Gravel is as old as cycling! —Rene Herse content

[witcombusa]

Originally Posted by ripvanrando

It took him 46:03 minutes for BMB. He must have been on Jan's prototype tires. I would be interested in his equipment choice. Probably solo, lights out fast.

No, I don't think he was on Jan's anything. There is an article out there somewhere from around the time D2D2 started if I remember correctly. Let me just say he rides on time/mileage proven gear that is dead reliable for the amazing mileages he was doing.

[mstateglfr]

Originally Posted by kppolich

The point is:
You don't need a special bike to ride gravel.
You don't need special shoes or 40mm tires to ride gravel.
You don't need to pay $450 race entry fees to race gravel.

Any bike is a gravel bike if you'll set it free.

Sure, you dont need any of that. But some of it can make the experience more fun.

I dont need a special bike to ride gravel, but my gravel bike is certainly more capable on gravel than my road bikes.
...but that doesnt mean its a requirement. Some may find value in a purpose build gravel bike and others may not. Cool either way.

I dont need special shoes or 40mm tires to ride gravel, but I also dont need special shoes or ultralight 23mm tires to ride road. My gravel shoes are some MTB shoes with SPD pedals because I have found I like that setup more than a platform setup or SPD-SL setup. My gravel tires are currently 43mm, but have been 42mm, 40mm, and 38mm in the past.
...but that doesnt mean gravel shoes or tires are a requirement. Some may find value in shoes not made for the road or in tires that are wide enough to not suck on gravel and others may not. Cool either way.

I dont pay more than $70 for any of my gravel races. One of them is actually free with a donation of some bags of food for a local foodbank. It, like the others, is well run and competitive.
...but that doesnt mean paying $450 for a race is a waste. Some may find value in paying for and entering expensive races and others may not. Cool either way.





The contempt and poutrage shown by some when it comes to gravel is just funny.
Ripping on purpose bought shoes and tires while getting ready to head out for a road ride with purpose designed road shoes, purpose designed narrow tires, and goofy sized glasses(no actual purpose here).

[tomato coupe]

Originally Posted by mstateglfr

The contempt and poutrage shown by some when it comes to gravel is just funny.

So is the word poutrage. I like it.

[unterhausen]

The dirt roads around where I lived in Virginia in the '70s was wonderful. It was just like the roads in the strade bianche. Haven't ridden it for over 40 years. I used to ride it on my racing bike with narrow tubular tires. Worked great until I went out on a wet spring day and sunk into my bb in mud on one of the mountain descents. I left a track of mud for a couple of miles after I got to pavement.

Here in central Pennsylvania, you will never sink into mud, but otoh, those 23mm tubulars will be flat after the first descent. I imagine a lot of the roads in virginia have been upgraded and as a result are less friendly to small tires.

[crankles]

Originally Posted by tomato coupe

So is the word poutrage. I like it.

That made reading this far worth it. I"m challenging myself to slip that into a meeting by the end of the day

[RWL2222]

Originally Posted by unterhausen

The dirt roads around where I lived in Virginia in the '70s was wonderful. It was just like the roads in the strade bianche. Haven't ridden it for over 40 years. I used to ride it on my racing bike with narrow tubular tires. Worked great until I went out on a wet spring day and sunk into my bb in mud on one of the mountain descents. I left a track of mud for a couple of miles after I got to pavement.

Here in central Pennsylvania, you will never sink into mud, but otoh, those 23mm tubulars will be flat after the first descent. I imagine a lot of the roads in virginia have been upgraded and as a result are less friendly to small tires.

Yeah I used to ride in central Va dirt roads in the late '80s-early '90s on a totally inappropriate bike. It meant I went slowly. I don't remember getting too banged up, or tacoed wheels, but I got good at patching flats in the cold and carried a spoke wrench with me.

Now, it's so much sweeter now to ride 40s tubeless. But 'gravel' roads here, as maintained by the state, are a pita by comparison, and there are precious few around. I drive 20-30 minutes to get 3-4 good routes of 22-40 miles that don't involve more than a 2-3 miles of paved road traffic. And those crushed gravel roads are being paved each year. There are loads more dirt trails though, but are really require a suspension fork.