Originally Posted by
Hypno Toad
I didn't read all the posts in the thread (I'm kinda lazy) ... so this might be repeating earlier posts:
Not all rail-trail 'gravel' is the same, so tires that work on 'your' rail-trail might not work on 'their' rail-trail.
That said, Frau Toad spent many years riding & miles our local rail-trail (Lake Minnetonka Trail) with a crushed limestone surface on 23 to 28 mm road tires without a single complaint. I've find 28 mm T-Serv tires great on any rail-trail surface I've seen around the Twin Cities. Frankly, rail-trails are straight and flat so there's very little need to worry about handling/grip.
I should point out that I'm also the Toad that'll ride 4" fat tires on these same trails ... So there's that
The crushed limestone on the local trails ride pretty much like dusty asphalt. I ride 4 of them regularly (MN River Bluffs, Lk Mtka, Dakota, and Luce Line) on my regular road bike with 28mm Conti 5000. Only on 1 trail (Luce Line near Cty 110) do I wish I had a wider or knobby tire, but I'm unwilling to switch when it's really about 100ft of trail that is always muddy. Worst case is I get off and walk it.
Earlier this season I encountered 3 riders on one of the trails out for their first "gravel" ride. Chatted with them a bit and they kept raving about how nice the trails were, how light the traffic was, how nice the scenery was. Digging in a little more I found out that they had never been on the trail before since they all didn't have gravel bikes until this year. I sort of laughed when they said that, and that's when they noticed I was on a road bike with rim brakes and slicks. All 3 looked shocked that I was on such ill-suited equipment.
All I could think of was how did these guys miss these routes for who knows how long simply because they didn't think they had the "right" bike? I've been riding some of these trails for over 20 years with the same type of equipment. Give it a try on your present bike. If it doesn't work turn around and go home with the knowledge of what you need to do to ride the trail. If it works, enjoy. But analyzing the heck out of it is a sure way to miss out.