How to ride your road bike on gravel

Gravel hates surprises. Try any sharp turns or quick manoeuvres and you’ll find that any grip your tyres had with the ground magically disappears. Likewise, grabbing the brakes can easily cause the wheels to lock up or slip out.

Gradual, consistent changes are best on gravel. Pull the brakes gently to maintain traction, and try not to change direction too quickly. Ride steadily and consistently on the straights, and take it easy around the corners. When you’re riding gravel on a road bike, slow and steady is the way to go.

On a gravel bike or a mountain bike, most of the rider's weight is positioned over the rear wheel. On a road bike however, your bodyweight is distributed pretty evenly between your front and rear wheel. When riding off-road, that weight on the front wheel makes it tricky to keep control of the bike.

On loose surfaces, the extra weight on the front wheel makes it increasingly likely that your front wheel will slip out when turning. When descending, especially on steep descents, it might feel like you’re perilously close to toppling over the bars.

The solution is to keep your weight back as much as possible. When pedalling, you can do this by sliding back in the saddle and either putting your hands on the hoods or the tops of the bars. When tackling rougher sections, especially tricky descents, standing out of the saddle and moving your hips back over the saddle is the best way to go.

You’ve probably noticed that your front brake is more powerful than your rear brake. That’s because when you pull the front brake, your weight is thrown onto the front wheel, giving extra traction and allowing you to brake harder without sliding.

That’s how it works on tarmac, anyway. On gravel, that rapid weight transfer to the front wheel has the opposite effect: too much front brake will compromise the traction your front wheel has with the ground, leading to your front wheel sliding out.

When riding your road bike on gravel, be careful with the front brake. Try using both brakes evenly, or pull a little harder with the rear brake than the front, always testing and paying attention to how much traction your tyres have.

To avoid puncturing those skinny road bike tyres, you need to always be looking for the best line choice. That means that as you ride, you need to be scanning the path ahead and identifying the smoothest path through.

As you get more and more comfortable riding on gravel, try to look further and further ahead. Mountain bikers call this skill ‘vision’ – the ability to look as far down the trail as possible while riding whatever is under your wheels. Having good vision gives you more time to set yourself up for obstacles that are approaching. It’ll make you safer, and it’ll allow you to ride faster off-road.

If you plonk yourself on the saddle over rough sections, or lock up your hands and arms, a couple of things will happen. Firstly, you’re going to have a really uncomfortable ride, and secondly, you’re not going to get as much grip. Instead, get out of the saddle, bend your arms and legs, and let your bike move underneath you. Your knees and elbows will absorb any shocks from the road. Get this right and you’ll be more comfortable, safer and faster.

When climbing on gravel, front wheel grip isn’t an issue. Back wheel grip on the other hand, is. To stop your rear wheel spinning as you power up the climbs, keep your bum on the saddle, and shift as much as your weight back as possible by bringing your hands onto the tops of your bars.

Keep your pedalling smooth and consistent rather than chopping at the pedals or ‘pedalling squares’, as people say. If your power comes in short, sharp bursts, the rear wheel will lose traction.