# Swapping wheels with disc brakes



## rochrunner (Jul 11, 2006)

The last time I had a 2nd set of wheels/tires that I could swap back and forth depending on conditions was with rim brakes, when everything was completely standardized (QRs, dropout spacing, etc.) and all I had to do was adjust the calipers a bit to account for rim width differences.

Is it feasible to do this with a thru axle, disc brake bike? I haven't kept up with the technology in detail, but from what I gather there are a lot of new differences in dropout width, axle diameter, and maybe other factors (?). But what I'm more concerned about is the mounting of the discs on the hubs relative to the calipers and if it's possible to have two sets of wheels (with cassettes and discs already mounted) that can be swapped without having to make positioning adjustments to the calipers.

By the way, this is for what I guess is called an "adventure bike" where I can swap between skinnier, road-oriented tires and wider, treaded tires for more off-road usage. Yeah, I could just swap tires and tubes every time, but could be in a situation where I'd want to take both sets with me in my SUV on a trip.


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## Marc (Jan 23, 2005)

Feasible? Yes. Very.


The only thing you may run into across hub-brands, is due to variations in hub machining, needing to shim the disc rotor of one set or the other to get them to be PnP. You can get precision shims from McMaster-Carr.


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## tlg (May 11, 2011)

You can shim your rotors so they have the exact same location. 6-bolt rotor shims are pretty common. Centerlock not so much but they are available. https://novemberbicycles.com/products/centerlock-hub-rotor-shim-pack-of-4

I've done this on 2 sets of wheels, different brands. One is 6-bolt. The other is centerlock. The wheels swap no problem.

Also discussed here. 1.375 ID shims work too.
Any tips for aligning disc brake rotors/calipers?


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## rochrunner (Jul 11, 2006)

Thanks all for the information! Nice to get a clear, concise answer to my question.


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## Lombard (May 8, 2014)

I will soon be building my first disc brake wheelset for my gravel bike. Looks like I have some things to look forward to.  

And there is the other issue that discs are seldom ever true from the factory. I'm thinking above all else, I will need one of these:

https://www.biketiresdirect.com/product/park-tool-dt-2-rotor-truing-fork?adl=1&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIp-7fypeo2gIV3LfACh0fBQutEAQYAyABEgJlYvD_BwE


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## tlg (May 11, 2011)

Lombard said:


> I will soon be building my first disc brake wheelset for my gravel bike. Looks like I have some things to look forward to.
> 
> And there is the other issue that discs are seldom ever true from the factory.  I'm thinking above all else, I will need one of these:
> 
> https://www.biketiresdirect.com/product/park-tool-dt-2-rotor-truing-fork?adl=1&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIp-7fypeo2gIV3LfACh0fBQutEAQYAyABEgJlYvD_BwE


Your link doesn't work. This one:
https://www.rei.com/product/738864/park-tool-rotor-truing-fork-dt-2

Discs also get out of true from use too. So it's a handy tool to have. But an adjustable wrench works quite well too.

You might also want to consider a disc truing gauge
https://www.parktool.com/product/rotor-truing-gauge-dt-3
https://www.parktool.com/product/dial-indicator-for-dt-3-dt-3i-2

What I did was just got a cheap dial indicator and mounted it on the side of my truing stand. 
Most of the time though, I can do it right on the bike by eyeballing the rotor and pads.


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