How 'off road' can a road bike go?

[DDYB]

Folks,

I'm trying to decide between a hybrid and a road bike. Ultimately I intend to do a lot of road miles but would also like the option of perhaps taking in some woodland tracks etc.

Is a road bike capable of anything other than roads? Or would I need a hybrid if I had any intenion of going off road?

Thanks.

 

[Steve Austin]

You can ride a roadbike off road but skinny slick tyres are no good at all on even slippy roads.
You need a cyclocross bike like a specialized tricross

 

[Disgruntled Goat]

Wot Steve said. It's all in the tyres. If a road frame doesn't have the clearance to accommodate 28-32mm knobblies say, then you will have trouble.

If you can get the tyres on then you should be ok as long as it isn't too muddy.

Cross bikes make decent road bikes with a pair of slicks. Or buy two bikes, can never have too many.

 

[sheddy]

I sometimes use 700x23 on railway tracks and canal paths. Has to be flat tho'

 

[Crackle]

32mm tyres, OK for most forest racks and you can walk the bits you can't manage. 23mm tyres, forget it.

Used to use my racer for all off road stuff before mtn bikes arrived.

 

[TurboTurkey]

I agree with Mr 'Crackle'. I have done lots of off road stuff just by putting wider tyres on. Be sure you can get the fatter tyres past your brake calipers and that they won't bind on your mudguards (presuming you have them). I found that a mixed tread 32 tyre kept the stones away from the rim on a rough track and the raised central rib of the tyre made road riding easy. On a slippery or muddy surface you will have to accept the limits of the grip offered, but I learned to appreciate a 'little walk' every now and then!

 

[DDYB]

Thanks for the replies.

So basically a road bike will be sufficient for my needs provided I can get a 32mm tyre on.

My work offer a Cycle2Work scheme but only through Halfords, I'm thinking about the Boardman Road Comp but before purchasing how could I find out if this bike would accomodate a 32mm tyre? (The same question applies to all bikes I suppose because being able to accomadate a 32mm tyre will now be one of the main boxes a bike will have to tick for me.

Thanks again guys.

 

[PpPete]

I was always happy on most bridleways on my 700 x 28 road tyres (not knobbly at all)
I've just changed to 700 x 25, and enjoying the better speed on road, and still exploring the limits of friction on the occasional muddy path.

 

[tyred]

I often ride a Raleigh 20 through forest tracks and the like on the standard (20" x 1 3/8") tyres without a problem. As long as you don't intend any serious MTB type activities, road tyres of a reasonable width work fine.

 

[palinurus]

I've taken my 23 mm tyres onto tracks before, it's possible- depending on the surface, but if it's wet and muddy you'll have no chance. A touring bike or 'cross type bike that'll take fatter tyres will be required, very few off-the peg road bikes will accept a wide tyre.

 

[ColinJ]

What a road bike can do and what one should do are two different things!

I bought a Bianchi about 10 years ago; quite an expensive bike - £1,000 for the frame/forks and about £1,000 more for the other parts. I decided to take it up to the Yorkshire Dales for its maiden ride. The intention was to do a big loop over Fleet Moss to Hawes then back via Ribblehead to Horton-in-Ribblesdale but by the time I got to the top end of Wharfedale my back was killing me. I didn't have a map with me, but I'd got it in my head that I could follow Langstrothsdale Chase round to H-i-R so I headed up there instead. It was a lovely little singletrack road and I was enjoying my change of plan until... the road started going uphill and turned into a bridleway

I couldn't face going back, so I pressed on but felt that I was being terribly cruel to my pristine new racing bike. The ride became a bit of a nightmare. Slick 23C tyres don't grip mud and gravel. Lightweight racing wheels don't like bouncing over boulders. Lightweight tubing doesn't like having rocks bounced off it. By the time I finally got to Horton, my tyres were cut up, my frame was scratched and my nerves were shredded. I'd had a couple of very near misses on descents.

So, you can ride road bikes off-road, but I wouldn't recommend it. If you get a bike with enough clearance for bigger tyres, that would be different. I'd want at least 28s but preferably something bigger. Some sort of tread as well - the tyres wouldn't roll as well as slicks on tarmac, but at least you'd have some grip off-road. I saw a heavily laden touring bike being ridden up a steep local bridleway which was covered in rocks. It looked hard work, but the rider managed it. He had something like 35s on his bike.

If you are going to do the road rides on different days to the offroad rides, why not buy a road bike and have two identical pairs of wheels, one with narrow slick tyres for road, the other with bigger knobblier tyres for offroad? (You want identical wheels so that you don't have to adjust your brakes every time you swap the wheels over - I made the mistake of getting two different rim types and the brakes didn't work when I swapped wheels )

 

[DDYB]

If you are going to do the road rides on different days to the offroad rides, why not buy a road bike and have two identical pairs of wheels, one with narrow slick tyres for road, the other with bigger knobblier tyres for offroad? (You want identical wheels so that you don't have to adjust your brakes every time you swap the wheels over - I made the mistake of getting two different rim types and the brakes didn't work when I swapped wheels )

That's what I have been thinking about this morning. Will identical wheels take a 32mm tyre for example if they come with a 23mm tyre as standard? (As you can probably guess I'm new to all this so again any advice is appreciated)

How much would I be looking to pay for a decent set of wheels? I appreciate definitions of 'decent' will vary quite a bit but considering my off road activities will be few and far between my definition of decent in this instance is "as cheap as possible but solid enough to support me"


Thanks again

 

[stevevw]

Thanks for the replies.

So basically a road bike will be sufficient for my needs provided I can get a 32mm tyre on.

My work offer a Cycle2Work scheme but only through Halfords, I'm thinking about the Boardman Road Comp but before purchasing how could I find out if this bike would accomodate a 32mm tyre? (The same question applies to all bikes I suppose because being able to accomadate a 32mm tyre will now be one of the main boxes a bike will have to tick for me.

Thanks again guys.

I may be able to help you here. I have in my garage a Boardman Road Comp and also have a weekend bike with 28's and a commutor with 32's fitted, if I can remember I will have a look to see what will fit for you.
I will also check to see if race blades will fit the Boardman. Why not just buy a cheap secondhand mountain bike for your off road rides?

 

[ColinJ]

I'm not an expert on what will fit what or how much to spend, so I'll leave someone else to answer that.

I should have mentioned that I do ride my road bike on a local cycleway which has gravel, leaves, and shallow mud on it so don't let me frighten you off that kind of thing. If you ride sensibly, a road bike is okay for 'lightweight' offroad like that. I just wouldn't ride 'proper' bridleways which have ruts, deep mud, rocks and steep gradients.

 

[RedBike]

Someone used to regularly post links to this site
http://www.rsf.org.uk/index.htm
I used to quite enjoy nicking route ideas from it.

As you can perhaps see from the photographs loads of people are riding touring bikes off-road. (They end up pushing when the trail gets rough.)

As for whether a hybird will be suitable or not all depends on what your woodland trails are like. I often struggle to get my MTB around my local woodland trails. Mud, wet roots and exposed polished rocks are an intresting combination.