Gravel is damaging to most tires not suited for it. Aside from specialty gravel tires, gravel can puncture or quickly wear away tires. The reason is that gravel creates excessive friction on your tire's tread. But even more concerning is that improper tires mean you won't have proper traction, leading to potential safety concerns. That's why it's so important to ride on gravel only with tires equipped to handle such terrain.