I have a Salsa Heyday! (2021) and was curious about fitting it with non-fat tire wheels + tires. Any recommendations for what to look for and would fit the bike properly?
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Zachary Ruff
Member Since 2023
6Verified Score
Clinton, United States
I have a Surly Wednesday that I run as a rigid 29+ rig for most of the year. In my experience the two main things to get right are hub spacing and overall wheel diameter.
Looking at Salsa's current product information, the Heyday has 15x150 thru-axle spacing up front and 12x197 in the rear, so you will want to make sure any hubs or wheels you buy match this spacing. This shouldn't be a problem since it's the most common fatbike spacing nowadays and hubs are readily available in these widths.
Salsa says the Heyday is designed around 26x4.3" tires and can handle up to 26x4.8". Practically speaking, this means you can run any 29" tire and clearance will not be an issue. (This old BP article has a very handy chart for comparing the overall diameter of different wheel/tire sizes: https://bikepacking.com/plan/granny-gear-inches/)
You don't want to run overly small wheels because it will lower the bottom bracket and make pedal strikes more likely, and more generally it changes the geometry of the bike. So if you want MTB wheels I would stick with 29" rims (not 27.5") and aim for tires in the 2.4-3.0" range.
Hope this helps, happy monster trucking!
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Zachary Ruff
Member Since 2023
6
Verified Score
Clinton, United States
I have a Surly Wednesday that I run as a rigid 29+ rig for most of the year. In my experience the two main things to get right are hub spacing and overall wheel diameter. Looking at Salsa's current product information, the Heyday has 15x150 thru-axle spacing up front and 12x197 in the rear, so you will want to make sure any hubs or wheels you buy match this spacing. This shouldn't be a problem since it's the most common fatbike spacing nowadays and hubs are readily available in these widths. Salsa says the Heyday is designed around 26x4.3" tires and can handle up to 26x4.8". Practically speaking, this means you can run any 29" tire and clearance will not be an issue. (This old BP article has a very handy chart for comparing the overall diameter of different wheel/tire sizes: https://bikepacking.com/plan/granny-gear-inches/) You don't want to run overly small wheels because it will lower the bottom bracket and make pedal strikes more likely, and more generally it changes the geometry of the bike. So if you want MTB wheels I would stick with 29" rims (not 27.5") and aim for tires in the 2.4-3.0" range. Hope this helps, happy monster trucking!