Century Ride on a Diverge - Tips and Tricks?
 

I have recently gotten really into cycling and decided to upgrade from my hybrid bike to a road bike. Knowing that some of the roads are tough in my area, and that I wanted off-road as an option - I got a Diverge Elite E5. While I'm sure I'll put lots of off-road miles on it, I also really want to do my first century ride this summer on paved road.

Is this a nutso goal on a gravel bike?
What tires would you recommend?
Any other modifications that I should make?
Has anyone attempted a road century on a Diverge?
What's the furthest most people have ridden a Diverge on a paved road and how did it go?

Thanks in advance!

You don't need to change anything, just ride your bike.

If you have knobbies or any slightly aggressive tread pattern, I'd change to slicks. The only thing knobs and large tread does is attach a chip seal road to your bike that wears you out quicker on smooth pavement.

My son road his first Century ride several years ago on a heavy Trek Marlin, he made it. But he bought a lighter road bike soon after. But I don't think your Diverge is heavy enough for weight to be an issue.

Seems that the stock tires on those are Roadsport 35mms. If you've still got them or are running something similar, they'll be fine. For the road, you might prefer something narrower - 32 or 28 mm - but I've done plenty of road (or mostly road) centuries on a gravel bike with 35 mm tires.

I've done multiple centuries on my Giant Revolt gravel bike, on gravel tires, and road tires. You'll have some extra effort pushing gravel tires on pavement for 100 miles, but it's totally doable. Go for it and have fun!

Maybe upgrade the tires to something nice and supple. I like Vittoria Corsas, which come in 30mm width. That would be like rolling on a cloud.

Otherwise, no. Just ride your bike.

Thank you all! Appreciate the recommendations and the votes of confidence :-)

Why are you under the impression that this is some weird thing to try and do? Your Diverge is basically just a road bike with clearance for fairly wide tires.

Despite having skinny-tired road bikes, I frequently use my gravel bike as a road bike for variety's sake.

Anything that rolls well on the road.

I don't think it would be strange for someone to do a century ride on that bike's stock tires. They are fairly cheap for a $1900 bike, though, so I wouldn't blame someone for wanting to upgrade either.
If you like the width but just want something lighter and faster, a GravelKing slick in 700x35 is a decent option, or maybe a Challenge Strada Bianca Pro in 700x36 if you want something really nice.
If you want to reduce the tire size, there are loads of performance-oriented road tires available in 32mm and below, with the Continental GP5000 being a safe bet.

I imagined it was doable, but scoured the internet for people who had written anything about taking one on a long paved ride and could only find reviews that were gravel focused (though most noted it performed well on the road). Didn't seem to be anything out there about anyone who used them for distance but I'm relieved that it seems totally fine. I do think some nicer tires might be a late spring upgrade though after reading all these!

There was a time, decades ago now, where everyone owned one bike apiece and we rode them everywhere, and looking back we've learned that 50% of the time we were riding them in the wrong places. Gravel tires on the road; road tires in gravel. Dogs and cats living together, mass hysteria, etc, etc.

Just don't do your tires or any other changes immediately before your big day. Try to get all that done a few hundred miles before if possible.

You might also be surprised what some people ride if this is a big event with 600 or more. I get amazed at how older people that appear more out of shape than me appear do better and go faster than I do.

But that was before the internet, so we didn't know we were doing it wrong. In other words, we were able to relax and have fun.

Oh another one for my list. Eye watering expensive though!

It's still a bike. Change the tires if you want. A friend of mine who was very fast did a charity ride century on his steel hardtail mountain bike with knobbies. He toyed with people on their road bikes.
Having done multiple 100 mile days on a 55 pound touring bike, and hilly centuries on that same bike unloaded, I can tell you anything will work.
Did lots of centuries on a 24 pound "crit bike" that was so brutal on rough roads it almost made me want to quit.
Your gravel bike is probably nicer than the bikes a lot of us rode centuries on years ago.

I responded to a similar post you made in the gravel forum. The Diverge will do fine for a century. I rode one on my Diverge in October. You do need to make sure that you're prepared to eat and stay hydrated. I brought energy bars that I'd eat every 15 miles or so, and sandwiches that I ate at 36 miles and 67 miles (because there was a nice park to stop and eat at those points).

I've seen folks ride single speed balloon tired bikes on doubles, and a woman rode one of those, complete with flowers in the basket, on PBP. She was not your average rider, however. If it were me, I'd put on a pair of Continental 5000 in 28mm. OTOH, if you won't be riding paved except for this one ride, I wouldn't switch out the tires, not worth the expense. OTOH, maybe you'll love riding long distance on paved roads and . . .

I might even say the Diverge would be ideal for riding a century. The differences between endurance bikes and gravel bikes are often quite subtle, and many argue that road bike tire clearances are needlessly limited. Larger volume tires can make distance rides considerably more comfortable. But as the others said, go with slicks, if you have the budget for new tires.

For long distance road only I really like my challenge paris-roubaix 27c tires, but looking at the specs, while nicer tires can make it better, you'll be lacking nothing riding road with it.

At the risk of echoing what others have said ... of course you can ride a century on a "gravel" bike. All that matters is that it fits/you are comfortable on it. People have ridden across countries, and around the world, on almost any 'type' of bicycle you could think of.

I've only ridden three centuries; none of them were on a 'road bike'. First was on my now-antiquated 26er hardtail mtb, with road slicks. Second and third were on my flat-bar 'hybrid' (in Biek Forms-speak). No problems at all on any of those three rides.

If the bike (Diverge) works well for you, and you are in shape for the ride, you'll have no problem at all.

The OP already has slicks. Not entirely bald slicks, but nothing that would lead me to regard them as knobbies. They're just entry-level and fairly beefy: the room for improvement will mostly come from a higher-end and more performance-oriented construction.

I love the idea of finding a larger event - we'll see what's doable by late spring early summer with COVID...

Loving all the tire reccos as well. I'll probably give it a few weeks of ridding to see if I end up on more gravel than road or vise versa. Those Continentals do look awesome. As a total newbie I'm going through the "buy everything" phase right now... spare tubes, patch kits, wrenches, tire levers, new pedals, shoes/clips... you name it! It's fun but I may have to hit pause and ride a bit more before springing for the new tires. Let me wallet catch up with my new hobby haha

Have you done group rides or club rides? Charity rides can be lots of fun if you watch out for knuckleheads.

Have done multiple centuries on my Diverge with no issues and marginally slower only due to my more upright position. Don't get seduced by the narrower tires are faster narrative as its suppleness which affects the tire caused resistance. Presently running a 38mm smooth tire with truly marginal efficiency loses but massive comfort gains.

Save the money on new tires in case you need a new saddle! If I'd tried to ride a century on the saddle that came with the bike, I'd have been headed to the urologist the next week. Find a saddle you can go 3 hours on with no pain or numbness, because a century will be twice that.

Rode my first century on my Giant Roam, so to me, not sure where your concern lies with a Specialized Diverge ...a bike much more suited for the road.