Where is the gravel?

[HTupolev]

Originally Posted by Mzilliox

i reread the initial post. most people with gravel bikes dont need a gravel bike or even fat tires for what they are doing. theyd be fine with a bike that clears a good 28 or 30. they just have it anyway. like most people dont need an suv for their 4 person family, a wagon would be so much better for the job, but well, its available and loan rates are just so good right now and somehow fuel prices remain constant.

i have been spouting long and hard about 700cc 40mm tires. i find them awful. i find i can do 98 percent of what a 40 can do with 33s. some people cant, and thats ok, they get dedicated gravel bikes with the fattest tires one can ride without floating away.

would you say your little dirt roads would be better ridden with 33s? could you go faster or climb easier? i was able to ride some of the dirt around me on 25s and 28s, but most i couldnt. Its not that 25mm tires cant ride on dirt or gravel from a durability perspective, its traction i was missing. trust me, you cant ride up my roads on your 25s. you just cant.
33 knobbies or 35 file treads get me up those bits. 38 might go up even easier, but it turds on the pavement, and i dont ride slow on pavement. anything more hectic than what i can do on my 33-35s and id probably want a mtn bike.

now get off my lawn

Nothing to do with lawns. Gravel varies. We've got hardpack that's smooth as glass, and we've also got roads made out of 2"+ rocks.

In the last month I've seen multiple friends' wheels get destroyed by impacts on our gravel roads. Last fall, one friend got four flats in as many miles when he tried to use supple 33mm cottons on our rough double-track roads. One of my friends tries to avoid skinny-tire-related issues by running ~35mm Marathon Plus Tours pumped stiff; it works, but their weight and rolling resistance is tremendous, and the ride quality poor.

On my 2.1" Rat Trap Pass ELs, I've never damaged a rim and I've never had to to stop on gravel to fix a flat. At a little over 400g they're not particularly heavy, and thanks to the width and suppleness, even at gravel riding pressures they're reasonably firm and fast on pavement. Certainly a lot faster than those 35mm Marathon Plus Tours!

As for wanting an MTB for anything that 33s can't handle, that makes little sense to me. Roads can be very rough without being particularly technical.

[MrCannonCam]

Originally Posted by blindwilly

all this talk of gravel, gravel grinding and gravel bikes leaves me to wonder where all the gravel is. I'm sure the more rural you get the more gravel roads you will find but for those of us living in or near major metropolitan areas where are we finding these roads? I live in central Massachusetts and while there are a decent amount of dirt roads i can access from my house none of them are long enough or continuous enough to warrant a dedicated bike. even when i do encounter some dirt its usually more than manageable with 25c tires. Are folks putting their bikes on racks and driving to the country? I guess in short what i am saying is that the amount of gravel talk and gravel bikes i see online seem to be completely disproportionate to the amount of gravel roads i see in life. Is it regional? what am i missing?

I'm 45 min out of NYC and there's lots of gravel here. Even closer to the city there's lots of options. Between gravel roads and "rail trails" I can do 50-60 mile loops on 75% gravel/crushed stone. If I drive to my parents place in PA I could ride for hours exclusively on dirt and jeep tracks. My Slate is $$$ for the conditions here. I could get away with 33-35's on the dirt roads but the crushed stone stuff gets rowdy and my 650x42's are a life saver on that kind of stuff.

When I lived in Asheville NC I could ride all day on just gravel, Bent Creek was a haven for all kinds of gravel riding. Most of the riding I did there on my Slate I was super happy I owned a Slate. There were some big, rocky gravel downhills (like 40+mph gravel downhills) and the set up with the fork was great. Also made riding the beginner single track a blast. Here's a video I made last year of a ride in Bent Creek. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ouELNiaF98Y

When I lived in Salt Lake City it was the same deal. Lots of gravel options, had to drive a little to get to a lot of it but was still pretty accessible (tons out of Park City a short drive away). Most of the stuff I rode there I could get away with just a proper cyclocross bike

[pbarry]

Originally Posted by blindwilly

just to be clear i don't mean to knock the idea of gravel riding or gravel bikes. just making an observation and looking for some insight into the who, what, when, where, why, and hows of gravel riding.

Looks smooth enuf for a road bike, just pay attention to your lines through chunky/rock stuff. But, as others have said, and maybe you might not appreciate, is that you are close to the D2R2 routes! Yes, you might have to drive be a little for a start point if your fitness is mediocre, and it will be worth it, trust me.

[merlinmurph]

Legitimate question by the OP.

Locally, my gravel riding is almost all singletrack, i.e. stuff that would be kinda easy on an mtb, but is fun on a gravel bike. There are very few, if any, maintained dirt roads. For that reason, I use fatter 40mm tires that handle the roots and rocks that are on the trails. Plus, I'm old and like the cush. I hit the trails regularly when it gets colder.

Now, when we travel to NH and VT, the options open up and you can a good mixed terrain ride in with all the dirt roads. This summer we spent time in Franconia NH and Morrisville VT where there is a good amount of dirt. And a trip to western MA is always good.

[weisan]

Originally Posted by jfranci3

https://gravelmap.com/

This is the most helpful thing that came out of this thread, thank you OP.

Looking at the map, it confirms some of the gravel routes that I already know but there's quite a few that I am not aware of, and planning on checking them out, maybe later when the weather turns cooler.

Right now, on average, I have to drive an hour or 1.5 hrs to get to nice gravel routes. It''s a bit of a hassle and time suck, but I don't mind, it's worth it.

some people like to camp overnight outside Walmart before Black Friday, others like to spend 6 hrs on the side of the road along the route waiting for the peloton to blow by in 10 seconds....I guess we all have different perspective on how best to use our time and to do what....

Did this route with my pals a while ago, it's absolutely gorgeous.

[Rekalcitrant]

I used to have the same question as the OP. Even living in a relatively small city (Syracuse) riding on gravel means making a point of seeking it out. Mostly I can’t be bothered; I’d rather ride faster and smoother on roads that are really not very busy anyway. And I am someone who takes our local gravel races seriously, does BlackFly every year, etc. But then I spent a month in Santa Fe, NM. Totally different story. 38mm gravel tires opened up a world of new stuff to do, got me up into the hills and out into the desert, and it meant that when the road unexpectedly turned to dirt I didn’t need to turn around. Worst case scenario the big tires smoothed out a lot of crappy asphalt.

[pbarry]

Map shows a tiny fraction of what’s in my area. I figure it’s dependent on user interface?

[Vientomas]

A few dirt roads nearby...

https://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE...eprd492626.pdf

[Tandem Rider]

Originally Posted by Andy sti

I can be on gravel within 3-5 miles of my house. I can also be on single track that soon. 63 mile MTB ride Saturday with 50+ miles of single track all from my house. I can be nordic skiing on 50km of trails after a 25 min drive and another 55km of trails just a further 10 min up the road. I can be downhill skiing after a 30 min drive.

Not bragging or anything...

Shhh....

[Likes2ridefar]

I can be on gravel within five minutes of where I live in downtown Scottsdale, az. and do a century ride from that point and almost never touch payment...it is mostly the smoothest dirt and gravel you could ask for.

I think I could probably ride across most of arizona just on dirt or gravel, leaving from Phoenix. there are thousands of miles of gravel from the aforementioned smooth to full suspension mtb would be nice type roads. The longest remote ride I did this year was a loop of 65 miles all on gravel. Took 6 hours and had a nice one hour plus climb mixed in near Sedona.

[mudman]

I live on the tour of the battenkill route, so I have plenty of dirt roads to enjoy. I’m still riding 23s though, seriously out of the loop on the wider tire trend of the last few years. Any one have any photos of gravel bikes, how are they different from cyclocross? Sorry for the ignorance.

[commonguy001]

I’m on the edge of the Gifford Pinchot national forest and have nearly unlimited route options on national forest roads as long as you don’t mind lots of climbing. My paved options from home have no shoulder and it’s actually easier to get to good unpaved routes than it is paved unless you want to drive.

[mhespenheide]

Originally Posted by Vientomas

A few dirt roads nearby...

https://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE...eprd492626.pdf

For CdA? Yeah, I believe it. My in-laws in are Spokane, and I'm dying to get up there with the right bike during the right time of year.

[Clean39T]

Originally Posted by commonguy001

I’m on the edge of the Gifford Pinchot national forest and have nearly unlimited route options on national forest roads as long as you don’t mind lots of climbing. My paved options from home have no shoulder and it’s actually easier to get to good unpaved routes than it is paved unless you want to drive.

Whereabouts?

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[commonguy001]

Originally Posted by Clean39T

Whereabouts?

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Just east of Battle Ground (considered BG but not in town), my way out of the valley takes me to the Silver Star area and cold creek trail heads. I’m new to the PNW so still figuring it all out but it’s coming.