First Road Bike/Gravel Bike .

lodgey_3

Hey all,

Im interested in the idea of getting myself a road bike or a gravel bike. I've always had mountain bikes and only this year have done more cycling trying to get faster and go further.

I have managed a few long rides on my mountain bike but rarely find myself going off road to do these miles.

I see a mountain bike more for very muddy tracks but i very rarely take my bike out through muddy areas so my question is would i get on better with a road bike?

I like the idea of still being able to go off road if i choose to on muddy used paths or a gravel road that i cycle on daily so would a gravel bike be able to cope?

My main concern is the drop handle bars, after only riding mounting bikes i find them intimidating and also not sure how the smaller handle bars would act. I have no way to test these out as no company close rents them out or does try before you buy.

How easy is it to adjust from mountain bikes to road bikes?

figbat

Yes, it's easy.

I made this transition about 3 years ago. I rode MTBs exclusively and hadn't ridden a drop-barred bike since having a 'racer' as a kid. However I wanted to expand my repertoire so bought a used road bike. The first few yards was like "whoa, this is flighty". Then after that it was fine. In the context of being on the road, a road bike makes perfect sense and is a natural fit. I now switch between road, MTB and gravel bikes at will with no need for 'acclimatisation'. You just ride the bike that you're on. I use the same pedals on all of them too, so clipping in and out is the same experience.

You soon realise just how slow a MTB is on the road too - it is incredible how much faster a road bike feels (and is).

monkimark

I didn't find it particularly hard to adjust to drop bars (bought my first road bike after probably 15 - 20 years of mountain bikes) - they are different and they feel different because they're designed to do different things but I don't think it's anything that would cause a problem.
I'm sure most bike shops would let you ride it round the car park to get a feel for the bike before buying - I certainly did that when I started shopping for my first road bike.

A road bike can handle gravel paths and mine has seen a fair bit of mud where I've ridden down a track that has got progressively worse. It is doable on slick road tyres but there comes a point where it's not much fun and bigger/grippier tyres and more tyre clearance make sense (so gravel/cyclocross bike).
I have a road bike, a CX bike, a hardtail mountain bike and a full suspension mountain bike - there's a lot of overlap of the type of trails they can handle (but they are obviously less fun and less practical at the extremes), it's a case of deciding which bit is most important to you.

kajjal

As above I have two mountain bikes I use in the drier weather and a gravel bike with 38mm tyres. The current gravel bikes are easy to ride on or off road. The main difference is a mountain bike has better grip, control and cushioning off road. My first run round a reservoir on my gravel bike easily beat my fastest time on my XC hardtail, the trail is mainly gravel with a bit of tight single track. On rougher trails the mountain bikes fair better. Drop handle bars are no problem and in combined road and off road routes the gravel bike is much faster on road.

lodgey_3

Thank you all for the responses. Has put my mind at ease that the transition from mountain bike to road/gravel bike shouldnt be to difficult.

step83

Can get kind of an idea how a road bike would feel by holding toward the centre of your own bars on the MTB. It'll feel twitchy for a couple of minutes but you get used to it very quickly.

voicycle

+1 for ease of transitioning bar styles. 3 rides of an hour or more and you won’t even think about it again.

As for road vs gravel I went from MTB to road first because I didn’t want to make a conservative half-move that left me with a slow bike on road. In retrospect this was a mistake because some good road specific tyres on a gravel bike are going to give you no significant disadvantages compared to a proper road bike, right up to the level of relatively fast club rides. It’s not until you’re chasing KOMs or racing that gravel bikes start to suffer on road, and by that point you’re going to want to buy a separate ‘race’ or ‘summer’ bike anyway.

So if I was doing it again I’d start with a gravel bike and once I started to get really into road riding I’d buy a set of fast road wheels/tyres for it, swapping the two sets out depending on my riding. Then if I got really road-enthused I’d relegate the gravel bike to winter/wet/gravel duties and buy a racing/summer road bike.

As it is I’ve now got MTB, formerly-only-but-now-winter road bike, and summer road bike. Getting ready to buy a gravel bike to fill the gap and I suspect I’m going to end up making my winter road bike mostly redundant.

figbat

alexfthe wrote:

As it is I’ve now got MTB, formerly-only-but-now-winter road bike, and summer road bike. Getting ready to buy a gravel bike to fill the gap and I suspect I’m going to end up making my winter road bike mostly redundant.

That is precisely me. Started on MTB, went to a road bike, got a better road bike and relegated the first to winter duties, then got (or actually built) a gravel bike.

The gravel bike is becoming my favourite go-to bike, even though it is by far the oldest and cheapest bike I have.

vinnymarsden

I have had bikes all my life, I’m nearly 60 now. I’ve had racers.. that’s what we called road bikes in the 70s, converted it to a “tracker” with cowhorn bars then got a 1st gen mountain bike, back to a racer , I’ve dabbled with all manner of bikes but always only ever had one at any one time.
I have recently sold a fantastic TCR , brilliant bike, just had one too many near misses this last summer , plus the full on race geometry was starting to bring on long term back issues, mainly due to the worsening roads here in Yorkshire.
I sold it and got a gravel bike.... brought the smile back to my face, totally!
Not completely off road, that would be unrealistic but the tracks/trails, car free just make me smile and realise cycling is by design simple fun... I am not and never really was quick, but this has made me realiseyou don’t need to be, well I don’t.
I’m enjoying my cycling , I always have, but the new “gravel” category, has brought me back to the fun I had as a 15 year old on a bike... minus the cotterpins falling out thankfully !!!

keef66

I rode 5 and 10 speed racers as a kid in the 70s, then job / cars / houses / wife and kids came along. Only later did I return to cycling by which time MTBs were the thing. Did that for a bit, but gradually realised I was doing more riding on road than off. Got a decent road bike - an alu winter trainer with mudguards so I could ride year round. Few years of tediously removing / refitting the guards, then bought a carbon frameset and built a summer bike. So now I take whichever bike the weather dictates.

Suspect if I was buying a new bike now it would likely be an adventure / gravel type so I could run wider tyres for comfort and the occasional off-road jaunt, and disc brakes for better wet weather braking, but I can't really justify a third bike right now...

Aah, cotter pins. I remember them. Either falling out, or snagging your jeans.

secretsam

Just about to go and pick up my new 'all road' bike (cheapie Pinnacle Arkose on C2W)

Used to hoon around a bit on my old Raleigh Arena off road as a teen, then left bikes behind, then came back. Got an MTB and hated it on anything other than boggy roads, just too lumpen. Gave it to my son. Now strictly road bikes only.

Hoping the Arkose will be that perfect "Goldilocks" bike, one that doesn't make me hate it when I ride on road (like the MTB did)