Can 1 frame and multiple sets of wheels work?

n – several …….

Looking at the option for rationalisation as I am on the cusp of thinking I may have too many bikes ….. 😥

Looking at 29/29+/650B+/Rohloff compatible frames for which my Longitude actually fits the bill – sort off.

I have wheel sets already built up and theoretically could mix an match them as needed but does this really work.

Anyone tried it or successfully use this in real life?

I can see me reverting back to multiple frame and separate builds.

Thoughts?

Get the disc and cassettes all shimmed out to the same position in respect of the frame, and no reason why not.

Having a rohloff in play complicates things.

I have one bike with 3 sets of wheels. They are all plug and play.

I tried it a while back but didn’t have the self discipline, ended up buying a frame which fitted a spare set of wheels. Tried it again and ended up with 3 bikes

It would work, but I’d be in a peranent state of “I only need a frame and….”

Would very quickly have another bike.

mlke – Member
I tried it a while back but didn’t have the self discipline, ended up buying a frame which fitted a spare set of wheels. Tried it again and ended up with 3 bikes

😆 This is what I worry about!

@GM – That would be the plan.

For multiple wheel users, do you switch the cassette over? Best for even wear but a ball-ache to do every time. Do you notice the uneven water otherwise if you keep things well maintained?

I’ll let you know, took delivery of a 29er set for my fatbike yesterday afternoon. Already wondering if I should have grabbed a pair of Formula light disc rotors for £20, but initially I will need to transfer the old ones and the cassette.

I used to have race wheels and ‘everyday’ wheels. Was quite good at swapping them over. Then one cassette wore more than the other, so I also had to swap either the cassette or the chain. Stopped bothering. Just used the race wheels all the time.

I’ve had two sets of wheels for my Nukeproof Mega TR for about a year now and don’t find swapping a hassle, including swapping cassette and resetting the calipers. For me it’s definitely worth it as the different wheels totally transform the bike.

I’ve tried but never ended up doing it regularly. Just too much hassle.

You can get 90% of the benefits just by changing tyres.

I got a set of 650B+ wheels for my Solaris. Pro2 Evos both sets. Bit of not quite perfect alignment of disk in calipers between different wheelsets.

Happily I think I’ve a solution: I’m selling the 650B+ wheels and building up a proper 3.0″ compatible bike…. 😳

HoratioHufnagel – Member
I’ve tried but never ended up doing it regularly. Just too much hassle.

You can get 90% of the benefits just by changing tyres.

Surely changing tyres is way more hassle than a cassette!

Yes but then you said rolhoff….
Used to use 2 or 3 pro 2 sets with identical rotors. Worked fine as the hub spacing was the same. Keep. On top of chain changes and no real problem. These days I have 1 decent set of wheels that are strong light and wide.

I’m running two sets of wheels for my Bird Aeris. DT XM1501s with trail tyres and DT E1700s with 2-ply DH tyres. I have a different cassette and chain for each set and it’s no hassle to swap. My chainring is stainless steel narrow-wide so I’m hoping it’ll withstand the chain changes.

I do this on my stache. 29+ and 650b+. Both have cassettes and discs so takes seconds to change over and the bike is a very different ride. I really like it as another set of wheels is easier to store than a whole bike.

It works really well. I’ve got one (26″ hardtail) bike with a few sets of wheels now- one lightish set with Kenda K-RAD tyres that roll nicely on smooth surfaces, another lightish set with High Rollers and a 26+ set with DHFs that grip like snot to a blanket on the right stuff but are awful anywhere else 😆 The High Rollers probably get used the most but the Kendas are a close second.

They were all singlespeed so were dead easy to swap over and I had no hassle with the brakes lining up even though they’re all on different hubs (Superstar, Nukeproof and Shimano). I got a few SRAM 9 speed road cassettes (£15 each or something) to put it back to 1×9 for the Northern Grip festival at Ramsbottom next weekend because the trails around there look a bit climby and I’ve got a couple of local DH races this summer as well where the extra gears’ll come in handy but I’ll be singlespeeding it again when the winter gloop arrives. I don’t use different chains for different cassettes, I know I probably should, but the sun hasn’t exploded and my legs haven’t fallen off (yet!)

I have some commuting wheels for my 29 plus, but I have to adjust the caliper position every time I swap over which takes about 1 minute. I ought to shim the discs but cba.

Run 2 wheelsets on my cx stylee drop bar hybrid disk adventure gravel tourer

One set 25mm tyres on lightish wheels for road challenge rides and some clunky rims and 32mm tyres for gravel – run a 2 tooth bigger cassette as well

Sometimes need a small tweak to the gear cable tension but even with different hubs hit lucky and no calliper adjustments

Use a chain tool to check for wear and this seems to avoid issues with cassette wear (crosses fingers)

Pretty sure the Rohloff will have to stay as is though?

2x Jones bikes
3x wheelsets
Works a treat 😀

Run 29er (Hope Pro2 Evo hub) and 650B+ (Alpkit Rumpus) wheels on my Solaris. I don’t serially swap them so the wheels might be on for a week or two. Swapping the cassette over is minimal work.

Don’t really have room for more bikes so having 2 sets of wheels is the easiest way for me to get a “different” bike.

I have the one set of wheel and swap tyres. It takes 15 minutes to go from knobblies to road tyres. Obviously it would be more work if they were tubeless, but it works fine for me.

I’ve toyed with the idea of 2 bikes (touring bike and xc 29er) and one set of wheels with a Rohloff. It makes sense in my head, but it’s not without issues.

Niner, SIR.9.
29+ / b+ combo plus a set of regular 29″ wheels
It’s never run gears, so no cassette faff.
Brakes are BB7’s, so a turn on the pad adjusters sorts that out.

I could run the 27.5 wheels from my Five I guess.

On my old 29er Inbred I had geared & ss rear wheels, & at one point it was dingle speed up front.
The conversion to gears took but a few mins as the shifter bracket stayed on the bars & the mech/cable/shifter pod were left as one. Had to swap chains but again, a few mins tops.

These days I just grab the Niner.

I have a spare set of wheels for my Amazon – it’s just easier than changing tyres from “tour” to “cx”.

I also built a set of Boost 29er wheels for my B+ Pact but I’ve not got round to fitting them after several months. TBH, it’s so nice the way it is, I don’t know if it’s worth the effort.

Can it work? Yes. Does it work? IME not really, and this is just me of course, but I found it more likely I would just take the bike out with whatever wheels were already on. Plus once you fit a more “all-rounder-ish” set of tyres to one wheelset that’s probably the pair you’re going to keep using…

Then you look at the ‘spare’ wheels and ponder “if I got another frame and forks…” and before you know it there’s another bike in the garage.

Depends how weak willed you are. Most of my bikes have had spare wheels over the years. Either a set of clinchers for training or spare tubs so i can train in daylight and replace tubs in the evenings. Never had the urge to suddenly buy (or ask for) new bikes so I’d have some where to store the wheels……

I do it to save swapping tyres tbh! One set of (stronger) wheels with super gravity flavour tyres on for DH / uplift days, and a racier set with fast tyres on for more XC days out! Just grab the right set on the way out the door. TBH, the gravity set doesn’t really wear out it’s cassette etc because they don’t see much pedaling!

As a result of this thread, I bit the bullet, did a quick cassette swap and turned my B+ Pact into a 29er for the day. It was fine. No kittens died. Both wheelsets have Pro2 Evo hubs so no brake adjustment necessary.

Strava tells me I got a 2nd,a 3rd, a 4th, a 6th and two 9th overalls – plus a couple of other PRs. I don’t know if this proves anything, just saying.