I'm wondering if a typical road-bike 700c tires are able to handle crushed gravel type paths? I would thing so since cyclocrosses are 700c-equipped right?

My friends in Paris say they handle the rough stuff rather well.

I would suggest slightly wider and puncture resistant tires such as 700 x 28 if you have the frame clearance for them. Should not be any problems with such tires. If most of your riding is on the street with occasional graveled path riding then I would not recommend cyclocross tires as the tread is intended primarily for dirt riding.

A lot of road bikes won't take much bigger than a 23c. IMHO, that is too small for commuting on rough roads. I suggest reversing the numbers. I use 32c Pasela TG
tires, and they are good commuting tires.

It's not unusual to see a roadie by the side of the road fixing a flat. If I get more than one flat a year I get a better tire. I didn't get even one last year (now I've done it

700 is only a measurement of the diameter of the inside of the tire. They come in super skinny (low 20's) and super fat(mid 30's?), which is the number you want to look for.

I have 700 28's that I ride over lots of stuff with. Another bike has 700 23's, and I try to keep it on the road.

Depending on how densely packed the gravel is, determines what width of tire you can use. There's one path that I take at a considerably slower rate with my 25c tires than when I'm on my other bike with 35c tires, and the path's speed is not much of a consideration when I'm on my MTB with it's 2.0's.

I had 700x28 on my touring bike in China that I used for everything. I had no trouble keeping up with the Mt Bikes on dirt roads and trails.

Any of the flat-resistant type tires would accomodate this need. Armadillos, Gatorskins, Marathon Plus are of suitable thickness and toughness. Have one 'rough' stretch on my 17.5 mi commute that's 0.5 miles of uncrushed gravel and my 700x28mm SMPs laugh and keep rolling. I ride a CX bike as a commuter. It has the clearance for 32mm or larger, but I thought 28s would be enough to replace the stock 30s that flatted within 2 weeks.

Yes absolutly they can handle it. I just got myself a fixie a few weeks ago, it's my first bike with 700cc wheels and I love it . I run 32mm tires and I never have a problem riding unpaved trails and paths. So far the wheels have stayed true but I don't do any crazy stuff with them.. I have a MTB with 26 inch wheels for doing really rough stuff . For long distance riding and fast commuting I prefer 700cc wheels. Much faster and less rolling resistence then my very heavy 26 inch wheels and 2.5 tires.

There are 700c wheels and tires designed for everything from Mountain biking (29ers) to road racing. I have a bike with 700 X 50 mm tires and it's plenty at home offroad.

Not all 700c equipped bikes will handle gravel well though. I think the ability to take 28 mm tires as a minimum would be the cutoff.

I routinely ride my tour bike on gravel trails with 28mm ultra gatorskins. These tires tend to wash out on turns quite a bit more than did the 32mm Top Touring tires I wore out last year. They're certainly a hair faster, but the ride on the aluminum framed T1000 tourpig was a lot more comfy on the 32's.

My bike runs a 28mm in the rear and a 23mm in the front and i've ridden it on some rail-trails and light singletrack before...









[This bike was born a fixed gear tarck bike, now it runs a 7 speed SRAM internal gear hub. It can be ridden offroad but it's no cyclocross bike. 28mm is the absolute max that the frame can clear.)