your views about riding a road bike on canal towpath (yay or nay?)

would like to ride my tarmac on the towpath,but am worried about damaging wheels e.t.c.

would you think twice about it,or have no qualms about riding on towpath?

ta 🙂

Watch out for the Swan Sh!t.

It’ll be absolutely fine. Risk of punctures and lack of mud clearance will be the biggest issues.

I rode my Madone down the Avon canal path for a good few miles.

I did it and probably would not bother again!

Issues were

1, Cobbles / general bumpyness of the path making it uncomfortable

2, Mud

Didnt have any clear bike issues although I have noticed another rear wheel spoke going!

Hope this helps!

Depends on the surface. If I go East on the local canal it would be fine as it’s a very compacted surface. If I went west it would be a ‘mare as it’s a lot of loose gravel.

thanks for the replies.

i should have said i’ll be riding from devizes to melksham/bath on kennet & avon canal).it is fairly bumpy at some points (potholes also),but nothing worse than some of the roads 😉

as i’m not a fast rider anyhoo,i’ll give it a try on a dry day.

It’ll handle it but obviously it’s not the best tool for the job. So apart from punctures and extra wear on the rims if you’re regularly riding towpaths when it’s mucky I wouldn’t worry about the bike getting damaged.

I think twice about if i should be riding my carbon cannondale some of the places i end up

i then think of Paris roubaix and realise it will be fine!

ride where you fancy, take an extra tube and avoid sticky mud

ps ive ridden that section and it was fine, no punctures

Canal paths round here are better than the roads.

Road bikes will handle more than you think. Biggest problem is punctures IMHO, but offroad, holes in the path tend to be more rounded that craters in roads, so often not too big an issue.

Sounds like a thinly veiled excuse for buying a CX bike…

It won’t damage your wheel but you might get a puncture depending on the surface.

Only you can answer your own question – depends on the state of the Towpath you intend to ride along.

Its anightmare where I am as the path is grass. I guess if the paths are some form of hardpacked it will be ok ish.

What size tyres do you have? If you’re on 23’s, 25’s will make a noticeable difference in comfort and will be slighty less prone to pinch flat.

what would boonen do?

line of charlie then beast it down the canal. 😯

you’ll be ‘reet.

I quite happily rattle up and down the canal on the CX with knobblies and less pressure in them but really regretted taking the canal as a shortcut/easy option after a long road ride with slicks and high pressure (still CX bike). Handled it ok and didn’t puncture but my god I got shaken about. Was tired anyway and got very annoyed at the beating I got off the bike.

Probably only the second time I’ve been on the canal with slicks and both times were unpleasant.

Used to ride my road bike 8 miles into Brecon on the towpath, that was a carbon Focus. It was fine, just needed to ride loose on the arms and wrists on the bumpier bits. Now I ride my pompetamine (steel) with bigger tyres and it is more comfortable. I do a road loop that incorporates a load of unsurfaced roads and tracks, it is a lot of fun so long as you understand it’ll be different to riding an mtb.

i then think of Paris roubaix and realise it will be fine!

+1 Makes you feel like a hero.

Head down and power through it.

Done it loads of times, it’ll be fine. I don’t know what the road surfaces are like where you live, but in Cheshire and the Peak District the potholes pose far more harm to road bike wheels than a canal towpath.

Rode my fixed from Limpley Stoke to Devizes and back on the canal path it was rough and quite muddy but ok on a road bike I had a puncture but didnt break anything

Wife on her Madone

Road bikes are way more capable than most people think, unless you’ve seriously weightweenied it anyway. Sensible tubes and reasonable pressures mean punctures aren’t too much of a problem, barring sharp rocks. Mud can be though, and lumpy surfaces while easy enough to ride can get unpleasant over time.

My canal rides are mostly smoother than my road commute though 😉

Ridden my road bike in all kinds of terrain, including off-road across the moors! It was the only way to join up my planned route – not realising it was off-road when I planned it.

Road bikes are very capable. But tools for the job n that, I reckon my mtb is quicker on most of the railway paths I ride. The road bike gets seriously twitchy in mud, rocks and broken up surfaces, so always find myself easing off.

depends on the canal really, currently a lot worse than this around here

Mind this is what happened in France last year riding on a rough track nearly new tyre ruined.

think twice about if i should be riding my carbon cannondale some of the places i end up

I then think of Paris roubaix and realise it will be fine!

I took one down Hagg Farm and up the Beast (moslty pushing), survived with just a few flats. Steerer snapped the next day though!

I’ve taken my ‘nice’ one down hundreds of miles of compacted limestone type sustrans and canal paths. More throns, and the bike looks filthy on a wet day, but that’s about it.

A bloke did L2B off road on a specailized sirrus last year………….
he wasnt enjoying himself though.

racefaceec90 – Member
i should have said i’ll be riding from devizes to melksham/bath on kennet & avon canal).it is fairly bumpy at some points (potholes also),but nothing worse than some of the roads

I have walked/riden Bath/Bradford on Avon & Bradford on Avon Devizes, the surface ranges from hard packed stone/gravel which will be uncomfortable to smooth tow path. In places glad I took my MTB and in others wish I had my CX bike. The path also gets very busy with walkers/children/dogs, 🙄 it might be worth fitting a bell.

There is a cracking cafe at Avoncliff, riding toward Bath you need to pass under the viaduct to access the towpath cafe is on the left.
The Gunns pub does good food & beer 😀

enjoy

EDIT: you no longer need a permit! and make sure you say good morning/afternoon to all the fishermen, it really seems to p!$$ them off

Your wheels will be fine – I’ve ridden loads of ‘proper’ offroad (Welsh trail centre stuff) on a cx bike with 20 + 24 spoked road wheels and they handle it fine. Altho possibly because I’m not going quick enough to do them any damage….

Assuming you are on normal road tyres tho, their lifespan will be shortened dramatically.

Round here (west london) some of the paths are really quite muddy … I’d be more worried about crashing into the canal than any possible wheel issues!

Just because you can doesn’t mean you should! The bike might stand up to it OK but I’d imagine you’ll be shaken to pieces.

Is this a one off (do it) or is it likely to be regular? (go fatter tyre/CX)