Taking the bike on a little off-road?

[Pakin]

I am new to road bikes kinda.

I do an 20 mile trail (paved) run semi-daily. There are two places where I can get to this trail. One is the longer, 1 mile route on the street, and take a big turn to get back to my actual starting point; and then the other is a few feet across from my house, where I would go across gravel/dirt/pebbles mixture where I will have to travel approx. 25 feet across. There is more dirt than gravel btw.

My question is will there be any significant damage done to the bike? Or is it ok to do this?

I'm starting to hear slight rubbing noises from the spokes and this bike isn't past a month old yet.

Thanks in advance,

-paK +1

 

[never_doped]

Other than the risk of a flat tire, no.

I often ride down several miles of farm road in Texas similar to what you describe and manage fine.

 

[mtcolo]

No worries mate, back in the day the pros would scale the Alps and Pyrenees on dirt roads with equipment far inferior to even the most modest equipment today.

The noises you are hearing are probably from the wheels just getting settled in. They should get trued and tensioned by the shop from which you purchased the bike as a courtesy to you for your patronage.