mschwett 

I ride 99% on paved roads. 20-75 mile rides, 1,000-5,000 feet of vert. I ride a Specialized Turbo Creo and use the battery very sparingly, on big climbs to keep my heart rate in check. (long story.)

Today I rode about 5 miles of gravel, with a big climb and then a big descent. The big climb was fun. Nice to get away from cars, crunching up the dirt/gravel. No traction problems, being mindful of balance around turns. The descent was a freaking mess. Narrow, rutted, carved into log-steps, steep enough that on both brakes I was sliding a bit and by the time I got to the bottom my hands were cramping from braking on the hoods so long. I'm on Conti Gatorskin Hardshells, 32x700.

I could see how more riding like this would be really fun. It doesn't have the pull of going fast on smooth roads, but I'm very tempted to get another set of wheels and put some gravel tires on them, maybe 35 or 38s. Would that be enough on a road bike with no suspension other than the future shock to make a descent like the one I struggled through today more controllable? Obviously skills are a part of it, but clearly it was not the right bike for that trail. I really don't want another bike. I mean I do, but I have nowhere to put it, so I'd rather have two sets of wheels/tires for this one, I think. Or, is there a tire which would do well enough at all three things I might do on this bike? Trips through the city on ****** urban roads (thus the hardshells), long smooth road cycling, and gravel?

WhyFi

The wider tires will certainly help, but so will technique, as you mention. The first thing that I'd do is get in to the drops - it's a much more secure handhold over sketchy stuff and you're going to have more leverage on the, uh, on the levers - you won't have to have as much of a death grip on the bars and braking will be lighter effort; hand cramping should be considerably less.

mschwett 

Thanks. I was thinking more that the tires needed more tread/texture in addition to being a little wider. the Gator Hardshells are basically totally smooth.

For some reason.... I didn't even consider the drops. Seemed wrong given the terrain, but it certainly makes sense now that you say so...

HTupolev

Use the drops. Drops position gives your index finger excellent leverage on the brake lever, while positioning the rest of your hand and fingers to make a comfortable and very secure grip while staying out of the way of the brake lever.

As far as tires go, it depends on what you're dealing with. If your big challenge with the urban riding is pinhole punctures and not large gashes, you could try a tubeless setup with a wide (but otherwise performance-oriented) road tire.

scottfsmith

My wife has a Turbo Creo. I put some Specialized Pathfinder Pros on it, they come in 38 and 42 and she has 42s. It is an excellent gravel tire. One nice thing about that bike is it takes larger tires. She uses the battery all the time so can just let the battery deal with the extra resistance on the road, but if she ever gets more serious about athletic riding she can do two sets of wheels. I have a Specialized Roubaix and I have two sets of wheels myself, one for road and one for gravel (Conti Terra Speed on 25mm ID rims are 37.2mm wide, perfect for most gravel).

I think bigger tires will solve your problem with the descent, sounds like the grip was iffy enough that you tensed. I personally don't like the drops on gnarly descents, I feel more in control on the hoods. Maybe because it is a similar position to MTB where I have logged many hours on gnarly descents.

mschwett 

nice. no clearance issues with the 42s? did you set them up tubeless?

scottfsmith

No clearance issues at all. This is on a 2020, they may have changed the clearance between model years and in fact I know they did that on the Roubaix.

I run tubeless on all my tires, but she is not biking enough so far to make it worth it for her .. so at this point they have tubes. I think the stock DT R470 rims and the Pathfinder Pro tires should set up fine tubeless, and the bike came with the stems for those rims.

mschwett 

yeah same here, 2020 with the R470s, got the tubeless stems in the box. very tempting!!

HTupolev

I would say exactly the same thing, but about the drops. In terms of how your hands interact with the brake levers, braking from the drops is far more similar to braking on flat bars than braking from the hoods is, hands downstream of outward-oriented levers.

If you're unable to use the drops comfortably and effectively, you should check that your fit isn't excessively slammed. There's little point in dropping the bars so low that you're cutting postures off from practicality; it can even make a rider less aerodynamic by making it more difficult to use super-aero postures like level-forearms on the hoods.

scottfsmith

My seat is about the same height as my bars, the opposite of slammed (my stem is flipped). Which is also similar to a MTB geometry. The height of the hands matters a lot more to me than the position on the levers, and I can brake all day from the hoods no problem. I find the hoods a much more stable position if an evasive maneuver is needed.