This Is Gravel; This Is Not
#1
Senior Member
Thread Starter
This Is Gravel; This Is Not
Know the difference.
Gravel:
Packed Dirt / Sand:
Respect The Road.
Photos: taken on the Tacoma Pipeline Trail. Whish sucks as a gravel ride. Really.
Gravel:
Packed Dirt / Sand:
Respect The Road.
Photos: taken on the Tacoma Pipeline Trail. Whish sucks as a gravel ride. Really.
#2
Occam's Rotor
Today's ride was kind of like that for me, too, except the second picture (which you will thank me for not posting) was doggie doo, I found the Compass Steilacoomb is perfect for picking it up and depositing it on the chainstays and Di2 front derailleur. Now my bike smells of lysol.
#3
Senior Member
No one builds roads or trails around here with natural gravel. It's usually some type of crushed stone in between the two pictures above. Crushed stone packs better.
#4
Senior Member
Same for me. Mainly pebbles with some large pieces here and there. Some roads are art, others are garbage; it’s all in the eye of the beholder
#5
Occam's Rotor
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#6
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This is hard packed dirt.....
.....and it’s great!!! I cannot for the life of me understand why so many people have come to think riding on GRAVEL is so good- it sucks! But smooth brown pavement- love it.
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#8
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The word gravel is marketing. Does anyone really ride actual gravel? Probably not. Super annoying but marketings gonna market.
Personally I mostly ride packed dirt. In the fall there are lots of leaves on the packed dirt. Do I tell my friends I'm going out for a ride on my "packed dirt and sometimes leaves bike"? No. I usually say CX bike because I hate the word gravel. But I will resort to "gravel bike" if I have to.
Personally I mostly ride packed dirt. In the fall there are lots of leaves on the packed dirt. Do I tell my friends I'm going out for a ride on my "packed dirt and sometimes leaves bike"? No. I usually say CX bike because I hate the word gravel. But I will resort to "gravel bike" if I have to.
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#9
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#10
Sunshine
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It has been about 3 months since the last time the definition and parameters of 'gravel' were senselessly argued over. Seems as good a time as any to drag this dead horse back out and beat it some more.
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#11
Randomhead
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Looks like that second picture should be labeled "packed dirt, gravel, sand" to me, but it's close up and hard to really judge what is going on. But I think most people understand the subject of this forum to apply to bikes ridden on surfaces that aren't paved with concrete or asphalt. In common parlance, that's called "gravel" nowadays, although when I was growing up, we called them dirt roads.
The Pennsylvania department of natural resources started using some stuff that is mostly gravel, but has some kind of binder in it and it's just like pavement made out of dirt. I'm not super excited about it, unless they replace some of the potholed asphalt forest roads with it, which they have been doing. So far they are mostly using it on high traffic roads.
The Pennsylvania department of natural resources started using some stuff that is mostly gravel, but has some kind of binder in it and it's just like pavement made out of dirt. I'm not super excited about it, unless they replace some of the potholed asphalt forest roads with it, which they have been doing. So far they are mostly using it on high traffic roads.
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#12
Senior Member
Bout to start a "packed dirt" sub-forum. Who's in!?
#13
Senior Member
The Pennsylvania department of natural resources started using some stuff that is mostly gravel, but has some kind of binder in it and it's just like pavement made out of dirt. I'm not super excited about it, unless they replace some of the potholed asphalt forest roads with it, which they have been doing. So far they are mostly using it on high traffic roads.
#14
don't try this at home.
Don't forget "crushed stone". It's not the same as packed dirt. The fine textured, sharp edged bits interlock, and can be very solid and fast riding. It's sand sized particles, but not at all like riding on sand. The GAP trail, for instance, is built from this.
I was impressed by the smooth graded gravel roads in the NY Catskills, too. Much nicer than the midwest chunky gravel.
I was impressed by the smooth graded gravel roads in the NY Catskills, too. Much nicer than the midwest chunky gravel.
Last edited by rm -rf; 03-29-21 at 10:37 AM.
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#15
Senior Member
The trails / bike paths here in the Chicago area are all crushed limestone. It's absolutely fantastic stuff for riding on: smooth enough for a road bike, drains water well, packs tightly. There's an entire network of these around here, hundreds of miles of trails. You can connect various sections with a bit of pavement, you can also get out to the "true" gravel far roads west of the Fox River valley.
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#21
Sunshine
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#22
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Crushed Rock
Limestone specifically
I'll be sure to refer to my bike and usual outings as "Crushed Rock" riding.
Picture pulled from DOT website because my phone's camera is dumb and honestly this is what anything off pavement looks like in Iowa. Unless you're on a class B dirt road that is literally just dirt.
I'll be sure to refer to my bike and usual outings as "Crushed Rock" riding.
Picture pulled from DOT website because my phone's camera is dumb and honestly this is what anything off pavement looks like in Iowa. Unless you're on a class B dirt road that is literally just dirt.
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#23
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Those Belgian cobblestones were far better than getting stuck in the mud. I'm sure it was an upgrade from log roads (corduroy roads). I rode my road bike on some cobblestone in France in 2019, and I didn't enjoy it at all.
#24
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#25
Randomhead
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If anyone has a better name in mind for this forum, feel free to make a suggestion. Gravel is what everyone seems to have settled on maybe besides all-road. Thankfully Tom didn't name it gravel grinding or I would have been compelled to quit the forum. I don't see why cyclocross has to be in the name either.