Originally Posted by
markheus
A few years ago I bought a Trek Hybrid and have made a lot of progress as far as my endurance goes. I'm at the point where I feel it's starting to limit me on longer rides (20+miles). Now that he stomach is gone and the endurance is up I'm ready to make the transition to a road bike while keeping my hybrid as my grocery getter.
I've been happy with Trek so I went to the local dealer to look at some options. I've pretty much fixed on the Domane 2.3 because I like that it seems to be more of a touring bike for longer distances. I will do *zero* racing but I want something that will be "faster."
90% of the riding that I do is on paved surfaces but there is a route that I ride from St. Louis to Alton IL that requires riding on about 5 miles of crushed gravel. How would the Domane with road tires do on this surface? The salesman mentioned the possibility of the Crockett which would be ideal for this but since the majority of my riding is on paved surfaces I keep leaning back towards the Domane.
As long as the gravel isn't very deep, you can do it. Most of the gravel roads I remember in central Missouri were pretty hard with just a bit of loose gravel. Wider tires would be nicer.
I run across some stretches of gravel roads in southern Tennessee and my Domane does just fine with the stock tires.
I believe there is room for 28's but check with the bike shop to be sure.