Friedrich

Hi, I just got a road bike and in a trip I've planned there's a small section (1,3 miles) of gravel terrain along a riverbank. Do you think I can make it or should I change my plans?

bampilot06

What size tires?

Is it packed in like a gravel road or is big rocks, roots and what not?


Packed in gravel like a gravel driveway should be fine.

nomadmax 

How long is a piece of string?

rsbob 

Unless you will sink in to your wheels, do it. I have ridden gravel on 25s, no problemo.

Friedrich

my tires are pretty slim, 23mm, but the road is a packed gravel with only small rocks, I do it easily with city bikes

mstateglfr 

1.3 miles? Yes you will survive. That's like 5 to 7min of riding- you will somehow manage.

As for riding on 23mm tires, unless it's a bike from 20 years ago and there is no room for anything wider, buy some wider tires. There is just no upside to 23s, pavement or not.

biker128pedal

You can. I’ve done it on an old Madone. Just make sure the tire pressure is high enough for your weight so you don’t pinch flat. I like the SRAM bicycle tire pressure calculator.

wheelreason

This reminds me of the "Can I take my 21 foot boat offshore 20 miles". (I kill fish commercially and mate on a fishing boat when I'm not playing with bikes). My response is usually "If you are asking the question, no". The bike will be fine with someone who knows what they are doing. I would go with 25 or 28s if they fit though

Calsun

For a century riders rode on dirt and gravel roads and "gravel" bikes did not exist. The ones sold now are little different than road bikes but for having less drop with the handlebars and slightly wider rims and 38mm wide tires. The wider tires allow for lower tire pressures and a smoother ride on rough terrain, nothing more.

mstateglfr 

Quite the generalization.

LarrySellerz

No its impossible. Road bikes are meant to be ridden on the road. You need to buy something called a gravel bike. Preferably the most expensive one.

Russ Roth

Have you looked at the average bike for most of that century? More like wide rims and 30c or wider tires. Though plenty of rural areas still have crap paving that is nothing more than packed gravel coated with oil that roadies still ride with 23c tires so it isn't an unreasonable venture.

stevel610 

Youtube "paris roubaix" and you'll see plenty of 23c racing bikes on cobblestone. Though not the best for the job, it can be used.

I regularly ride gravel tow paths on 32c road tires.

Polaris OBark

You will be fine, even if you have to walk.

Kai Winters

"All bikes are gravel bikes"
Based on your description you will be fine and has been stated if you feel a bit nervous get off the bike and walk it.

mstateglfr 

'All bikes are geavel bikes' has entered the chat.

Oh good, now we have read all the common responses.
Next I am going to read that all bikes are mountain bikes because some guys rode old clunkers down a mountain in CA. So let's take that Pinarello Dogma on singletrack!
Or maybe we should claim that all bikes are touring bikes since you can rig a rack and bags onto anything.

HTupolev

Only beach cruisers are mountain bikes.

All bikes with frames made out of gravel are gravel bikes.

PeteHski

I’m pretty sure they weren’t all using 23c modern road tyres.

The key point about modern gravel bikes is that they can run wider tyres 38+ mm. Most road bikes cannot, which limits their gravel performance.

23 mm road tyres are a poor choice for gravel, but they will probably cope. I’ve ridden many packed gravel paths on such tyres in my youth and they were okay(ish). I would fit wider tyres if you can.

eduskator

It depends on the surface. If it's crushed stone / dust that is well packed, it's fine. If it's something like sand or loose 0 - 3/4, then you may have a problem.

RB1-luvr

first check Strava to see if that 1.3 mile gravel section is a segment, then send it.

mstateglfr 

To actually respond to this...
- gravel bikes often have a slacker head tube angle vs road bikes.
- gravel bikes often have a longer chainstay to accommodate the larger tire.
- gravel bikes often have a lower bottom bracket drop to counter the larger tire.
- gravel bikes often have a longer wheelbase.
- gravel bikes often have a higher trail number.


These are not hard requirements, but they are averages. There are gravel bikes that feel like a wide tire road bike(mine) and there are gravel bikes that feel like a drop bar MTB. It's a wide spectrum.
But the real point here is that your claim of little difference beside fitting a wider tire is a terrible take.

aliasfox

There's a little ~5mi section of unpaved surface that I occasionally ride on. It's flat and has lots of shore birds, so good for a light, relaxing day. In terms of surface, it's hard packed dirt with pea sized gravel and sand for the top layer.

I've ridden it on my traditional road bike (25mm and rim brakes), my new road bike (32mm in front, 28mm in back, disc brakes), and my flat bar gravel (35mm in front with side knobs, 32mm in back, disc brakes).

Traditional road bike: 90-95psi skinny tires weren't the happiest with bumps and ruts, but the bike did just fine. A bit more nervous when changing direction at-speed, but not a big deal. Wouldn't be my first choice, but worked just fine.
Newer road bike: 80psi on the front tire, worked perfectly fine on the straights, no concerns with bumps or ruts that I wouldn't have on a paved surface. A little bit of scrambling on fast turns, but nothing unexpected.
Gravel bike: 60psi on the 35mm GravelKing SK + slight rearward shift in weight made for a more relaxing cruise. The fatter, knobbier tire was definitely more confidence inspiring on the fast sweepers.

I don't think either of the road bikes would be happy with bigger gravel, and even the gravel bike would probably want a fatter tire in the back (just threw a road tire from my parts bin on there). But for small gravel like towpaths and such a road bike is fine.

PeteHski

80 psi is pretty high for a 32 mm wide front. Unless you are very heavy, you could go a lot lower, especially when riding gravel.

aliasfox

So the details are that it's a Continental Ultra Sport 2, labeled as a 28mm tire, mounted to a 17.9mm rim, filling out to an effective 31.6mm size (side to side). I'm also ~195lbs, so yeah, big guy here.

The bike is normally used on road - typical rides are 25-33 mi with 1,100-1,800ft of climbing, with the occasional ~50mi day thrown in. Hopping onto gravel was just a light-day diversion to see the egrets and other waterfowl.

merlinextraligh

It’s 1.3 miles of compacted gravel. You should be able to ride it on 23mm tires. Pick your line carefully if there is any rough jagged stuff to avoid flatting and you’ll be fine.

I used to ride single track on my road racing bike with very narrow tires just as an exercise to improve bike handling skills.

And I’ve done a number of “Roubaix” style races with a lot more and rougher unpaved sections than you’re talking about on a regular road bike without issue.

While there are reasons that a gravel bike is nice for riding gravel, it in no way means you can’t ride gravel on a regular road bike, particularly in small east doses.