Points to check when converting your road bike to gravel road bike
Posted at: Aug. 27, 2021
Gravel roads are becoming more and more popular as they can be enjoyed both on paved roads and slightly off-road. In this article, we have compiled a list of points to check when converting your current road bike to gravel.
Table of contents
Sponsored Link
Points you must check
Is the tire clearance sufficient?
There is no clear rule that a road bike should be called gravel road if it has gravel parts, but the first thing to consider is to widen the tires. Today’s road bikes are mostly equipped with 25C tires, while gravel bikes are equipped with 35C or 38C tires.
Changing tires is the same as changing tires on a normal road bike, but the problem is the tire clearance. Tire clearance refers to the distance between the tire and the seat stay (frame), and between the tire and the fork.
With rim brakes, tire clearance is small.
“However, the “00C” on the tire size indicates the distance from the wheel rim to the outer circumference of the tire, so replacing a 25C tire with a 35C tire will usually increase the height of the tire by 1cm.
If the frame has a wide tire clearance, there is no problem, but since most road bikes have a tire clearance of about 28C, the tire will interfere with the seatstays and fork, or with the brakes if the bike is equipped with rim brakes. This is probably the reason why many gravel roads have disc brakes.
When widening the tires on your road bike, measure the tire clearance beforehand. Measure the distance between the current tire and the brake, and consider -3 to 5mm as the maximum tire size for safety.
Tire customization is a fun way to change the riding experience for a cost of about $100. When replacing tires, there are three points to keep in mind when changing the size and thickness of your bicycle tires.
Are there any problems with the durability of the parts?
This is not a problem if you are commuting, but if you are cycling or touring on gravel roads, you should consider the possibility of mud or other debris clogging up the chain and causing it to fall off.
Gravel components are often equipped with anti-dirt measures (to prevent the chain from getting stuck and mud from getting into the chain), but road components are designed for riding on paved roads and are not very resistant to dirt.
However, road components are designed for riding on paved roads, and are not very resistant to dirt. Even if you are not going to ride on serious mountain roads like MTB, if you are going to gravel ride on unpaved mountain roads, you should replace the rear derailleur and chainring with dirt-compatible components, as they tend to chew gravel and mud and cause the chain to fall off.
Replacing the front chainring with a narrow wide chainring will dramatically improve chain drop.
A common problem with road bikes, cross bikes, and other bicycles with a front shifting function is the chain falling off. Here are some tips on how to prevent the chain from falling off.
Component Compatibility
If you are going to partially replace your bike with a gravel component, you should pay attention to the compatibility of the parts.
In Shimano’s case, the gravel component is the GRX, but the compatible components for the GRX are determined by Shimano. It is not impossible to work with components outside of Shimano’s regulations, but considering the trouble of making minor adjustments, it is safer to match the official compatibility of the manufacturer.
Shimano's GRX series of gravel components can be used in combination with other road bike components, including tips on how to mix and match.
Points to be checked if possible.
Equipment Enhancement
Unlike paved roads, where troubles are not that common or solutions to problems are affordable, the roads that gravel roads are designed to be ridden on are often in places where there are few stores and people.
In such places, you have to deal with punctures by yourself, and if you are riding on mountain roads, sudden weather changes are a daily occurrence in the mountains. Also, unlike in urban areas, if you get lost, you may end up wandering off in a crazy direction, so a smartphone navigation system is a must.
If you're going to ride mountain roads, you'll want to be prepared for sudden changes in the weather.
When riding in areas where gravel roads are active, it is a good idea to carry the following items.
It is a good idea to have a mobile battery/cable with you so that you can call an ambulance in case of emergency.
Increased load capacity
If you are going to do camping touring or long ride cycling on a gravel road, it will be more comfortable to store your luggage in the frame.
Road bikes have fewer “dowel holes” for storage than gravel roads, so you can use larger frame bags and saddle bags to increase the load capacity for a more comfortable ride.
The dowel holes that are common in city bicycles are not found in road bicycles.
When camping, luggage should be at least 50L, so if you are camping touring, augment your load capacity to about 50L by combining bags that can be attached to your bike.
handlebar bag
frame bag
saddle bag
If you are not camping touring, you can adjust the number of bags by reducing the number of bags.
This section summarizes what tire inserts are and the advantages and disadvantages of using them, which have been attracting attention along with the spread of tubeless tires and have recently been used in professional road racing.
When looking for items to upgrade your road, MTB, or gravel bike tires, technical terms such as TPI, compound, and pattern appear in the descriptions. At first glance, tire specifications may seem difficult to understand, but if you keep only the important details in mind, your tire selection will be enhanced.
A torque wrench is a useful tool to have if you want to properly maintain your road bike or MTB. The following is a summary of what a torque wrench is and the advantages and disadvantages of torque management.
Bead raising" is an essential task with tubeless tires. However, there are times when it is easy to raise the bead, and other times when it does not raise at all despite your best efforts. In this issue, we will introduce a method to raise the bead of a tubeless tire that will not raise, considering the cause.
If you hear a strange "shuffling" noise coming from the disc rotor area of your disc brake bicycle, it could be disc rotor distortion. This section summarizes why disc rotor distortion occurs and how to correct the distortion.
The booster simplifies bead raising, which is the most difficult part of tubeless installation. We have compiled a list of air pumps with booster(boost functions) that are reassuring to have one.
Many "hookless rim" wheels are lightweight and cost-effective. What is hookless? We have compiled a list of advantages and disadvantages of hookless, as well as points to keep in mind when choosing.
Tubeless tires have seen a dramatic increase in the number of users over the past few years. Even with tubeless and tubeless ready tires, punctures cannot be reduced to zero. The following is a summary of the causes of punctures and how to deal with them.
When trying to change tire thickness on a road bike or other sport bicycle, it is important to know what tire size the wheel will allow. In this article, we will show you how to find out which tires are compatible with your wheel based on its specifications.
We have compiled a list of 12-speed chains that can be used with Shimano road bike and MTB components. Also about chain compatibility with chains from manufacturers other than Shimano.
Mounting adapters for bicycle disc brakes are essential when changing calipers with different standards or rotor sizes. This section explains the types of mount adapters, how to recognize them, and the model numbers of Shimano's mount adapters.
There are two types of lock rings for center locking disc brakes, inner serration and outer serration. The following is a summary of the differences and how to select the right one.
Mechanical disc brake calipers are easy to maintain and a low-cost way to upgrade from rim brake components to disc brakes. We have lined up models from major manufacturers and compared them.
With the popularity of gravel road bikes and the spread of disc brakes, the choice of road bike wheel size has become not only the standard 700C, but also 650B. In this issue, we will look at the differences between 700C and 650B, and the advantages and disadvantages of each.