# Tires for gravel roads?



## HeluvaSkier (Sep 11, 2007)

All of my current riding is on well paved roads for the most part, but I'd like to find a clincher tire that I can put on one of my road bikes that will do well on gravel roads (think fresh tar/stone or crushed stone surfaces - nothing deep or too loose, but certainly not a paved surface). 

I'm thinking the Continental GP 4 Season might be a good choice when run at 80-90 psi, but I don't know how well it will handle on that kind of a surface. I don't own a CX bike, which would be the ideal ride for that kind of road... I also know that the Pro3's or Attack/Force that I usually run won't hold up for a second on roads like that so I'll need something more durable. 

So... what other tires are a good choice? I will probably opt for 25c tires, but would love a 28c tire... what are the odds I can get a 28c tire on a road frame (one is a Trek 1500, the other is an aluminum Javelin road frame - so not really race frames)? Also - are tire liners a good thing to consider just to be on the safe side? 

Thanks, 

Greg


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## wim (Feb 28, 2005)

*Some thoughts.*

This winter I''ve been riding my road bike with a set of cheap 700 x 25 Vittoria Rubinos over gravel roads. The tires have held up well so far.

"Handling" on gravel is basically a matter of tire width—the wider, the better. Unless you power through mud or ride some seriously off-camber turns, tread pattern doesn't matter. Keep in mind that riding gravel can be tough on sidewalls, so pick a tire that's got a lot of rubber protecting the sidewall (not Continentals, IMO). Usually that means "heavy and unresponsive" on the road, but it doesn't matter on gravel.

Pressure is a compromise between comfort and pinch-flat resistance, so you just have to play with it. No way to know if 28s will fit your frames without trying—some 28s measure just that, some measure less, some more than that


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