you ride in it regularly, you’ll want brass nipples. Alloy nips are terrible with salt corrosion. You'll discover it a year or two afterwards. Rinsing off helps (garden sprayer) but is a PIA.

chas58

I use thinner slicks in summer/fall.

Winter spring, I use a 40mm tire (or more). I find that Schwalbe G-One work amazingly well in snow, not to mention cold, wet conditions.

skinny tires <40mm cut through snow well. Bigger tires can be like a snowplow.

blargman

Fair enough, My current summer setup is my stock tires that are tubeless so I guess I was just thinking of doing both at once. I also thought maybe I needed to go wider than my wheels allowed. I know very little about wheels

shoota 

You'll run out of space in your frame for the tire before you run out of width in your wheel for a super wide tire.

Metieval

different wheels..... I just swap bikes and use my SS road bike on 700x25 slicks. everything is frozen anyways.
when things get soft I'll ride my 29er hardtail. However soft wet packed limestone on a 2.35 29er isn't enough float sometimes.

The salt has destroyed both as I don't have a descent place to wash/dry in the winter.

So basically if you'r going to ride salt, Buy a beater!

Marcus_Ti

Yea...Studded tires are great for traction, but terrible for your knuckles nvm the joy of fighting wire-beads.

Far easier to just have a second set of hoops to put the studs on when the time comes and swap on/off as needed....that bloody your knuckles up mounting/dismounting studded tires.

chas58

The only good answer is to get a beater. The constant moisture (when snow gets packed into things), not to mention the salt - is harsh on your nice bike.

Then there is snow. What is snow? How many words do the Eskimos have for snow?

• I'll use a skinny 40mm tire in fresh light snow.
• I'll use studded when the freeze/thaw cycles create nasty black ice (especially in spring with warmer days and freezing nights).
• In old, packed, walked on, driven on, crunchy snow - anything smaller than 4" is difficult or imposible to ride on.
• In deep, fresh snow, the tires really need to be 50mm or below to cut through the snow and get some traction underneath it (fat tires can easily have more than 200watts resistance in the deep stuff).

My studded tires are easier to install than my tubless tires (with super tight beads).

Metieval

700x25's This was before the salt trucks came out....

take a cell phone, fixing flats in that mess is for the birds!

DoJoMN

I agree with everyone!

I have two sets of wheel, but I use both year round. I pretty much leave gravel tires (Gravel King SK) on my primary wheels year round. On the second set I will have tires appropriate for the season - narrower slicks for summer and fall, and studs for winter. Then I just swap depending on the conditions of the day and where I will be riding (Note that I find it helpful if both wheels have the same type of hubs, as the disc brakes fit without adjustment during swaps).

I also use multiple bikes. I ride the fat bike more in the Winter for both trails and road, the gravel bike when riding mainly roads, and the 29er when riding mainly trails.

The golden rule of cycling applies to both bikes and wheels: N+1