I have a Cotic Roadrat which I bought off eBay as a complete bike.

It came with Shimano WH-R550 road wheels.

However, I'd like to use it as a kind of do-it-all road/towpath/fire-road/bridleway (although mostly road) bike since that's what a lot of the terrain is like here on the Isle of Wight. I also like the idea of doing a bit of touring on it.

Would these wheels be OK for all of that or would they cave in at the merest hint of a rutted surface?

Would it just be a case of putting some slightly more knobbly tyres on these wheels than the skinny road it came with? Any recommendations for cyclo-cross/light off-road wheel/tyre combinations?


As ever, thanks in advance for any pointers...

If the wheels are well built you should have no problems. They won't stand up to MTB style abuse but with something like a 32mm cyclo-cross tyre on then a bit of light off road should be no problem. Could be worth having them trued and tensioned to be safe.

In terms of tyres, Continental, Michelin and Schwalbe both have a decent range of 700c cross tyres. Chain Reaction tend to stock some - if not all - of the above. I'd try there.

I have an MTB with 700c wheels on and 28mm road tyres and I've ridden that on towpaths, byways and RUPP's with no issues. I've also seen a couple of guys on cyclo-cross bike in the Peak district riding stuff I'd only contemplate on something with 2.3 tyres and a suss fork, soi they are stronger than they look.