Road Bike Trends Toward "All-Road" Territory

GP5000's now available in 700 x 35mm (Inage courtesy of Continental Tires)

 Maybe you are a reader here who does not pay attention much to the latest trends in road bikes. That would be understandable if you are a regular here because I do not cover road bikes much, or at all during many months. I may make a mention here or there, but by no means do I tend to bring a lot to the table 9in regard to this category of bicycle. 

However; I feel this is going to be changing soon now due to where road bikes trends are heading. Just this week Continental announced a 700 x 35mm GP5000 tire. A tire which, just not that long ago was only available in up to a 28mm width. Pirelli has already breached the mid-40mm barrier with one of the their road bike tire models. Vittoria just announced a 700 x 32mm road tire this week as well. 

Trek Madone (Image courtesy of Trek Bikes)

It is also rumored now Trek is considering opening up tire clearances for the next generation of their Madone aero bike. If, say, one could put a 700 x 40mm+ tire in a Madone with confidence, well, does this make a Madone a gravel bike? 

It is a fair question. Take as an example what my parameters for a gravel bike were when I was talking about building a custom gravel bike in 2010. 

I wanted, amongst other things, 700 X 42mm tire clearance. With fenders. Now, since some road tires are being released in nearly this width, and in the case of Pirelli, beyond, how does a road bike from 2026 measure up as a possibility for what I wanted in an "all-roads" bike back in 2010? 

Well, frankly the Madone sucks as an all-road choice from the standpoint of geometry. Another Trek bike is much, much better, and it is the Domane. Current maximum tire size on a Domane is 700 x 38mm. So, I'll use this model as my cross-reference to hat I was looking for in an all-roads bike back in 2010. 

The Domane features two of my critical geometry well. The bottom bracket drop is listed as being a healthy 78mm in my size 58cm. The head tube angle is listed at 72°. The chain stays are listed at 425mm.

In 2010 I was hoping for a 71.5° head tube angle, something in the realm of 72mm - 75mm bottom bracket drop, and 435mm chain stays. So, the Domane is tantalizingly close. Very close. And if Trek also opens up the tire clearances on the Domane, well.....that's a viable all roads bike right there. 

I'm sure other brands are looking into this trend or the tire makers would not be making such big road tires. It kinda blows my mind when I think about all the customers who balked at 700 x 25mm road tires in the 2010's. Wow..... What a sea change! 

So, yeah. You might start seeing "road bikes" showing up on this page in the near future if this trend continues as I am seeing things go.