Switching to road tires/wheels on my gravel bike
Hello. First post. I'm new to the cycling world and overwhelmed...I bought my first 'adult' bike in 2018 - a Salsa Journeyman 650b Claris with 2.1" WTB Nano tires. It's been a good bike for my purposes. I recently took it to our cabin where I now only ride on paved roads. For my regular bike at home, I just recently purchased a new Trek Domane AL 2 which has 28mm tires. It has made me realize how slow my 650b gravel tires are on road. Since I don't have any intentions of using it on gravel anymore, I'd like to have a more road friendly setup without breaking the bank. Obviously going to a more road friendly tire will help. But I'm also considering switching to a 700c wheel so that I can run narrow/low volume tires without dropping my bottom bracket too far (which would happen if I used significantly smaller tires while sticking with 650b wheels). It looks like a 700c with 32 or 35mm tires will closely match my current 650b 2.1" tires outer diameter.
Questions:
I see switching to road oriented tires as following two main parameters: (1) switching from knobby gravel tires, (2) switching from high volume/wide tires to lower volume/skinnier. I’m interested in each parameter’s general contribution since I would not invest in 700c wheels if more of my existing inefficiency is related to the knobby tires. However, if both are big contributors then I would upgrade both.
If there is a big gain in efficiency from going to the lower volume tire, then I would need a 700C wheelset. Considering I have disc brakes, I'm confused as to what wheels to get. The original wheels are:
Front: Formula, 32h, 100mm, WTB STP i23 TCS 650b, 2.0mm spokes, brass nipples
Rear: Formula, 32h, 135mm, WTB STP i23 TCS 650b, 2.0mm spokes, brass nipples
Can you recommend an equivalent 700C wheelset so that I can swap the rotors and have everything fit-up? I'd like to spend no more than $300-$350 for new wheelset and tires if possible.
Thanks!