different wheels

ccrdave

Hi everybody I am new here and after a little bit of advice. I have a hardtail which I use for light offroading and a cube stereo for the good stuff.
I would like to do some road riding but before I get carried away with another bike I thought I could fit a set of 700c wheel to my hardtail and do some road work, so I measured up and it turns out that the 700c wheels and tyres are only about an inch and a half bigger in diameter than my 26inch wheels fitted with slicks on so is it worth it or am I missing something?

thanks

Dave

nicklouse

sure you can but you will need to get a set built on disc hubs and the get spare rotors and a cassette.

then add tubes and tyres and you are at the cost o9f a cheap or used road bike.

without the hassle of setting up the brakes and gears each time you swap over.

The Rookie

What brakes on the hardtail, rim brakes won't match to the rims, disc 700c wheels are rare as hens teeth or pricey, why not just fit slicks to the 26" wheels?

ccrdave

well I thought about a cheap set of 700c from halfrauds, about £80 for the pair, they are disc ready ( I have avid juicy 3's on the hardtail) and will take a 9sp cassette, I looked at them today and they are a little heavy but quite strong with good hubs. With tyres they will come out at under a 100 quid.
I have fitted slicks to my 26inch wheels but the diameter is low (about 25inches) I was hoping the 700c would give a bigger diameter with slicks and they do but is 1.5 inches going to make much difference?

The Rookie

Not much, less difference than running one gear higher......

I would think the wheels are for a Carrera Gryphon (formula made), ironically I run my Gryphon on 26" wheels!

ccrdave

The Beginner wrote:

Not much, less difference than running one gear higher......

I would think the wheels are for a Carrera Gryphon (formula made), ironically I run my Gryphon on 26" wheels!

yes that makes sense

thank you

njee20

With tyres they will come out at under a 100 quid.

£20 for tyres and tubes? They'll be crap! That still ignores rotors and cassette. Another £50 easily.

Save up a bit more and get a second hand road bike, riding an MTB on the road is horrible IMO!

ccrdave

yeah I was taking in to account all the other bits I already have.
thanks anyway

bikaholic

700c bits on a 26er frame for commuting purposes:






If you are not averse to recycling what other people throw away (ie I mean skip diving), then 700c disc wheels can be had for little to almost no money if you have some wheel building skills and some lacing pattern knowledge.

I regularly encounter tacco'd 26" disc wheels and broken road wheels - those two make the perfect donors for custom 700c disc wheels. If the combination is right, then the only cost will be elbow grease.

ccrdave

Thats a really nice bike, I think thats what I am going to achieve

thanks for your help

ccrdave

Ok so here another question 700c rims are the same size as mtb 29ers right? so would I be better of getting 29 inch mtb wheels and putting slicks on for the road and would they fit in my 26 inch frame with low tyres on?

just trying to get the best without a shed full of bikes!!

sorry for the dumb questions but I need to learn

cheers

supersonic

Yes, 622mm diameter, but the width can be a lot different. They should fit your frame with low profile tyres.

But I don't swap wheels with my own bikes. Unless you shim one of the discs they usually need readjusting, and often the gears need tuning too (though you can sometimes make minor adjustments to the hub). Often quicker to just change tyres! Though the bigger wheels will up the gearing compared to a 26 wheel with the same profile tyres.

chez_m356

ccrdave wrote:

Ok so here another question 700c rims are the same size as mtb 29ers right? so would I be better of getting 29 inch mtb wheels and putting slicks on for the road and would they fit in my 26 inch frame with low tyres on?

out of interest what fork is on the bike ? is it a rigid or a suspension fork ? just wondered as their seems to be a bit of a difference between the forks when they are designed for different size wheels

ccrdave

my fork is very similar to the middle one in the pic. mine measures from the dropout to just under the crown 17inches so I reckon a 29er will fit that easy its the back thats going to be tight but I can get a 700c in with a 25 tyre

ccrdave

supersonic wrote:

Yes, 622mm diameter, but the width can be a lot different. They should fit your frame with low profile tyres.

But I don't swap wheels with my own bikes. Unless you shim one of the discs they usually need readjusting, and often the gears need tuning too (though you can sometimes make minor adjustments to the hub). Often quicker to just change tyres! Though the bigger wheels will up the gearing compared to a 26 wheel with the same profile tyres.

yes thats what I was thinking about using 29ers just change tyres. I would get the best of both worlds then with one set of wheels.

you say up the gearing but I have not got my head around which way it will go, does it mean with bigger wheels the overall gearing will be lower so I could run out of cogs with slicks on the road? and conversely with slicks on my 26 inch wheels (diameter with tyre 25 inches) the gearing will be higher?
confused :?

cooldad

No it will be higher. More distance travelled for a turn of the cranks.

ccrdave

ok one last question and I will shut up as Im sure your all bored with this now.
given the choice would I be better off buying 29ers or 700c? I can get both wheelsets for about the same price and im pretty certain with low profile tyres both wheelsets will fit

thanks

nicklouse

chez_m356 wrote:

ccrdave wrote:

Ok so here another question 700c rims are the same size as mtb 29ers right? so would I be better of getting 29 inch mtb wheels and putting slicks on for the road and would they fit in my 26 inch frame with low tyres on?

out of interest what fork is on the bike ? is it a rigid or a suspension fork ? just wondered as their seems to be a bit of a difference between the forks when they are designed for different size wheels

they are differing heights due to the fork that came off the bike. a frame designed around 80mm travel fork will need a different length of fork than a frame designed around a 120mm fork.
there is also a difference in the trail on a fork for a 29er and a 26" bike.

nicklouse

ccrdave wrote:

ok one last question and I will shut as Im sure your all bored with this now.
given the choice would I be better off buying 29ers or 700c? I can get both wheelsets for about the same price and im pretty certain with low profile tyres both wheelsets will fit

thanks

does not matter, hub width and rim width is what matters as the size is the same. and that comes down to the frame and the tyres.

ccrdave

nicklouse wrote:

chez_m356 wrote:

ccrdave wrote:

Ok so here another question 700c rims are the same size as mtb 29ers right? so would I be better of getting 29 inch mtb wheels and putting slicks on for the road and would they fit in my 26 inch frame with low tyres on?

out of interest what fork is on the bike ? is it a rigid or a suspension fork ? just wondered as their seems to be a bit of a difference between the forks when they are designed for different size wheels

they are differing heights due to the fork that came off the bike. a frame designed around 80mm travel fork will need a different length of fork than a frame designed around a 120mm fork.
there is also a difference in the trail on a fork for a 29er and a 26" bike.

Yes I realise the geometry could be a bit "off" my frame will take a 100mm - 120mm fork. I have a 100m equivalent rigid fork and the bike runs fine on that with 26 inch wheels and very big tyres which will not be too far away from a 29er with a slick. Also it has massive clearance so im wondering if its meant for 29ers anyway
But I guess the only way im gonna find out is do it right!

cheers

ccrdave

just thought I would show you what I did 29er superstar wheelset and schwalbe 1.5 inch tyres. works a treat and I can still keep the sus forks if I want
sorry the pic has loaded a bit weird I couldnt resize it to suit the forum rules but I hope you get the idea

thanks for the advice

tbikeradar

Has the handling changed at all..can it turn corners ok...I am tempted to do the same. But geometry is king.

ccrdave

I have only had a couple of rides but to be honest I think its better, its smoother, easier to pedal and does tight turns just like the 26er and its deffo faster.
I was worried about the geometry thing so I did some measuring. the wheels on my other (26inch) bike have maxxis ardent 2.35 tyres which are very tall and overall diameter of those wheels is 27.5 inches.
my 29er wheels with the skinny tyres have an overall diameter of just over 26inches (622mm for the wheel 38mm for the tyre) so If I would worry about geometry the big tyres on the 26er should have more of an impact than the 29er wheels on my 26inch hardtail
confusing innit!

Strobe_UK

Seems a lot of hassle for little gain to me. I just used semi-slicks on my MTB before getting a proper road bike. You will still have MTB gearing which is horrible on the road. Personally, I would seek an end-of-line bargain road bike (October is usually a good time of year); e.g. Charge Filter Mid from Wiggle for £400 (half price). OK, it's bit of steel clunker but it will be far faster and nicer to ride on the road than a 'converted' MTB. Or, if you buy second-hand and choose wisely you can often sell on for little loss if you decide it's not for you.

supersonic

It will only be faster if you push any harder gear at the same RPM. Not many people push the hardest gear all the time. My converted MTB is as fast as an equivalent road bike as it is tailored to my spec and preferences.

Strobe_UK

Yeh sorry, I was using the phrase 'faster and nicer' as a general term, without getting in to the technical aspects of wheel diameters, tyre widths, gear ratios, etc. Price for price, a road bike will (obviously) be lighter, more stream-lined, and have more appropriate road-gearing.

Anyways, I don't want to stray the thread off topic, if the OP is happy to go down the 'converted' MTB route (as you have happily done) then good luck to him.

ccrdave

to be honest i didnt really know what i wanted so the experiment was done as cheap as poss and at the end I prefer to ride offroad rather than on hence the compromise.
i am so pleased with the 29er wheels I am gonna buy a proper 29er frame and swap it all over so I can stick some big tyres on or some slicks and ride the bike where i want
i hear what you say about the road bike but this one is a compromise i think i can live with and anyway i get a lot of pleasure fiddleing about with all this kit

tbikeradar

Wait , i heard they are bringing out 32er wheels soon!

ccrdave

tbikeradar wrote:

Wait , i heard they are bringing out 32er wheels soon!

well you can take the piss but after having three or four rides in my local forest (forest of dean) all I can say is dont knock it til you have tried it, they are fantastic. I ride with my wife and she is always much faster than me but now she has real trouble keeping up, I even have to stop and wait for her.
I know there are a lot of peeps who say 29er is just a fad well here one old mountain biker whos not going back to 26ers at least for the forest riding

I do have question about gearing though, from what some of the posters said on here I was expecting to have to run lower gears when in fact its the reverse, I am even starting to use the big front ring something I have never needed to do before
so which way is it? 29ers need bigger (harder to pedal) gears or smaller ( easier)gears

cheers

njee20

The larger diameter the wheel the harder/bigger/higher gears will feel, ie you'll theoretically want easier gears.

The reality is that a 26" wheel with a fat tyre is probably a larger diameter than a 700c/29er wheel with a small slick.

ccrdave

njee20 wrote:

The larger diameter the wheel the harder/bigger/higher gears will feel, ie you'll theoretically want easier gears.

The reality is that a 26" wheel with a fat tyre is probably a larger diameter than a 700c/29er wheel with a small slick.

yes thats true my 29inch wheels are actually 26 inches dia with the slick, my 26 inch wheels with maxxis 2.25's are actually just over 27 inches dia. the thing I havent worked out is why the 26ers with the big tyres fit easily in the frame/fork but the 29ers with the slick only just fit with a very small clearance under the fork bridge

why the hell are the wheels called 29 or 26 when they quite obviously arent!!!