I am a road cyclist, at heart. Even when I’m in a car, I’ll daydream about riding the same road I’m driving. I’ll imagine how the tarmac might feel as my wheels carry me across it, the wind, the smells in the air. I’ll imagine how my lungs are expanding and contracting, cleansing me a little with every exhale. In my mind’s legs, I’ll feel the pressure building as I imagine myself rising out of the saddle to power over a pitch. I know I would feel the pain of such a ride, but I can’t really imagine what it would feel like. I can never really imagine pain.
The paved road is where we are the closest we will ever be to achieving flight. To restrict ourselves to tarmac, however, is to restrict ourselves to those places in this world which are most travelled. The most beautiful places do not lie at the end of such roads; they are hidden away, where those with some element of imagination might venture to look for them. A two-lane dirt track, perhaps, or a forest road that winds off beyond the damp forest and on to places unknown.
On gravel and dirt, we find a completely different sensation from that on the road. Certainly, many of the elements are still there, but the terrain demands a different kind of harmony; we dart along from one side of the road to another, looking for the best bits where the holes are smaller and the gravel is held together more. The dust or mud kicked up by our tires hovers in the air about us and covers our lips, teeth, and tongue. Suddenly, we taste the road as much as feel it.
Being away from traffic and in the wilderness awakens something primal in our spirits. The smell of damp dirt, moss, and bark or the baking scent of dry pine needles flushes the city from your senses and immediately awakens a calmer Self. My soul is at peace when I return home from such a ride.
The road is where my heart lies, but gravel is where I find my soul.
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@RedRanger good steel (hand fettled) is very nice, feels alive. somehow less inert then alu.
@Weldertron
Oh MAN!!! This sounds AWESOME!!! I used to road race in Derby through USCF when I was growing up. I will have to mark this on the calendar for next year.
Besides the obvious fact that it is an excuse to try to complete the infinite equation of n+1, why not use your road bike with a different set of tires for graveling?
I have a Merckx Scandium frame which I often run HED C2 Belgium rims mounted with Vittoria Pave 28 mm tubulars that have fine fork clearance.
Any reason that this is not an okay rig for riding gravel? The gearing? Seems like with a 39 up front and a wide assortment of gears on the casette it should be okay.
I have never tried riding her on gravel but I really want to and it seems like it should work just fine.
Of course, I would prefer to buy another bike just for gravel but curious as to your opinions on running the road bike on gravel with beefier wheels.
@ frank: I find myself in the same place you describe, driving roads and thinking...what must it be like
In the ozark terrain around here however, a graveur (or graveleur?) is of necessity, in that, we have 3 category roads: a) nice roads and up kept ~10% b) crappy roads aka ozark pave', typically shit-n-seal but at least low traffic and descent otherwise ~30% c) gravel roads, which are even less traffic but there are endless possiblities that exist as they are the majority of roads here
There are killer climbs, some >20% where your front wheel lightly bobs up and down yet then your gripping the chicken bones for all your worth on the descent before you hit a switchback, where grass grows on the road due to low to no traffic, where ghost towns use to reside and dogs don't have a clue as to who or what you are. I will take some pics and add later when able
@Buck Rogers
I think it really depends on the type of gravel surface you plan on riding. Your bike with the 28s would do fine on hardpack dirt roads or something like crushed limestone towpaths, but you're going to want a tread with some bite on looser stuff. That's where road bikes with standard reach brakes fail as that addition of even a modest tread to a tire can cause clearance issues.
@Ron
As we've discussed I too have the 2011 Nashbar steel cyclocross bike and honestly, I think its much better suited for gravel riding than for cross seeing as that even with a handful of modest, yet weight saving upgrades (like new wheels/cockpit) the bike still weighs 24lbs in a size 58. Its geometry isn't pure cross either - its not the most nimble bike nor is it particularly stiff, but its very comfortable to ride. Don't get me wrong, I race cross on it (albeit not very well) and its a fine bike for the money especially if you want something to pull double duty (or even triple if you're a commuter) .
The generic Ridley Nashbar sells is definitely a nice frame, but seeing as its a 2010 X-Night its made strictly for racing - having Ridley's standard high bottom bracket, relatively short top and head tubes, and doesn't have bottle mounts. You can pick up a Alu/carbon forked Kona Jake the Snake for less than $500 that would be more versatile in my opinion (and has a tapered steerer and PF30 BB if you're into that kind of thing).
@gregorio
Nicely done! And skip the canti's and get some TRP Mini-V's. They are a bit of a pain to set up (not like Canti's aren't!) but they actually stop the bike, which is always nice. (Make sure you get the right model for your brakes - http://www.trpbrakes.com/category.php?productid=1040&catid=185)
@Weldertron Oh, yeah. What he said.
@motor city
That's right out your door??? JAY-SUS, man! What a sight those roads are! How many K's?
@scaler911
Oh man, dude! You're killin' me here! We've gotta get that ride done still this year.
@EricW
Jacquie Phelan did OK with it on her Cunningham named Otto.
@Buck Rogers
It depends on your gravel and on your roads. Out in southern MN, the roads I used to ride were fine on a road bike, even with 25mm tires. The Almanzo gets raced on road bikes a lot. Here in the PWN, a lot of the roads I ride have quite large rocks and the gravel can be quite loose. I can hardly keep the wheels on the bus with 33mm tubs and at about 5 bar - not to mention I definitely want some knobs on the sides of the tires for cornering. I cannot imagine doing those on a road bike, and you'd peel out on the steep bits.
Also, I'm running 38x27 and some of the steep stuff is scraping the bottom of the barrel on the gear inches, so a compact would not be a crazy addition if you're doing lots of climbing on steep forest roads.
Gravel basically adds about 20% resistance, so keep that in mind. Except when descending, when it basically means you're riding on ball bearings.
@Souleur
Sounds like heaven.
@frank
+1 to this. Mini-Vs are the way to go. Even Ridley is spec-ing them on their entry to mid level canti-mount cross bikes this year.