06-10-2022, 03:24 PM
I find most of the gravel roads in the area to be fine on a road bike with 28mm tires, unless they've graded and put fresh stone down. Wider tires are nicer for sure and I go for 38 or 42mm tires if I'm doing a lot of gravel. Fenders are great if the bike can fit them. Seems a lot of gravel bikes are turning into pseudo-MTBs, with suspension forks and whatnot. I'd rather ride gravel roads than alligator-cracked pavement. Frost heave can also put some brutal cracks in the asphalt that I find worse than the buzz of gravel. The worst part of gravel is sections with a lot of potholes or washboards. I grew up riding mountain bikes all over the place so I like to ride pretty much anywhere one can get a bike without too much trouble.