Cyclocross to road bike conversion

PeteEccott
PeteEccott Posts: 2
edited May 2018 in Cyclocross
Hi all,
I am considering changing the wheels on my cyclocross bike to a specific road wheel. Has anyone has done this, and if so did you find a noticable difference in the wheel friction? Theoretically a thinner road wheel should reduce friction and therefore make road cycling easier. I am currently riding on a 35mm wide wheel, but as I have entered the open stage of the Tour de France and am therefore only riding on tarmac. Therefore is it worth changing the wheels to a specific road wheel?
Any adivce is welcome.
Cheers.
Pete

Comments

  • Andymaxy
    Andymaxy Posts: 197
    ? Friction? You mean rolling resistance. I don't know what you mean by friction, but I thought wider tires offer better rolling resistance. But going back to your question I don't think a road wheel is necessary, but I think a slick tire would offer benefits over heavily treated tires. When you choose a tire for road cycling, generally go for tires that would match your rim width when pumped up. A specific road wheel(unless you are willing to drop $3000 on a pair of light, stiff, aero carbon wheels) will not make too much difference.
  • veronese68
    veronese68 Posts: 27,823
    Do you mean a 35mm tyre? 35mm rim width is wide for a cross bike. Change the tyres to a slick pattern and maybe a little thinner, but I wouldn't go less than 28mm. No need to change the whole wheel.
    Kinesis Pro6
    Marin Nail Trail
    Cotic Solaris
  • figbat
    figbat Posts: 680
    Slick tyres, higher pressure, ride.

    Road wheels may offer a small weight benefit to save you a bit of climbing effort, but then just changing tyres will help with this too.
    Cube Reaction GTC Pro 29 for the lumpy stuff
    Cannondale Synapse alloy with 'guards for the winter roads
    Fuji Altamira 2.7 for the summer roads
    Trek 830 Mountain Track frame turned into a gravel bike - for anywhere & everywhere
  • Andymaxy
    Andymaxy Posts: 197
    I think most people here would agree that changing out gyres is a better value upgrade than wheels.
  • slowbike
    slowbike Posts: 8,498
    Ah - now, what I would do - assuming you want to switch between tracks/trails and road - is have a second wheelset with road tyres on.
    But just for a one-off section of TdF - I wouldn't buy a specific wheelset just for that. Unless the cross tyres were really knobbly I'm not sure I'd buy a road tyre either - depends what they are I guess.
  • kajjal
    kajjal Posts: 3,380
    If you are struggling to get thin enough tyres on specialized Roubaix pro tyres come with a 25mm tread and 28mm case which may help you.
  • peteco
    peteco Posts: 184
    I just change the tyres on my cross bike to road tyres. New wheels just add other complications.

    Pete
  • ctp046
    ctp046 Posts: 47
    It's the OP's first post. I assume he just got his terms mixed up.

    Notes for the OP:

    Tire = the rubber part in contact with the ground
    Wider tires (e.g. 32mm tires) have less rolling resistance at a given pressure than skinnier tires (e.g. 23mm tires)
    Wider tires have more aerodynamic drag a given speed than skinnier tires, as you go faster this becomes more of an issue
    A slick tire (road specific tire) will have less rolling resistance than a nobby tire (so yes you should get new tires for this, it's worth the money).

    Wheel = wheelset = Rim + hub + spokes.
    A decent wheelset is going to cost a lot of money, probably not worth it for what you're doing.

    Summary, buy new tires, keep your current wheels.

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