From Road Bike to Gravel Bike

Finding the right gravel bike

Living and traveling from the van enables us to go off the beaten track. Often road bikes restricted us a little in some of the locations we were exploring and routes we took. We’d often park somewhere a few miles away from our route and would love to bomb it down the rocky paths but our road bikes hampered the reality of this fun. (Although fair play to our 25mms that have already taken on plenty of rocky roads).

At the other end of the bike debate, we enjoy tackling road climbs or cols and having a light, aero bike with good rolling resistance provides us with the right tool for the job.

We were happy to sacrifice a little rolling resistance and weight for the additional opportunity and adventure that a more versatile bike would provide.

After Turkey we spent 10 days traveling through Bulgaria and did three big climbs. Bulgaria was an interesting country, extremely green and forested.

It had a decent amount of cycling infrastructure and the road surfaces were good. Our favourite cycle of the three was in Kazanluk. This was a looped ride with one big climb up to the Buzludzha Monument. With 12 gentle hairpins this was a fantastic climb and a great way to see the monument – Strava link

We also took part in the Bulgarian version of ‘ParkRun’ at either end of the country, 5kmrun.bg. You can just pitch up and it’s a great way to join in with a community of runners in a new environment.

Testing out Canyon gravel bikes

After our time in Bulgaria and a final climb up to Vitosha tower, we then crossed Serbia, Croatia and Slovenia to settle in Austria for 4 day. Here at Hotel Jacob we hired Canyon Gravel bikes and had an absolute blast around the lakes. The wide tyres, an extra 20mm more than we were accustomed to, meant it was noticeably harder on the road climbs but was hugely outweighed (pardon the pun) by the fun in mixing up our route with off-road gravel paths, confirming our decision. We’d previously tried basic model Cube gravel bikes in the New Forest and loved the experience but were perturbed by the noticeable heavy frame and wheels.

A few days later we entered Germany and in Munich went to visit Rose bikes, one of the many German bike brands. We tested two bikes around the city roads and in the expansive Octoberfest gravel car park, up a few short inclines etc…. They instantly felt more similar to the road bikes as were really snappy and fast.

We arranged to order the bikes there and then with the aim to collect them the following week from their head office in Bocholt… the day before our ferry back to the UK.

On our travels through Germany we undertook a number of great road rides. I knew Germany was pro cycling but didn’t expect the level of infrastructure that’s in place for it, especially in Bavaria. The roads were super smooth and cycle paths everywhere, plus a plethora of Komoot route options to choose from.

We met a keen cyclist, Jonas, in Turkey who lives in the Bavarian area of Germany, so copied one of his 125km Strava rides, which worked out a treat. Strava link.

Canyon HQ

On our continued travels north we stopped at Canyon HQ where you can pitch up and test any of their bikes. We tried two gravel bikes we weren’t able to hire in Austria. Again very happy with their bike, and also confirmed for us that the Rose bikes we had ordered were the right choice. We spent a bit of time at Canyon, checked out some of the pro bikes and visited their jazzy show room and cafe. A really cool experience even if you’re not interested in buying one of their bikes, plus the coffee was great. We met some cool people there as we sat outside enjoying the warm summer sun surround by excited potential bike buyers.

A few days later after a couple more rides, another park run and visit to Cologne, it was time to pick up the new bikes.

Rose Bikes

We were so impressed with Rose, on arrival you enter their three story bike shop/ workshop/ cafe and are ushered to a glass room, very ‘apple’ like. Here, both bikes were ready for us, displayed on a plinth shroud in studio lighting, they looked stunning. We had a 1-1 with the Rose employee who went through everything on the bikes, explained their set up, adjusted the fit etc… such a useful experience.

We decided to switch up the stock tyres on arrival and went for (here comes the geeky bit) Continental Terra Speed 40mms. The reason being their rolling resistance is right up there with just some shallow grip and the tyres are fairly light. Thinking we’d still be doing 70/30 – road/off road, these seemed sensible. Having done a few rides on them they’re certainly faster than the tyres used on our test rides in Austria. The bikes are slower than our road bikes but not so much it takes the enjoyment out of it and the ability to pop off road and mix up our routes is just fantastic. Being back in the U.K. prior to our trip to Norway the larger tyres were welcomed on the U.K. road surface, which certainly isn’t up to the European standards we’ve experienced.

Travelling through Austria and Germany was fantastic. We met some great people and loved being back surrounded by others cyclists and runner with so many options for outdoor activities

A few tweaks to make to the van to squeeze in the new bikes then off to Scandinavia… where the option of having the gravel bike would really pay off.

What gravel bike tyres to choose?

This bit is for those who are considering what type of gravel bike tyre to buy. There is a plethora of information available online but here’s my short summary. If you just want to do the odd gravel road, shortcut trail or wish to have more comfort on low quality roads 30-40mms will do the trick. Terrain that is more gnarly, we’re talking slightly rocky in places, dips, lumps and bumps in the surface etc… then I’d suggest a 45mm tyre with good grip on all contact points. You’ll sacrifice speed on the road, add a little extra weight but will excel more on the gravel. If, well when, we do some more off road specific trips and events I will change up the 40mms for 45s with a little more grip and run a slightly lower tyre pressure 30/35 psi.

There’s my short summary. I can also recommend rollingresistance.com well worth a look at when comparing tyres, although be warned, you’ll end up down the rabbit hole comparing tyres for hours.