Can You Use A Road Bike As A Gravel Bike?

[@VikingEngr]

My first bike was my dad's old road bike from the late 80's, knew nothing about tire sizes and setup whatsoever. I was a kid so I rode it through everything including off road trails and gravel. Never had an issue with grip. Years later, I decided to take cycling more seriously and started with doing a neo-retro build on my dad's old bike. I'm still riding this bike now and I couldn't fathom how I was able to ride dirt with it as a kid. All I know is that I now run 28mm tires and that the old wheels just said "27x1 1/4" on them. Some research later and found out they're the equivalent to 32c tires. All gravel riding really needs is wider tires.

[@smartcookie11]

What about geometry, isn't it more difficult to balance yourself off road and steer

[@lawyal]

Couldn't agree more.

[@echtogammut]

A tip on wrapping for more cush, rather than double wrapping just lay down a strip of old tape (vertically on the drops and horizontally on the tops) on the pressure points and wrap your new tape around that. This way you get the benefits of double wrap without the thickness. I often use a soft thick "ugly" cork tape for the pressure spots and then wrap a nicer thin tap on top.

[@askdrew98]

My entire cycling 'career' has been spent on SPD's. I've tried Look and SPD SL, but I always return to traditional SPD pedals and shoes. I run a Shimano RX-8 shoes, which are stiff enough to keep the sole from flexing, outside of the biggest sprints. And I can use mtb boots or shoes when I'm touring, without having to change pedal systems or saddle height between pedal systems

[@thebrunoserge]

You use the SPD pedals with regular mountain boots, or are there specific mountain boots with SPD cleats?

[@Mavczers]

To have wider tires you can always put 650b wheels and have 40mm or sth

[@cjohnson3836]

Only if its disc brake. Or if you pay some ridiculous amount of money for long lever arm calipers and at the price you could just buy a gravel frameset

[@marshallemmett3313]

Orange is not hideous! I quite like it against the blue of the frame!

[@daskleineM]

Thats exactly what I plan on doing with my Trek Domane. 28 Conti GP's 5000 for the road and 35mm Allroads for a little offroading.

[@shrinkingshrimp]

Don't forget the clearance under the rim brake, usually they allow only 28mm tires max. And you need some space for mud. If you chose the thickest rubber your frame allows it will instantly stuck if you ride through mud.

[@grahambell9831]

Sensible changes and swapovers, good video Cade Media 👏On the colour wheel blue & orange compliment each other Francis 👍 Keep it on guys it looks good, honestly 👌

[@acidarion]

Also with tire clearance, leave a little room for dirt that might stick to a wet tyre. My tarmac does fit 28s but in the combination of frame tyre and rim I can't ride in the wet without wearing away the brake mounting bridge.

[@markjthomson]

Yes indeed! Other "problem" with the tires is when the climbs get steeper they will lose traction sooner, but hey... it's an adventure!

[@Cloxxki]

My Surly Pacer fits 28mm diamond Tufos. So I once did a dry cross race on it. It kind of worked. Never again, though. Funny how gravel has taken off, my Surly Corss-Check took 2" tires two decades ago. I still vastly prefer MTB frames+controls and trekking bars. Just don't see why you'd want to shorten the wheelbas by using a long stem and long reach drop bar.

[@jmorin6620]

Cool. I really want to ride my gravel bike more than my road bike. Happy to see this video.

[@jmorin6620]

And I really like the dbl taped bars.

[@EconMcCausland]

I run my Allez Sprint in gravel bike mode. 32 cm wheels, SRAM xplr group. Works great.

[@keinotee]

Shorter stem also helps. Even better if it's with a positive angle.

[@jmac74]

Fitted 36c tyres and an 11-32 cassette on a steel disc road bike, with a carbon fork. I think I can even go 38. Works great and I`m having great fun with it. The only issue so far is the rear derailleur. It´s a 105 and I don`t think it handles the beating. All those vibrations are not good for the shifting. Not critical, today it handled 107km of lots of pavé, and I do mean lots, fire roads, trails. Came across a few mountain bikers :) Might consider getting a GRX rear derailleur, but that`s it.

[@truthseeker8483]

@CadeMedia1 Blah blah blah blah.....

[@robertcatuara5118]

You didn't mention to check under the rim brakes for clearance, Clarence. That's where my 28s barely fit on my 2010 Roubaix. Did 40 miles on them yesterday on crappy tarmac, US Route 66. They work great!

[@cb6866]

Thanks Francis and Jimmi....

[@Pratalax]

I want Jimmi to narrate children's books. That squidginess bit was solid gold! I.......I liked the orange tape....

[@truthseeker8483]

I think the video was aimed at children......funny nevertheless...

[@dygbi]

Jimmy is the best like and subscriber in the business

[@Ballacks101]

Francis, been watching you for ages. Love your videos, mainly because of the fun you have, the people you ride with and the adventures. However, you seem to be doing a lot of these tech or comparison videos at the moment. Will you be getting back to adventures soon?

[@tinglydingle]

Tip for double wrapping tape: Don't double wrap the drops. You need a firm grip on the drops for descending and double tape undermines that, so only double wrap from the hoods.

[@stephensaines7100]

Due to having thumb carpometacarpal arthritis most pronounced in my left hand, for years I used to layer up handlebar tape. Beware! Increasing the grip diameter can actually *exacerbate* the impact forces within the joint. This year, after having a hand-surgeon do steroid injections into the joint during off-season (which worked remarkably well) I stripped off the layers of tape, used a *single layer* of quality Brook's microfiber tape, ordered crochet backed, leather palmed gloves (in my case, with a Kevlar protective palm patch. Google "Taurus cycling gloves") and had a shoe repair shop sew on the gel pads from an older pair of gloves above the CMC joint and the base of the palm on the left hand. It has worked brilliantly well. Since I have drop bars, and I'm in North Am, my right hand is usually on the drop for the rear brake lever, left hand on the top, so the right doesn't get the impact the left does. The condensed point is that increased bar diameter in the name of comfort and protection becomes counter-productive past a certainpoint, that being double layering and more. A single layer of a quality cushioned tape appears to be optimal from my experience over decades of riding.

[@Markus-.5712]

For my road bike I only double wrap the drops, makes them much more comfortable. No point double wrapping the tops when you're on the hoods mostly anyway.

[@truthseeker8483]

An even better idea than double wrapping is to use gel pads on the top of the bar and wrap with gel tape.....doesn't look ugly and is nice and comfortable....I used gel pads meant for shoes which are cheap

[@0dcd9530]

@tinglydingle It is rider specific and for smaller hands really.

[@florianschnitzler2864]

I have a Canyon endurance and I use it for road and gravel. When I want to Gravel I just throw on some 35mm Schwalbe X-one Allround. It's great

[@eilisniaisi5954]

I am new to bikes. I bought a canyon endurace 7 RB last year. Would this be possible on my bike? I have no interest in buying another bike.

[@TryboBike]

As a patrician - I run tubes _and_ tubeless sealant.

[@RicardoRocha-lg1xo]

My road bike currently has 30mm tires, a 1x groupset and SPD pedals. I wanna go for 35mm slicks when I wear out the 30s. Oh… and I moved the suspension stem and seatpost over to my gravel bike haha

[@2UpDuc]

DONT DOUBLE WRAP BARS WITH TAPE!!! Use an old thick inner tube. Take off the original bar tape set to the side. Now cut off the valve and wrap the drops cut the tube and tape just below the brake lever and the wrap on the tops of the bar and tape down the end. Now add the original bar tape and you’re done. Much better result. Been doing this for over 35 years.

[@bikecommuter24]

Lets see if any these tips apply to my Hybrid commuter bike Tires already got the biggest ones that will fit Tubeless? not interested, don't want to buy a new wheel of Pfaff about with sealant, changing a tube not a problem. Bar tape, got flat bars and a nice cushy grips suspension seat post no here too got a nice pari of padded shorts Cassette change well I got an 8 speed and looking to fit a 10 speed setup it is supposedly possible or maybe after sourcing parts and time and labor I should just buy a 10 speed. 😆 Clipless pedals that might be a future purchase but right now I got flat pedals since I use the bike to commute to work and do errands. But a nice set of tips anyway. Cheers

[@davehunt2191]

Using dual compound break shoes is a cheap way to upgrade breaking performance. There are several options including Koolstop.

[@danalec4742]

Hi, guys. I have another tip for you , which is cheaper and works well. TPU inner tubes RideNow have maximum pressure of 75psi. This means that you can get normal clincher tyres. Larger size tyres because they are not fully inflated. With 70psi riding comfort it's much better as well as the punture protection , because these tubes are designed for lower pressure. You avoid expensive tubeless rims and tyres, sealent and heavy repair tubeless kits. The spare inner tube is smaller and lighter 21grams lately and takes zero spaces. You don't need CO2 or big and expensive pump, because you need to inflate up to 75psi. Works for me. Ridenow tubes are 18 to 32mm x700c. Amazing. I love them. Regards.

[@spiffistan]

"Tubeless is... well, just what it says..." Oh so like clipless!

[@nige_breaks_bikes9782]

Good tips but….. can do better on tyres … Vittoria Terreno gravel tyres are available in narrow sizes … i use the Dry tyre in 31mm and the Zero tyre in 32mm for light off road and on road …. I appreciate you are tied to Hutchison so can’t feature these … I use the H tundras on my off road ride … keep up the good work … as an aside it would be interesting to see a feature on returning to riding after injury … i broke my wrist and needed a titanium plate and surgery … I’ve not cycled since April and hope to return next month … would be interesting to hear some pro and coaching advice ! ❤

[@nikolour]

Cane creek eesilk stem doesnt lock out the sus completely, just makes it twice as stiff. And comparing tonredshift one which ive owned before the cane creek, and the eesilk performs slightly better than the redshift one

[@Yellowsnakedesigns]

Awesome content. Be good to see you guys go the other way. Turn a gravel bike more road focused?? I own a gravel bike and love the geo but ride mostly roads 😂

[@GmailNexus]

See 2 Videos before this one ;)

[@davethedogdude]

FYI, the Cane Creek eeSilk stem lockout is not a full lockout. It is more like it firms it up a good bit and limits the movement. With a stiffer elastomer the resulting movement is more or less unnoticeable when just riding along except if you are looking for it, but it still is there. Even so it takes some of the road buzz off even with a stiff elastomer and the lockout engaged. Source: I have one on my bike, and I like it. EDIT: One other thing people should know about it, is that unlike the Redshift stem, it is only a -6 degree stem, you can't flip it. It does have a higher stack though to begin with, so that makes up for that a bit. BUT the higher stack also means that if you have whacked all the spacers off your fork and slammed your current build, it's probably not going to actually fit on your fork. If you still have a spacer or two, then it will be fine.

[@sergeyovchinnikov1804]

Thanks for the video. I have exactly this problem. Have Cannondale CAAD 12 with 28mm tyres. And across the UK roads it is not so comfy and also i get a lot of punctures. Having shifted to tubeless would means changing the wheels as well which costs a fortune. Are there any good al rim brake TR wheels on the market for less than a grand for the set?

[@bedathprop]

Schwalbe have 2 30mm cross tyres with decent grip that are really good value; not tubeless though. I use Slime inner tubes with them and they work great- at least I think so. When you’re over 100kg you can’t really run low pressures anyway…

[@poxcr]

9:25 Why? Orange on blue looks fabulous! 👌

[@gregbyrne7725]

Schwalbe have a grippy CX comp cyclo-cross tyre in 30mm that usually work with modern road rim brakes bicycles, they are a bit heavy but very cheap (

[@justsomedude7556]

Those Styrkr bars are very tasty...

[@MattRose30000]

Don't forget to put on protective stickers if your bike doesn't have them already!

[@Speedy.V]

I suggest some specialized sawtooth tires. They yave a minimal tread pattern.

[@npc4188]

would be nice for your next bike project built with similar frame and components but this time use flat handlebar

[@jonpoon3896]

You can try putting sealant inside the tube

[@shawngifford]

Wolftooth Roadlinks and a different cassette is probably the cheapest way to get more gravel gear range. I’m talking about a 11-40 cassette here, that’s a plenty good range paired with a 50/34 crankset. That’s for real climbs, flatlanders probably don’t need anything different.

[@paulbyrne4214]

Always used SpD on all my bikes- road, enduro and gravel. No brainer

[@alethearobinson8132]

Fun video. You two work well together. Interestingly, my carbon bike came with 30cc tires and not a tubeless rim. Not ideal, but there are inner tubes that come with sealant already in them. And because I have really long fingers I have double wrapped my bars for decades. Long live the squidge🥰 Cheers 🚴‍♀️

[@markmarlatt1105]

My frame fits a 38mm tire easy, but my tiagra front derailleur is shaped in a way that won't allow me any more than 32 when in my big ring.

[@darrenwilliams9741]

Oh, are you guys going to do a guide to clothing sizes, particularly between road and mountain bike clothing?

[@Ming3r]

Sizing charts and wear what is comfortable?

[@thebikepackingadventurer]

100 you can, but it won't be quite as comfy as a gravel/adventure bike. I have the redshift seatpost and stem and the difference is great. Got to dial the seatpost in to set the sag like a fork on MTB, and when you do it is gamechanging

[@andyczarny1]

My ribble endurance SL on 32c is my allroad bike, so You can if You want 😂

[@andyczarny1]

@CadeMedia1 😉

[@williamcrampton394]

Guys. Please would you do a video about security locks? Testing/ weight/ insurance standards, etc. Cheers

[@timcooke6062]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/l3PbqpR8m5hqb8k I think this talked about gold standard for uk insurance and rates along the lines you are after. If not there was another one a year before they might ref in that video

[@frankmoran167]

For disk brake bikes, Get some 650Bs as this will allow way bigger tyres

[@geraintroberts6606]

Considering riding and racing road bikes on gravel with road tyres (old Tour De France ) for example then yes you can use you road bike on gravel. (Lots of Marketing Hype).

[@alexpomeranets8930]

Hey Francis just wondering if you could give a full spec list of your force rc rim brake bike without the gravel specs

[@stephensaines7100]

@ 8:40 kzbin.info/www/bejne/hHyYk3dmZcyAnZo "...Actually these road tires, which are 30 mil slicks...I've been fine..." is a crucial comment. "Slicks" isn't fully correct, because a lot of road tires, e.g. Conti GP 4 Seasons, do have grooves and patterns, and excellent adhesion assuming a hard road surface, but I do many miles on trails and gravel roads, and never found the need for an aggressive tread on the Contis or similar over the last two decades or so. What I have had done this year is dimple my chainstays and move the bridge back to allow for 32mm tires on the rear. The front fork always has had the clearance for 32mm, but for the front, 25 or 28mm does just fine. There is a point of diminishing returns in steering response versus ride quality...of course depending on how 'off road' you want to be. Riding across open fields isn't usually my thing. Being able to have your chainstays 'dimpled' is of course an advantage of a steel frame. Mine is a Reynolds 531 renovated in the Eighties by Argos Racing, and I triplized the front chainset and actually reduced the rear from 7 to 6 spd to shorten the axle length, and thus have a more dependable axle. I have a habit of bending them. Overall rear ratios are maintained even though the number of cogs reduced.

[@paulgordon7526]

You could also fit 650B wheels you might be able to put even bigger tyres on ?

[@0dcd9530]

For many years we were just doing that. It was either riding a touring/cyclocross bike or use your regular road bike. Most hard packed dirt roads/paths were and are still fine with 25mm tires. We are just all getting softer.

[@two-eyedRoy]

What are the collective thinks on doing a comparison ride with the frankenbike and the gravel? +v's and -v's of each bikes feel in same scenarios. Not so much a Get This or Get That just a 'what to expect' kind of thingyᵀᴹ tbh, I (me, myself, personally) would love to see a CX and an Endurance bicicleta thrown into the mix for a 'One bike to rule them all', or 'Do you like gravel but also crit race', or maybe more of a 'what can't it do' evaluations. I reckon all bikes would still return a 10/10 for the category of 'Out of it's element you'll still have fun on it'

[@tutzmadrazo]

Are GRX STIs and calipers compatible to ultegras GS? Particularly the RD, FD and Chain mounted to a roadbike

[@tilmanryder2136]

first one here when are you doing the garmin giveaway still got my fingers crossed

[@MH_Bikes]

Always use a tube. Doubly so on Saturday. - Mr. Roadie

[@CyclingChicken]

you guys are awesome

[@thedownunderverse]

Wow you boys went full GCN

Can anyone tell me what’s the cycling cap model jimmy is wearing? Tks

[@tinglydingle]

@jimmimedia what's the cap you're wearing under your helmet? It looks like it has a much better peak than most cycling caps.

[@marnicq1610]

Instead of double wrapping with two layers of bar tape, I wrap my bars with an old inner tube and then put the actual bar tape over it. 😅 It’s a tad cheaper than buying two sets of bar tape.

[@discbrakefan]

@CadeMedia1Scammer alert 🚨

[@logojones96]

goddamn I love that addict so much wish they were still making them

[@jimmyz5831]

Very important to know you could damage your rim by running low pressure on rocky roads. Happens all the time so be careful.

[@cb6866]

AND...have you tried the Redshift or any other brand's shock absorbing stem ?

[@sting5956]

Before even watching the video, this is how I got into mtb. Had 2 road bikes (the vintage one is similar to a modern cyclocross bike)

[@Cloxxki]

Do people still mix their own sealent? I had good luck with mold builder and green slime mixed up. Some did well with glitter as a clogging agent. I've used sealent to fix an ancient city bike inner tube that was totally dried out and had literally several dozen patches on it. Someone REALLY didn't want to remove the rear wheel (it's a mega pain), and neither did I. Threw 150 grams in the inner tube, and 6+ years later the tube was still going strong, never leaked, just needed the odd air top up. Unthinkable of such an ancient tire+tube, daily use, and broken glass a fact of life.

[@Cloxxki]

@CadeMedia1 scam account alert!

[@fjskj6529]

I use my 21' Domane SL5 as a Gravel bike exclusively. 35c Schwalbe All Round tyres and it gets the job done. Trek says you can put 38s in it Unless you really need a super slacker geometry for bike packing these "gravel geometries" are pure marking-schmarketing from bike companies

[@cneubert28]

I’m pro hideous orange bar tape.

[@carlbonthuys3550]

You spelt fabulous wrong

[@cneubert28]

@@carlbonthuys3550 you might be right fellow carl.

[@cneubert28]

@CadeMedia1 Let's!

[@barryford7135]

Put 650B wheels in & you can use wider tyres?

[@SOHF_Triathlon]

Panaracer gravelking 26c knobby tires

[@djsugarfiend]

I actually like the orange bar tape. The only downside with it that I see (and most non-black bar tape) is it gets dirty quickly.

[@ndennan67]

Nothing wrong with Orange bar tape 😂

[@malcontent_1]

Now you just need an orange saddle and helmet and shoes to match the bar tape ... 🤔

[@0dcd9530]

@JimmiNicholls About not going below tire manufacturer's recommendation, that is kind of bullshit really for many brands. That is a good starting point but you are likely to want lower. In fact if you look at real >35mm gravel tires recommendation, with some brands it is nearly impossible to ride at recommended lower limit, unless you like riding tires feeling like concrete.

[@ichewtoast111]

I need to know what that electric torque wrench screwdriver was.

[@ichewtoast111]

Oh jk I thought it was a tour we wrench also but it seems like torque adjust like a normal drill.

[@pascal_raabe]

Hey Francis and Jimmy, a little over a year ago i bought myself a Specialized Diverge E5 which comes with a mechanical 2x Shimano Claris a 50/34T Chainring int the front and 11-34t 8 Speed Casette. Contstantly riding my bike around and through everything there is i lately find myself spinning out a lot. Even for some harder climbs I found out that I don't really use the 34T smaller chainring. Is there any way how i could change my gear ratio to have a "faster" one? I looked for another casette but sadly shimano doesn't go lower than a 11t casette. Should i change the front Chainring instead? Big thanks to all of the good videos you put out!

[@robertcatuara5118]

Yes

[@nhabben1]

What you have to check is bolt circle diameter. If you have Claris R2000 with a 4 arm crankset then you just need to find chainrings with 110mm BCD. Personally, if you don't find yourself maxing out the 50 11 I wouldn't size upchainrings. But the next common size is 52 36 and then 53 39. If you are putting out monster power go for it. With the 4 arm shimano cranks the rings all share the same BCD so it should be easy to find a set. If you have 5 arm cranks I think the rings are sized to the crankset BCD.

[@frankmoran167]

50x11 at cadence of 95rpm is 54kph, changing to 52 will get you to 57kph

[@renatab8293]

We couldn't appreciate the hideously orange bar tape very well because you were holding it in front of your shirt which is the same colour.

[@renatab8293]

@CadeMedia1 we are talking. What would you like to know or talk about?

[@manysaints]

This bike was really easy to assemble kzbin.infoUgkxMesz3KOGEmwmvyKQfLfrRSUXLFzfVHZA and required very few adjustments out of the box. The wheels did not require any truing/adjustments. The frame had some small scratches, but nothing major.I did replace the seat though - the seat it came with was very uncomfortable. The tires need to be re-inflated every 4-5 days, but this appears to be quite common for the narrow 700x25 tires.Overall, in my opinion, this bike looks and rides like a much more expensive bike.

[@0dcd9530]

It doesn't really apply to Francis bike as it is 1x buy you guys didn't mention what some brands call compact+ or gravel specific cranks with gearing such as 48x31 / 46x30. I think for a bike with a double ring setup it usually makes more sense than trying to maximise rear derailleur capacity with the added benefits of spending more time at the center of the cassette and smaller difference between cogs. A GRX crank doesn't cost a lot and if you choose 48x3 and you were riding a compact crank previously you can even probably get away with not adjusting the derailleur height and chain length and swap the crank depending on the kind of rides you do.

[@christophermiel]

If you dont want to go tubeless, use latex tubes.

[@christophermiel]

@slavelaboringkid7597 I rode offroad in the woods with my road bike on gravel tires over stones, roots and smaller jumps wuth up to 30kph and they my latex tubes lasted all season without one puncture. I still carried a normal tube for such a case of course.

[@luciabriganti8762]

which size is that chainring?

[@abedfo88]

The ultimate all round bike imho is built around a CX frameset. It's practically a road bike but can fit some half decent size tyres.

[@AndrewDeeley-f8r]

Fit Continental Ride Tours....you'll have plenty of grip

[@lizziecade1902]

😊

[@dux_bellorum]

Is that a 30 seconds to mars tattoo on your forearm?

[@yurimow]

i suddenly feel the urge to buy some gravel rims and replace the manufacturer's name with "squidge"

[@yurimow]

@CadeMedia1 are you releasing a line of gravel specific bike stickers?

[@TTaponen]

What kind of an animal is a seal-ant?🤔

[@Stevehatesgravel]

The worlds gravel champs was won on road bikes so that answers that

[@clarklowe5632]

Rub a tire on a steel frame and you don't need to write it off.

[@alexj1295]

One small complaint; your videos are really loud. Every time I click on one suddenly Francis's voice seems to explode out of my speakers.

[@rickdoehler502]

Don't be a rube, Silca tape is awesome.

[@BadTanLines]

First!

[@tonyjmcd]

A bit of squidge, perfect description for lower pressure

[@_________4292]

Hellooo

[@likepretzel247]

not really pratical changes if only have one bike . content this time not as entertaining. need keep up guys!

[@michaelhayward7572]

40+ years motorcycle mechanic here. Rubber mounted handlebars - no, just no. And thats on motorcycles. Bicycles? FFS, no.

[@truthseeker8483]

@CadeMedia1 Blah blah blah blah blah