Affordable road-bike setup for cycle paths

[B9]

I bought a cube aerial road bike around a decade ago. It’s still completely standard apart from replaced tyres and tubes (like for like).

I’ve recently got back into riding but finding myself wanting to avoid busy A roads in favour of cycle tacks. Trend is likely to continue along with family bike rides. These routes can be quite gravely/bumpy with leaf/branch coverings which has resulted in a few punctures. I’m looking for some pointers on affordable options to improve my setup.

I like the bike, and would rather not need to sell it in order to buy a gravel bike (unless uneconomic to upgrade). I’m not clued up on things such as frames, and whether mine is even up for it.

Too suggestions seem to be tyres - how can I tell the maximum size I can run on my wheels and frame? I’m on 25s at the minute and run them at 100psi (I weigh 72KGs). Any recommendations?

It’s fairly comfortable in its current setup. A couple of hilly 25 milers in the last fortnight haven’t been a problem bar being a little twitchy on the gravel and said punctures

Thanks

[louiebaby]

There has been a shift towards larger capacity tyres in the last few years. As a bike that's a good bit older, you may find that it wasn't designed for 28s, for instance. 25s might be your limit. The limiting factors are the clearance around the brakes and frame. You can probably swap out the brakes relatively cheaply and easily, but the frame clearance will be much harder.

You're probably only going to be able to fit slicks, even if you can squeeze some 28s in, so you're looking at tyres that are on the spectrum that runs from:

Comfortable, grippy but easier to puncture -----> Harder riding but with good puncture resistance.

You'll need to work out the best tyre that cuts that spectrum where you want it.

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A further point of note is related to the used and new bike market right now. It's a bit mental.

You'll probably sell your old bike fairly easily and for a decent value, but you might struggle to buy a new bike. If you can find a gravel bike in stock in your size, you might want to get it bought, you'll get something for your old bike...

[towser44]

As above, think you will struggle to get more than 25s on. I've got a Specialized Allez from 2011 and 25s are the limit, tried 28s but not enough clearance. In a similar situation, I've been using it to go out with my daughter over the last few months on cycle tracks, gravel paths, towpaths etc and bought some Schwalbe Marathon Plus tyres for it in 25mm size. They are supposedly pretty much puncture proof and have decent tread, but are a bugger to fit. I've taken to taking a spare tyre with me when using the bike because I wouldn't like to try and re-fit one whilst out and about!

[Master Bean]

25mm will be your max in that frame. Drop the pressure to 90psi and buy some gatorskins or similar. I find punctures just come down to luck. I managed 10 miles of fast riding along the ridgeway on my road bike and finally got a puncture. If I was more careful I would have been ok.

[bigdom]

You should be able to get a set of these on, I have these on one of the roadbikes that sometimes go off tarmac, whilst a bit limited by size, grip is pretty good.

https://www.sigmasports.com/item/Panaracer/GravelK...