[Colonial Marine]

Hi All,

Please can you give me your 2c and hopefully help me see all the pros & cons to my current dillemma.

I own a 2014 Giant Anthem X29er which I ride about 200km a week with a mix of 70% bike path and 30% trail. This is in preparation for a xc event late in October 2014.

I am concious of a) wearing through my mtb tyres pretty quick on the asphalt and b) the wear & tear on the bike, especially as we enter the rainy winter months.

So my dillemma is do I:

1) Buy a cheapish set of extra wheels and run them as my commuter wheelset? (estimated cost of Au$220)

2) Buy a decent midrange replacement wheelset (Shimano MT66 29er for around Au$350) which I then use as the off road wheels, and use the Giant stock P-XC2 as the road wheels?

3) Buy a budget second hand hard tail (Diamondback overdrive lowish spec for $180ish) and use this solely for commuting/road use.

4) stick with the one set of rims & put up with swapping tyres 2 or 3 times a week and spend the money on extras such as new helmet/pump/co2/spd shoes (Which I will buy over the next few months anyway)

5) Shut up and just buy new rubber every couple of months.


Budget is around the $400 Australian mark so there isn't the budget for anything too fancy.

Please gimme me your thoughts.

Thanks in advance

CM

 

[rangeriderdave]

1 With extra wheels you would need ,tires ,tubes ,quick release/axles, cassette,and rotors. 2 Same. 3 If buying a bike for road /commuting why not get that type of bike.You can get training miles allot faster on the road. 4. A pain ,how much free time do you have? You could do it in less than 20 mins. with practice. 5.How much money do want to spend on tires?

 

[zephxiii]

What kind of wheels on the Anthem? heavy OEM ones? If so buy a nice light wheelset for trail use and mount commuter rubber onto the OEM wheelset.

From what I read that Giant wheelset is heavy as mofo. If u r gonna buy another set of wheels, get something nice like Arch EX set. You won't regret it. From what I saw those Giants wheels are 2111g lol.

I also like the idea of having a 29er HT for pavement AND trail use. I would still replace the Giant wheels however.

 

[Colonial Marine]

Thanks Ranger,

I dont have funds for a road/commuter & the overdrive is a gumtree preowned bike. Wheelset prices I quoted above have rotors/shewers/cassette factored in, plus I have a set of road tyres already. Free time is 0. Her indoors is already miffed at 10hrs training a week. Money on tyres as little as possible

 

[Colonial Marine]

Thanks Zeph,

I am limited a lot by budget so $400 including rotors/cassette/skewers is firm. Arch EX is $600ish before I try and ship it over here.

I can string together a set of MT66 with SLX cassette & rotors within my budget (which also means effectively a free upgrade to tubeless )

OR a cheapo hardtail (which would probably fall apart or need serious upgrading if ridden on the track)

 

[CannondaleF9]

Tyres can get expensive (especially when you buy Schwalbe Evos), but I think that you should just buy a pair of smoother tyres and learn how to swap tyres over while using the same wheelset.

 

[zephxiii]

Yeah but swapping tires sucks, especially when tubeless (I won't even do it), and especially if u are alternating between pavement/trail all the time.

Also the tire that is going to wear the fastest is the rear tire, the front will hold up really well for a good while longer. If your trail tire are already fast you could go with just an Arch EX rear wheel, mount the trail tire on it, and use OEM wheel for street rubber. When u save up some more ponies u could pick up the front Arch EX later (which will be cheaper than the rear).

 

[Colonial Marine]

Thanks again for replies guys. Cannondale, no swapping tyres is sound more and more like a ball ache every time I think about it. I had a second set of commuter rims with my old 26 HT and they were ex from a supermarket bike and I tell you they made a huge + difference to my attitude to riding.

Zeph I still cannot justify spending all of my budget on one wheel I'd rather have a reasonable mid range second set of wheels as it also gives me direct swappable replacements for the race if I bend/break a wheel- especially if I use same cassette)

I think am going to go with a set of MT66's. Tubeless off the rack sounds good!

Gonna run same SLX 10 speed HG81 (11-36) cassette as on existing stock rims.

Now please help me choose a set of rotors. SLX or XT? Ice Tech or not?

MT66 is centerlock I believe.

 

[zephxiii]

Meh, it is worth the money, trust me....especially in rear rim (I know, someday u will too).

Unless u r doing a ton of descending... Non icetech SLX rotors would be fine.



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[Colonial Marine]

I hear you Zeph, but a medium quality upgrade solves issues of 1) a fully compatible set of spares ie wheels and cassette

2) I can upgrade to tubeless ahead of my budget schedule

3) I don't honestly think I am at the level where I'd notice a top notch upgrade just yet.


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