Gravel cycling isn't just the new black; it's the whole darn color wheel, spinning through mud, dust, and the occasional existential crisis!
Seriously though - other than crits or really really knrly singletrack, gravel bikes do it all the best. Ride to the trail along paved roads and back again instead of loading up the car.
Just ride and explore šµāš“āāļø āļø
Iām just waiting on triathlons to include gravel ;)
I have gotten into Road Cycling two years ago. I think, this month, I will throw some light gravel tires on my road bike. I ride the flat easy trails with the road tires but it can get a little squirrely. Any recomendations?
Congrats on trying something new!
I would say that tire width is the most important metric to look at for getting some stability on the trails. You didn't mention what the trail is made of (sand, dirt, fine gravel, rocks, mud, etc) but that would dictate what kind of tire tread that would give you the best traction.
I am going to assume that it is mostly hard with some loose stuff in the corners. If that is the case you would likely prefer tire that has very small nubs (almost like a road slick)
I would go as wide you can fit in your bike frame up to 40mm. Even 30-32mm will make a large stability difference.
The other factor is tire air pressure - lower is better on trails but if you have tubes, lower will give you pinch flats. This is why tubeless has gotten so popular. You can run much lower pressure in a tubeless tire. This was the biggest game changer for me a few years ago. So much more comfort and control on the trails and not any slower on the roads.
As for brands, I have tried many and am fond of Schwalbe Gravel One and Pirelli Cinterello H. There are many great tires out there and people get very passionate in defending brands.
Hope this helps!
Ride on!
Thats great info. Yes, I ride mostly hard packed. I believe the small nubs will work fine so I can transition between road and gravel easily. I am pretty sure the max width on my Trek Domane 4 is 40mm. Will keep you posted if I have any questions. Will go shopping soon.
You dont have a wallet set up. I wanted to zap you
Domane is an awesome bike! I would very surprised that you could fit 40mm tires on it however. The newest 2024 model states that the max is 35mm. This would be due to the tire hitting the downtube in the rear and/or hitting the top of the fork crown in the front.
Just a heads up as well - the tire width on the package very rarely is the actual tire width after installed on the rim. The industry really needs to fix this. Depending on how wide your rim and how much pressure you run will dictate the width of the tire when mounted. That said I have found Schwalbe to be fairly close.
For example 700x35c on 25mm width rim at 45psi = 35mm measured width.
Thanks for the offer of zaps!
Obviously I am new here on nostr and still figuring things our (including every client I can find) but have not ben able to link my self-custodial lightning wallet (Aqua) with my profile. I was hoping to use Alby but ended up on a waitlist to get it. Hoping for someone to share an invite code with me.
Do you have any suggestions to get LN wallet going quickly?
Good point. I will go to the bike shop and see what they recommend. I might have to settle for 38's or something like that. Or Im just gonna have to spring for a true gravel bike. š
