Using a gravel bike as a winter road bike
Buying a bike for multiple uses
Choosing a gravel bike as a winter road bike can be a sensible solution to an annual problem for keen cyclists. Winter cycling brings on a whole spectrum of challenges and problems to overcome – especially for road cyclists. Wherever you ride, at some time in the year the weather will change and become either cold, wet or icy… or all three in one day! Cycling on winter roads can be a challenge; especially for high end and technically delicate carbon road bikes with expensive groupsets and gears, and with narrow wheels and semi-slick cycling tyres. Winter cycling roads here in the Yorkshire Dales are often covered with field debris, mud, deep water – and then, the ice and snow comes!
Add to this, road surfaces with grit and salt scattered across them, and this then attacking your bike gears – the chain and the cassette – and your wheel hubs and bottom brackets, and every bolt on your very expensive new carbon bike also being attacked by the dreaded and damaging road salt! Did I mention the risk of slipping on the ice and cracking your carbon frame! And yet, as cyclists in winter, we wrap ourselves up in Klimatik clothing by brands such as Ale, and we add mudguards to the bike and use lights even for day time riding… and we hope and pray!
Justifying N+1
As cyclists, we often meet confusion in our families and with our partner, when we try to convince them that each of our bikes is for a different purpose or use. Ultimately, they all have 2 wheels, a saddle and handlebars – so, what makes them different! Where did N+1 originate, and why don’t non-cyclists fully understand that the need to ride in comfort on all surfaces, is only solvable by the addition of yet another bike to your stable!
Thankfully, due to the ascendency of gravel biking, there is a kind of a solution to your winter road bike requirements. Yes, there’s a drop handlebar bike that has a more relaxed geometry, a stronger frame and wider wheels and tyres for you. And, if you buy the right choice of gravel bike, you even get to spec it up yourself and maybe add a double chainset to give you a wider range of gears, helping you to utilise your awesome all-terrain gravel bike as a tarmac munching winter road bike. Yes, making the right choice now in buying your gravel bike, will also give you a great option, as your gravel bike will make a great choice for winter road cycling… and here’s why!
The advantages of using a gravel bike as a winter road bike
The ideal bike for multiple surfaces
Gravel bikes are designed and built in a way that makes them a great option as a winter road bike. Ultimately, these versatile bikes are designed for multiple surfaces – especially road use – allowing you to ride on roads, gravel paths, and even light trails, providing the ultimate in cycling flexibility. Gravel bikes typically have several accessory mounting points, allowing you to easily affix mudguards and racks, keeping that winter cycling road debris at bay, and protecting you and your gear from road spray and debris. Yes, that age-old problem of fixing mudguards that will remain stable on your winter bike, is now easily resolved by using your robust and well engineered gravel bike as your winter road bike option.
Traction and Grip
Traction and grip is all-important in winter, and yes – you can use winter road tyres and ride with lower tyre pressures. However, your tyre size will always be limited on your winter road bike, whilst a gravel bike is designed with the ability to take on several wheel and tyre options. Wider tyres with a deeper and more defined tread pattern will provide better grip on wet, icy, or debris-covered roads, increasing your confidence and assisting with your cycling safety. Running these wider tyres in lower pressures will also add some much need comfort on pot-hole filled and cracked road surfaces.
Bikes such as the TIME ADHX 45 can take a 650B wheel, or a 700C wheel with a 45mm tyre width – now, whilst that’s maybe overkill, using a 35mm gravel tyre with lower pressures will provide you with better grip – and, your winter bike buying is now unnecessary, thanks to your 3-season gravel bike becoming a 4-season road option. And, thanks to the wider gear ranges on your gravel bike, you’ll still be able to comfortably tackle the long and steep hills of the Dales, Lake District, or Italian countryside!
A frame built for strength and versatility
You can of course simply swap your road wheels onto your gravel frame and use winter road tyres, which will ride faster than a gravel bike – if speed is truly important to you. Thankfully, gravel bike frames are more rugged and robust though, and they’re better equipped to take on the rigorous work of a winter road bike, and the dangers that lie around every corner, due to the weather and road conditions.
Looking at the iconic TIME brand – and other high-end gravel bike options – these brands give you the opportunity to spec the frame yourself, with your own choice of gearing and groupset, finishing kit and wheels. TIME also build their ADHX frameset for speed on gravel, leaving the hardcore bikepacking options to other brands such as Surly or 3T. It means that their gravel bikes are perfectly suited for dual usage on roads, and a perfect choice of gravel bike for use as a winter road bike. All that you need to do is to make sure that the gearing is relatable to the roads you generally ride.
Personally, I like a 2×12 gear option on a gravel bike, as the hills around here are steep and unrelenting. I want my gravel bike to be able to ride up with ease, and to allow me the opportunity to speed downhill as fast as possible! When it comes to using a gravel bike as a winter road bike, the 2×12 gravel gearing setup will also perform well as a winter road bike gear choice, giving you that road type feel for gear choice.
Hydraulic disc brakes are more and more common on road bikes. However, if you have to buy a winter bike, this can be an added expense for a bike that you’re likely to use for only a few weeks each year. Thankfully, gravel bikes such as the TIME ADHX 45 come with disc brakes, meaning that when you use this gravel bike as a multi-purpose winter road bike, you’ll still have the very best stopping power to keep you safe. Make sure that you keep the callipers and discs clean though, and help to maximise their performance by maintaining them after every winter ride.
And so, there you have it: taking time to think in detail about your next gravel bike and how it can save you money when it comes to a winter road bike option, will serve you well financially and on the road. Whilst an ‘off-the-peg’ gravel bike always seems tempting – saving you from making too many decisions – by getting a professional bike fit and then building up your own ideal gravel bike, you’ll ensure that you have a gravel bike that fits you perfectly and which will serve you as more than capable winter road bike option. Focusing again on our friends at TIME, the iconic bike brand; they’ve been creating world-leading road bikes for generations and have unrivalled expertise in carbon frame production for road bikes. They’ve used this to pause and think in depth when developing their range of gravel bikes, which are equally as impressive. For all the right reasons, they’re a good starting point in providing you with a dual usage cycling solution.
Technology has made the wide tapestry of cycles even more colourful and varied. However, when finances start to impact – as they do with such modern frequency – spending more on one great bike will often be a more sensible solution that buying two mediocre bikes that will spend months tucked away and unused. Yes, if it sounds as though I’m encouraging you to choose a gravel bike as your next winter road bike, then you’re right on the mark – and you’ll be able to ride off into the summer sunset on too.
