Recommendations; wheels and tyres to create a road going MTB

[CAB]

This must have been done a million times..... I have a MTB which I intend to try and ride into work. The test run this weekend proved that the tyres although well suited to box hill don’t like tarmac! As such I am thinking of buying a set of light wheels and road tyres.

If I wanted to spend around the £150 mark what would you guys recommend, I would also need to get a rear cassette and disks that are compatible with Hayes 9 brakes.

Would i be able to stretch to tubeless tyres at this price and would they be up to a 15 mile a day commute (mix of canal tow path and road)..??

One last question .... is there anywhere that would sell all the above at a competitive price...???

Thanks again

CAB

[lingus75]

Merlin usually offer the best package on wheelsets and they are built ( in my experience) very well.

[pdV6]

Are you intending to use 1 bike for commuting and also off-roading?

If not, just swap the tyres for something a bit slicker and keep your existing wheels.

[CAB]

pdV6 said:

Are you intending to use 1 bike for commuting and also off-roading?

If not, just swap the tyres for something a bit slicker and keep your existing wheels.

Same bike will be used for both. I know that unless this is a quick and easy approach it will never happen (i hate changing tyres!!!!)

So i have decided to invest in a second set of wheels!!

[mk1fan]

Mavic Crossride wheels are great. iirc Merlin have them on Sale for £90 a pair (normally £130), Chain Reaction also have a wheel Sale on at the moment. Deore hubs or above laced to a Mavic XC717 or XM319 would suffice won't give youy any problems. Other than that Head for the Hills in Dorking have provided very good service to my friends recently - we have defected following so below par services from Nirvana.

Tyres, I use the Schwalbe Marathon Plus. Heavy but bullet proof and I've used them to ride the trails between Reigate Hill and Box Hill during the Summer with no punctures or issues (running them at 70psi). So tow paths will be a breeze.

I wouldn't bother about tubeless for your 'road' wheels as you don't tend to get snake bite flats on the road. And the Marathon Plus's give protection against 'thorn' punctures.

Disc's - any 160mm disc (mounting style aside - 6-bolt or centre lock) will run with any 160mm caliper set up. As long as the diameters the same they'll fit. I run Hope discs with Avid calipers without issue.

As for your budget - er - look on eBay. You should be able to pick up a used set of disc wheels for a good price. I'd buy the tyres and discs new (still check eBay for new one's though).

The only problem I can see is with re-aligning the brakes each time you swap out the wheels. I can do this in 2-minutes with the Avid's on my bikes but I don't know how Hayes brakes are 'aligned' so can't make any comment about doing this. If you get a matching pair of hubs to your existing ones then you may not need to align them, but there is no guarantee that you won't.

All in all, swapping wheels over on a disc bike be more faffy that just swapping the tyres over. Lot easier with rim brakes!!

Alternatively, why not fit some fast rolling treads onto your existing wheels. Some Panaracer Razer's should be fast on the road and still grippy for round Box Hill and Swinley Forest (assuming that's where you mainly ride). DMR do an Urban tyre that is rummoured to be more than capable on off-road surfaces around BH. Can't remember what it's called though.

[mk1fan]

DMR Moto RT is the tyre I was thinking about.

I forgot to mention that you could alos fit a set of 700 x 32c sized Touring wheels and tyres to your mtb. This would give you a lot more speed on the road.

Shimano make a couple of wheelsets - M:Parts - the entry level one has Deore disc hubs laced to a Mavic A319 Touring rim. I run the non-disc version on my commuter and they are excellent. As for tyres, well Schwalbe do the Marathon Plus in a 700 x 32c size.

[CAB]

mk1fan said:

The only problem I can see is with re-aligning the brakes each time you swap out the wheels. I can do this in 2-minutes with the Avid's on my bikes but I don't know how Hayes brakes are 'aligned' so can't make any comment about doing this. If you get a matching pair of hubs to your existing ones then you may not need to align them, but there is no guarantee that you won't.

All in all, swapping wheels over on a disc bike be more faffy that just swapping the tyres over. Lot easier with rim brakes!!

Thanks for the response i had overlooked the alignment of the disks - to make the issue worse i think the existing hubs are cannondales own- Feck!! what are the chances i can find a matching set. Suspect i will need to find a friendly store who dont mind experimenting witna few different combos

Just looked on the cannondale site - they have some urban bikes with disks - wonder what they use....

As for the budget - well it only ever goes one way!!

thanks CAB

[mk1fan]

Perhaps fitting some Razers or Moto's is the answer then.

[CAB]

mk1fan said:

The only problem I can see is with re-aligning the brakes each time you swap out the wheels. I can do this in 2-minutes with the Avid's on my bikes but I don't know how Hayes brakes are 'aligned' so can't make any comment about doing this. If you get a matching pair of hubs to your existing ones then you may not need to align them, but there is no guarantee that you won't.

All in all, swapping wheels over on a disc bike be more faffy that just swapping the tyres over. Lot easier with rim brakes!!

Thanks for the response i had overlooked the alignment of the disks - to make the issue worse i think the existing hubs are cannondales own- Feck!! what are the chances i can find a matching set. Suspect i will need to find a friendly store who dont mind experimenting witna few different combos

Just looked on the cannondale site - they have some urban bikes with disks - wonder what they use....

As for the budget - well it only ever goes one way!!

thanks CAB