Wheel size and wet setup question.

gpz900 · Post by **gpz900** » Thu Dec 29, 2011 1:03 am

Seasons greetings everyone.

Hoping someone can advise on this one.

Current situation:
NC30 track bike with standard 18" rear wheel (dog bone re-drilled 109mm), no spare wheels for wet weather setup.

Preferred situation
NC30 with 17" rear and a wet weather setup (spare wheels with racing wets)

How best to achieve this without breaking the bank?

option 1: Buy 2 x 17" rear wheels so I can have a dry and wet setup with the same size wheels.
Pros - Better tyre choice, better grip, same handling which ever wheel is on the bike
Cons - Friggin' expensive (NC35 wheels are not easy to find here in Oz and they aren't cheap either)

option 2: Buy 1 17" wheel and use that for the dry setup, keep the 18" for a wet setup
Pros - cheaper and easier
Cons - different handling because of different wheel sizes, might be tricky getting wets in this size

So, a couple of issues to sort out.

Regardless of which option I choose, when the 17" wheel is on the bike it will turn slower than it does now, can I re-drill the dog bone again and make it even shorter and keep the handling as is? Or is that not recommended?

If it's ok to do this, can I have two holes (or more like a slot) so I can have two positions to choose from depending on whether the 17" or 18" wheel is on?

Are 18" wets even available still?

Any other options you can think of?

Thanks.....

Post by **lukemillar** » Thu Dec 29, 2011 8:01 pm

gpz900 wrote: option 1: Buy 2 x 17" rear wheels so I can have a dry and wet setup with the same size wheels.
Pros - Better tyre choice, better grip, same handling which ever wheel is on the bike
Cons - Friggin' expensive (NC35 wheels are not easy to find here in Oz and they aren't cheap either)

Do this! Just hit up ebay in the UK- NC35 rears come up for sale all the time and with the $ so strong at the mo, you shouldn't have to break the bank. I had 2 sets sent over from the UK -> NZ.

Before I managed to get the second set though, I just bought a 17" wets and changed it on the rim. It's pretty quick, especially since the NC has the single sided swingarm. Only becomes a pain if the conditions are really changeable.

Post by **jetblack** » Thu Dec 29, 2011 9:02 pm

They aint that common..trust me been looking for ages! Looking into getting some made though...

Post by **lukemillar** » Thu Dec 29, 2011 10:37 pm

jetblack wrote:They aint that common..trust me been looking for ages! Looking into getting some made though...

When I bought mine last year, they were coming up on ebay month after month... I just up a search that emailed me daily.

Post by **CMSMJ1** » Fri Dec 30, 2011 12:25 am

I've had a few through my hands

Ref the OP - 18 or 17 - in the wet you won't notice the difference.

I'd bet a tenner you cannot tell them apart on the same tyres in the dry...

18s for the win...

(though, to be sure - I ran 2 x17s when I raced......arse eh? I cannot tell the difference between 18s and 17s apart from the obvious ride height. More is better..18s FTMFW

Post by **marcus57** » Fri Dec 30, 2011 10:13 am

So if I was to have my bike set up for a 17" nc35 wheel but used a 18" nc30 wheel as a wet everything would be ok?

Post by **CMSMJ1** » Fri Dec 30, 2011 11:19 am

You'd never tell...

Post by **reverse cylinder jim** » Fri Dec 30, 2011 11:22 am

CMSMJ1 wrote:You'd never tell...

I ran 17" for dry 18" for wets for the last few years and cannot tell. I also have a few brand new set of wets, 17 front 18 rear if anyone is in need of a set.

gpz900 · Post by **gpz900** » Mon Jan 02, 2012 7:17 am

Thank you everyone, that's excellent information, I was worried about swapping between wheel sizes.

So all I need now is to find a 17" wheel !!

Oh, and some 18" wets.

Reverse Cylinder Jim, where are you based? and how much are the wets?

Thanks again and a Happy New Year to all.

Al.

Wheel size and wet setup question.

Wheel size and wet setup question.

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