Noonievut

Over the years I've had two bikes where I attempted to make it work with two wheelsets, with the swap requiring zero adjustment. One time it worked, one time it didn't. On the one that worked, the wheels/hubs were completely different but I would swap wheels and shifting was great. Same cassette sizes and I used each of them frequently so wear was similar. On the other bike, I had to adjust the b-screw, limits and indexing. I'm the kind of person who doesn't like to fiddle much.

So, I'm now considering reaching out to a local frame builder on building a bike for all-road, where I want to run two 700c wheelsets, one with something like a 30-32, and the other a 40-42. Given my type of ride on the day, which is sometimes a last-minute decision, I want to be able to easily swap wheels. On the larger tires I'll run them tubeless, the smaller one I'm indifferent. Not sure if I'll need to run disc brakes given the larger tire diameter?

From a framebuilders perspective, what are your thoughts on building around two wheelsets? Is this common? Any issues or considerations?

unterhausen

building for two 700c wheelsets seems like it should almost always work, only depending on the hubs. My current build is going to have both 700c or 650b wheels. Just have to make sure the tires fit.

Tubeless is up to you. But discs makes this a lot easier usually.

dsaul

Building a frame to fit two 700c wheelsets is the same as building a frame to fit a one wheelset with the largest size tire you plan to run. The frame has no effect on whether you have to adjust the rear derailleur, that is down to the rear hub and freehub dimensions. It helps to have the same hub and cassette on both wheels, but you can use shims to get the cassettes in the same place on both wheels. Disc brakes will make it easier to avoid brake adjustments, but the same issues apply with using the same hub or shims to get the rotors in exactly the same place.

GrayJay

If using rim brakes instead of disks, it requires less/no readjustment if your 2 wheelsets use same width rims. On the CX bike I have with cantilever rim brakes, it always takes a bit of re-adjustment of the brakes when I go from the wide clincher rims I use most of the year to narrower tubular rims that I use for racing. Tires will have no impact on the brakes so long as your wider tires fit in the brakes. You will have no tire width restrictions if using cantilevers but road bike rim brake calipers might not have enough clearance for wider tires without careful selection of the brakes.