You are the biggest customer segment for the bike industry right now: former mountain bikers who want to try the road. The bike industry is trying hard to meet your needs, even if those apparent needs are inappropriate for the road.

So as a mountain biker, you will have certain preconceptions about what is good/useful in a bike, such as impact resistance, suspension, an upright riding position and powerful brakes. Be prepared to discount a lot of that, as road riding is quite a different thing.

The bike and and component manufacturers exist to serve your desires, even if those desires are sub-optimal or even outright misguided. Look at the long history of fads in the bike industry. Trust me: today's hot bike: the gravel endurance road bike with disc brakes and fat tires, will be as popular as fidget spinners in 10 years time.

So here is what you want for the road:

- As light as possible. Riding a 15 pound bike is profound life-altering experience. A 25-pound road bike rides like a farm tractor. The speed and performance benefits of losing this weight on a bike is far more than your initial gut feel tells you. Test ride a pro-level bike and report back.

- You don’t need or want discs. An inappropriate cross-over from the MTB world. They are heavy, fussy, and unnecessary. Same as with suspension.

- You want high-pressure lightweight tires. No texture at all: knobbies are purely for traction on loose surfaces. You don’t want any grooves either : bike tires cannot hydroplane. You want absolutely slick tires as they provide the greatest performance and highest traction.

- I ride 23mm tires day-in-day out. The current fat tire fad...they are heavy and slow - period. I suppose if you are a fatty or ride into curbs, you need them.

- Electronic shifting and carbon (everything) .. Nice to haves, if you can afford it.