riding terrain on a 700c road bike
 

i come from the world of bmx freestyle, so i am a n00b when it comes to big bikes. bear with me.

i might buy a 2007 GT Legato 3.0 from a friend mostly as a commuter bike but i would like to use this bike for some recreational off-road riding as well. some companies make 700-28 knobbies, so what kind of riding could i do with this bike off-road? how aggressive of trails could i tackle with this bike? if it can't handle a little trails, i don't want to break it.

after doing a little more research, it looks like i basically want to turn my presumptive Legato into a cyclocross bike. would this work or should i look for a stronger bike?

it's the 2007 version of this bike- http://www.gtbicycles.com/usa/eng/Pr...rchived=t#5612

sorry for the double-post, but i am going to re-post this in the cyclocross forum.

It looks like it might work for hard packed trials, fire roads things like that. Single track and mountain trails might be a stretch.

Although the need for narrower than typical cross tires will limit you, I ride all the easy mountain bike trails around here on a cross bike. No big hits though, and the lines you have to hold get pretty skinny.

Just go do it and see what works. I rode an old Peugeot AO8 (my '70s college bike) on fire roads and some trails for a year or so before I could afford a mountain bike. Large, low pressure tires are a help (can you fit 35s?). You may find that you become a better rider for the experience: I still have my first mountain bike, a late-'80s rigid Bridgestone. It's set up as a commuter now, with 1.5 tires and fenders, but sometimes I ride it offroad just to freshen up all those old skills.

700c and 29 inch mtn. wheels are the same diameter.

You could ride something like that on 'nature trails' or anything you could safely jog on.