taking my whyte stirling urban off road, dos & donts?

[rasseru]

its this one (thanks for the advice here on her, shes a beauty!)

so thin tyres etc, no suspension etc.

im not going to do any jumping but do you think anything will get damaged taking her off the flat? (im sure a dedicated MTB is better but ive got no money at the mo) its the rims im worried about. a friend of mine says he does it all the time with his racer and its uncomfortable but never broken anything..

any advice?


cheers

 

[dan_bo]

I would.

But that's not necessarily a recommendation. Get some bigger (looks like CX jobs would just about fit) tyres.

 

[MikeW-71]

Depends how rough the going will be, but it should be fine. I've taken a road bike over some pretty rough ground before and it was a bit nervy going, but nothing broke.

Some 35mm CX tyres would help.

What are you thinking of riding on?

 

[Motozulu]

I ride the Dog at Cannock on a S/S rigid so I'm sure you could do it on that (nice bike BTW) but not on those tyres. As above - get something a bit more nobbly and I reckon you'd be fine.

 

[rasseru]

im not going fast or bothered about crashing - its to go into the woods and take photos :] it was more the damage thing


cheers for the replies. and yep shes the nicest bike ive ever ridden, not that im any sort of judge but hey

 

[HovR]

I've taken my road bike (23mm tires) on some fairly rough ground a few times and had no issues, wheels are still true, but I'm going really slow. Only slightly faster than walking pace on rough sections. As long as you're not thrashing it you should be fine, and as others have said, wider tires at lower pressures will help.

 

[Cycleops]

If you are taking it into the woods using rough tracks and trails it will be fine, don't even bother to change the tyres. If the surfaces are very loose then drop the pressures a bit otherwise they will "dig in". Don't worry, you won't damage anything, bikes are pretty tough things and yours looks especially rugged!

 

[surfdude]

as above , but if you are going to be doing it a lot i would change the tyres . if its a one off then i would not bother . as cycleops says , bikes are pretty though things .

 

[PaulSecteur]

A little tip, as you go over the rough bits don't just sit on it like you do when road-riding. Stand up a little and take the weight on your feet and allow the bike to move around underneath you. Its abetter technique and will be much less stressful for the bike.

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

as others have said, it should be fine. I quite frequently (probably too frequently) take my road bike off-road...
just watch for loose gravel, dry sand, mud & ruts... they can be problematical on narrow tyres at high pressures from time to time... and don't be afraid to get off and walk the bits that you can't do/don't feel safe doing - better than coming off it.

 

[Harv]

I went off road on my small folding bike once.

It was a bit unnerving for me but the bike was ok.

 

[jackhandy]

I followed a young blood (they are All younger than me ), on a similar bike, down a blue trail last week and he was all over the shop; with knee pizzas to show for it...
But he got down it OK with a big grin, if a tad slower than most.