probably I'm the first italian gravel bikers in this forum. Near Florence, where I live, I've a lot of hills waiting to be climbed on or off road (from easy to hard).
I've a Specy AWOL for gravel ridings and touring and two Canyon bikes (Spectral for Enduro and Endurace for road).
Giuseppi - welcome. I believe gravel grinding was invented in Italy. Only, it was called the Giro d'italia. I read a great book last year: Gironimo!: Riding the Very Terrible 1914 Tour of Italy. The author rides the infamous route (largely unpaved). The author, Tim Moore rides the route on a vintage (almost) bike. Great read! We worry about 35 or 40 mm tires. You should see what they rode back then. Bob PS: Sad news about the earth quake. Florence wasn't directly affected; but I hope that you and your family and friends are safe.
the heart quake was 250 miles far from my town. No problem at all but anyway a bad bad news.
Giro d'Italia is one of the most famous race but now it is only a road bike. It was a gravel race till the middle of the last century. Today there is only one unpaved race for profi on Saturday and "normal bikers" on Sunday called Strade Bianche ( http://www.strade-bianche.it/en/ )
I will read the book suggested when this amazing summer ends.
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