Most of my gravel riding is on gravel roads. They've been graded and packed by cars, so they have a pretty flat and hard bed. Still, my bikes handle best when I pay attention and scout the hardest, smoothest line. I can go about the same speed on good gravel as I can on the road. Fresh, unpacked gravel makes it pretty hard to keep your speed and balance, like riding in very-large-grain sand.
I've found that wide tires with light tread (like any Schwalbe ballooner, or my favorite in 26", the ITS/Vee MK tires) give the best speed on gravel because they float. Still, any rock approaching egg-size will throw you off your line. Sounds like they still have a lot of work to do on that section of the trail. The trails in my area get like that when they're doing repairs. I'd recommend riding on packed roads. Or, get a fat bike, they roll over anything. On Tue, Sep 30, 2014 at 2:54 PM, lungimsam <[email protected]> wrote: > Today I went to check out a new run of MUP they are doing on my wife's > route to work. We ride together, and it is fun. > Anyway, I went down to the new bridge and MUP sections they are soon to > complete (hopefully). One section was still all gravel, and since I didn't > go down it before, I was curious to see how and where it will connect to > the existing MUP. > > I took off down it and, wow, I don't know how you gravelly riders stay on > your bike on that stuff. Loose egg/palm sized gravel rocks were kicking my > back wheel sideways at times, and having me bouncing all over - wide > tires or no. > > Maybe you guys who gravel grind do it on hard packed flattish stuff. But > the loose stuff/large rocks had me wondering how you guys get anywhere on > the stuff. I'll be the first to admit I have zero experience with > offroad/gravel riding. I was trying to pick lines on some almost packed > looking areas, but it was really tough to stay on the bike and go more than > 2 miles an hour or so. This is a new project they are doing an maybe the > gravel just hasn't been own long enough to get packed enough to ride on it. > > Got any tips? > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "RBW Owners Bunch" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
