Was just thinking as i was stripping down and cleaning the Whyte T-130 Hope Pro 4’s as regarding swapping to winter rubber/wheels. They’re just the stock wheels that came with the bike but with some more wintery profile rubber than the Maxxis Crossmarks that are fitted now.

But really, when you think about it, i should really swap the winter rubber onto the Pro4’s ?

Hmmmm

You’ve fitted Crossmarks front and rear to a T130??

I’d stick the winter tyres on the Pro 4’s – life is too short to ride with rubbish wheels

I just change tyres, sometimes.

singlespeed in winter (actually for almost all local riding as it’s flat and boggy)

FS is for awaydays, most of which are abroad

(I don’t do that much MTB these days 🙁 )

flange – Member
You’ve fitted Crossmarks front and rear to a T130??

Yeah, was for the SDW 100 back in July, they were tubeless compatible and fairly quick rolling, so made sense to have them fitted for a 12 hour + ride.

No ? Bad choice ? They’re the Crossmark II if that helps

I usually go SS for winter and into spring.

No. I put tyres suitable for the conditions on. Why would you need winter wheels?!

Nah, 1 bike, all seasons. I used to switch tyres, but as I pretty much stick to TCs in winter there doesn’t seem any point.

I only got a jacket last year after a decade of riding ha ha.

submarined – Member
No. I put tyres suitable for the conditions on. Why would you need winter wheels?!

Because my Hopes are pretty ?

I have a hardtail with more basic components on it that I ride more in winter, because I tend to ride more locally and the trails don’t warrant a big bike but they’re also sloppy and shitty and eat components. I’d rather wear out cheaper stuff than the nice stuff on my full suspension bike.

Pretty much what scaredypants said. Rigid SS gets a lot of use in winter, only use the FS for awaydays at trail centres.

It’s a bloody mountain bike. It’ll get muddy, scratched, and scuffed. If it doesn’t, you’ve got the wrong sort of bike 😀 The marks tell a story. Ride it, wash it every once in a while, and enjoy it. Wear the damage with pride.
I’m quite fond of the dings and marks on my bike bits, badges of honour and memories of rides :)*

*Except the massive gouges on the Brifter of my pristine road bike that I put on it when I lowsided this morning on a wet road. I’m a bit narked about that. I’ll probably forget it in a week, though.

No ? Bad choice ?

Naah, they’re a good tyre for long’ish distance stuff and who am I to comment on what tyres you should ride! Just me being factitious.

Naah, they’re a good tyre for long’ish distance stuff and who am I to comment on what tyres you should ride! Just me being factitious.

Cool. As i said, that’s the primary reason i bought them as i wanted something faster and better for the SDW training and ride. I’ve not really ridden the T130 much since then, only a trip to Swinley or 2.

As munrobiker – hardtail gets more winter use and FS more summer use. I don’t bother swapping tyres for conditions though (both bikes have the same tyres).

I built a Shan up for winter, rather than kill the Capra. I haven’t actually ridden it this autumn/winter

Nah the trails around here pretty much warrant using the same bike all year round, plus it can sometimes be wetter and muddier in the spring and summer months than in winter, especially if it’s a dry cold one like it was last year, around here anyways. Tyres are big and burly too so I rarely feel the need to change them.

I only have one set of wheels etc for my MTB, but I have a couple for my gravel/road bike.

My gravel wheels (the better/stronger pair) will be getting sloppy mud tyres this weekend and probably hung up in the shed until there’s a reason to use them.

My road wheels will be getting put on the bike, along with mudguards for winter commuting duties.

Ideally I’d have two bikes for this purpose, but I haven’t got the room (yet).

Surely Hope are designed for UK winters and are the best choice?

One wheelset for the MTB and Fixie, but the road bike has winter alu wheels for when braking in the wet is involved.

I also ride a rigid SS during the winter. Suspension forks and rear shocks are too expensive these days to trash them with winter grit. My CX hack bike for the road with mudguards for a bit of variety.

A bike for each season? Madness!

What you need is a bike for each day of the week.

And change tyres according to conditions, though I’ve been pleasantly surprised how well my ‘summer’ tyres have performed in the slopof late (various combos of ardents, HRIIs and ardent races) they are all still fitted

The only change I make is the rear tyre. It goes from a semi slick to something with more meat on it.

The only change I make is the rear tyre. It goes from a semi slick to something with more meat on it.

Pretty much what I’ve done. Magic Mary most of the year round, Slaughter on the rear for the dry, HR2 for the wet. DHF on the front if it’s particularly dry and dusty. Stuck the HR2 on at the weekend, it’ll stay on there until about April I’d have thought. There’s a lot to be said for having not-too-specialist tyres.

The whole reason I spent the extra on Hope stuff was because I like the fact it’s historically never let me down, whatever the conditions!

Phew, that’s done… .I’ve got the Ardent and the Trail Boss now installed on the HOPE wheels, so they’re good for winter now 🙂

I’ve set the Crossmarks up on the WTB wheels as emergency spares

Just the 29ers left to do now tomorrow, Smorgasboards going on and the Crossmark IIs coming off.

I took some Nanos off my Solaris last week and put my HR2/Ardent combo on. Nanos were used for some longer more fire road type rides in the summer

Mudguards often go on for winter, but only if I bothered to take them off for summer!

I use the Solaris for anything ‘proper’, but for local stuff that is tame I often use my rigid SS el mariachi. Still fun, makes the tame stuff good and I just leave the mud to dry on. It falls off next time it’s ridden

SS for commuting

Hardtail for fun

Changing wheels is easier than changing tyres.

You can take your time working on stuff on the wheels, too!

philjunior – Member
Changing wheels is easier than changing tyres.

You can take your time working on stuff on the wheels, too!

Not if you’ve got to realign brake calipers and a bit of rear gear indexing it’s not.

Road bike: yes, but mainly because of salt. Mountain bike: no. I don’t even change the tyres. I’d like a hardtail for winter one day, but only because cleaning will be quicker.

2 sets of wheels for the HT, although more a ‘trails’ (Hope Enduro) set and a ‘xc’ (Hope XC) set. Invariably though that translates into a a winter (trail) set and summer (xc) set as I ride the bike much more on local trails (Ridgeway) that doesn’t warrant nobly rubber. Trail set to get fitted on bigger days out.

In short, sort of..

One mtb as it doesn’t seem to matter what time of year it is, it gets covered in crap.
Use the gravel bike instead of my road bike in winter because it has fatter tyres, disc brakes & most importantly clearance for full length mudguards.

Nope. I just have several bikes and if I’m lucky one is vaguely clean for a bit, then I’ll clean another when that gets muddy.

No point in a winter bike when it get be shitty muddy any time of the year in England.

I change sports and go XC sking, snowboarding and do weights instead . But really no I don’t see why people have a winter bike. It’s just greedy 😀

Fatty for winter and bikepacking, FS and plus HT for the rest of the year.