Cycling In Crete - What Bike to Take?

We went to Crete last May, staying just west of Heraklion on the coast at Fodele. I was told that bikes weren't allowed on the main east to west road along the coast. From our resort to get to decent tarmac'd country roads further south inland, where a decent loop was possible, I had about 20mins of gravel track. I took my gravel bike with semi slick tyres - smooth centre and knobbly edges and that was probably ideal. Good enough on the tarmac and just about good enough off road to ride the interconnecting bits. Just be aware of roads/tracks on the map or on Google that no longer exist or a farmer has fenced off.

Oh and be aware of spooking goats which have a habit of charging down the hillside and across the road in front of you. And also random big dogs chained up that get a bit rowdy as you go through villages or on farm tracks on the outskirts of civilisation.

Crete and Greece aren't as bad as they once were but it is still easy to end up on a cart track away from main arterial routes if you want to explore. Chuck in the hefty climbs and it'd be the gravel bike for me.

Roads are, on the whole, not great once you're out of either Heraklion or Chania city centres. And there's plenty of opportunity to get on a bit of a track. I'd 100% take the gravel.