Mileage theory

[pooks]

Is the health benefit/caloric burn determined by mileage or by time spent cycling/effort exerted?

When I was swimming for weight loss I read somewhere that it didn't matter how far you swam, just how long you swam (as long as you were really swimming). That a poor swimmer burned as many or more calories as an efficient one.

Does having a heavier bike that is more work to ride a better workout than a bike that rides smooth as silk?

[Veronica]

Effort exerted. Yes, you will expend more effort riding a heavier bike. That's why during last year's training I put rocks in my saddle bag.

I suppose the question is, will a lighter bike encourage you to ride more?

V.

[bmccasland]

I think its effort and time. Strolling for an hour doesn't burn as many calories as running for an hour. In swimming theres a certain amount of resistance in the water, and it's hard to swim slowly, you have to move a certain amount to keep afloat.

Depending on where you are in your fitness level - and I'm thinking of a poster that's in the exam room of my doctor's office. - the bottom level is to get out and move - go for a walk, slow bike ride, something 3-5 x per week. Then when you're comfortable with that start increasing your activity level. Pushing yourself harder.

Yes you'll work harder on a heavier bike, but on the lighter smooth as silk bike you could drive your harder to go fast.

Seems to me that whatever keeps you out there is what you should do. Which bike is more fun to ride?

[li10up]

My understanding is (lets take running as an example) that a person who runs fast but for a short duration burns the same calories as a person who runs slowly but for a longer duration. I'm not sure of the time frame involved here. I'm sure some calculations are involved. But I think the overall message is, if you can't go fast/hard then go longer (duration, not necessarily distance).

Anyone concur?

[pooks]

Well, if my bike fit, I don't think weight would bother me except when going uphill and we don't have that much of that around here. It doesn't fit, so that's an entirely new subject.

I'd prefer a lighter bike that fits. That's my goal. But this goes beyond that.

So, if I ride an hour now, and it's kind of hard -- and I get a bike that's easier to ride --

Is the advantage that it will be easier to ride longer/farther?

Are you saying that riding an easier bike an hour might not give me the same benefit as riding my current bike?

Or that I'd end up working just as hard, but it wouldn't feel as hard?

[Veronica]

Will you be riding with the same heart rate? Calorie expenditure is based on how hard you work.

For example nearly the same route, same bike:

Ride 1: average HR 148, calories burned 1174, ride time 1:41, distance 23.2, average speed 14.9

Ride 2: average HR 166, calories burned 1256, ride time 1:29, distance 22.8, average speed 15.9

If I had stayed out for the same amount of time and kept working at the same rate, I'd have burned even more calories.

It's really about you and how hard you work, not the bike.

A more comfortable, smoother ride may keep you on the bike longer, which would translate to more calories.

V.

PS The first ride was with other people. The second ride was by myself.

[Pedal Wench]

Another way of looking at it:

With a heavier bike, you might go 12mph, so, for one hour, you've gone 12 miles at a certain level of perceived effort.

The next day, on a lighter ('easier') bike, you can go 15 mph, because it's lighter. So, for one hour, you've gone 15 mph, but it will be with the same level of perceived effort.

[SadieKate]

Calories are burned by exerted effort. The total calories burned is determined by the duration of the effort. My husband burns more calories per hour because he weighs more, so just the number of calories it takes to fuel his body at rest is more than mine. It take more effort for the heavier ride to get from point A to point B (except on a descent), but then you have to factor in wind drag, rolling resistennce of tires, etc., etc., etc.
Blah-blah-blah.

So here, have fun. Don't ask me to explain any of it.

http://www.kreuzotter.de/english/espeed.htm

http://www.analyticcycling.com/

[Veronica]

Or that I'd end up working just as hard, but it wouldn't feel as hard?

Greg Lemond said, "It never gets easier, you just go faster."


V.

[DarcyInOregon]

Pooks, you can do a lot of analysis and what-ifs, but the reality is once you get the road bike you will ride it more often, go longer and longer distances, and start setting yourself roadie goals, like doing your first metric century. The result of all of that is you burn more calories, because on the comfort bike you couldn't bike hundreds of miles each month.

The equation is simple, more miles rode equals more calories burned.

And you will ride more miles because that is what roadies do.

There will be more exertion used on the road bike versus the comfort bike because you will be setting yourself goals. Roadies are like the explorers of past centuries in that they constantly extend their horizons as in what is over the next hill, or what happens if I go that way, or can I get somewhere before the sun goes down. It is a different mind set, one that is beneficial to burning body fat.

The goals get modified to accommodate increasing the speed, improving the cadence, going up steeper hills, then going up longer steeper hills. By then you say a metric century, what is so difficult about a metric century?

Can you do all of that on a heavy comfort bike? The answer is no.

Darcy

[Veronica]

The equation is simple, more miles ridden equals more calories burned.

Actually that's not true. It's about how much you exert. If you look back at my data I added in the distance for each ride. I burned more calories on the slightly shorter ride because I worked harder.

V.

[li10up]

Are you saying that riding an easier bike an hour might not give me the same benefit as riding my current bike?

Or that I'd end up working just as hard, but it wouldn't feel as hard?

I think that you would ride the same route but on your new bike you would ride it faster which would make the calorie expendure about the same. My $.02.

[Kitsune06]

Pooks-
It's my opinion (because this is all theory, each voice a new opinion, etc) that a heavy bike will produce more exertion.
If you ride a heavy hybrid an hour, vs. a light road bike an hour, given the same amount of exertion, the road bike will take you much further, faster.

The question lies more in "do you want to do smaller neighborhood rides, or go for an hour spin and manage a 15 mile ride?" Are you comfortable on your hybrid?
Anecdote:
My transition came because my heavy (32#) mountain bike's frame was too small, and not made for what I found my body wanting to do. With saddle all-the-way-back and bar ends, I was getting low-and-tight to use my whole body to try and get appreciable zoom- but as the bike was too small, and very heavy, I ended up hurting all over from what should have been a fun little ride.
That said, it's still a great workout taking her out on the singletrack for 8 miles at, oh, 4-6 or 10-15mph (on hills)
It's taken me three years, from the time I started riding with Mz Cakes in the spring of '04 to now, to be at a place where I can get my zoom on with my mtb but feel that, mechanically, physically, geometrically, she limits me in the directions I want to go... but her weight and those limitations have made me a stronger rider, I think, than I would have easily become otherwise, and I will probably continue to use her to commute during the winter because she's heavy, strong, can put up with the elements and will provide a decent workout for the short distance I'm going.

[SadieKate]

Exactly.

For instance, a fast short ride with a lot of hills can burn more calories than a leisurely and longer flat ride.

Not to mention, as one becomes a better cyclist you come more efficient in your effort. Someone with a smooth good pedal stroke can burn less energy than someone who moves around a lot on their bike. The first person gets better power transfer to the bike and rides a straighter line.

[Veronica]

I think that you would ride the same route but on your new bike you would ride it faster which would make the calorie expendure about the same. My $.02.

Only if her exertion is the same. This is why those HRM you don't care for are good. They tell without a doubt, if you are really exerting the same.

From the Mayo Clinic
Stated simply, metabolism is the process by which your body converts food into energy. During this biochemical process, calories — from carbohydrates, fats and proteins — are combined with oxygen to release the energy your body needs to function.

You control the number of calories burned depending on the frequency, duration and intensity of your activities.

Just getting a lighter, faster bike is not going to make Pooks lose weight. If she rides the same route with the same level of exertion, the only thing that will be lighter will be her wallet.

If the new bike causes her to increase the frequency, duration or intensity, then she'll see weight loss.

V.