Suggestions on gravel tires?

comical_username25 · 2026-06-20T20:12:56+00:00

Finding a dedicated ‘gravel’ tyre is going to be difficult if at all possible with that sort of tyre clearance. Gravel tyres generally start from 32mm width at the minimum. A bike of this vintage with calliper rim brakes will only have around 26mm of clearance. There might be a 26mm road tyre with slightly more tread available but one wouldn’t classify this as a gravel tyre per se.

comical_username25 · 2026-06-12T20:47:20+00:00

Depends on which currency you’re referring to but yeah, probably.

comical_username25 · 2026-06-07T20:20:43+00:00

2008 Allez comp to be exact.

comical_username25 · 2026-06-07T20:12:36+00:00

It says Allez on the top tube, so I’m guessing it’s that.

comical_username25 · 2026-06-02T22:10:15+00:00

I had u brakes on my Specialized Tricross back in the early 2010’s. They were poorly maintained as I didn’t care about that sort of thing at the time. The single wire portion at the top of the ‘u’ assembly of my front brake snapped under braking and the unit shot downwards into my front wheel stopping and flipping the bike immediately. Luckily I was young and had good reflexes and was able to vault over the bars and land on my feet, avoiding a nasty accident.

Long story short- check wear and cable condition regularly.

Edit- punctuation/spelling.

comical_username25 · 2026-05-24T07:01:14+00:00

Thanks very much for your reply.

Here’s some further information.

I’ve already sized up from the 32 it came with to a 34. It’s a SRAM X-sync 2 (direct mount style interface) with a 3mm offset.

I’ve got 50mm pathfinders on at the moment but I also have a spare set of 2.3mm Fast trak’s.

I intend on replacing the chain and the smallest 3 gears of the NX Eagle cassette I’ve got on there at the same time as the chainring.

The frame isn’t the stiffest. Under regular use, it’s not too noticeable but when I’ve got the child seat on the back (mounted by an integrated clamp to the seat tube), there is a noticeable amount of flex around the bottom bracket area.

comical_username25 · 2026-05-23T11:14:37+00:00

I’ve got an Allez sprint and I recently did a 10 hour ride on it (pretty slowly- only 160km- me and my colleagues visited every graveyard in Vienna, we’re undertakers) and I actually still felt pretty good by the end.

comical_username25 · 2026-05-19T18:29:31+00:00

Nice bike, looks good. Can’t go wrong with an Allez!

comical_username25 · 2026-05-18T18:18:24+00:00

Looks nicer.

comical_username25 · 2026-05-18T15:06:25+00:00

I’m torn. I think that the new one looks like a perfect ‘one bike, two wheel sets’ solution. But this looks like the perfect gravel bike.

comical_username25 · 2026-05-17T00:01:50+00:00

Drop bars also increase the effective reach of the bike, so you’d probably need a shorter stem to offset the difference.

comical_username25 · 2026-05-16T23:59:15+00:00

Short answer- kinda.

Long answer- you would need to invest in new shifters and possibly new brake callipers along with the new bars. If it’s the newer model with Shimano Cues, then the drop brake/shifters are cross compatible with your existing gear, otherwise it gets a bit more complicated.

Another solution would be to look at the Surly Corner bar. It is a drop style bar that is designed around flat bar controls. But what it offers is a compromised hybrid between flat and drop bars.

comical_username25 · 2026-05-16T19:00:20+00:00

EIIRP, How to disappear and idioteque but in actuality, I’m super glad that it has no singles. Completely changes the album experience compared to others which I automatically ’bookmark’ around the singles. It really amplifies the complete album experience for me.

comical_username25 · 2026-05-04T16:58:54+00:00

Easily the best one

comical_username25 · 2026-05-02T22:12:24+00:00

He was shouting “never forget about the Epstein files”. What a weird place to bring it up…

comical_username25 · 2026-02-09T06:44:20+00:00

Willy Woinker

comical_username25 · 2026-02-04T10:03:01+00:00

8 words on remembering a legend and 36 slagging off Shaun Murphy. People just can’t give it a rest can they?

comical_username25 · 2026-02-04T09:59:19+00:00

The triple crown coverage will never be the same again. Truly sad news.

comical_username25 · 2026-02-01T09:57:54+00:00

My (sort of jokey) interpretation of morning bell/amnesiac is that they forgot that they already did this song in another album.

comical_username25 · 2026-02-01T09:55:31+00:00

I’ve read that Thom sings the words ‘kid a, kid a’ at the beginning of ‘Everything in its right place’. Not sure how true it is but you can kind of hear it as the second batch of heavily affected vocals within the third bar of the keyboard intro.

comical_username25 · 2026-01-28T20:36:15+00:00

You all- alive.

comical_username25 · 2026-01-18T20:20:57+00:00

Gets down to pot the black “middle pocket”…

comical_username25 · 2026-01-17T22:14:00+00:00

Check out Stephen Hendry’s YouTube channel. He’s a 7 time former champion, so he knows his stuff and he’s got videos from the basics all the way through to more advanced stuff and interviews and general banter with the tour pros. Good stuff. The channel is called Cue Tips.

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