Hi everyone.

I'm new to cycling, and will be using my bicycle to commute to work (which i will order shortly).

My route includes long two-lane roads, with mediocre pavement. However the roads are somewhat narrow, and the shoulders are gravel.

I'm looking into buying these tires in 700x28c

However I'm concerned, how well would they handle occasional driving on the gravel shoulder (for example if a large car tries to pass me and there isn't enough room on the pavement). Do you think these tires could take that use no problem maybe once or twice during my commute?

Otherwise, the come stock with more knobby tires meant for CX (here) at 700x32c.

Notice they do have an inverted tread.


So my questions are

1) Can those road tires handle the gravel shoulder when I need to use it?

2) Is it even worth getting those road tires, or will the stock Ritchey tires be near as good because of their inverted tread?


Thanks!