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XC Wheels on Enduro Bike = Trail Bike?

13K views 10 replies 9 participants last post by  slowdownthehill  
#1 ·
I am a proud owner of a Starling Murmur but and a Cotic Soul 26. Due to a change of home I have to reduce the amount of space dedicated to bikes and would like to get rid of the Soul.

My local riding is very XCish but I enjoy going up to tharn hills on a big bike. The soul isn’t really suited to the big mountain stuff so I was wondering about getting a set of spare wheels and putting some light fast rubber on them so I could switch them out accoring to the riding style.

Has anyone ever tried anything similar?
 
#3 ·
No! Don't do it...you're bike won't roll at all!

Just kidding...you could certainly do that. People do it all the time.Getting a second wheelset is a fairly cost efficient way to increase the type of terrain a bike can cover without buying (and storing) a second bike. It's going to be a little slower on the uphills than the Soul and I assume the geo is more long and slack, so it will take a little more effort in the tight turns, but it will certainly work.
 
#4 ·
I have this exact sort of question in the endurance racing side. I plan on getting an AM type bike and set it up with some fast tires and see if I can hang on still, only issues I could possibly see is on long paved climbs (Lutsen 99er starts with a paved 5 mile climb that goes up 1000 feet) but I honestly don't see that being an issue as long as you don't ride like a lunatic on the front..
 
#8 ·
I have a set of Race Face Next SL wheels that I put some EXO 2.3 Minnions on and run on my Enduro bike. They make the bike into a great trail bike. My other wheels are DT Swiss 1500s with DD 2.5 Minions on. Awesome wheels for smashing but for trails they are a bit sluggish.
 
#9 ·
I just swap tires which makes a huge difference. We have rolling terrain here in the Charlotte area and a lot of XC style trails. I run a 2.4" Maxxis Dissector up front and a 2.4" Rekon DC out back on my Ripmo with S35 carbon wheels, which are fairly light given how strong they are. I can still hit whatever I want with confidence and the setup rolls pretty fast. When I go out to the mountains, I swap over to some burlier tires which only takes about 10 minutes.

Did the same thing when I lived in FL, but ran a 2.6" Rekon up front with a 2.6" Bontrager XR2 out back due to the amount of sugar sand and pedaling. Very XC tire combo which really transforms how the bike feels. Luckily the Ripmo is extremely pedal efficient and lightweight even for a trail bike.