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If I had lots of spare money I'd probably buy another bike - and then it would be some 6" FS type thing, stick my big and fairly knobbly tyres on that and ride it in drier conditions and put slightly less huge but more knobbly tyres on the hardtail and ride it in wetter muddier conditions. But I found myself thinking, what do I want a full-sus for? I enjoy riding a hardtail over rough stuff (rock gardens, w00t!) the local trails are relatively smooth anyway, I'd no longer have the "I'd be quicker on a full-sus" excuse and might start taking more stupid risks but a FS would make casing jumps less unpleasant. That doesn't seem a great reason to buy one!
I'd thought about having a second wheelset in the past but then realised I'm too prone to wearing out cassettes and the wet/mud wheelset would doubtless end up with a more worn cassette which seems like I'd be inviting drivetrain annoyance? So how about just having a second front wheel, so I can swap between (current preference) a Rubber Queen (huge, quite knobbly) and Baron (not as huge, more knobbly, stickier) as conditions dictate? It's all about carving the corners on steep loose trails for me at the moment and the back tends to follow as long as the front sticks.
Madness or genius?
Why not just swap tyres?
Genius, but it's probably worth having the same hubs on both sets so you can swap between them without having to adjust disc caliper spacing and indexing.
Theoretically, it's probably worth swapping the cassette over when you change wheels, too.
Why not just swap tyres?
Running tubeless, changing tyres is a bit of a PITA that you don't want to have to do that often. Running tubes, you might as well.
Why not just swap tyres?
I'm even shorter of time than of money! And I really like running tubeless.
I've got 2 sets of wheels (same hubs and rotor size) for my hardtail. Originally I was swapping cassettes and tubeless tyres over each time, but that was too much hassle.
In all my years, I've never had to replace a chainring upfront (though I do replace chains at 0.75 wear).
So I now have a chain for each wheel/cassette. With the KMC missing links it takes no time to swop chains. I then put the chain I've just taken off in a jar of white spirits until I need it next 🙂
If you were swapping between a lightweight summer tyre like a small block eight to a heavy duty dh tyre like a dual ply high roller I can see a good reason.
But I think your two tyre choice's are a bit too similar and there won't be much of an incentive to swap them over, lazyness always tends to win for me in cases like this.
If it was me I know I'd never bother. More bikes needed...
If it was me and clearly it isnt I would have a rufty tufty build with wider and tougher rims and a more xc/jey build. I would then choose according to intended ride style/location.
A word of caution though same hubs does not necessarily mean they will slide straight into the calipers!
Edit re read the op cant say I would bother for what you are trying to achieve. Just choose a tyre and stick to it. On my ust rims I changed tyres to mud at the first serious winter filth and the first sun brings out some all rounders. Rest of the time couldnt be arsed but I dont really push the envelope.
garage-dweller - Member. A word of caution though same hubs does not necessarily mean they will slide straight into the calipers!
Too true, saw some dude round Ladybower on Sat faffing about with his brakes twice, apparently he'd picked up his spare/other wheels. 🙄
Tried similar before. In your shoes, I'd be more tempted to buy a compressor and swap tyres instead.
Got a set of all mountain wheels on my mega, and a set of dh wheels and a coil shock for uplift days etc.
Works really well. Would do the same if I just had a hardtail. Dual ply tyres for dh stuff and decent rolling, lighter for everything else.
It's not just about the tyres. You can get away with heavier, stronger rims for abuse when weight isn't such an issue. To avoid swapping mounts etc, I stick with 203mm rotors on both wheelsets.
So it sounds like the potential weak point in the concept is caliper alignment. I have Hope Pro 2 Evo hubs and a 180mm Hope floating rotor on the front, so I'd get the exact same in a second wheel. I wonder if the manufacturing tolerances are tight enough for the brakes to still work well - maybe I'll call Hope...
I don't think it's a bad idea either. I have a full sus bike and two sets of wheels. Hope Hoops on Crests for when I want to ride XC, Flow EX for uplift days, visits to DH venues, "sessioning" jumps and so on. Works quite well for me.
I personally never have any issues with alignment. Nukeproof hubs on one set, superstar on the other.
Even if you do, it's what, 20 seconds with an Allen key?...
Yep, good idea. I have a set of Olympics on DT 240s running Racing Ralphs and a pair of Archs on Pro IIs running Mountain Kings. Swapping tubeless tyres is far too much hassle but these take my bike from fairly light (good enough to race although not really in podium league) to strong enough to bash around CyB, the Peals, Alps and Spain etc.
I've got 2 sets, race set and normal set. It's a faff, I rarely change frankly! The race ones (A2Z/Podium/rev) proved much tougher than expected, so I tend to just use those!
I run matching Hope ProII's (3 sets over 2 bikes) same cassette and rotors.
However it's dry and dusty here so not as much wear
No probs with concept but beware adjusting brake calipers a lot; swapped to summer wheels today and stripped a thread on Reba post-mount, creaked a bit when undone and took some force but nowt unusual. Do up tight again?........Will it F***
My situation - buy two sets of tyres, get fed up swapping them, buy spare wheels, get fed up swapping them too, get spare bike, find you hardly use it because the other bike's so much better.(This is the point that you could find yourself on a very slippery slope towards two very expensive bikes, and often still feeling you're riding the wrong one.)Buy a full susser that does everything well, feel content, with no urge to upgrade for the next five years and counting, relegate the hardtail to rigid commuting.
Bungle- you need a man with a Helicoil set.
I do it. Aspens and Ardents are my chosen rubber, I dont swap anything else on drive train. 20s too align callipers and off we go. Works perfectly for me.
Over winter my tyres differ to a thin road rubber and a mudx combo
20s to align callipers and off we go.
I have had 3 different rear hubs (cheapo Formula on original rear wheel, Mavic, Pro II) and I find that when I swap between wheels the indexing goes out the window. Anyone else find this?
2 sets here. One set of Haven Carbons with some Butcher Controls on for everything but racing DH on & a set of Flows/DT 240's for DH with a set of dual ply Minions on.
Works well. No indexing issues, small caliper adjustment & of I go. Literally a couple of minutes to swap. Even then i've been lazy & just raced on the Havens if it's just local DH.
Must say mine's alright. Used to swap two pairs of Bontrager road wheels though and they were subtly different!
I have two pairs of Hope Pro2 EVO Hoops which I can swap between my hardtail and full suss. Both running 9spd cassette's and the same size discs, the only change I have to make is one bike has a 12mm axle and the other is QR so I have to pop the cassette off to change the adapters. I run a combination of RQ's and Baron's on the two wheel sets so similar tyre choices.
The outcome off this is that in the two+ years I've had this set up the only time I have swapped wheels is when I've destroyed a rim... the cassette's were worn a little differently but it all worked fine and the discs needed no adjustment for the few rides until I rebuilt the wheel. Its a nice idea to change for tyre choice but life is too short and if I get the chance to go out on a bike I will grab the one I want to ride, not caring what tyres are on it (Note. I'm not convinced the Baron is better in the wet than the RQ... I think I prefer the RQ almost all of the time?).
The caliper alignment thing, really isn't a problem.
Syntace do rotor shims, so just get a pack of them and shim the narrower hubs (if you do indeed find a problem).
Before I got a road bike I used to use my Inbred on the road with a second set of wheels with City Jets on. The hub width was subtly different and I ended up shimming them with the Syntace rotor shims.
I have had 3 different rear hubs (cheapo Formula on original rear wheel, Mavic, Pro II) and I find that when I swap between wheels the indexing goes out the window. Anyone else find this?
A bit yes.I've spacered my cassette out fractionally so they're pretty close indeed now.
I run two sets of wheels so I can have a spare set possibly with mud tyres on to leave in the pits.
You just space the rotors to match and you're away. If you keep an eye on chain wear then running two cassettes is no problem.
I have two sets of wheels for my 'CX' bike which has disc - one with road tyres, one with tubeless CX tyres. I just swap the cassette over and occassionally need a slight tweak on the brake caliper but it's a quick job.
I run a couple of sets of wheels. One for rocky stuff and bigger trail centres. The other for most of the time. Switch out rotors and cassette between the two. Will take 2 sets to Mayhem - one with mud
Tyres and switch over cassette and rotors if I needed the MUDs. Not too much effort really.
If you were doing this, what's the ultimate front tyre for mud and wet roots? Rolling resistance and weight are immaterial! I'm guessing not a spike because they're skittery on roots... Der Baron 2.5? Specialized Hillbilly? Swampthing 2.5 42a?
Messiah, do you not find the Baron holds a line better in the mud with those big side knobs? I probably just need to pump the turns properly in the wet, that would make far more difference than a better tyre...
I run 2 sets of wheels, as its dead easy to swap wheels rather than tubeless tyres.
My favourite mud front tyre so far is a Geax Datura UST - great in mud, and works well off it too. It even worked great in Morzine in the dry last June!
Right, I'm trying a Specialized Butcher Control 2.3 on the front to see if it has enough bite in the loose stuff, without being too draggy, to save me messing around with a second wheel...
I used to rotate wheels between my 2 main bikes often- 2 pairs of identical wheels, one with fast tyres, one with slow tyres. Killed one of the rear wheels, and now I really miss having that simple option.