Riding Gravel

1. Tires/Rims

What To Do: Run the widest tires your bike will fit—for most road bikes this will be 25-28mm tires. The bigger tires will provide a larger contact patch, which will help improve traction on loose gravel and dirt. The larger air volume will also let you run lower air pressures to improve comfort without risking a pinch flat. Look for a tire that features a puncture-resistant belt and a moderate file-type or Roubaix tread.

 Hacks: Even if your bike’s clearance is limited to a 25mm tire, you can get more air volume by using a wheel with a wider rim. The wider rim gives the tire a wider stance, allowing the tube to inflate more fully. Examples would be HED Ardennes, Mavic’s new Ksyrium 4D, or Zipp Firecrest. If you bought a new Fuji or Diamondback road bike in the last two years, you’re in luck. The Oval 500- and 700-series wheels spec’d on most 2014 and later Fuji’s already feature a new wider rim profile, while most 2014 and later Diamondback’s come with nice and wide HED Tomcat or HED Ardennes rims.

Be Careful Of: While wider tires do have lower rolling resistance, that’s only true to a point. When I first got the Fenix SL and was playing around with tires and rims, I was delighted/astounded to realize it would clear a ~33mm tire. With rim brakes. The balloon tires handled great on the gravel, but out on the road they felt sluggish and slow. Realizing that Alpine Loop had only ~15 miles of gravel, with 90-something miles of road, I opted to go for a slightly smaller tire.

2. Tire Pressure

What To Do: For the Northern Classics like Paris-Roubaix and Ronde van Vlaanderen, the pro team mechanics consider tire pressure to be their most closely guarded secret. Finding the right tire pressure for gravel riding is about finding that happy medium between a low enough pressure that the bike feels comfortable over the jarring surface, but high enough to avoid pinch flats or rim damage. Finding the right pressure will depend on your body weight, tire width, and rim width. There are no ready-made solutions, so you’ll have to experiment to find what works right for you. Generally, the best bet is to start at 20 PSI under the tire or rim manufacturer’s recommended max (whichever is lower) and then go down from there.

Hacks: Run your front and rear tires at slightly different pressures. Run the rear wheel 5-10 PSI higher than your front, since it’s bearing all of your weight and will be taking far more punishment. The front tire can handle lower pressure, which will help reduce the amount of vibration and jarring hits going into your arms.

Be Careful Of: Going too low. Too low of a pressure will allow the tire to compress all the way to the rim if you hit something hard enough and fast enough. This can both cause a pinch flat (“snake bite puncture”) if you run clinchers, and possibly lead to damage to your rim whether you run tubeless or clinchers.

3. Bar Tape

What To Do: Even with big tires, wide rims, and the right tire pressure, gravel can still deliver a pretty rough ride. If you’ll be doing a lot of gravel riding, or are looking at setting up a dedicated bike, you may want to opt for some thicker tape (in the 3mm thick range), adding some gel inserts under the tape, or even double wrapping.  This will provide more cushion to improve comfort and relieve pressure on the ulnar nerves.

Hacks: Next time you wrap your bars, you can get a little more padding by utilizing the extra tape. Most rolls of handlebar tape will have more than you need, requiring you to cut off the extra. Once you’re done wrapping and have cut off the excess, unwrap the bars back to the lever, and place the extra tape on the bars where you feel you need some extra padding, then wrap back over it.

3mm thick bar tape helped take the sting out of the gravel. Also note the climb cue sheet taped to the stem to help anticipate efforts and plan when to fuel.

4. Torque Is Your Friend

What To Do: Most riders will need to significantly gear down to ride gravel. A high cadence with lots of torque is your best friend in situations where the gravel or dirt gets loose and sloppy. The higher cadence will allow you to power through situations where you lose traction, and allow you to stay on top of the gear without having to resort to standing up—which is a no-no on gravel. Depending on the gearing you already run on your bike, you may need a bigger cassette, smaller chainrings, or both.

Hacks: Consider upgrading your rear derailleur to a medium/long cage model (Shimano GS or SRAM WiFli). It will still work perfectly with your normal cassette for every day riding, but will also give you the option of running a huge 11-32t cassette when the time comes.

Be Careful Of: Overestimating yourself. There is no such thing as too low of a gear on a long ride with lots of gravel, especially if it’s hilly. I seriously considered using a 52/36 on this ride, and only reconsidered at the last minute after consulting with some friends. That would have been a disaster, and I’m glad I listened to them. Too high of a gear will force you to have to stand on a hill, which will unweight your rear wheel and break traction. The wheel will spin out from underneath you, and most likely you will crash.