Made a mistake - need a 2nd set of wheels

[943]

Still very much a beginner here

Purchased a 2nd hand Trek x-caliber 9 a few months ago and in my eagerness swapped out the stock Bontrager XR2 tyres with a Minion DHF front and Aggressor rear.

I find myself doing more XC / trail than aggressive riding and also using the bike for gravel rides. To get to the gravel, I ride about 10km on pavement which is stupendously slow and a real grind on these tyres.

I’ve kept the stock tyres and think I need to get a 2nd set of wheels, put the XR2 tyres on and swap the wheels over depending on the type of riding I’m going to do.

What are the collective thoughts on this - do others have 2 sets of wheels/tyres to do different types of riding?

 

[mas2]

I have put a lot of time and effort in to try and understand your situation and in my professional opinion I hate to tell you but it's not worth it and you need at least one new bike if not 2. Let me know if you need me to talk/convince anyone on your behalf because, as I stated earlier, I am a professional.

 

[Jpez]

If I was you I’d just put the xr2 tyres back on.
You might find that your skills have improved sufficiently that they work for you on the trails now.

 

[beeb]

If I was you I’d just put the xr2 tyres back on.
You might find that your skills have improved sufficiently that they work for you on the trails now.

Even just changing the rear will make up the majority of the lost rolling resistance. If you're not riding anything steep it will probably feel fine. I rode my hardtail with a DHF front and a Recon Race rear for a while and it was great on everything except steep descents under braking.

 

[Flow-Rider]

Easier having 2 bikes or maybe 7 .

You don't really need aggressive rear tyres unless you ride steep trails all the time and you need the rear wheel braking. Semi slick MTB tyres work really these days.

 

[943]

I have put a lot of time and effort in to try and understand your situation and in my professional opinion I hate to tell you but it's not worth it and you need at least one new bike if not 2. Let me know if you need me to talk/convince anyone on your behalf because, as I stated earlier, I am a professional.

Yes, that’s of course the other option. Shortly after buying the bike I realised that I “need” a dually with dropper post. I’m a single dad so no-one here to disagree with any of my purchases!

 

[943]

Easier having 2 bikes or maybe 7 .

You don't really need aggressive rear tyres unless you ride steep trails all the time and you need the rear wheel braking. Semi slick MTB tyres work really these days.

Yes, that was my mistake. Thought I needed some chunky tyres cause the XR2s are quite smooth in comparison (and fairly worn - been well used). But since I have them, want to keep them for when I get better and do more aggressive riding - surely they’d be better than the XR2s on the rough stuff.

 

[ozzybmx]

Find a set of tyres that do most of what you want, its a trade off... less grip-fast-light or grippy-slow-heavy, find something in between that works and go from there.

There's massive world of tyres between minions and XR2's.

 

[rowdyflat]

do others have 2 sets of wheels/tyres to do different types of riding?

Yep I do much easier than changing tyres esp tubeless.
We have climate extremes in NE Vic dry summer, muddy winter.

 

[Halo1]

Changing wheels is also a pain if you don’t have a second set of rotors and a cassette for the rear.

 

[943]

Changing wheels is also a pain if you don’t have a second set of rotors and a cassette for the rear.

Yes, a second set would definitely need cassette and rotors. My idea is it would be a quick swap depending what riding I would do.

 

[Daniel Hale]

ye i’ve had onesewith 40mm gravel tyres, another wheel set for mtb tyres..worked well

 

[ozzybmx]

Yes, a second set would definitely need cassette and rotors. My idea is it would be a quick swap depending what riding I would do.

A different set of wheels with a different hub means adjusting your rear derailleur indexing (slightly) and certainly adjusting your calipers every time you change wheels.

Its 50:50 just as easy to change the tyres and certainly cheaper than a second set of wheels.

Its always a bit of a joke and a statement thrown around here for as much as a ticking noise or worn grips... but you need another bike. Buy a cheap roadie and fit skinny CX tyres, keep the MTB for dirt.

 

[Halo1]

Yes, a second set would definitely need cassette and rotors. My idea is it would be a quick swap depending what riding I would do.

If you still want to swap tyres and don’t have your heart set on tubeless, then I would just go tubes and switch the tyres on your current wheels.
If you are worried about punchers you can use the tannus armor inserts for a slight weight penalty. Not very noticeable on dirt but probably not great for a gravel grind.
I was doing this with my hard trail when using it to commute to work some days.
A second rear wheel is always good because hub are crap these days.

 

[943]

A different set of wheels with a different hub means adjusting your rear derailleur indexing (slightly) and certainly adjusting your calipers every time you change wheels.

Its 50:50 just as easy to change the tyres and certainly cheaper than a second set of wheels.

Its always a bit of a joke and a statement thrown around here for as much as a ticking noise or worn grips... but you need another bike. Buy a cheap roadie and fit skinny CX tyres, keep the MTB for dirt.

Yeah, I was wondering what a 2nd set of wheels with different rotors would mean. I assume rotors and brake pads “mate up” over time and throwing in different wheels/rotors would mean different wear on the pads.

Thinking I might need to leave it as is and get myself a graveller! (Oh, and a dually and a commuter)

 

[ozzybmx]

Yeah, I was wondering what a 2nd set of wheels with different rotors would mean. I assume rotors and brake pads “mate up” over time and throwing in different wheels/rotors would mean different wear on the pads.

Thinking I might need to leave it as is and get myself a graveller! (Oh, and a dually and a commuter)

The position of the brake rotor face sits in different spacing across hubs, even changes by the age of hubs from the same manufacturer. Even if its only a couple of mm's, your disc will rub and give you the shits... well its give me the shits, I like a silent bike.

The cassette position is not so critical but a bees-dick out can mean jumping and a worn cassette or worn chain between wheel/cassette changes will turn the whole idea to shit.

Mate, I've tried it several times, its a friggin pain... one bike does not do all even with a wheel change or tyre change. I have 3 road bikes here that cost me $200-$350, they get ridden once a year. They are easy to find... even do a bookface post asking for a cheap roadie locally, you find people that have a semi decent bike (rim brake) gathering dust and ready to go for a few hundred buckos... especially in this current Covid world.

I picked up a rim brake alloy Giant Defy with DuraAce locally for $200 about 3 years ago, missus has ridden it twice.

 

[Flow-Rider]

Yes, that was my mistake. Thought I needed some chunky tyres cause the XR2s are quite smooth in comparison (and fairly worn - been well used). But since I have them, want to keep them for when I get better and do more aggressive riding - surely they’d be better than the XR2s on the rough stuff.

Definitely a compromise if you ride a lot of loamy trails, but on hardpack trails the semislicks hold their own. I've found that I can adjust with a less aggressive rear on most trails and I rarely shuttle trails, so I've gone for the less heavy and chunky rear. Tyres like the SS minion still give a bit of grip with the large side knobs on the tyre when you get into the soft dirt.

 

[The Duckmeister]

A different set of wheels with a different hub means adjusting your rear derailleur indexing (slightly) and certainly adjusting your calipers every time you change wheels.

Not if you pick your wheels with the same brand hubs, usually they'll lire the important bits up the same. I've got two bikes, each with two sets of wheels, Shimano SLX, XT (x2 model generations) and XTR hubs, and can swap any rear wheel between either bike with no adjusments. Fronts are a bit limited because one bike is Q/R and the other is T/A, but again I can swap between each of the wheels for each fork with no brake adjustment.

 

[ozzybmx]

Not if you pick your wheels with the same brand hubs, usually they'll lire the important bits up the same. I've got two bikes, each with two sets of wheels, Shimano SLX, XT (x2 model generations) and XTR hubs, and can swap any rear wheel between either bike with no adjusments. Fronts are a bit limited because one bike is Q/R and the other is T/A, but again I can swap between each of the wheels for each fork with no brake adjustment.

As I said, the price of matchy-matchy hubs for bike you will own for how long ? For a set of wheels to a standard that is outdated in a year or two. Just change then tyres or get another bike that does the job right.

 

[creaky]

Swapping wheels more than once a month becomes a chore pretty quickly. Get a faster rolling rear tyre and maybe something a little less aggressive on the front (Hans Dampf?)