Can you use a Road Bike for Gravel riding?

Following the inaugural UCI Gravel World Championships where the men's race was won with a Canyon Ultimate equipped with gravel tyres, I've done the same. Swapped 25mm slick tyres for 36mm gravel tyres. Do they fit and does it work as a gravel bike?

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[jmounce]

Honestly let’s all just ride whatever we can afford and just enjoy cycling! If you want to ride a MTB on the road go for it if it’s all you have, ride a road bike on gravel if it’s all you have. Just enjoy cycling and exploring our beautiful world.

[ulrichr.]

Very interesting! For me, living in an urban area without "real gravelroads" but lots of messy little roads and paths, a road bike with some wider tires (30 -35 mm) might be the perfect choice. As a roadie the last years/decades i used 25mm tires, which are nice on a good surface, but a little harsh on a bumby path. So I´m really thinking about getting such a bike as shown, maybe 32 mm tires should be perfect on this Canyon. Thank you for the insight, David!

[jjn]

Using my Giant Defy as the occasional gravel bike since it fits 35mm +. I just switch wheelsets. Geo is pretty similar to the Giant Revolt so don't feel like I'm missing much comfort. Have contemplated doing the reverse and getting a Revolt frame as the do it all bike. Your video that compared the road bike to the gravel bike speeds/time kind of confirmed what I was thinking. Really enjoy the channel!

[Alex.]

I own both a road bike and a gravel bike and what you just said is right on point! I ride my gravel bike more than my road bike because I can go any where and I ride all year round no problem even when it snows!

[ItsExetic]

The new Endurace all road changes this perspective a lot. It's a road bike that has the clearance for (and comes with) gravel tires. Solid value bike the Endurace CF 7.

[gregmorrison]

Yep nailed it, it can be done but it's not ideal. I started on an alloy bike 25mm clinchers, punctured every time. Moved onto my Cannondale Synapse with 30mm tubeless tires, much better but had to be careful and still punctured and trashed tires. MTB was too slow over longer distances and on the sealed sections and tiring to ride (to upright all the time). Moved onto a Trek Checkpoint and got away with 40mm on the front and 35mm on the rear for ages but after hitting a few hard rain ruts and some gnarlier rocky sections the rear wheel suffered quite a few dents and trashed tires. Now run 40mm front and rear, it's the sweet spot for what I encounter at a lightweight 63kg. Gearing is exactly the same as my road bikes, 50/34-32-11, I prefer it than the smaller gravel specific gearing these days.

[carlosmotta]

Excellent content David! At the moment I use my aluminum road bike with 32mm tires as a ‘gravel’ bike until budget allows for a real gravel bike. Not that many hard gravel trails around my home anyway.

[jimmansi]

Awesome vid David, you’re right, gravel bike is the way to go for comfort & tire clearance, however you’ve also proven that you can ride gravel on pretty much any bike. I’ve ended up on gravel roads on my Fuji SL1 road bike with 28c road tires & yes it was sketchy but I had no issues & it was actually fun, great vid!

[RicardoRocha-lgxo]

I rode Grinduro California a few years ago on a Trek Domane with Panaracer 35mm tires, and that’s an event known for its “gnarly” gravel. Some people were on full suss MTBs, but I did just fine and had no mechanical issues. Nowadays I would take my gravel Ti bike with 42mm knobbies, though!

[JoeCincotta]

Perfect timing for this video. Excellent job explaining. Long time fan of your channel. Cheers, from New York!

[liberaloutlier]

I think of something inquisitive in my mind about the cycle and there you have it, this channel has covered it meticulously! Kudos!

[AdyShort]

The Vegan Cyclist has been racing events like Unbound Gravel on exactly this setup for ages albeit with 33mm gravel tyres I believe and he’s had great results

[stevegriffiths]

The biggest difference to me is when I ding a rim or dent a frame due to a larger stone pick up or pothole then I feel it in my pocket, whereas when MVDP et al due likewise then they jump off and grab a fresh bike off the team car.
I have an Emonda SLR with a 28mm rear and a 25mm front with 48/35 x 11/33 Red AXS. My gravel is an iCAn with Campagnolo Ekar 13 cassette with 9/42 and 40 chainrings… no batteries to fail or break out in the wilds. Running on a nice pair of Roval C38 with 30mm Roubaixs for the road or 38 Pathfinders for the rougher trails.
Horses for courses. The Emonda can only be ridden on the roads but the Gravelo can do both ( and at speed too on those 30’s she hangs on well with the fast Crit boys where I can’t even push the 9x 40 combo there days. (I’m 57 which is my max sprint speed these days too! )
Great reviews and thought goes into your videos David which are honest and enjoyable to watch.
From the Gold Coast Australia

[alandwyer]

You can ride gravel bike on the road, you can ride road bike on gravel, you can ride a mountain bike on road and As the saying goes horses for

[mister_ray]

I think CX bikes make the best of both. For me a Trek Boone with 650B wheels. Shimano GRX 11 speed. Fast on road and gravel.

[Jacob]

Thanks Dave for not shying away from potential contentious subjects. This is where we NEED to have discussions on.
Thanks

[jorgitogaitan]

love your videos! David! I would still be pushing for a revolt then - I been toying w the idea of going to colombia and doing some off road and letras pass, and I would like to get a revolt to go and bring 2 sets of tires, the off road set and the road set.

[freebird]

I’ve used a SuperSix EVO in this way for a light gravel Fondo here in the US. It was about 60/30 gravel-to-road ratio. It worked, but, by the time we were midway through I was dreading the next gravel section because of the chatter. Not the way it should be. For most US gravel events, I’ve long wondered whether it would be faster to go for a suspended gravel bike like the Topstone Lefty or BMC offering than the typical Crux or Aspero you see at races. In fact, I’ve been hoping someone would do a video comparing the speed of a gravel race bike (e.g., Crux) versus a suspended gravel bike over moderate gravel with the same tire setup. Also wondering if you could get away with running slicker tires on a suspended gravel bike versus a gravel race bike.

[littlelawson]

Fatter tyre clearances are great for allowing people to have a comfy commuting setup without having to have two bikes but as you say, i think if you want to ride a large amount of gravel, a proper set up is the better option. How do you feel about putting 32mm ish tyres onto a gravel bike and using it as an endurance/winter training bike?

[PDM]

Would be interesting to see how an endurance bike with max size tires compares to a gravel bike. Like a domane with 38 mm gravel tires. Plenty of clearance and pretty compliant geometry. Would be good to know what kind of terrain becomes too much for an endurance bike and a gravel bike is necessary - if at all.