I’m currently doing some surgery to an old mk1 Niner Sir9 (relatively steep angled 29er) – adding some braze ons for panniers and a third bottle etc. It’s going to be reborn as a flat bar rugged tourer with front and rear panniers etc for tarmac and unmetalled roads for some extended European touring fun (though in truth I’ll also do trips to Tesco far more frequently). By changing tyres (and maybe forks) it’ll switch to more a more bike packing orientation for shorter dirtier weekend adventurers in the UK.

I’m building it up by raiding my parts bin and other bikes and a few choice purchases. It’ll have have a Rohloff transmission system using the (32H) hub I already own. So it can’t have multiple wheelsets, or at least the rear needs to be the same in all setups. The rim needs suit 50mm touring tyres (probably at a reasonable pressure given my weight and a fully loaded bike) and bigger 2.2-2.3 inch off road tyres. I ‘think’ tubeless is probably out as not sure about touring tubless and also the faff and mess of frequently switching tyres with a tubeless setup though happy to be convinced otherwise.

Any rims anyone would recommend for the purpose? I’ve got new used Stan mk1 ZRT Arch knocking about I could use on the rear but unconvinced about Stans mtb rims used tubed at higher that specced pressures with smaller tyres. Also OCD says rims should match and I’ve only got one!

Thanks in advance.

EX471’s are bombproof and a 50mm tyre will do 64psi.

Thanks Steve.

Any more thoughts?

DT Swiss TK 540? It is proper touring rim.

Or Mavic A719? It has a braking surface, but you could use it with discs if you want.

Don’t know why you wouldn’t choose tubeless.  Flat all the time with an innertube, not flatted for three years tubeless.

Top up with fluid through the valve core every six months (or so) and forget.

Rode from Nottingham-Chester down the trent and mersey canal a few years back over a couple of days.  Burned through four tubes and an entire pack of patches and still rocked up in chester with a flat. (They’d cut the hawthorn on the banks along some of the stretch).

Tubeless?  Well, I leave the thorns in…

I know, I’m troubled slightly by not going tubeless. But on a long tour in some far flung place I might be 100 miles from a compressor to reseat the tyre. But there again you’d put a tube in in those circumstances so maybe that’s not a valid argument. As I said in the opening post I’ll need to switch tyres pretty frequently so the 6 month or so top up and forget would not apply to this bike.

Also it’s the pressure I’d need to use it at. The 50mm mainly road touring tyre would really need to be run at about 55psi I think which is beyond the pressure specification for most mtb tubeless rims I think (unless anyone knows one that can handle that pressure) . And a road tubeless rim could not handle a mtb tyre very well.

So reluctantly I think tubed probably makes sense.

The 50mm mainly road touring tyre would really need to be run at about 55psi

I’ve been using 40c nanos at 35/40ish psi for touring the last three summers so I wouldn’t consider that a hard and fast pressure requirement

For that kind use I’d probably be looking for something with eyelets. I like wtb and have used both kom and frequency on a loaded bike, tubed and tubelessnand would recommend them bar the ‘long tour’ requirement- they don’t have eyelets.

Or go wider on the touring tyre?

big apples go up to 29×2.35 and give a decent ride.

bigger tyres can be run at lower pressure, so less likely to puncture.

I’ve been using 40c nanos at 35/40ish psi for touring the last three summers so I wouldn’t consider that a hard and fast pressure requirement

But what weight are you? I’m currently pushing 100kg plus the touring load. it might not need 55psi but I suspect will need more than 40ish. Or loose some weight which is the plan!

Or go wider on the touring tyre?

Road touring means guards for me and 50mm is the biggest I think I can get in with guards. Especially with a reasonable clearance riding with guards on slightly mucky roungh stuff.

Yeah I wouldn’t tour without guards like.

I use between 28 to 35 psi for 2″ tyres depending on surface.

Exal DC19’s on Deore/SP for me.

Double walled, double eyeleted, 36 spokes. Fine with 2″ Marathon Supremes. Might be a bit narrow for bigger tyres offroad.

Possibly overkill, but I’ve bent some supposedly heavy duty rims on bridleways with full panniers and a tent on the rack.

I don’t think I’ll be bending these.

Try Spa, SJS or Paul Hewitt for this type of rim/wheel.

But what weight are you? I’m currently pushing 100kg plus the touring load

Fair point, I’m somewhere in the 70s of kg plus kit. You’re taking bigger tyres though which may go some way to cancelling out

use a trailer rather than 4 panniers?  A weight penalty of around 10 lbs but better handling and better aero performance plus less load on your wheels.

I can ‘get’ swapping tyres to use a tourer for bike packing, but sod changing the forks and all the associated malarky of refitting the front brake caliper, reassembling the headset etc, and thats assuming you get an extra crown race for the other fork.

Get it over with and have two bikes 🙂  Also consider an Alfine if you want hub gears on both 🙂