I’ve been riding my trusty Gary Fisher Marlin for about ten years… seriously for the last few years.

The Marlin is a mountain bike, all aluminium frame, rugged and well built. Over the last couple of years I have made a concerted effort to get out and ride more, a lot more. At least by my standards. I never had an interest in road bikes until I started getting some long rides under my belt (+30km).

The Marlin works well on the road and the trails but can get uncomfortable on the really long rides, it’s simply too heavy. I started looking into road bikes and found there was quite a variety of bikes available these days… who knew. The most popular being:

• Road – appear to be used only on roads, geared for speed.
• Cyclo-Cross – used for racing in various conditions, jumping small obstacles, throwing over your shoulder and climbing stairs. Geared specifically for the above. I’m told that you would be spinning your pedals very fast if used for the road.
• Gravel – seems to be a bit of a hybrid. Can be used on the road but is equally comfortable on gravel trails.

Imagine my confusion… from ten feet away they all look the same.

Best thing to do is visit a reputable bike shop, try a few out and see what works for you. You can spend quite a bit of money on these new bikes. Do yourself a favour… look for something used if this is your first bike, there are many out there.

I continue learning about the different types of road bikes but find myself leaning towards the gravel type.

Here is a good article on gravel bikes: Buyer’s Guide to Gravel and Adventure Bikes Plus 11 of the Best.