Full sus bike wheel dilemma

What would you do?

2 sets of mid quality wheels, the heavy(ish) ones I already have plus a lighter set for occasional 24hr races or all day rides, or sell what I already have and put the extra money into something lighter and still pretty tough that I use for everything?

I have 2 mountain bikes, a hardtail and a full sus. I use both for similar kinds of riding, but if I’m obviously going to be riding somewhere rougher I’ll pick the full sus over the HT (and if I’m just riding local XC the HT more often), but both bikes are setup for general XC riding as such.

I know hardly a big problem, but what would you do? Does owning 2 sets of wheels for the same Mountain Bike ever really work? Or will I really benefit from a cheap(ish) light set of wheels to bung on for 24hr races and long XC rides?

I used to do just that. had two bikes, each with two sets of wheels. Occasionally swapped them over but not enough to justify having them. I now own two mountain bikes. One hardtail, on long travel full sus. Both get ridden around the peaks. My choice of bike is “the not clean one” more often than any other reason. Both bikes run hope hoops with flow rims. The HT with 2.1 tyres, the fs with 2.3.

I doubt I’ll be bothering with spare wheels again. If one bike gets damaged and I really want to use the other, like an Alps trip or similar, I can rob bits from the other as there’s such commonality.

Hope that helps.

Only if you have one bike. It does however, give you the excuse to build another bike.

Oh, and always good to have a spare set of wheels, incase you trash one.

D’oh!

2 contrasting opinions… Both suggesting exactly the thoughts already going through my mind!

Less worried about the “in case I trash one” scenario, I have 2 bikes and can only ride one at a time. I can also build my own wheels, so could also remedy a trashed wheel pretty quickly.

More thinking will I really benefit from some light wheels (or at least benefit enough) like the cheap Stans 355’s or Olympics (£80 a pair) at Merlin Cycles, on something like an XT rear hub and the spare Maverick front hub I already have, built with some DT comps I already have spare? Given I already have spokes and a front hub, total cost would be circa £120 for a pretty light set of wheels. For reference, the wheels on there currently are a DT Onyx rear hub and a Maverick front on Mavic EN521’s.

Or sell the current wheels, buy some Stans Arch EX’s or even Flows, and build on a nice rear hub and the spare front I already have, and just use them for everything?

I’m starting to reach the point with bicycle wheels that my missus reached with shoes some time ago i.e. you can never have too many!

So my answer would be get another set.

Yeah, I’m not gonna get like that Bazz… I’ve spent the last year or so massively trying to consolidate everything I have as it is, and have done pretty well so far. But can I justify 2 sets of wheels that are different enough (already have the tyres)?

Anyone got any more opinions tonight?

you need another 2 bikes, 2 full sus and 2 h/t, then n+1 applies

you need another 2 bikes, 2 full sus and 2 h/t, then n+1 applies

Been there. Done that.

Can safely say that n+1 is great if you’ve got loads of money, and somewhere to store them all, but for the rest of us, I’ve concluded 2 MTB’s is enough.

Part of the thinking behind this though, is if I have 2 sets of wheels, I can ride the bike for XC and 24hr races on one set of wheels, and use the other set for messing about down my local trails, and even some light DH or whatever.

I had 3 sets of wheels light set DT4.2’s , hope hoops with flows and another heavy duty MTX4’s set for the Alps , just ended up with the flows and sold the other two seemed light enough fo XC and strong enough for the max limits I am capable of.

just ended up with the flows and sold the other two seemed light enough fo XC and strong enough for the max limits I am capable of.

Is the other school of thought… With a tyre change, Flows are light enough yet probably strong enough for me for pretty much any eventuality. Not cheap though!

If you want some light, tough do it all wheels, Hope 2 evo and Arch rims, or Flows for a bit of extra strength. Sell the others and you have a nice do it all wheelset and haven’t spent too much. Change tires and not the wheels, easy tubed not so much fun tubeless.

Edit, nowt wrong with second hand!

Hope 2 evo

Not for me ta. WAY too loud. Besides can’t use the front, need my proprietary front hub which I already have.

Arch rims

Would be tough enough for XC and 24hr racing, definitely not tough enough for more full on riding I will still want to do.

Flows

Probably the best bet, but I’m loathe to spend £60 per rim, when rims are one of if not the easiest component to damage on the bike!

easy tubed not so much fun tubeless.

I will definitely be running tubeless (even after today’s burp). I’m pretty good at changing them now, but it’s still more hassle agreed.

I’m a bit stumped…I think I understand your problem but forgive me if I have got confused!

The only thing I have found having 2 sets for one bike is that I have to align the brake calipers for each set. I have no idea if this is always the case when changing wheels or if you have such an issue.

I agree the hope hub is a noisy bugger, hated it for the first few rides but now not so bothered.

What is your front hub that you have to use?

Thing is if you are going to end up with a great all round wheel set spending the cash on Flows will that be more than getting another set for racing? Would they even be a good race choice(flows)? I wonder what light race wheels you could get for 120-150, maybe superstar have something?

The only thing I have found having 2 sets for one bike is that I have to align the brake calipers for each set. I have no idea if this is always the case when changing wheels or if you have such an issue.

Helps massively if you use the same hubs on both sets of wheels, removing the need to adjust. You can also buy disc shims too, so you can shim the placement of the disc out on one of the hubs, so the relative position matches on both hubs even if they are of a different make.

I agree the hope hub is a noisy bugger, hated it for the first few rides but now not so bothered.

Used to own a Pro2. Converse opinion to yours. Didn’t bother me too much on the first few rides, then it slowly began irritating more and more. Now I just really don’t like them!

What is your front hub that you have to use?

Got Maverick DUC32 forks, and the special hub to fit it. Managed to pick up a couple of brand new hubs a while back for silly cheap, so all sorted there.

Thing is if you are going to end up with a great all round wheel set spending the cash on Flows will that be more than getting another set for racing? Would they even be a good race choice(flows)?

Let’s get one thing straight. I’m not going to be competing as such! I’ll be a long way off that. That said, lighter wheels do make the biggest difference to XC speed (other than fitness of course) and/or fatigue (or lack thereof) so I’d rather haul round the least weight possible if I have gotta do Mayhem, SITS et al. Though SITS I’d probably do on my hardtail anyway, but Mayhem I personally prefer on a full sus (that and it’s got a granny ring still).

As for spending the cash? Flow’s are £60 each, from anywhere… If I’m lucky I might get a CRC discount code, effectively taking them to £55 each.

I wonder what light race wheels you could get for 120-150, maybe superstar have something?

Pair of Stans Olympics (350g each roughly) for £80 on Merlin right now, XT centrelock rear hub (330g) for £40 or On One rear hub (305g) for £40 also, front hub already taken care of as are spokes (I have a load of DT comps spare). Or could save a bit of money and go slightly heavier, Sun Ringle EQ23’s for £15 each right now on CRC, 410g each which isn’t exactly heavy (I’d just run a rimstrip for tubeless) leaving either more money in the pot for the rear hub, or just keep it in my pocket.

What i found was that my “old” wheels were worthg so little s/h that it just made more sense to keep them, sling em in the shed for a rainy day or in case of breakages!

What i found was that my “old” wheels were worthg so little s/h that it just made more sense to keep them, sling em in the shed for a rainy day or in case of breakages!

Am thinking along these lines right now. Well sort of anyway… Was just about to rebuild my “old” hubs with EN521 rims, but thinking scrap that, sell the rims (or return em), and build some of those £15 each Sun Ringle EQ23’s onto them (basically same profile and weight as a Mavic 717) and use these as my light(er) wheels where hub weight is less important but the rim and tyre weight (I’d sling my lightest tyres on em) is more so. Then just buy a bloody nice rear wheel, and build a matching front rim onto the spare hub I’ve already got to match it, for my other wheels. Still undecided though… Gotta hurry up, Mayhem is in less than 2 weeks, and my full sus doesn’t have any wheels currently!