Tyres on loose gravel

dinyull

I'm being pushed by my boss to enter a work event coming up soon because I'm the office cyclist. The event is a 25 mile race on loose gravel footpaths/cycleways.

I have no access to a cx or mountain bike so if I do the event it'll be on my road bike using old/spare 28mm Gatorskins. Tyres aren't badly worn, although have covered a lot of miles and had started to cut up a little before I replaced them.

How likely is it that the tyre's will last on that surface - or will they just get ripped to shreds? If you think they will hold up what pressure should I be running them - highest possible to deflect stones?

I know another option would be to buy some suitable tyres, but I'm not really willing to spend £20-30 on something I'm only likely to use once especially with a wedding to save for!

slowbike

yer ... no ...

event the difference between 32mm slick cx tyres and knobbly 29er tyres on loose stuff is immense - I've done hard pack tracks on 23mm slicks, but avoid anything loose. I've done a mix (MTB/CX event) on 30mm spiked knobbly tyres on a CX and it's hard work when the surface is loose.

If you must do it .. has nobody got a bike suitable you can borrow?

ai_1

Dinyull wrote:

I'm being pushed by my boss to enter a work event coming up soon because I'm the office cyclist. The event is a 25 mile race on loose gravel footpaths/cycleways.

I have no access to a cx or mountain bike so if I do the event it'll be on my road bike using old/spare 28mm Gatorskins. Tyres aren't badly worn, although have covered a lot of miles and had started to cut up a little before I replaced them.

How likely is it that the tyre's will last on that surface - or will they just get ripped to shreds? If you think they will hold up what pressure should I be running them - highest possible to deflect stones?

I know another option would be to buy some suitable tyres, but I'm not really willing to spend £20-30 on something I'm only likely to use once especially with a wedding to save for!

It really depends on the sort of gravel and quality of paths/tracks. If it's rolled, hard packed cycle tracks with a fine grit surface then I wouldn't worry too much. Throw on the Gatorskins at medium pressure and off you go. If it's fine grit surface but not so smooth, then I'd drop the pressure below what you use on the road.
If it's very coarse rough gravel then I would either refuse to do it on a road bike or put on the gatorskins and use pretty low pressure and see how it goes. I wouldn't expect a slick tyre to perform well in heavy gravel but I think softer may help a little.

damocles10

Have a look at the circuit. I go around the Olympic park sometimes on my road bike - some route have loose gravel and I slow right down as the front wheel slips a fair bit ( my tyres are 23mm @ 100psi )---not much fun.

But yeah, the best why to know for sure is to test the route a few days before the race, if that is possible.

cougie

Yes all depends on the surface really. I ride country park gravel trails on my 23mm slicks and they're fine. Just corner easily.

And you can't have a race on footpaths.

Please don't treat it as such and look out for vulnerable pedestrians.

dinyull

It is a race on footpaths/bridleways in a country park, think the route used is specially closed as it's an annual corporate event.

Can't really check the surface as it's being held over 40 miles away.

Sounds like the tyres will hold up then, but I'm just not sure I want to risk me/my bike as cornering will be a challenge.

ai_1

You can always just keep it slow in the corners. Depends how competitive you are!

cougie

Dinyull wrote:

Can't really check the surface as it's being held over 40 miles away.

Nice 80 mile ride on Sunday for you for training ?

simon_masterson

I have ridden various tracks on 27 x 1 1/4 Gatorskins, and they're useable. Can be a bit hair raising with really rocky surfaces and really big holes to deal with, but on well-maintained paths they are fine, particularly at the pace you'll likely be going at.