lyrictenor1

For those of you with one wheelset and who change their tires out depending on the riding you'll be doing: How often do you swap out your tires for different types of riding (e.g. road, trail, etc.)? Also, do you set them up tubeless or with tubes?

I don't mind setting up tubeless every once in a while, but it would seem like a PITA to do that to set them up if one changes ride types regularly.

Discuss!

Elvo

I run my 700C wheelset with GP4000 28mm (which measure 32mm) with tubes and run a 650B wheelset with Gravelking SK 48mm's tubeless. It would be a huge PITA to swap tires, much less go from tubed to tubeless on a regular basis. Also wasting a bunch of sealant unless you syringe it out and save it.

650B wheelsets are super cheap. I picked up one for $100 on Craigslist.

rosefarts

My bike is older, traditional spacing and rim brakes. So I can put one of my road front wheels on and I picked up a pretty bland rear wheel in 135mm. I do swap out the cassette though. Now that I used skinny strippers, changing tires is best only done once per lifetime of the tire.

Definitely not as not as nice as the gravel wheels. If i want to ride fast on the road with great wheels, well, I've got a great road bike for that.

wheelsmcgee

chas58

I've said this many times before, but when use skinny strippers (making my tubeless tires into a completely sealed chamber), I can change tires easily with no loss of sealant.

I do like to run 28-32mm in the summer/fall and 40-50mm in the winter/spring.

Marcus_Ti

If tubeless....wheel swap. If tubed, tire swap. IMHO.


Which is a reason to have spare wheels.

JonathanGennick 

Some of my bikes see tire swaps at least seasonally as I change things up for winter, and then back again. Others get hung on hooks for long periods without being ridden. Hence in part why I've not bothered too much with tubeless. I've tried it. I can set up a set tubeless. Just haven't had motivation to go all in on it.

rosefarts

So you just take the whole thing, valve stem included, off? So it essentially becomes a sew up with no glue? Brilliant.

I'm new enough to skinny strippers that I haven't removed a tire with one yet.

chas58

Essentially, yes - just be careful with the valve so it stays in the assembly. The sealant stays in the tire and doesn't touch the rim, so I can just pop it back on another rim. Not sure how long the sealant would last if the tire/stripper was left off a rim - but it does make rim swaps easy.

rosefarts

Thanks.

That's great info. I so have a second wheelset for road riding so I doubt it'll come up, but it's great to hear hear I can do this.

I got the skinny strippers to provide a longer lasting more reliable seal. Got tired of having to reseat the bead if the bike sat for more than a few days.

IronM

I found swapping tires to be a huge pain & this was before I even went tubeless.
So what I did; I had a set of decent tubeless rims built up for tubeless gravel tires only.
I took the heaver stock wheelset & set that up for road. Then all I really have to do is swap pedals if I want to go road riding.
I have other road bikes, but I wanted the low CX gearing for the mountains Especially on those short but evil gradients.

Jazzguitar

redlude97

So I tried to pull my skinny strippers off intact and 4 pairs failed at the valve. You're able to take them off and put them back on without breaking the seal? How tight are your tires?

fietsbob

Tubeless? No,
I wear the rear , buy a new front tire, and put the old front on as the new rear

I don't go by counting the miles .. I put a battery in my bike computer on long tours,
took it out when I came back..

rosefarts

Correct.

I have tubeless road wheels and they still have like 30 psi and I haven't touched them some July.

I had an issue with my rear wheel, ended up rebuilding the thing with new nipples. I got something less than perfectly seated. Could have been valve stem, rim tape, or gunk from the sealant. For the trouble of taking it down and redoing all that, it was well worth my time to add skinny strippers also.

90% sure a dab of silicone around the valve would have fixed the leak.

chas58

I do the swapping with my Maxis Rambles, and they are not very tight. I do have to be careful with the valve when removing.

@Jazzguitar - good point. Also, keep in mind that some tires like Schwalbe Tubless Easy can hold air without sealant, while other light weight tires are much more porous, and will need to be topped off weekly or more often.