Road bike + unsealed road

Just after some opinions.

I have a favourite ride at the moment that include approx 1-1.5 km of
unsealed (gravel) road. I have no problems riding over this every other day
in terms of comfort but would like to know the pros and cons of such an
exercise. Whilst I try to stay on the smoothest portion of the road there's
still a bit of "juddering" as I traverse this section. What are peoples
thoughts on potential long term damage to the bike/tyres/knees etc. or am I
worrying too much?

Thanks in advance,
Brad

Brad Hubbard Wrote:
Just after some opinions.

I have a favourite ride at the moment that include approx 1-1.5 km of
unsealed (gravel) road. I have no problems riding over this every othe
day
in terms of comfort but would like to know the pros and cons of suc
an
exercise. Whilst I try to stay on the smoothest portion of the roa
there's
still a bit of "juddering" as I traverse this section. What ar
peoples
thoughts on potential long term damage to the bike/tyres/knees etc. o
am I
worrying too much?

Thanks in advance,
Brad

If my experience is anything to go by, you don't have anything to worr
about. Dirt roads tend to have more rocks, so you have bigger chance o
a puncture if you're using narrow tyres. Narrow tyres also give yo
less grip in the dirt so that a sudden change in direction could leav
you on the floor.

Ritc

--
ritcho

Brad Hubbard
I have a favourite ride at the moment that include approx 1-1.5 km
of unsealed (gravel) road. What are peoples thoughts on potential
long term damage to the bike/tyres/knees etc. or am I worrying
too much?

It would have to be pretty rough to do anything bad to you or th
bike.
I ride my expensive road bike over unsealed roads occasionally and
wouldn't hesitate to do it more. Assuming you don't hit large pothole
it should be totally fine. I'm 100kg's... properly built road wheel
are tough
man!

hipp

--
hippy

hippy Wrote:
Brad Hubbard
I have a favourite ride at the moment that include approx 1-1.5 km
of unsealed (gravel) road. What are peoples thoughts on potential
long term damage to the bike/tyres/knees etc. or am I worrying
too much?

It would have to be pretty rough to do anything bad to you or th
bike.
I ride my expensive road bike over unsealed roads occasionally and
wouldn't hesitate to do it more. Assuming you don't hit large pothole
it should be totally fine. I'm 100kg's... properly built road wheel
are tough
man!

hippy

I'm thinking of getting a new full carbon fibre bike. I'm a bi
concerend about stones kicking up from my bike (and that of othe
riders) and nicking my frame. I can't imagine stones doing to muc
damage to compromise frame strength but I was wondering about othe
people's opinions or experiences

--
jazmo

hippy wrote:


Brad Hubbard
I have a favourite ride at the moment that include approx 1-1.5 km
of unsealed (gravel) road. What are peoples thoughts on potential
long term damage to the bike/tyres/knees etc. or am I worrying
too much?

It would have to be pretty rough to do anything bad to you or the
bike.
I ride my expensive road bike over unsealed roads occasionally and
wouldn't hesitate to do it more. Assuming you don't hit large potholes
it should be totally fine. I'm 100kg's... properly built road wheels
are tough
man!

How about the tyres Hippy?

Would the potential for damage to the tyres be prohibitive? The cost of
tyres is non-trivial, at least to me ;-)

Cheers,
Brad

Brad Hubbard

hippy wrote:
It would have to be pretty rough to do anything bad to you or the
bike.
I ride my expensive road bike over unsealed roads occasionally and
wouldn't hesitate to do it more. Assuming you don't hit larg
potholes
it should be totally fine. I'm 100kg's... properly built roa
wheels
are tough man!

How about the tyres Hippy?

I have much more trouble with glass than with rocks. If you can pick

good line whilst off the road you shouldn't have much more of an issu

than road riding. It will depend, of course, on the surface, you
speed,
your weight and your abillity to pick a good line through an
potentially
sharp rocks. So long as you can dodge or unweight the bike over the
really sharp stuff you should be fine. Try it for a while and collec
some
puncture stats

Is it mostly dirt with a few rocks or lots of rocks? Unsealed "roads
are
still usually pretty smooth and you'll only puncture if you hit a shar

edge somewhere.

hipp

--
hippy

hippy wrote:

I have much more trouble with glass than with rocks. If you can pick a

good line whilst off the road you shouldn't have much more of an issue

than road riding. It will depend, of course, on the surface, your
speed,
your weight and your abillity to pick a good line through any
potentially
sharp rocks.

In combination with my ability to remain upright whilst doing the eight
basic balletic movements right? :-P

So long as you can dodge or unweight the bike over the
really sharp stuff you should be fine. Try it for a while and collect
some
puncture stats

OK, I'm a believer, so far punctures = 0 after several weeks riding this
particular route. I will let peoples know if I have dramas.

Cheers,
Brad

Brad Hubbard wrote:
Just after some opinions.
I have a favourite ride at the moment that include approx 1-1.5 km of
unsealed (gravel) road. I have no problems riding over this every other day in terms of comfort but would like to know the pros and cons of such an exercise. Whilst I try to stay on the smoothest portion of the road there's still a bit of "juddering" as I traverse this section. What are peoples thoughts on potential long term damage to the bike/tyres/knees etc. or am I worrying too much?
Thanks in advance,
Brad

I ride a lot of gravel roads on a very expensive bike (Hand made Titanium) and never had much trouble with punctures. I personally use
Armadillo tyres but they are expensive and a bit heavy, but real puncture resistant. The biggest thing about going reasonably fast on gravel is balance, it is a bit like riding cobbles in Europe, you select the biggest gear you can handle and put as much weight over the centre of the bike as you can and keep even power on ALL THE TIME.
It seems to me that every time you slow, stop pedalling or brake, off you come, at least I seem to.
The forward lean may look a bit queer, but if you are not balanced, you will hit the deck. And you really do get real gravel rash. I have yet to hurt my bike and I do use it on some real bad gravel roads.
I find that if the road is completely covered with loose gravel you can still steer the bike if you keep a steady power on and by leaning forward a bit (Not too much) the front will turn quite well. The main problem is that you half expect the front not to respond and end up turning too quickly and then the back comes around, and I am yet to respond to that senario quickly enough to know how get away with it.
Hope this helps
Ro.

Ro wrote:

Hope this helps Ro.

It's all good.

Thanks,
Brad