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Does size matter

Im about to order some rotors for new wheels and cant decide if i should get 180 or stick with 160. Does 180 give that much more improvement for general trail riding?

Im getting a spare set of wheels so that I can quickly switch between mud tyres and normal tyres rather than change the tyres twice a week. If I go for the 180's ive got to get 4 discs and a caliper mount otherwise every time i change wheels/tyres ill have to move the calipers.

The other option is to run a 180 up front and stick with the 160 on the back, I can lock the 160 rear fairly easily so figure i dont need any more power there. Does anyone run a large disc at the front?

Your thoughts please

Seeing as the majority of breaking should be done by the frontthe norm for brake balance is 180 up front and 160 out back

Sent using the force...

I'm running a 203 on the front and a 180 on the rear. The rear is fine but I still feel there's not enough stopping power on the front. Maybe it's because I'm 19 stone though!!

As this.... unless your into big speeds down bigger hills stick with 180 front and 160 rear.....

Cool, cheers for the replies, will run a 180 on the fronts and the existing 160s on the rear

Dont forget when swapping wheels over you will need to swap the rear cassette over too

Good call Harry...

I've been contemplating having a 2nd set of wheels (set with dry/general and other set with pure mud tyres) and thought it easier to swap wheels and cassette each time nested of tyre swapping.

Yep figured that should just be a quick thing to do. certainly less hasle than changing the tyres.
It takes a good 45 minutes to swap 2 tyres, and will get messy if I choose a tubeless option. the mud x are particularly difficult to get over the rims.

This is what I'm going to do as I'm fed up of swapping to mud tyres and then something better rolling for the commute. Probably just going to get a cheap pair of wheels from Superstar, they have some for £130 using their rims and switch hubs. Already run 180/160mm but probably won't get another pair of icetech rotors for the cheaper wheels.

No real reason to really change tyres that often unless your doing a lot of road miles, mud x are fine all year round. I run mine most of the year and might stick high rollers on in the summer months if its very dry

The mid week rides are atleast 6 miles of road and then upto another 15 gravel or tarmac track miles, the mud x arnt very smooth riding on that and they are quite soft compound so would end up wearing through them quickly

Ive been looking at the superstar wheels as well but with a mavic UST rim which come out at about 250, these would be my main wheels with the originals as the mud option.

If only changing tyres for shortish commutes surely better to buy a cheap hybrid with road tyres if your looking at £250 you must be able to buy a 2nd hand commuter for that!

Had a couple of sets of wheels a few years now and you can't beat it! You can even change your mind on route, or when you get to a ride (obviously if you've driven there) , what tyres to use.
Get 2 matching cassettes and check each wheel with a steel rule when mounted on the bike just to make sure both cassettes are exactly on the same alignment. Saves you fine tuning the rear mech when you swap wheels. If you can match the new rear hub to your existing you'll be spot on.

Against £130 for a pair of wheels (already have a spare cassette) getting another bike for commuting would probably be more expensive and I don't really have much room for storage but I would never turn down another bike!

These are good for the money
eBay item 321045338950.