CliftonGK1

10 miles like this (7 ascending, 3 descending). The guy on the right was riding 23 front, 25 rear.

rjn3100

I don't really don't commute for work, I need a van with tools....but when I ride my road bike most of the paths are crushed lime stone, I do them on 25's and have done them on 23's. The 25's seem fine. Actually the city streets here are rougher than the gravel paths.

jsmonet

this.

having said that, our paved roads are more "paved" in that plenty of them look rather bombed out. if you've seen 40 year old virgin, there's a scene where he endo's in a pothole... we have plenty of those, that deep

mikeinroch

It's not the brakes, it's the tires. I'm not sure this is true, so take it with a grain of salt, but on crushed stone trails a panic stop seems to depend on plowing as much gravel as possible, which a wider tire should do better (especially with knobbies). This is similar to stopping a car on loose gravel or deep snow, the one case where ABS works against you (you want to push the gravel / snow in front of the tire rather than rolling over it).

sggoodri

There are no unpaved roads or paths available for me to use on my commute. Some of the paths have very poor pavement, and my shortest route has been ground down and grooved in preparation for repaving. I avoid these bumpy routes when I can.

I once planned a long bike ride in an unfamiliar area using a map without realizing that one of the important connections was a gravel road. I managed to ride it okay on 23s.

bengreen79

To get onto a nice paved MUP that wraps around my city, I have a few hundred feet to go on a loose gravel entrance. While my 23's aren't ideal for that surface, I certainly don't feel unsafe for that limited stretch. I don't mind crushed limestone at all.

I would say my least favorite surface is wet wooden bridges. Those are a little slick with narrow road tires!

ianbrettcooper

I have a touring bike set-up as my primary ride, and I have some heavy duty tyres on there which can handle gravel, but I still try to avoid it if at all possible for a few reasons:

1. I have a cervical spine injury, and just a hundred yards of gravel puts me in serious pain for a day or two.
2. My commute usually involves transporting my daughter (on a trail-a-bike) to school or other activities. If I slip on gravel I'm pretty sure I'll be fine, but if she goes over it's a lot more dangerous and scary for her.
3. Gravel usually means a poorly designed and poorly administered path - I'm safer on the road.
4. I don't like wearing out my tyres and I hate fixing flats.

grolby

How many "roadies" do you know?

When I lived in western Massachusetts, I and all the local roadies would bomb the dirt roads at high speed. Regular rides didn't go over dirt because it wasn't necessary and because it's not a good idea to take new riders on roads that will make them uncomfortable, but me and lots of other road riders have no problem riding dirt roads on 23mm tires. But there are few enough dirt roads these days that the best routes don't go over unpaved roads.

As for commuting, I've never had a route that required riding an unpaved road, but if the choice was to take that route or extend the length of my commute, I would ride the dirt.

Of course, not all unpaved roads are the same. Deep or coarse gravel is difficult and even dangerous to ride on skinny tires. I would dare say, though, that most of the dirt roads you would recognize as actual roads are completely rideable.

ChrisENC

I take a rockish/gravely/hardpacked dirt trail on my commute about 300 yards long. Its a service route for emergency vehicles and what not. Local police said they didn't mind me on it. I have 28mm on my road commuter and it handles well. I do slow down quite a bit and try to avoid the larger rocks and divots. Only alternative is trying to cross a very very nasty intersection

nelson249

Solution is a Cyclo-Cross commuter with 700x38C tires. I ride on everything with that.

nelson249

+1 on that. They're even pretty scary on 38s especially when the frost comes on in the mornings.