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Road Wheels for my Cross Bike

2.2K views 9 replies 5 participants last post by  Chicago Performance  
#1 ·
I'm planning on doing a little bit of road riding this summer - an MS 150 and maybe a crit or two, but I will be mostly riding solo on limestone trails. I have no trouble keeping up with the local street group rides with knobbies on, but longer rides and competitions require a real tire. A new bike isn't an option, so I'm thinking of getting a second set of wheels to mount street tires on. The problem is my cross bike has disc brakes.

The LBS said they can get me a set of 29er rims, and I'm wondering if that's the best option. I'm looking for something under $1,000 including cassette and discs, but don't want something that is worse than the rims that came on the bike (Alex Rims CXD26). The only distinguishing factor I can see is the internal width of my stock rims is 17mm whereas most 29er rims are 19mm (this is where the tire bead fits into). I will likely be running 25mm road tires. The trouble is most manufacturer websites do not list the internal diameter of the rim.

It looks like there are a few options for cross-specific, but what does the rest of CLSB think?
 
#4 ·
Changing the tires is a PITA. I have done it, but it usually involves pinched fingers or bloody knuckles. I'm also afraid of breaking something. There's a reason I'm not a mechanic! A second set of wheels is worth the savings in pain and stress :)

Plus I have not found any used disc CX wheels.
 
#9 ·
I might give that a shot first. That does look a lot easier than the tire irons I've been fiddling around with.
 
#8 ·
I did the tire change thing for a while. Last year during cross season I changed tires twice a week between computrainer and weekly races, its not that bad and you get pretty quick at it. If there were a cheap option I might think differently, but I'd rather put that grand toward a future bike or upgrade purchase rather than swapping simplicity. Another thing that might be more stressful than anything is the disc brake alignment between two sets of wheels. If its off by a hair any time and stress savings are lost as you try to readjust your brakes every time.
 
#10 ·
By the way, I can get you some new wheels at $250 for the pair. Not disc of course, but 700c wheels. I had one set, and just got another. Going from training wheels to CX to commuter had me using bogus wheels for racing sometimes and race wheels to commute. Not good. The formula for number of wheelsets is the same as number of bikes. N+1