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Tire thoughts (2 wheelsets)

Old 06-11-18, 06:24 AM
  #1  
Noonievut
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Tire thoughts (2 wheelsets)

I have a Felt cx bike and a second disc wheelset. Stock rims have 33mm Schwalbe cx ( knobby) tires. 2nd set have 32mm Gatorskins. Stock (Alex) wheels are tubeless ready.

i use the Schwalbe tires on trails by my house. The tires are perfect for the trails. There are lots of short, steep climbs and twisty descents. The boxy tires with lots of knobs keep a good grip. The tires are easy to install and remove.

Gatorskins are for mix of gravel roads (easy riding gravel), rail trails and paved. They are fast, but not comfy on the gravel.

im thinking of getting a larger volume tire for rail trails and where I’m doing move gravel roads than paved on mixed surface adventures. I can fit 38mm in front and 35mm in back. That would give a bit more volume, but would it be much better than the 32mm gatorskins? I run these at 45/50 psi. I would use them on the stock rims and remove and install when I’m switching between trails by my home and for rides mainly with gravel trails/roads. Bit of a pain to do this each time I imagine. Maybe there are other options I’ve not considered...


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Old 06-11-18, 08:25 AM
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it's fun to experiment w tires
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Old 06-11-18, 10:12 AM
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Not sure if there's a question but I have 2 wheelsets -- identical rims and hubs so I don't have to adjust brakes and the derailleur. If you have disc brakes then you only need identical hubs. One is set up tubeless for gravel and the other one I have road tires with tubes, which I'll swap out for CX knobbies for the 2 cx races I do every year. I don't have the second wheelset set up tubeless because I like to swap tires on it and that's easier for me with tubes.

Frankly I wouldn't mind having 3 wheelsets, gravel, road, and CX, then I'd have everything set up tubeless.
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Old 06-11-18, 10:14 AM
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I experiment way too much with tires.

I find those CX tires pretty narrow, but I doubt 35mm would really be much different. What I often do is put the Gatorskins on the back all summer and just switch up the front tire – using a 40mm for gravel, and 28mm for road. Really, a 32mm Gatorskin is good for a lot of the hardpack summer fall gravel we get. Going bigger on the front absorbs the bumps (and sand) and adds a little more bite up there.

So for me, a 38mm rambler up front and 32mm Gatorskin (or 33mm Schwalbe CX) works pretty good hardpack that is not rocky or rooty.

(I can not get those 33mm CX tires to mount on some of my rims. There is NO stretch to them and if the rim is a little bigger than they are designed for – I just can’t get the dang things on. I gave up last night after struggling for 30 minutes, and just threw a Gatorskin on there).
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Old 06-11-18, 12:14 PM
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Originally Posted by rumrunn6
it's fun to experiment w tires
Especially on N+1 buy another bike.
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Old 06-11-18, 02:37 PM
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Originally Posted by Metieval
Especially on N+1 buy another bike.


for me spring / summer means I have to take the studded tires off one of my two hybrids. I'm thinking about swapping what summer tires go on each
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Old 06-11-18, 02:52 PM
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Originally Posted by ksryder
Frankly I wouldn't mind having 3 wheelsets, gravel, road, and CX, then I'd have everything set up tubeless.
I tried that, but with tubeless I need to ride the wheels regularly - like once a week. Otherwise the sealant pools and dries in one spot. Having to ride 3 sets on one bike every week is a pain...
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Old 06-11-18, 02:53 PM
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It's would be really fun if bike shops started a tire Library.

It's a member ship I'd buy into in a heart beat. fit reason, trial rides, etc....
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Old 06-11-18, 02:54 PM
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Originally Posted by chas58
I tried that, but with tubeless I need to ride the wheels regularly - like once a week. Otherwise the sealant pools and dries in one spot. Having to ride 3 sets on one bike every week is a pain...
I see a market for a rotating tire/wheel rack.
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Old 06-11-18, 03:07 PM
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Originally Posted by Metieval
I see a market for a rotating tire/wheel rack.
its funny you mention that.
With my growing number of wheelsets I keep thinking about making something like that and mounting it in the hallway.
Spin a tire or two when I'm walking past.
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Old 06-11-18, 03:16 PM
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Originally Posted by tangerineowl
its funny you mention that.
With my growing number of wheelsets I keep thinking about making something like that and mounting it in the hallway.
Spin a tire or two when I'm walking past.
chas58 is the one that sparked the idea.
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Old 06-11-18, 03:40 PM
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Originally Posted by tangerineowl
its funny you mention that.
With my growing number of wheelsets I keep thinking about making something like that and mounting it in the hallway.
Spin a tire or two when I'm walking past.
You could buy an old hot dog rotisserie from a gas station and rig something up, probably. Added bonus -- now your tires smell like gas station hot dogs!
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Old 06-11-18, 06:40 PM
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I just added a road wheelset to my gravel bike. I have the luxury of doing supported “tours” with my my wife driving our van following along or meeting me up the road.This way I can easily and quickly swap wheels depending if I’m riding gravel or road. I’m using a similar wheel that I’ve really good luck with on my road bikes. It’s a 38mm profile and 23mm wide carbon rim. Since I don’t plan to put an enormous number of miles on these wheels I went with a cheaper hub.

It feels weird to look down while riding and see the skinny tires on the bike.



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Old 06-11-18, 06:46 PM
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Check out the tubeless Hutchinson Overides. I ride them... everywhere. They get a little sketchy when it gets sandy/loose, but have handled conditions way beyond what it would appear they would. And they will do +20mph on pavement no problem. My go-to, everyday tire.

Oh, and the Overides come in both 700x38 and 700x35.
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Old 06-11-18, 06:48 PM
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Loving the creative ideas

Upon further thought, and today’s ride on the cx knobbies, they feel more cushioned than the gatorskins, so I should just run those when I’m riding 80%+ gravel and not worry about wearing them down on the pavement sections. They’re not expensive and replacing them as needed is fine. I can run a 35 in the back and a 38 up front when I buy my next set.

tires are fun to experiment with but I don’t like changing them. And the two wheelsets are interchangeable without disc alignment issues (thanks to a tipbhesr about shimming rotors).
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Old 06-12-18, 07:45 AM
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If you have a second wheelset, go ahead and get a 38 for the front.
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Old 06-12-18, 02:36 PM
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Originally Posted by Metieval
I see a market for a rotating tire/wheel rack.
It will go good with the rotating watch case I have for all of my self winding Rolexes.
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Old 06-14-18, 06:50 PM
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Having multiple tires/wheels is definitely easier to maintain than having multiple bikes. I also experimented with different tire/wheel combos, especially with my bike being able to take 27.5x2.1in and 700x50mm tires. However since I have 2 bikes and 3 total wheelsets (2 700c/29er, 1 27.5) I'm keeping it simple by relegating the 27.5 wheels back to my old bike.

For my current bike I have 42mm Spec. Sawtooth tires for urban/gravel and for my second wheelset I'll run 29x2.0 WTB Nine Line tires so I can explore some singletrack near me, provided they don't grow past 50mm.
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Old 07-10-18, 03:20 PM
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Originally Posted by DarKris
Having multiple tires/wheels is definitely easier to maintain than having multiple bikes.
Heresy.
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Old 07-11-18, 07:00 AM
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Originally Posted by DarKris
Having multiple tires/wheels is definitely easier to maintain than having multiple bikes
Moderators, could someone quickly kill DarKris' post before the N+1 axiom comes into question? ;-)

But yeah, DarKris... it's not a crazy thought. I have lots of bikes. I just got a Canyon Grail and a second set of slightly narrower wheels. After mounting some 28mm Contis and riding the bike on several road road rides, determined that I could live with this bike as the "one" bike, well... other than mountain biking.

Once I mount a set of tubeless tires, I'm less inclined to "experiment" - just too much of a mess/hassle.
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Old 07-15-18, 10:32 AM
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Originally Posted by Zaskar
Once I mount a set of tubeless tires, I'm less inclined to "experiment" - just too much of a mess/hassle.
After making the switch to tubeless I did realize how much of a pain changing tires could be. And with starting a new job I definitely don’t have the time nor energy to mess around with things like switching tires every few weeks.
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