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Calories burned: MTB vs. Road Biking

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#41 ·
Hawg said:
If nothing else, the heavier average weight of a mountain bike is going to take more energy to move. Hence, more calories burned.
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It takes a given amount of fuel to make an engine work at 75% effort, depending on how effort. At 75% effort it will take longer to move a heavier object the same distance as a lighter object, thus more fuel will need to be burned.

The video does a fairly good job but still has a few variables that aren't negated, i.e. Can the roadie just put down more power than the mtn biker? The course for both makes a difference also.

If I spend too much time worrying about how many calories I am burning on a given ride I tend to not have as much fun which means I don't ride as long and then don't burn as many calories.
 
#42 ·
luvdabeach2001 said:
It takes a given amount of fuel to make an engine work at 75% effort, depending on how effort. At 75% effort it will take longer to move a heavier object the same distance as a lighter object, thus more fuel will need to be burned.

The video does a fairly good job but still has a few variables that aren't negated, i.e. Can the roadie just put down more power than the mtn biker? The course for both makes a difference also.

If I spend too much time worrying about how many calories I am burning on a given ride I tend to not have as much fun which means I don't ride as long and then don't burn as many calories.
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It also ignored or failed to collect HR data.

Personally, I'll always work harder on a road bike, I'll pedal to a certain exertion level until I spin out. On a mountain bike, I'll coast far more often. Sometimes I'll really work on my MTB, but that's the exception, not the rule, where the opposite is true of road riding.
 
#43 ·
Interesting perspectives.

The road bike is such a good training and fitness tool because its so flexible. You can cruise for an hour and burn basically nothing (but get a decent stretch), or you can mash for an hour until your heart nearly explodes and your legs burn. Theres some really well studied methods of riding a road bike to maximize your workout and get the most out of the time you spend on the bike. Road bike training is down to a science.

You definitely can apply that to riding a mountain bike, but it seems a bit impractical sometimes. Around here most rides involve some pretty steep, long climbs. Taking it "easy" on those climbs still gets your heart pounding and legs burning, and results in most casual riders pushing bikes or going home. Its hard to get new riders to ride a mountain bike with me because everything is so steep! A few hours on the road bikes is anywhere from kid-friendly to a serious fast ride where Im dropped early on.

In short, I think the road bike takes the ticket for a training tool, regardless of which burns more calories in a specific scenario. I think that was more about picking a scenario that favors mtb than picking one as a fair comparison. You can tailor a training program on a road bike that favors your body type and goals, its much harder riding dirt trails. Also, zombie thread!
 
#44 ·
richde said:
Personally, I'll always work harder on a road bike, I'll pedal to a certain exertion level until I spin out. On a mountain bike, I'll coast far more often. Sometimes I'll really work on my MTB, but that's the exception, not the rule, where the opposite is true of road riding.
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Same here. During mtb rides there are hundreds of "excuses" to rest for brief periods (downhills, dangerous terrain, corners, etc.) whereas road riding offers no such relief. Either discipline can be as painful as you want it to be though.
 
#45 ·
Mountain biking dictates your posture. Cornering, descending, etc, all pull you out of your fully enaged maximum output position. If you just want to expend maximum energy, engage every muscle and pound like the hulk. If you want to be dynamic, move around on the bike and flow with the terrain.

Either way, you aren't enjoying your ride 100% if you are thinking about calories.
 
#46 ·
From a physics standpoint, 75% of whatever you measure compared to 75% exerted in another form of physical prowess is still equal.......

Work = force X distance
Power = work / time

If you measure something by either one of these equations with the answer being 75% output, whatever you are comparing is equal - it is the variables on the other side that change and THAT is where you see the comparisons between MTBikers and roadies.....
 
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#48 ·
Good analysis by many.
Time is the key factor. If a mountain biker is putting out an average of 200W of power for an hour and a road cyclist is also putting out an average of 200W of power for an hour, then they have both pretty much burned the same number of calories.

One difference that has been mentioned.
When road riding, I get into a zone where cadence, heart rate and speed tend to even out and I will maintain it for long stretches. This builds a strong base.
When mountain biking, the power output often comes in spurts. Intervals. this has a different conditioning effect.
I am of the belief that both of these types of training are important.
 
#49 ·
During trail riding, I can ride at threshold between the technical sections that demand peak power (or near it), but my capacity for delivering that peak power will be diminished. If I ride at 60% threshold on the easy parts, I can deliver peak power over and over for hours.

During road riding, I can sneak up to 80% peak power and hold it for as long as I want. It is not terrain limited.

Then there are the issues of long trail downhills, switching to another trail, moments of indecision, stopping for other riders.

After a two hour hard road ride, I'm done for the day, for any type of work besides reclining and drinking a beer.

After a two hour hard mountain ride, I'm tired, but I can still change the oil in my truck and feed the cows.
 
#50 ·
bakerjw said:
Good analysis by many.
Time is the key factor. If a mountain biker is putting out an average of 200W of power for an hour and a road cyclist is also putting out an average of 200W of power for an hour, then they have both pretty much burned the same number of calories.
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This works if they're both riding seated on flat, straight terrain where there is no upper body action required. As soon as the mountain biker has to get up off the saddle and/or throw the bike around with his upper body, his power might remain at 200 watts but his HR will probably go up, thereby using more calories. I've noticed that it's really hard to keep watts as high, at the same HR, mtb'ing as compared to road biking because of the other muscle usage that is required.
 
#51 ·
Is all about the power output, period. Unless you put a power meter on your MTB, you won't know. Speaking from experiences training with a power meter in road racing, I can burn about 300 to 400 cal per hour, as a 140lb rider. If you weight more, you burn more cal. Cal burn based on our heart rate monitor is totally inaccurate. They are talking about into the thousands. LOL... Think about....if you burn over 1000 cal in one hour, where are you getting your cal replenishment? From your energy drinks and energy bars...which equal to couple of hundreds of cal. :)

MTB diggs more into your anaerobic threshold effort than at your aerobic threshold. It works on your muscles more. Road cycling is more about riding at threshold and only at your max 1 minute to 5 minutes efforts you are digging in your reserve, anaerobic threshold efforts. This happens on short steep climbs or attacking or sprinting. Most people in to road cycling do not do that unless they are training to race. In a race, you are expected to burn matches in order to keep up with the attacks or to keep up with the surges in the field. You would feel the muscle burn before your reach to your max threshold heart rate...for most people, it is about 170 bpm to 185 bpm.
 
#53 ·
Again, folks, from a physics POV, if you look at calories for total output, & MTB = Road, they are the SAME; it is the other side of the equation (max peak watts, VO2 threshold, etc...) that are different and change how you feel after either ride........
 
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