I am adding a road bike, finally, as I have been riding a mountain bike on the road for over a year now. I think I've finally proven to myself that this is lasting and I'd like to finally go fast without lugging twice the weight in bike and tires. Plus the hills around me are rolling and beg to be conquered.

I keep hearing that road bikes are not for rough roads. Today in particular on my ride home from town, I was paying careful attention to the road. I wonder how you tell which roads are okay and which are not?

Is it basically any paved road, and just avoid potholes? The country roads around me go from smooth to chopped regularly, but if I just stay off the gravel ones, is that sufficient enough? How can I learn without popping many tires?

Thank you!!

If it's paved, you're fine. Even light gravel is fine, as long as it isn't too deep.

There are some seriously bad roads around here, and as long as you stay light in the saddle and don't try to pound the bike through them, you can ride through pretty much anything. It's not exactly fun, but it can be done. There's one descent on the ride I did today that my hands and feet are numb after just 30 seconds, it's just extremely choppy.

The bike itself will be fine for any paved road, rough or otherwise. If you have to deal with a lot of choppy surfaces then look into getting a wider tire to improve the ride quality, but if you can avoid them then just run the 23s.

If you go really fast the bumps feel like vibration!

I just made the same transition after the last two years riding my old MTB converted to hybrid on the road and had the same concerns. I almost bought a cyclocross bike for this reason but bought the road bike and have not had any issues. I am really glad I bought the "pure" roadbike. As roadiejorge pointed out you can ride wider tires but make sure the bike can handle them.

FWIW - KEEP your MTB for those days when you "want it rough".

I like it rough.

Vibrating and rough...don't want to get kicked out my first few posts but you all are cracking me up!!

Seriously, thanks for the advice. And yes, of course I'm keeping the mountain bike. Got a great trail right out my back door that doesn't even know what gravel is much less pavement!

Good to hear that the road bikes aren't as fragile and sensitive as I thought. Now...on to picking one out...I'm already overwhelmed and I haven't even started!

if it's a redhead it's never rough enough.

If it's so rough that your wheel may get knocked out of true, it's probably too rough.

If that's a case you may want to get larger tires, which will absorb more of the rough rads, or get a better wheelset. Weight also plays a factor.

If it's a carbon road (or mountain or CX or ...) bike you can't crash it twice. But who wants to? It's one thing to crash on the dirt, but road rash sucks. I think most roadies would say "**** the bike."

Otherwise, if you try to go down a bunch of stairs at high speed, or worse try to go up, you might damage your wheels, but not the frame.

I bunny hop my road bike to avoid wide cracks in the road, and other crap, sometimes. I take it (more slowly) on grass, dirt, and shallow gravel. On the other hand, I have a CX bike, and take that one when I want to take a lot of risks and might well crash ... or when I want to lock it up, like for commuting. Cervelo is Italian for "steal me - I'm expensive and fun."

Rougher than this:

Cervelo is a Canadian brand

this thread needs a safe word.

You'll know if it's too rough because you'll be thinking it would have been much easier to be riding a different bike

Incorrect, I've had 2 crashes in races on my Giant with no ill effect. The idea that carbon fiber frames break on the slightest impact just isn't true.

^ But if something counts as a "crash," it's probably not "the slightest impact."

In my personal experience endoing over a pile of downed riders, and high siding after sliding in a curve at 28mph I would count as crashes, yet no damage to the frame.

And from observation, look at some of the crashes in the TDF, particularly the cobled stage. Occassionally those riders get a new bike, however most of the time, they continue on, on the same frame.

Right--tires make a huge difference. I don't even fool with anything smaller than 32s anymore--I'm no slower and much more comfortable than I ever was on 23s. You may not need anything that big (I'm a Clydesdale), but when I tossed the 23s and put 28s on my wife's bike, she went from being a reluctant occasional rider to an enthusiastic one. For everytay rideing, try going up two or three sizes on the tires (if your bike will accommodate them) and running something like 85-95 psi. There's no reason for most of us to use 23mm tires at 115 or whatever.

Sounding like a new roadbiker and new to roadie equipment/components, keep in mind that if the wheel goes out of true within the first 200 miles or so, may not be the rough road but he new wheel needs readjustment. Just a note!

It's less about the bike and more about what you can take. Cyclocross bikes are more about the handling than about the strength of the bike (even though most manufacturers do make them a bit beefier depending on the model). I've flipped my cross bike twice in the past 2 races and would feel fine about subjecting my road bike to the same abuse if it was set up for cross, but it would be too stiff for my tastes on trails and rough stuff.

if it is a road, paved or gravel or cobble stones, your bike will be ok. You might not want to ride on the loose stuff but it won't be something you need to be worried about.

I wasn't aware that its mostly because of the feel of the bike on the rough surfaces than the actual bike handling. And aren't they mostly carbon frames now?