Wow, I have read these responses 3 times through. Lots of suggestions and information here, and I thank you. I had initially thought gravel riding required knobbies but it appears that is untrue - you can run slicks. I don’t like the idea of knobbies throwing rocks, so I’m heading away from that option. I think I will look for 48 or 50 mm tires, since that’s what the fenders can handle. I will never ride through mud. I’m not going all hard-core over here! Undecided on tubeless, still. The Clem doesn’t get a lot of miles, but I also have never fixed a flat and would like to avoid that…
I have to figure out which brand of tire to actually order. Which is going to be quite the task, I think. I had no idea there was this much variety. I was rather hoping it would be “Oh, you want to ride some gravel? These tires are the gold standard. Everyone loves these.” If you have more to say, I’m still listening over here! Leah On Sunday, June 4, 2023 at 7:30:36 AM UTC-4 [email protected] wrote: > Gravel is my favorite surface to ride on, and I would probably be content > to ride exclusively on it, if I lived in an area with an extensive network > of gravel roads. This is also one reason why I love riding rail trails so > much, because so many of them consist of sone type of crushed gravel. > > My current favorite gravel tires are the RH knobbies, and I like fatter > tires, so I’m running Juniper Ridge 48s. The amount of grip and low rolling > resistance are a perfect combo for me. I am getting ready to experiment > with some RH gravel slicks I picked up from a fellow RBWOB user. I would > probably only run fenders in combination with smoother gravel tires due to > the tendency for knobbies to pick up more debris and potentially suck stuff > up into the fenders. > > As a matter of personal aesthetics, I think the hillibikes and long > chainstay models look best with fatter tires to help fill in those big gaps > in the frame. I think you could do really well with some 48s + fenders on > your Clem, or go with some even bigger gravel knobbies in a 2” or 2.3”. > Lots of great fat tire gravel options out there. > > On Jun 4, 2023, at 3:23 AM, Joe Bernard <[email protected]> wrote: > > I'm Team Knobbies but I don't know anything, including what y'all mean > when you say a surface is gravel. I put something called Compass (Rene > Herse) Pumpkin Ridges on recently and went riding on dirt and small rocks, > it was fun. I didn't even crash! > > > > On Saturday, June 3, 2023 at 1:15:22 PM UTC-7 Bicycle Belle Ding Ding! > wrote: > >> I love pavement. But I’ve been on two gravel rides in the last month and >> I rode a Platy either time and it wasn’t my favorite for that bike. But, I >> have my old 2019 52 cm Clem L, and it doesn’t have a dedicated purpose >> right now and shouldn’t that be the bike for rough and tough stuff like >> gravel? Also, my Platys are prisses. >> >> BUT. I’m not good at gravel. I have no idea what the kids are doing these >> days. I have questions, and you have answers. >> >> 1. Can I keep my VO wavy fenders on a gravel bike? Here’s what I have, >> and they say up to 50 mm tire will fit:[image: IMG_5029.jpeg] >> 2. Slick or knobby? I can’t even get a straight answer on this. Which is >> better? If it matters about the rider, this will be for a rider with a >> healthy fear of crashing. >> >> 3. How wide? I have 42s on my bikes now and I don’t feel like they are >> wide enough. >> >> 4. Tubeless or no? These wheels are tubeless-compatible but I put a tube >> in them because I wasn’t riding enough to keep the sealant circulating. But >> that can be changed right quick. >> >> Here is my Clem in its current configuration, and yes, I know the >> Backabikes gotta go. >> >> [image: IMG_1812.jpeg] >> Thanks for your help! >> Leah >> > -- > > 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 view this discussion on the web visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/6f9d8994-b771-4e30-9e48-870e4052e130n%40googlegroups.com > > <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/6f9d8994-b771-4e30-9e48-870e4052e130n%40googlegroups.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> > . > > -- 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 view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/a18251ce-f126-40b6-b3d6-47bc98a32fedn%40googlegroups.com.
