Using Corsa G+ tyres on unpaved road

[Nickldn]

It's summer (kinda) and I'm commuting to work on my road bike a few days a week. Usually I commute on a hybrid bike and part of my journey is on an unpaved road for about a mile, but on the road bike I take a long detour on tarmac.

Would it be crazy bad to ride on an unpaved track on Easton carbon rims and Corsa G+ tubs? Would the tyres fall apart/puncture etc? Is there a chance the rims could be damaged?

Don't like adding to my commute, but would rather not destroy my tyres/rims.

[wheelsONfire]

Just rode som road sections like you mention. No problems so far. But the sections i rode was pretty short i might add.
I really don't think your Easton rims suffer from this. Carbon rims are used for rather harsh riding (MTB, gravel, CX etc) which i doubt you will do.

[fa63]

In my experience, the tires will get cut up pretty easily if the road is gravel. If it is just hard packed soil, then it should be fine.

[Nickldn]

Yeah there's some gravel/stones on the track so probably a no go zone for the Corsas. I love them, but the rubber is so soft and easy to cut, old gp4000s felt indestructible in comparison, but the G+ is so nice to ride on.

[Mr.Gib]

The Vittoria's can work. Here's some data for you.

Over 10 days in central Italy, my wife and I put 2000 km each on worse roads than you've ever seen. Many kms of Strada Bianche, something labelled Strada Steratta which is often as bad or worse then northern French cobbles, rock studded packed mud, and endless broken up chipseal - done mostly in pouring RAIN. All either climbing or descending - the absolute toughest conditions for tires. Of 20 people, my wife and I were the only ones without punctures - zero. Next best was 2 punctures. A couple of guys had as many as six. Punctures were mostly from imbedded shards of shattered rock. There was no man made debris in the area - no wire, no broken glass. I counted just 3 miniscule cuts over our 4 tires.

Full disclosure - my wife was on Corsa G+ 28mm, I had Corsa G+ 28mm on the front and Corsa Control 2.0 30mm on the rear. My wheels have 22mm internal width, wife's are 19mm internal. Tire pressure ranged from 60 to 65 psi. The secret recipe is the tire size and pressure.

Here's an example of the roads:

More photos of the roads in "on the road" thread in chat forum.

[Valy]

My 2 pennies. Had tires for 600km ish and today, just fiddling with my bike computer for a couple seconds on the go... The cycling Gods showd their displeasure. Hit a perfectly placed pebble. Lost all pressure immediately. Side wall slashed - about 6mm diameter of inner tube is exposed without a duck tape tire boot.

And I have another spare Corsa G+ lying in the cupboard where the side wall was not cut through fully (but has a good surface cut that's very close to the one attached) still indicates their delicate nature.

For disclosure, I've had a Schwalbe One with a similar catastrophic slash on the side wall but in the front - when taking a shortcut across a path about 60 meters long.

Long story short - yes you could use them but be prepared for a good chance of ruining the tires at any moment.

[Nickldn]

Yeah, sounds like I might be lucky a few times, but only have to be unlucky once and tyre is shot. I'll stay on the road I suppose.