Have you modified your road bike to go off road? Let us know 👇

@leojohn1970

6 жыл бұрын

no i havn t wish i could do modified

@robinburt5735

6 жыл бұрын

I modified my mountain bike to go on road, does that count?

@quwers

6 жыл бұрын

Did the HONC with 25mm Gatorskins and Mavic Asksium wheels. I wish I could fit fatter tyres but I survived.

@darylbrice

6 жыл бұрын

I've actually done the reverse, I have a second set of wheels for my gravel bike with road tires 28mm. I have a dedicated road bike but when I travel I always take my gravel bike with both sets of wheels so I can do gravel/adventure rides then just swap the wheels to do a road ride or join a local group road ride.

@thederpybroccoli4944

6 жыл бұрын

Double sided pedals... Oh Matt...

When Zipps are your "second less expensive wheels". FeelsBadMan.

@cameronkeogh4177

6 жыл бұрын

Nike on a Bike I was gonna comment that too😂

@slimelord314

6 жыл бұрын

Yeah I was like 🤔

@slimelord314

6 жыл бұрын

I made a comment about running Alexrims DA28s which you can get sometimes for less than $50

@matthewbabirecki9409

6 жыл бұрын

If Zipps were my spare wheels I would just go out and buy a gravel bike rather than change half the components on my road bike

@JLee-xl4dt

6 жыл бұрын

same feeling man, poor af

It's unbelievable, this channel covers every single doubt and curiosity that came to my mind 🚲

4:28 Si says "Invest in a second less expensive set of wheels" and then pulls out a set of Zipp 30 wheels. Less expensive... right... :P

@doctor_voctor

5 жыл бұрын

In proportion to the other zipp wheels they are a bargain though :p

@doctor_voctor

4 жыл бұрын

@darkrainne 679 Yeah me too. Riding on Prime wheels baby.

But I thought the whole reason for riding gravel was to buy yet another bike....

@MAGAIVER

5 жыл бұрын

That's what I did, but I had to sell my road bike to fund the gravel one as I already owned 7 other bicycles and couldn't afford number 8. But my gravel bike is just as capable on the road and the wider tires are great on local rough roads.

@0741921

3 жыл бұрын

@@MAGAIVER you got any to spare? Lol

@MAGAIVER

3 жыл бұрын

@@0741921 it's up to ten bikes now, just cant get enough of them. Latest one beeing a proper vintage Italian road bike, a Bernardi with Columbus SLX tubing and full 9 speed Campagnolo groupset. Found it for a good price on a facebook group.

@omniyambot9876

3 жыл бұрын

@@MAGAIVER you MUST give one to me lol

@bobicabayo

3 жыл бұрын

🤔

6:37 Si's riding over a MEADOW screaming "graveeeeeel" :D

Kudos to Si for getting through your exposition. All those flying critters zooming by, and landing on me, would have driven me bonkers. Your new title: Lord of the Flies.

Si, such a roadie...those are the tightest "baggie" shorts that ever existed 😂

Great advice. A gravel or cyclo-cross bike can be even more versatile. A bike can do anything if it has enough tire clearance. I have a Lynskey Cooper CX with 4 sets of wheels: Stan's Iron Cross 700c with 40mm tubeless tires for gravel and 'cross, 700c carbon rims with Schwalbe Pro One 28mm tires for road, Stan's Crest 650b for MTB trails and gravel and some tubed 700c wheels for loaded touring. I have done a road century, gravel grinder and MTB trails all in one weekend. It's fantastic. One bike to rule them all! Oh, and the new Ultegra R8000 mid-cage (GS) rear derailleur will handle any cassette from 28t to 40t when paired with a 46/34t chainrings. Those are the combinations I run.

@gcn

6 жыл бұрын

Cheers Tom!

My favorite video of the channel yet. I will be doing two centurys in two days on gravel this fall and this video filled with humor and quality content helped me out quite a bit!!!

@gcn

6 жыл бұрын

Awesome! Let us know how it goes!

I started with a 2016 Trek Crossrip - so it was already a bit more compliant. Mods: 11-36 cassette - which needed 1 extra chain link and b-screw adjustment to work with the Shimano 105 GS RD; 35c Conti Double Fighter tires; DT Swiss R24 Spline rims; upped the rear disc to 160mm, slowed by Tekro HY/RD cable actuated hydraulics. Have taken this set up on nearly every terrain.

I did this to my flat bar Boardman Hybrid and I now ride it on CX tyres off road via my local country park to work. I even ride it around Sherwood pines on the red route (which is tame for a red). I dont ride road tyre setup quite as much now because its more being able to switch terrains easier. And when on the road with intermediate tyres (Kenda small block 8) it's still quick off the mark and handles well on tarmac. Highly recommended.

I converted my 1989 GT Avalanche to drop bars a few weeks ago. Rides like a dream. Was a fun conversion. Hipster Drop 26er! I do own a GT Grade, so I already have a proper gravel bike.

Looks exactly like my 2019 Trek Domane which I've just converted to gravel. Having 32mm tires (WTB Crosswolf) with decent knobby tread makes it so much more fun to ride on gravel than my heavy aluminum MTB. Glad to see that I did the same thing Si suggested which is put the gravel tires on a separate set of aluminum rims which can hold up to rock strikes better than carbon. A bonus of this setup is that it has turned this bike into my foul-weather bike--I can zip through downpours and corner with impunity.

I bought my first roadbike a few weeks ago, I have been loving the cycling so far. That also means I discovered this channel and probably have been watching it a bit too much, since I dreamt about it last night haha :') PS no need to say I love your channel

@gcn

6 жыл бұрын

Welcome to road cycling, you're going to be hooked! Glad you're enjoying the vids.

Beautiful build!! I am glad to see others building gravel bikes too!!

Enjoyed the video even though I'm over 3 years late. Following most of your advice I have installed 33mm Panaracer Gravel tyres to a spare set of wheels and added an 11-34 cassette. My winter road bike is a 2018 Specialized Roubaix with Futureshock suspension currently with a mix of Shimano 105 and Ultegra including hydraulic disk brakes. The cassette is a 11-32 so not much of a change to move to an 11-34. The Roubaix is quite a robust bike and great on rough roads so I was hopeful that it would handle the challenge. I haven't changed my pedals yet. My first gravel/dirt/sand/mud/tarmac ride was this afternoon and I was surprised how well the bike coped and how much I enjoyed it. After 22 miles (probably 15 non-tarmac) I definitely agree that changing the pedals to spds is a good idea. Not sure how I'm going to cope with the constant re-indexing of the gears every time I swap the wheels over. Something for me to look into.

My Bianchi Infinito CV.. With SRAM force 1, 40 T chainring and long cage RD.. I have 2 wheel sets.. Dura Ace C35 wheelset with 11-28 and Conti 25mm tire for road cycling.. And Campy Sharmal Alu wheelset with 11-40 and Pana Racer Gravel King 28mm tire for adventure or high mountain road climb.. I use MTB pedal all the ways..

Great upgrade for road bike to gravel conversion is a Canyon VCLS 2.0 seatpost and carbon handlebars that have flex in them. They absorb bumps and vibrations much more than alloy parts. Also they are much less expensive than whole carbon fibre frame, but offer much more compliance.

You answered all my concerns!! You guys ROCK!!!!💪🏼

@gcn “i could potentially be waiting for a life time” for the beard hahhh love it

Great ! The trick to lengthen the derailleur is so expert and welcome !

My road bike has mountain bike pedals year long!, i often need to walk and bonus, my shoes are compatible with the spinning classes for winter time :D

I converted my trashed Hybrid into a Gravel Bike. Stonking 700cx42 tyres and wide dropped bars make a fantastic off-roader.

As always, I do it the other way around, I use a crosser on the road with 28mm tyres, MTB pedals and shoes, then gravel is no problems, road no problems and walk no problems, without forking out for road bike stuff too.

Paint on this Trek is just mind blowing! I like it more than my Domane SLR.

Hey Simon, you'd also need to lengthen your chain if you were jumping up on the cassette size, otherwise some serious gear crunching is coming. The best solution though would be to increase your road setup to a 28 or 32 and then keep the gearing the same for both setups.

Wao, what an accurate way to say it GRAVEL!!! Cheers from NYC

I always use MTB pedals and shoes on my road bike. Much easier to clip in, much easier to walk around when taking breaks.

@h.s.5995

5 жыл бұрын

Same here. However I admit they are more heavy.

@Kuninkas

5 жыл бұрын

Same here but i have noticed that you need to have stiff shoes so you wont get hotspots on longer rides.

@psycholist724

3 жыл бұрын

Yeah, me too. It was the setup that my LBS created for me when I first decided to "go clipless" and I didn't know the difference between MTB pedals and road pedals. Five years later it's just my normal shoe setup. And I can walk straight!!

@timothysuprapto6226

3 жыл бұрын

exactly. I don't understand the reason why people use road pedals other than they're just slightly lighter. MTB pedals win hands down

@oscargomez-uw8xm

2 жыл бұрын

@@timothysuprapto6226 Power transfer on the pedal is way more efficient on road shoes and clips because they are designed to stay on the pedal under almost any circumstance, MTB ones are designed to get off quickly when needed and that makes the clip way more wobbly and therefore loosing quite a bit of power on the pedalling. (I do say that while owning a TT bike, a road one and a mountain bike one)

Awesome idea! One bike in two kinds. Road and Gravel bikes!

exactly what I've been thinking of doing - and those tyres are what I have my eye on, too :)

@gcn

6 жыл бұрын

Awesome - let us know if you do!

I ran 32mm Panaracer Gravel Kings on my BMC RoadMachine 02 and it handled hard pack gravel fairly well. I was going to change out wheels from 700 to 650 in order to get wider clearance and on a budget was looking at around $700 US. In the end got a great deal on a Niner RLT9 for $800 US and running Panaracer Gravel King SK 42mm (45mm once on the bike). Best decision I could have made. I can now ride just about any gravel road I come across and even some single track.

@santiagoramos9874

Жыл бұрын

for years later im planing the same ...put 650b wheels .. but i didn't find much information or video about it.. it worked good ?

@giacspez

Жыл бұрын

Hi, I'm planning to do the exact same tyre fitting on my bmc roadmachine 02. Can you be more specific on what do you mean for "handled hard pack gravel fairly well"? thanks a lot!

Roadlink + 40 cassette for the win! First time I've heard GCN mention this..

Agree with having two wheelsets, road/gravel, but a bit concerned about having different size cassettes. Slight difference should be ok, but if one has a 28 and the other say a 36 then I would think it difficult to optimise the chain length for both. So I keep them very similar and would change the chain if the difference was extreme

That Trek is a thing of beauty and thanks for your tips, Si, I particularly like the wheel-swap and the pedal switch, tho' I would opt for flats.

@gcn

6 жыл бұрын

Thanks Robb, glad you enjoyed Si's top tips!

@robbchastain3036

6 жыл бұрын

Thanks, GCN, and truly, that Trek is super nice, I like it. And all this gravel action is cool, too.

WOW those 35's fit with room to spare! The Domane is such a beast

@michwoz

6 жыл бұрын

Yep. Great bike. That's how endurance road bike should be. Every time I see endurance labeled road bike with 23c or 25c tires I die a little bit inside.

@stinkyfungus

4 жыл бұрын

Any idea how big a stock domane can go with 105 direct mount calipers?

Opposite conversion "gravel to road" will be much more meaningful :)

@gravelcycling9267

6 жыл бұрын

agree! doing that now.

@TenSapphires

6 жыл бұрын

I'm also interested in that. I want to find new wheelset for my Giant Anyroad1. I have factory 11-34cassete,32mm tire and compact crankset. That will do for gravel and dirtroad but for my road rides I would like 11-28 and 25mm tires on lighter wheels. I'm reluctant though, I have disc brakes and QR on forks. Can I achieve same braking performance on bouth setups, no squealing noise?

@shanueltitusescueta7298

6 жыл бұрын

Tomas Kasanicky or maybe a hybrid bike

@VirgilOvid

6 жыл бұрын

Step 1: Switch your fat knobbly tires for 25-28mm slicks Step 2: Slam that Stem! Step 3: Consider swapping your compact crankset for a standard one. Step 4: Come to grips with your lack of power and stick to the compact crankset. Step 5: Take off all the extra gubbins and ride!

@ykcinasak

6 жыл бұрын

My comment was in ironic meaning.

Hey Si, just a quick question about having a second wheelset set up with discs and cassettes already installed. I'm curious what the realignment issues might be with hydraulic brakes? Is there a bit of fussing to get them to align properly? There may be a video already about this set up. Thanks!

An informative guide, there's lots of great tips in this short video............. thanks

@gcn

6 жыл бұрын

Thanks John , glad you enjoyed it

Si, you're skipping over the obvious solution. Build or purchase a gravel bike in secret and have a pool of lies at the ready to explain the irregular rides.

I have a cross country bike for this. In my country the terrain is either for road or MTB. Rarely place for inbetween

#GCN How to. You can use 3 bolt road shoes with mountain bike pedals. If you use Crank Brothers Eggbeater or Candy pedals. Crank Brothers do a 3 bold cleat which works with these pedals. I have used them in the past and I found they were easy to use and set up.

Love the "back to nature" kickstand 😂

You didn’t talk about getting a longer chain, but that is actually pretty important if you lengthen your derailleur ;)

Modified my gravel bike to go on the road!

Mine is. I use my alloy set wheel that comes with my carbon bike, i put a gravel type tire on it if i want to go gravel riding. Then just switch to my after market carbon wheel set if i need to do distance riding on road.

You can go sub compact on 110bcd with absolute black chain rings. Awesome things.

Nice although I would suggest 650b wtb byway on 27.5 MTB rims, if you can't afford Zipp wheels as a second or even first wheel set 😉👍

Excellent advice in this video. It's well worth it to first "ride what you have" before you invest in a new bike to ride 10 miles on a gravel road.

Great video Si, Any merits in converting my mountain bike? I have lots of great off road trails close by but it is a bit of slog when on the road trying to link them up...Also, where is the cross over point for group sets? E.g. Shimano ultegra and. XT I suppose I mean what is the major difference between them. Maybe one for GMBN!

If clearance is a problem due to fork height or rear triangle, then go for 650B w/ disc instead of 700c. This works as the diameter of the wheel is smaller = height is reduced. This does NOT work when with of the fork or rear triangle is too narrow. I can fit pretty much 2 inch plus 650B when anything bigger than 700cx35mm will not fit on my bike. Also, notice that the smaller diameter of wheel+tire also means the gearing ratio is instantly easier/lower as well. Solves two problems with one wheelset & cassette!

I put two 1.9 29er tires on my road/cyclocross bike (it’s a trek 7000 series that I built up as a road bike) and they work fantastic (kenda small block pros). I also would recommend thicker bar tape for gravel because if you have no impact damping at all you’re left feeling all weird and it’s pretty unpleasant. The soft side of velcro tape is a great, almost free alternative to the 3m tape (there will still be a bit of chainslap noise). Btw I’m 13 years so if you have any advice for me, please tell me!

I am new to biking and picked up a gravel specialized diverge comp. I've noticed on inclines, my speed is slower than it should be, can I go the other way and out road tires on the bike to decrease friction and increase speed? If so, what wheels would you recommend? Thank you!

Double-wrapped bar tape and/or shock-absorbing bar plugs take a lot of trail buzz out too, relieving hand fatigue and cramp

As far as frame protection I use an old bike messenger trick that's cheap, ease and down and dirty but, it works. That's right I am talking about using used inner tubes and zip ties. It works and your bike looks like it came from a Mad Max movie. No chopper here folks!

Watching this video from an mtb perspective is hilarious 😂 The frame protection cracked me up as that is pretty much standard on most MTBs today

You can indeed change your chainrings, Absoluteblack makes super compact chainrings for Shimano cranks in 2 sizes 48-32 and 46-30.

GCN Show are getting better and better every day...!! Super nice outdoor footage...!! Great issue once again...!! So by the end, how big were the tires used ...??

@gcn

6 жыл бұрын

Thanks Wrangler Cycling, glad you enjoyed it!

Serious tip for those who can't afford Zipps: I run Alexrims DA28 for cx/gravel and I have literally taken that bike on a mtb trail and did jumps. The front held up nicely and the rear went just slightly out of true, not even enough to care.

@MaGGoT583

6 жыл бұрын

fulcrum racing 5s are pretty good as well

@slimelord314

6 жыл бұрын

MaGGoT583 might look into those. I've been wanting a new pair

@MaGGoT583

6 жыл бұрын

I bought a second hand pair for 250CAD to replace the specialized axis 2.0 and couldn't be happier, really stiff but light at the same time. Also ride everyday for my courier job and they been true for almost a year now

@slimelord314

6 жыл бұрын

Ayama Prantenna yeah watch out for the rim width. I think I run 17mm. Wider would be even nicer.

@slimelord314

6 жыл бұрын

MaGGoT583 yeah I would probably go for second hand as well. It's a bit of investment (actually more than my whole bike cost) but I might be willing to do it

I need more tyre clearence to do this, 23 mm is not enough. But I did put a rigid fork and faster tyres on my old hardtail mtb.

if you're going to buy a need wheelset anyway, mabye get a 650 set, it will help with tire clearence. also, to protect your frame, I'm a big fan of fenders if you have space. and nice sturdy metal ones so they don't rattle as much.

the adition of tanus armor to your tires or the solid tanus insurts can make gravel easy

Yeah - I just picked up an old used specialized MTB in great condition for $50... can't beat that by much

This is the video ive been waiting for!

@gcn

6 жыл бұрын

Awesome, hope you enjoyed it!

Nice. Put the other way, 30 or 35 mm gravel tires on tarmac, what's the rolling resistance penalty?

Hello, I have a Giant Contend 2 road bike. I commute on rather regular road with occsional small potholes as well as brick sidewalks. I'm afraid bcause my stock tires as so smooth. In the case of rain im afraid of slipping. Any advice as to if I could settle with my stock tires and wheels or should I change it? If so, what kind of tires do you recommend? Thank you in advance

Hi, I have a 650 x 23C ( 23 x 571) road bike and would like to change its tire into gravel tire or a little bit wider one. However seem it's hard to find tire suit for this small size. Could you give me some advise? thnaks

What baggies are they? I've been struggling to find anything non flappy.

From the flies flying around Si to the stick propping up the bike, we will definitely have to make some investments there to ride off road.

if you're going to put SPD pedals on Road bike, go Shimano A600. almost feel like SPD-SL with all the benefit of SPD shoes

How do you know what the widest tire is that you can fit? Are there limitations based on frame and/or rims?

i have an old scatante that was a aluminum road bike and just switched out the tires. should i have changed the cassette too? im riding road and compacted DG with some dirt road.

If you want a taste of gravel, Cumbria county council appear to be turning half of the back lanes around Kendal into gravel tracks. A few weeks back they paid done lovely new smooth tarmac on a few of the lanes. They've now paid chippings over the top. For added fun, they've chipped a few steep twisting descents that were already a nightmare of potholes and cracks. Now you can't see the potholes and cracks as they're full of gravel 👍

I'm looking at a 1995 Cannondale road bike bare frame on ebay. The seller says it's 40mm at the top rear of frame triangle. How wide can I go with the back tire?

I have 32s on my Canyon Endurace, with ample clearance. Thinking a set of 650b might offer me chance to run something like a 38.

Hi, nice video. Is there any chance of mounting tires wider than 28 mm with rims brakes? My bike is a Scott Speedster 10 2018. Greetings from Argentina!

Seems like having different cassettes on different wheels is fraught with peril. Would the chain length be correct for both cassettes?

I can't believe he said "Fannypack" with a straight face. Also, that Roadlink thing sounds cool.

@jeffparnell5805

3 жыл бұрын

That was the first thing I thought of. ...and I'm American.😳🤨🙃

I dit not convert my Lapierre to gravel mainly because of tyres width (challenge grifo 33mm don't fit) BUT, I made something quite "funny". I bought an old steel frame frome the 70's, I polished it, painted it (blue motip 54350) put vintage decals on it. It is equiped with a 44t front and a 11/36 back, cantilever brakes, and it is amazingly soft on gravel roads compared to my carbon Lapierre, which I don't fear to break anymore :) (Sorry for my terrible english, but I love GCN ;)

What about the chain length if you're swapping an 11-28 cassette for an 11-36? Can you get them both working on the same chain?

I wouldn't do this to my emonda... (probably can't... not sure a 28 or bigger will clear) I have a surly travelers check built up as a "Jack of all trades master of none" rig for gravel, road, and sensible single track. 1x 11 gearing with a 44t up front and an 11-42 out back, short arm linear pull cantis, richey cc carbon fork. Wide flared bars, All I have to do is switch between my conti 5000 32c slicks or my WTB nano 40c knobbies. It's like a 4x4 F150 pickup truck, smooth and easy to drive on the road, great on gravel, but not half bad on non technical trails

@6:30 my MET helmet locks underneath my chin which is uncomfortable. how to lock it from side, can I modify it or need to buy a new one?

For me,I just have to fit 26mm Panaracer GK slicks on my bike (refer to profile picture),and I can happily roll on gravel at around 30-ish kph.

Great video and awesome tips thanks

@gcn

6 жыл бұрын

Thanks Owen! Have you converted your road bike for gravel?

In my day we used to call a gravel bike, a bike :) Soon I will need to buy a tarmac bike,a concrete bike, a sand bike, dirt bike, asphalt bike and a grass bike

@IrohIV

6 жыл бұрын

Medical Cannabis Spain Wells let's see... You already have an option of buying a: °Tarmac/asphalt bike - road/TT bike °concrete bike - trials bike °a sand bike - "fat" bike °dirt bike - any MTB bike °grass bike - Cyclo-cross bike. And just in case you want to ride indoors on wood, you can get yourself a track bike too.

@davidbierbaum4881

6 жыл бұрын

Ha! I agree. Really, you can already get the sand/snow bike (fat tire bikes) and the dirt bike (mountain bike), and the cyclocross bike could be called a grass bike, from the few events I've seen.

@JasonKale

6 жыл бұрын

Gravel bike....early 80s pre shock mountain bike with drop handlebars...hahaha...Gravel bike...Newest marketing tool for selling bikes....hahaha

@ridein

6 жыл бұрын

n + 1

@markwells8798

6 жыл бұрын

Medical Cannabis Spain a gravel bike is just a ride everywhere bike

So when I switch wheelsets my disc rotors no longer line up. I have to faff around realigning the calipers. What am I doing wrong? Maybe one for a GCN tech show?

Can use that tape to protect your crank ends as well. Does the job just as well as the special made plastic ones.

@gcn

6 жыл бұрын

👍

So my bike has 105 rim brakes, can I still use it for cross? I did my first race yesterday on a mtb and it was so slow.

How do I know the widest tires my wheel can use?

Gravel surface = reason #172 for another bike

Which cassette did you put on your second "less expensive" wheels Si? I'm looking for one

Does anyone have any experiance with suspended seatpoasts? Especially the CaneCreek eeSilk and eeSilk Plus. I unfourtunatly can only mount 30mm tires so there is not much suspension and the ride is fairly hard & uncomfortable. I would love to use my roadbike still for some somewhat fast (but also not uncomfortably) road stretches and the occasional gravelroad... :)

That thread of frayed handlebar tape on the port side plug is killin' me.

@gcn

6 жыл бұрын

It's grass from a little tumble

Great video, well done

@gcn

6 жыл бұрын

Thanks Nizar, glad you enjoyed it.

Hi there, I would like to do bikepacking from Singapore to Chiang Mai with my road bike. Will 700*28c tires be enough? Mostly road, a bit of gravel and mud.

What about the groupset? Can we use shimano´s road groupsets (even the entry level ones) in a gravel road?

I want to do a few weeks trip, few gravel sections. I will buy new tyres, but I wonder if I should go for 28 or 32 and smooth or not smooth :D

I wonder, do you have to change anything about your bike fit when converting your road bike to a gravel bike? It seems like the “aggressive” geometry seems uncomfortable (especially for your forearms) and the terrain may be better navigated in a different position.

A bum bag makes you on trend.. Love it. Never ever thought I'd hear that sentence. How about for the next video: Why Summer is the best time to start CX racing..

@gcn

6 жыл бұрын

So on trend James. Wonder who that belongs to...

Is this bike an Emonda ? I was looking for one, but I was not sure about if it can handle some light gravel.