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My gravel bike has Zipp 303s with Schwalbe G One RS 35mm. I'm thinking about getting a second set of wheels so I can have one set with road tyres (maybe 28mm tyres) and one set with wider gravel tyres (maybe 45mm)
Just can't decide if I should use the Zipp 303s for road or gravel. What do people think?
New wheels would have to be second hand due to budget of about £400
Get whatever suits your budget but with 19mm or 21mm internal width. I’d be getting some 21mm and putting 30mm tyres on.
Having a gravel bike that I share 3 pairs of wheels over, 35mm road, 45mm gravel and 650b/2.1, I’d recommend getting compatible hubs to avoid faffing around with rotor/disc/cassette spacing when swapping over. All mine run Hope hubs to minimise faffage, otherwise I just can’t be bothered to swap.
Use rotor shims to get the rotors lined up and then you can just put on whatever wheels you fancy using without calliper adjustment each time. I’ve got 3 sets of wheels for my gravel bike for similar reasons to you, and I can chop and change with zero faffage.
i have two identical hand built sets; open pros on miche hubs with sapim spokes. Road runs black hubs and spokes, GP5000s in 30c and. an 11-23 11-speed cassette. Gravel has shiny spokes and hubs and 33c with 12-32 cassette. currently have a NW 38T chainring, but have run 44T for more road. Still trying to balance the two gearings.
What's more important to you? Going faster on the road, or being more capable/faster on gravel? Get a new set of wheels to suit that purpose, and use the 303s for the other.
Depends on your gravel terrain - I have a set of 303s and wouldn't fancy them round the Peak, or anywhere rocky. If you're riding somewhere more civilised then it might be ok. 303s are nice on the road with 32s.
I've gone down the 1 gravel bike 2 wheelsets route, not with the same sort of budget, but it's entirely doable. As a slight cheat my old gravel bike is now permanently set up as a winter/wet weather road bike with guards, so the Gravel/Road bike (are the marketing departments still calling it "All-Road" again?) is intended for nicer conditions only now.
G-One all rounds on the gravel wheels and GK slicks on the road wheels, both in 38mm (both seem to come up at 40mm). Which is a bit chonky for a road tyre (but very comfortable) and ok for a gravel tyre (but wider might be better for the next pair). If you're going to do it I'd make a point of having tyres specific to the intended use on either wheelset.
In your position OP I'd put 32mm(ish) road tyres on the 303s and buy a cheaper, wider pair of aluminium rimmed wheels for Gravel, to use with 45mm(+) tyres. I'd also consider a slightly closer range cassette on the Road wheels (whether you're running 1x or 2x).
YMMV of course.
As has been said, depends a lot on what you ride the most. If it's pretty equal and you're not an elite gravel racer I'd prob use the 303's on the road as they'd have slightly more benefit there and not be as likely to get damaged. I'd also put at least 32mm road tires on them (rather than 28's you mention), I have 3 road bikes (one with 25's, one with 28's and one with 32's), the only reason I don't run 32mm on them all is they won't fit.
Tough one innit, if you primarily ride off-road you might want to keep the good wheels for that.
But if you want to go to wider tyres, then wider rims might be a good thing.
BTW I have some VGC Superstar V6/Arc Ultra disc wheels that I was going to sell, that you could have for way under budget. Drop me a message if interested.
The main thing with changing wheels is less the tyres and more the gearing and the rotor position.
Rotor position can be sorted either by running identical hubs or by shimming the rotor on one set of wheels so you're not forever adjusting the caliper.
The gearing (and therefore chain length / rear mech B-screw) can become an issue if you're running dramatically different cassettes like an 11-30 on the road wheels and 11-40 on the gravel wheels.
And definitely go for 30 or 32c on the road wheels.
It's a bit of a tough one - what balance of gravel to road riding do you do / intend to do?
Would be a shame to have the 303s set up for road if you're not going to be using them a huge amount and vice versa.
I think I'd prefer to use those on the road rather than off road though, and definitely 32mm tyres (something like GP5000s are great).
I've got 3 sets of wheels for mine:
- Gravel - Hunt Gravel X Wides with 42mm WTB Resolutes and a 40t cassette
- Decent Road - Parcours Strade with 32mm GP5000s, tubeless, and a 32t (possibly 34t, can't remember) cassette
- Winter Road - Mason x Hunt 4 Seasons, not set up yet as