The levees around here are not really roads at all. They have been closed to vehicles for many many years and they are not maintained as such. There is no grading or scraping done at all on them and no benefit of constant traffic smoothing out the tracks. A single canal or pump station maintenance vehicle may drive on them a couple of times in a month. These are not at all like "gravel roads" elsewhere in the country that get regular use by cars. There is nothing out there to smooth out the embedded rocks - only the wind and rain and an occasional fire.
They are probably closer to abandoned logging trails or fire trails without the elevation changes. Not quite 4-wheel drive trails but far from smooth.
They have only recently been opened for public use and there are many many miles of them coursing throughout the Everglades. Lots of fun to ride and really cool and unique scenery (I saw 3 gators just last weekend) but they can be very hard on both the body and equipment.
There are quite a few LBSs around this area and most of them do organized Levee rides at least once a week. To the OP: I would check in with Alex's, Performance, Big Wheel, B&J, one of the many Trek stores (Lauderdale Cycle or Trek of Sunrise), or even a Bike America and find out what most folks that do the Levees use and like for tires, etc. Maybe even go on a ride with one of the groups and see what works for you. Some of these stores even have demo bikes that you might be able to check out and take on one of the rides.
You've been road biking in the area for a while so I'm sure that I'm not telling you anything that you haven't thought of already...
I work in Ft. Lauderdale and live out west by the Levee accesses and one of the great things about this area is that there are literally dozens of bike shops within 15 miles of home/work. Great resources and a wonderful source of local information.
Last edited by dbf909; 02-16-17 at 08:46 PM.