# Cyclocross wheels on a mountain bike?



## mango12 (Sep 5, 2009)

Has anyone ever used the cyclocross wheels on your singlespeed mountain bike? They seem to work well for the cyclcross guys, they are lighter and ride the road a little easier.Your opinions on the subject , for or against would be appreciated.


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## AZ (Apr 14, 2009)

Spacing is different isnt it? 135mm vs 130mm , or is it 126mm?


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## umarth (Dec 5, 2007)

Spacing is sort of an issue, as AZ.MTNS mentioned. If you are going steel from steel, spacing doesn't matter- the stays can flex 5mm fine. 

On a 26" bike, there might be issues with room for a cross tire. Obviously, depends on model.

Then there is a problem with brakes- with rim brakes you'd have to have some funky adapters for the cross wheel on a 26" bike, or disc hubs on the cross wheelset.

I'm guessing what you really meant was "tires."


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## myself369 (Sep 27, 2008)

i've done it before on my monocog 29er. it made for a very quick ride, and traction was actually pretty good in anything but mud and wet roots. obviously its less forgiving overall, and reducing the overall diameter of the tire will result in an overall lower gear ratio


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## jmadams13 (Sep 28, 2008)

Check out the monstercross threads in the 29er forum. spacing will only be an issue if you are using a cross wheel on a mtb frame. Well, depends. We just built up a soma doublecross at the shop, and used standard 29er wheels. 700c cross tires will fit fine on a 29er wheel. If thats what your talking about... 

Rides nice, different, but nice. Makes for a totally different ride. Is nice on the road and gravel paths tho. Just watch your PSI. More chance of pinch flats


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## sunset1123 (Apr 28, 2009)

I had my monstercrossish bike out this weekend... Redline monocog with 700c x 38, SS/FG. Did 40 miles, 2000ft of climbing, and a sweet 4 mile singletrack descent. I was surprised how well the bike handled in the rock gardens... very stable, and no pinch flat problems on 38s.


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## axcxnj (Jun 23, 2008)

i often ride my CX bike on singletrack with 38c tires..they handle all the rocks and roots quite well...you do have to take more care in your line though..you cant just roll over everything the same way you can on a 29er


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## sunset1123 (Apr 28, 2009)

To each their own, but I've never been a fan of the 'roll over everything' school... IMO, picking good lines is just part of good riding, even on a fat tired squishy bike.


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## umarth (Dec 5, 2007)

sunset1123 said:


> I had my monstercrossish bike out this weekend... Redline monocog with 700c x 38, SS/FG. Did 40 miles, 2000ft of climbing, and a sweet 4 mile singletrack descent. I was surprised how well the bike handled in the rock gardens... very stable, and no pinch flat problems on 38s.


Which tires did you use? Are they fast on pavement?

Did we ever find out if the OP meant tires or wheels?


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## sunset1123 (Apr 28, 2009)

umarth said:


> Which tires did you use? Are they fast on pavement?


Specialized Crossroads. Quite fast on the road, near mountain bike grip on the trails if you run the pressure low enough... can take 100psi if you are into that sort of thing. Very long wearing tread.

I run them according to the old cyclocross pressure test: push the tire down with the thumbs of both hands until it touches the rim. Inflate until this is no longer possible. This usually winds below the recommended pressure on the sidewall, but with no problems if you ride smooth.

I have the rear tread pattern reversed when I run fixed, which is most of the time.


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## umarth (Dec 5, 2007)

sunset1123 said:


> Specialized Crossroads. Quite fast on the road, near mountain bike grip on the trails if you run the pressure low enough... can take 100psi if you are into that sort of thing. Very long wearing tread.
> 
> I run them according to the old cyclocross pressure test: push the tire down with the thumbs of both hands until it touches the rim. Inflate until this is no longer possible. This usually winds below the recommended pressure on the sidewall, but with no problems if you ride smooth.
> 
> I have the rear tread pattern reversed when I run fixed, which is most of the time.


Thanks. Working on a fixed monster-ish cross to crash on.


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## aka brad (Dec 24, 2003)

mango12 said:


> Has anyone ever used the cyclocross wheels on your singlespeed mountain bike? They seem to work well for the cyclcross guys, they are lighter and ride the road a little easier.Your opinions on the subject , for or against would be appreciated.


You assume someone riding a SS mountain bike would want those qualities you mention; I would guess most would not. While wheel weight is an issue bantered around, all things being equal, a 29'er wheel is weaker than a 26 wheel, and I don't see anyone doing more than a 2 foot drop with a Cyclocross wheel. Further the very nature of a singlespeed is you are going to spin out on most roads anyway. Also, with the smaller tread patch of a Cyclocross tire, breaking forces quickly overwhelm traction; and since you can only ride as fast as you can stop, the end result is a slower ride. Putting 700c wheels on a mountain bike (yes it has been done using disc hubs) pretty much gives you the worst of both worlds, but it was useful for one pro mountain biker, when he wanted a road bike that rode like his mountain bike; they just switched the wheels.


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## boomn (Jul 6, 2007)

aka brad said:


> You assume someone riding a SS mountain bike would want those qualities you mention; I would guess most would not. While wheel weight is an issue bantered around, all things being equal, a 29'er wheel is weaker than a 26 wheel, and I don't see anyone doing more than a 2 foot drop with a Cyclocross wheel. Further the very nature of a singlespeed is you are going to spin out on most roads anyway. Also, with the smaller tread patch of a Cyclocross tire, breaking forces quickly overwhelm traction; and since you can only ride as fast as you can stop, the end result is a slower ride. Putting 700c wheels on a mountain bike (yes it has been done using disc hubs) pretty much gives you the worst of both worlds, but it was useful for one pro mountain biker, when he wanted a road bike that rode like his mountain bike; they just switched the wheels.


A 29er wheel _is_ a 700c wheel. Ignoring the difference in hub widths for road frames, the real difference is boiled down to bigger tires. Many road rims actually are tough enough for off road riding. People don't take cyclocross bikes off 2 foot drops because the frame probably isn't built for that and because small tires don't have enough volume to absorb the impact. "29ers" wheels with real off-road rims are only theoretically weaker than 26" wheels, but it doesn't seem to actually have much proof in real life

Anyway, I agree with your point. People _do_ want light, fast wheels but that doesn't mean they want all the drawbacks that come from tires that small. Cyclocross sized tires haven't taken over because they beat you up a lot more if you try to go fast on rough trails and they can't grip nearly as well as a larger tire with more tread. Probably works pretty well for smooth, groomed trails though. Then again, even on the smoothest XC race courses, the pro riders rarely run smaller than a 1.9" tire, whereas a cross tire is generally considered to be no larger than 1.7"


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## UBUgoat (Sep 12, 2009)

axcxnj said:


> i often ride my CX bike on singletrack with 38c tires..they handle all the rocks and roots quite well...you do have to take more care in your line though..you cant just roll over everything the same way you can on a 29er





sunset1123 said:


> To each their own, but I've never been a fan of the 'roll over everything' school... IMO, picking good lines is just part of good riding, even on a fat tired squishy bike.


i agree. probably why i don't own a full-sus or 29er...sure, i'd like to do that sometimes, but i like the technicality of picking the line, avoiding or charging. quick decisions.

of course, money is an issue. if it wasn't i'd have a stable full of bikes that roll over things if needed...


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## TheGenTwo (Oct 23, 2009)

umarth said:


> Spacing is sort of an issue, as AZ.MTNS mentioned. If you are going steel from steel, spacing doesn't matter- the stays can flex 5mm fine.
> 
> On a 26" bike, there might be issues with room for a cross tire. Obviously, depends on model.
> 
> ...


Are steel stays the only stays that can flex? My aluminium ones flex too when I mount up the wheels..


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## markgoldsmith (Sep 7, 2009)

I've been running some stans raven cross tubeless tires sz 700 x35c for a few weeks now. The bike is a ridged Cannondale F29 mtb with some mountain drops. Working great for longer rides that have a lot of fast two track and pave.....not so great on tight rocky singletrack. My 2 cents


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## tomass15 (Jan 26, 2007)

Why even consider road/cross wheels when you can get Stans 355 29er wheels at under 1650 grams, lighter if you go with Hope or DT swiss hubs or 2.0/1.5 spokes and have a strong light disc/rim brake ready wheel. Many guys are running these wheels in Cyclocross to get a strong tubeless ready wheelset. Most light road based wheels have a low spoke count, this is where they save the weight, this also makes the wheel harder to true when used in Cross or MTB type riding.


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## Germany_chris (Sep 14, 2009)

*Do you mean like this*

700/35 racing ralph..

now if I can just get the fenders on it'll be great!! but discs and no mounts make it difficult.


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## November (May 21, 2007)

I recently mounted these Schwalbe CX Pro 26"x1-3/8" tires on my old GT for a local rail trail and am noticing slightly faster times. Had to order them from the UK as I couldn't find any in the US.

WARNING: Not a SingleSpeed:


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