How many sets of gravel wheels do I need?

[madsciencenow]

Ok, so here is my dilemma.

I have a Moots Routt equipped with Etap that I primarily ride off-road (think crushed limestone and gravel roads). When I initially purchased the bike here on the forum it came with a set of Ergott-built 700c Boyd Altamont Lite disc wheels laced to DT350 CL hubs. The wheels also came with 35 mm Schwalbe 1 tubeless tires. I rode this setup for 10 or so rides mostly on hard packed gravel and it worked great. Then I came across some 650b Reynolds ATR wheels and given that the front derailleur on my Moots was close to rubbing the tires (I can probably get up to 38s on but not much more) and I had signed up for the Gravel Grovel where there is some single track that I had heard could be pretty messy, I decided to pick up the Reynolds rims so I could ride some wider tires (WTB Resolutes). This setup has worked well and now I have an extra set of rims hanging in my garage. I keep thinking I might want the Boyd's for more mixed-surface riding but so far this hasn't happened. Anyone think it's worth keeping two sets of wheels around?

[mktng]

I personally like having spare wheels.
1 extra set that is an easy swap over is always nice.

For future sale, or future wheel problems. Nice to have a back up.

[yinzerniner]

Ok, so here is my dilemma.

I have a Moots Routt equipped with Etap that I primarily ride off-road (think crushed limestone and gravel roads). When I initially purchased the bike here on the forum it came with a set of Ergott-built 700c Boyd Altamont Lite disc wheels laced to DT350 CL hubs. The wheels also came with 35 mm Schwalbe 1 tubeless tires. I rode this setup for 10 or so rides mostly on hard packed gravel and it worked great. Then I came across some 650b Reynolds ATR wheels and given that the front derailleur on my Moots was close to rubbing the tires (I can probably get up to 38s on but not much more) and I had signed up for the Gravel Grovel where there is some single track that I had heard could be pretty messy, I decided to pick up the Reynolds rims so I could ride some wider tires (WTB Resolutes). This setup has worked well and now I have an extra set of rims hanging in my garage. I keep thinking I might want the Boyd's for more mixed-surface riding but so far this hasn't happened. Anyone think it's worth keeping two sets of wheels around?

If you're only doing one type of riding then having two sets of wheels is somewhat superfluous. If you're happy with how the ATRs handle all your riding, then by all means sell the other set. But Boyds on 350s built by an expert is tough to beat as a backup set, and unfortunately if you decide to sell them you'll likely not get the best return since alloy with non-240 hubs is perceived as less than.

An ideal setup would be wide, tubeless aero wheels in 700c on 28mm rubber with the ATRs for the rough stuff.

[madsciencenow]

Much of what you said resonates with me. Value makes it pointless to sell, they are great wheels, and something narrower would provide a bit more versatility. Do I want 28s or 30-32s?


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[DRZRM]

I think three is perfectly justifiable, textured/knobby 700x35-40 for gravel road, 650x45-50 if you know you are going to bang around on trails, and something slicker in a 28-35 if you are going to be mostly on the road. Why else have disc brakes?

[bigbill]

I do. I have a set of gravel wheels with WTB I23, WI XMR, and 38mm Gravel Kings. My second set is Boyd Altamonts with 32mm Maxxis Refuse for road use. I travel with one bike and two sets of wheels when I do road trips. When the 32's wear out, I'll likely go with some 28's.

[madsciencenow]

I do. I have a set of gravel wheels with WTB I23, WI XMR, and 38mm Gravel Kings. My second set is Boyd Altamonts with 32mm Maxxis Refuse for road use. I travel with one bike and two sets of wheels when I do road trips. When the 32's wear out, I'll likely go with some 28's.

What's the thinking on the 28 v 32s?

[John H.]

You need as many sets as you can afford ;)
Especially if you have multiple sets of tires that you commonly run and even more so if you have multiple disc brake bikes.

All of my current road and gravel bikes are 12x100 front, and 12x142mm rear- So I have wheels for all.

Road-ish
Roval CLX32 carbon disc with Conti GP4K II 700x28
Industry 9 I35 carbon disc with Schwable Pro One 700x28mm tubeless

Gravel
Enve G23 carbon disc with Challenge Strada Bianchi 700x36mm
Industry 9 ULCX TRA carbon with Maxxis Rambler 700x40
Enve G27 carbon disc 650b with Schwable Thunder Burt

Loaner
Industry 9 I65 deep section with Vittoria G+ TLR 700x28mm.

Hmm? Come to think of it I have too many wheels? Anyone buying?

[wallymann]

light-weight, aero section low-spoke-count road-biased "race" wheelset
mid-weight box-section do-it-all "everyday" wheelset
heavy-weight wide-profile back country "exploration" wheelset

[sparky33]

1 extra set that is an easy swap over is always nice.

For future sale, or future wheel problems. Nice to have a back up.

An alternate and/or spare set comes in handy. However, when a spare becomes several spares, things get complicated.

My rule is that when expected usage becomes never or almost never, the item is sold etc.
At that point, sale proceeds are 100% found money because gear that will never be used generates zero dollars and zero utility while gathering dust.

For the record, I have a few extra wheelsets because I like tire variety more than I like swapping tubeless tires.

[bigbill]

What's the thinking on the 28 v 32s?

Because the 32's just see pavement. A 28 will still profile out nice on the Altamont.

[madsciencenow]

Because the 32's just see pavement. A 28 will still profile out nice on the Altamont.

Which tubeless 28s do you have your eye on?

[Jsafran]

Because the 32's just see pavement. A 28 will still profile out nice on the Altamont.

I was recently thinking the same thing because I have the Maxxis Refuse 32s and can't tell how useful they are since I rarely gravel with them. I have only two wheelsets so one are the Maxxis and the other are Compass Steilacooms.

Last weekend I saw some pristine dirt while out for a long ride with my Maxxis tires and went exploring for an extra ~14 dirt miles and had an unexpectedly amazing time. 35s would have been better, but definitely wouldn't have been great on 28s.

Lesson learned - now I need a 3rd wheelset so that I can have 28s, 35s and my Steilacooms!

[Jaybee]

Especially if you're running tubeless (and for gravel sized tires, you should be running tubeless), ask yourself how many different tire types you want and then match your wheel count to that.

For me, that means a set of lightish 700c wheels running 32 GK slicks for paved and minor mixed terrain , a slightly more robust 700c set running 40 Nanos for longer gravel only days, and a 650b set with some chunkier 47-50mm tires for dropbars on dirt singletrack stupidity. This is my only built-out drop bar bike at the moment.

[bigbill]

Which tubeless 28s do you have your eye on?

Hutchinson Sector 28

[bigbill]

I live in Kingman, AZ and there are hundreds of miles of decent dirt roads and trails around here that I use my gravel bike. My Gravel Kings (38) see pavement miles to get to the dirt road sections and they're more than adequate. Last spring I traveled to PHX (I was still living in TX at the time) and only took the Coconino Dirt Roadster with the two sets of wheels. I did 8 rides that week, 5 on the road with the Altamonts, and 3 road/trail rides with the WTB wheels and Gravel Kings. I did all of Pemberton Trail at McDowell Mountain park then rode back to the hotel.

For me, it was about maximizing what I could do with one bike.