heavier bike + saddle time

[sundial]

As I was noodling around on my freight train bike, I was pondering the benefits of riding a heavier bike + less saddle time vs. a lighter bike + longer saddle time.

If my heavier bike is twice the weight of my lighter bike and I go half the distance of my lighter bike ride, am I still getting the same cardio benefit?

[Irulan]

As I was noodling around on my freight train bike, I was pondering the benefits of riding a heavier bike + less saddle time vs. a lighter bike + longer saddle time.

If my heavier bike is twice the weight of my lighter bike and I go half the distance of my lighter bike ride, am I still getting the same cardio benefit?

I think not. If you are only going five miles, and riding slower because the the bike is heavier, it's not nearly the benefit of riding ten miles at higher pace on a lighter bike. I seriously doubt that anyone rides twice as fast/hard on a heavy bike, the tendency is to slow down because the bike is a pig.

[sundial]

Well fiddle. I was thinking if I upped my intensity (heavier bike) it would make up for the change in duration (lighter bike) but equal frequency (daily).
My heart rate is up on the heavier bike, too.

[RoadRaven]

Well fiddle. I was thinking if I upped my intensity (heavier bike) it would make up for the change in duration (lighter bike) but equal frequency (daily).
My heart rate is up on the heavier bike, too.

If your heart rate is up, you are getting a good workout, and as long as you are in that "heavy breathing but can still talk" stage, and you ride for about 40 minutes you are in the aerobic/fat-burning zone.

Churning a heavier bike along will make you stronger, but as Eden said, it is easy to slow down when things are heavier/harder. She has explained the maths well and it really depends what your ultimate goal is from riding in different ways on different bikes.

My training bike is about the same weight as my time trial bike, but much heavier than my carbon racing bike. I intend to always keep it that way because training with more weight one the bike (I always put two full bottles on the bike too, even though I alot of my training rides are only 60-90 minutes and I only consume about one bottle, if that) because training with more weight on hills translates to be faster on hills on my lighter race set-up.

[smilingcat]

Interesting point about slowing down to compensate for the extra load. So you don't get the benefit of all that extra weight. The extra weight is definitly putting more stress on your body.

Years ago my father made an interesting comment to me. Had to do with bike racing in the early years of Olympic. He said, "When they still had rickshaws, bike pedalling kind (talking about 1910ish...) and the modern Olympic was still in infancy, Japan sent a team of these riders. They figured because they were pulling two or more people on these "bikes" they should really fly with just themselves. Needless to say, it didn't work out that way."

When you are pulling the heavier load, I think your body mechanic is different than if you were "pulling" a lighter load. So not sure except for Bicilista's comment and her husband.

I've wondered about training on a "heavy bike" with fat tires with big knobbies to increase the rolling resistance. But all the annecdotal comments points to "we adjust our workout to compensate for the extra load. Thus you don't see any benefits"

Can someone buy me a Ti frame bike that weighs less than 15 pounds ? pretty please wih sugar on top

[RoadRaven]

But all the annecdotal comments points to "we adjust our workout to compensate for the extra load. Thus you don't see any benefits"

Ignores plee for new bike... cause if anyones offering, I want it!

Hey there Cat
I think you will always get a benefit, because your muscles are working under greater resistence/effort.
Its just, is it the same similar workout on a heavier bike? And if the object of the workout is to be in zone 3 or 4, then you might have to try to spin those legs a bit faster rather than grind the gears more slowly.
I think thats it...

Ah well, I like the "sound" of my own voice... and I just wanted to say "Hi Cat!!" too

[Eden]

I would guess this probably correlates - I read a study once of weight bands for aerobic exercise (running, aerobics etc)- those velcro things you can put on your wrists and ankles. The study found the weight users didn't work any harder than the non weight users, but rather tended to decrease their effort and/or time spent exercising to compensate. The weight users also had a greater number of injuries than the non-weight users.

[Biciclista]

My husband loves to pile on stuff for his commute home rides. He then deliberately tackles hills. Then when he's on a real ride, on a bike 30-50 pounds lighter, he FLIES up hills.

He's a believer in using a heavier bike to train and a lighter bike for the important rides.

[sundial]

Eden, that's interesting. I'll have to ponder this awhile.

Mimi, this bike weighs 34 lbs and is heavier than my FS mtb. I was thinking today--if I can tackle hills with this bike, imagine how speedy I'll be on the other bikes.

It's taking me about a week to get acclimated to the weight and climbing. When I'm through with my ride, I feel like I've had a REAL workout.

[Becky]

I don't know if there's any cardio correlation, but I sure feel like I build more muscle schlepping the commuter around. It makes me feel faster and stronger when I'm on the road bike, but I couldn't say whether that's perceived or quantified.

[Heifzilla]

Mimi, this bike weighs 34 lbs and is heavier than my FS mtb. I was thinking today--if I can tackle hills with this bike, imagine how speedy I'll be on the other bikes.

I worked on hills today, too, and I was thinking *exactly* this. I mean, if I can haul my butt and my 34+ pound bike up hills and get to the point where it doesn't cause me to collapse at the top I think that if I ever got on a lighter bike I'd be able to whip up those hills like nothing. This just makes sense to me.

And, I think I work pretty hard on my bike. I've never ridden a lighter bike, so I have no comparison and don't mentally go around thinking that my bike is heavier so I can't work as hard on it. Know what I mean?

[TxDoc]

He's a believer in using a heavier bike to train and a lighter bike for the important rides.

I sort of agree with his strategy, as long as the setup and geometry of both bikes is the same.

[Zen]

I don't know if this will help or just add to the confusion but what the hey. Might as well toss it in the pot
http://www.workoutsforyou.com/article_fitt.htm