Gravel Bike
So, Like most everyone else, I want a new gravel bike to try some more offroad-type adventures. My current steed is a Felt Paris Roubaix carbon fiber frame. It is a road bike but is supposedly built a bit stouter than the average road frame for the Paris-Roubaix race (cobblestones, etc.).
Since a gravel bike is not in the budget just yet, I was thinking that I have a second set of training rims that I might just put cyclocross 33 mm or even 35 mm tires on and take a ride on some gravel. The frame has lots of room for oversize tires and extra large rim brakes. THe obvious drawback is that most true gravel bikes these days have disc brakes.
I would appreciate any comments or suggestions. Anybody already tried gravel riding on the cheap? What was your experience?
Comments
@Ralph Moore Go for it! The tire width makes the biggest difference for me. If you can fit a 33 or 35 mm cyclocross tire on there - you can enjoy gravel. The disc brakes are nice for technical descents or keeping your braking power after a water crossing by avoiding a wet rim. If you are just looking to enjoy some rolling fire / dirt road. I say go for it. Nobody is keeping score or giving style points. As a second note, I ride gravel with gloves. The extra road vibration adds up and gloves reduce the constant friction. Oh and SRAM's tyre wiz app has worked great for me - it will help dial in your pressure. You can really run some lower pressures - especially if tubeless.
I agree with @matt limbert. I have a Felt setup that is similar to what you describe with your PR. Gravel is not my steady diet but I ride it quite a lot in certain time periods. We have a local gravel fondo series and I do just fine. I run a Paris Roubaix tire on a Stans tubeless carbon rim. Still pretty quick on the asphalt. I do see this movement headed toward some pretty funky terrain. Where if your not pushing your bike bike at some point or crashing on most rides it's not a 'good course" I really enjoy the middle ground. Opening up new territory but still enjoyable to ride. Have fun!
I'm loving gravel lately, with my heavy aluminum Specialized Diverge, with tubeless 38s.
Just get out there, however you can!
@Ralph Moore Gravel is NOT about speed, or winning, it's about enjoying... being part of the tribe.. and getting away from cars! one of the key elements is tire choice. I have a pretty knobby tire on my fancy gravel bike, but realize that the one most people use is the schwalbe G-One... this is really all you need for 90% or more of gravel riding...
for something like Belgian Waffle that is mixed road/ gravel, i plan on using a road type of tire in a 32width.
here's the G-One allround - https://www.schwalbetires.com/bike_tires/g-one-allround
Thanks for the feedback. My sweet carbon bike spends most of the time on the trainer and i have extra wheels so I am going to set up some gravel skins and get her outdoors to see where the road takes me.