Is it time for winter wheels?

step83

When I changed my wheelset I hung on to the old ones with the intention of making them winter wheels (white wheels are a pig to keep clean).
Question being when to change? Is there a set date like for these things we all change at once? Of just when you realise drifting on leaves is not fun anymore.

fenix

for me its not about leaves - Its when it starts to rain more and theres more crud on the road.

I'm hoping we get a few more weeks yet - but up to you.

dinyull

^Me too re. leaves.

Prior to running a disc setup I would have swapped winter wheels in whenever it was wet - middle of summer or not.

drlodge

^^^ Me too. Its the wet and grit that gets the bike and wheels dirty, wet grit really hammer the rims and pads.

If its a nice dry day I'll happily take the Rourke out, otherwise its the winter bike that I don't care so much about.

sloppyschleckonds

Yeah, winter starts 21st Dec. Not difficult really.

OnTheRopes

Well when the first salt goes down, that is the latest day you should stick the winter wheels on.

whoof

Depends which winter wheels you mean.

I rode last weekend on my winter bike but I've not yet put my studded tyres on my tourer for commuting when it's icy. I may as well do it this weekend as I won't be touring anywhere again until next Spring. I then need keep an eye on the temperature and decide when to use it rather than my usual commuter.

dhungerf

I've changed mine this past weekend. Its the grit that gets caught into the brake pads and grinds into the rims. I use a cheaper set of wheels (DT Swiss) for the bad weather and store the Zipps safely in the house. I also have an old 1980 Zebrakenko steel frame bike that I added fenders to for those wet / gloomy days.

fenix

I reckon we'll get a few more weeks out of the summer wheels yet....

Alex99

Step83 wrote:

When I changed my wheelset I hung on to the old ones with the intention of making them winter wheels (white wheels are a pig to keep clean).
Question being when to change? Is there a set date like for these things we all change at once? Of just when you realise drifting on leaves is not fun anymore.

I've been on mine for a few weeks already. No more races or fast group rides, so don't care if I'm 0.5 mph slower. The main thing for me is, once it's wet every other ride I'll choose my cheapo winter wheels to grind the brake track away on my typical uppy / downy routes on gritty lanes.

sloppyschleckonds

Fenix wrote:

I reckon we'll get a few more weeks out of the summer wheels yet....

Then switch to Autumn wheels.

fenix

I spoke too soon - it rained !