Road Cycling - Road bike on gravel.

Hello Everyone,
I have a section of my ride, probably 75 feet, that is a temporary gravel path. It is much like a driveway, but it is fairly steep. You really have to give it some power to get up it, and you have to hold your brakes to ease down it.

My concern is, could this do any real damage to my wheels/ tires?
I am crossing this daily on my Bianchi Campione with Mavic 700's and 23cc Michelins. I noticed today that some more experienced riders were dismounting and walking the bikes across the rough portion of the path. Thanks - Ted

Originally posted by The Terminator

My concern is, could this do any real damage to my wheels/ tires?
I am crossing this daily on my Bianchi Campione with Mavic 700's and 23cc Michelins.

How strong are your rims? How many spokes are you running? How strong are the wheels? How rough is the gravel?

I sometimes take my roadbike on the small offroad shortcut through the forest to my house rather than circumnavigate the extra 3 miles around the subdivision to come in by paved roads. It's the equivalent of tame singletrack with a 1/4 mile or so of rough gravel. To date, my Mavic Ksyriums with Conti GP3000 700x23 have not looked to be any worse for wear because of it. I do worry about blowing a tyre or doing something stupid and washing out my front end while on the gravel though. I find that it helps to use a little bit of speed and "feel light" to try and "float" over the roughness. I also attempt to aim for straight lines when possible. That said, I come from a mountain biking background and maybe I'm horribly abusing my roadbike.

I ride 700x28 with 36 spokes so gravel is not a problem. Another factor is clearance between the tire and fork. A small rock stuck in your tire can ruin a carbon fork.

Originally posted by cycletourist
I ride 700x28 with 36 spokes so gravel is not a problem. Another factor is clearance between the tire and fork. A small rock stuck in your tire can ruin a carbon fork.

Hmmm... my whole bike is carbon. Maybe I should stop avoiding the extra 3 miles of pavement and save the gravel for my MTB. :D

Then again... my MTB is all carbon too... :confused:

Seriously though, that's a good point. Although I have yet to have my tyres pick up the gravel much less lodge them anywhere, it probably wouldn't do me any good to have that stuff flying across the carbon tubes and stays either.

I'm just amazed to hear you guys navigating through gravel and dirt roads with skinny tires.

I get nervous when I hit patches of sand. I don't feel comfortable at all (white knuckling it through it). What's the secret? I tip my hat (helmet) to you :)

Originally posted by Cadd

I get nervous when I hit patches of sand. I don't feel comfortable at all (white knuckling it through it). What's the secret? I tip my hat (helmet) to you :)

Oh... sand is a different story. I have a really hard time getting through sand because my tyres will sink in it. and this is with my MTB. I wouldn't even think of attempting to cross sand with my roadbike. Admittedly I don't have the widest tyres on my MTB (2.1"), I'm not sure going any wider would help me all that much in the sand. What I try to do is maintain a very smooth pedal stroke so as not to break what little traction I have and dig myself into a hole. I barely try and steer so I shoot for the straightest and shortest line I can that will get me out. If possible, I'll try and come in with a little extra speed and weight a little to the rear to keep my front end from digging in or washing out. Oh... and I'm not a religious man but I do say a few kind words to The Great Maker just in case. ;)

BTW, sand is horrible for your drivetrain and should be avoided at all cost. If you do have to go through sand, remember to do a thorough cleaning afterwards.

I ride down my gravel drive way all the time(120/130feet) The only weak spot might be the tires( I use Fortezzas), but if the pressure is up you should have no worries. Cyclocross bikes are built similar to road maybe just a tad beefier, and they get pounded all winter.

Ive ridden road bikes with 25mm tyres on gravel roads. There is no problem. You wont break the frame or the wheels with a little rough stuff. There are classic races over rough roads such as the cobbled lanes of Northern France.
Ive ridden a light touring bike with 28mm over serious off-road, with steep technical descents over rough ground. It didnt break.

A lot of road riders are paranoid about their expensive machines getting damaged, so dont push them to the extreme.

Originally posted by The Terminator
...some more experienced riders were dismounting and walking the bikes across the rough portion of the path...

Not likely I would dismount in this situation due to mechanical equipment concerns.

The experience these riders have may include going over the bars, or some other method of rapid dismount causing great physical discomfort to be induced on their being, because of similar terrain ;)

That is an experience which has caused me to take great care when taking my roadie onto the dirt.

Originally posted by threadend
Not likely I would dismount in this situation due to mechanical equipment concerns.

The experience these riders have may include going over the bars, or some other method of rapid dismount causing great physical discomfort to be induced on their being, because of similar terrain ;)

That is an experience which has caused me to take great care when taking my roadie onto the dirt.

That is what I think also.. In situations like these, I slow down(for comfort) and be ready for a quick unclip(pedals), you'll never know what will happen on loose terrain.

Even the thread title, "Road bike on gravel" sends shivers up my spine.

I hate the stuff when I'm on my road bike.

There seem to be different definitions of gravel. When I was in Victoria, most of the "gravel" roads were clay, which actually gave a smoother ride than the paved roads (fact). Mind you, there was one in the Grampians that was just sand. :eek:

Originally posted by MediaCreations
Even the thread title, "Road bike on gravel" sends shivers up my spine.



It'd be a great title for a country and western song though, wouldn't it.?

I've never ridden my road bike on the real gravel roads, like the big chunk gravel that you see out in the country here in the midwest. But, the bike path I ride on to work is crushed limestone ( like really small gravel) and I ride that a couple mile every day I ride to work. It's actually pretty smooth and relatively fast for not being pavement. Never had a problem.

I do that everyday on my commute, although I'm riding 25's. The only risk is a slightly greater chance of a sharp rock cutting your tire sidewall. That happens to me maybe once a year and I ride on gravel every day on my way to and from work.

Dave

Well, there is gravel then there is gravel. Every day on my commute home I ride approximately 1.5 miles on a gravel road atop a levee, but the "gravel" is more like crushed stone and pretty well packed. I run 25 mm tires on my road bikes and a 28 mm cyclocross tire on my fixie. Occasionally they mess me up and dump a couple of inches of loose gravel on the road. I avoid it for a few weeks until the levee police cars pack it down enough to ride on. I wouldn't dream of riding on loose loose sand or "pea" gravel, the small rounded rocks about the size of, well, peas. You just bog down to a near stop and really have no control, like driving on ice. If you try to turn the tire just slides out from under you. I will walk through that stuff if I can't go around it.