Mileage theory

[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/

[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.

[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.

[DarcyInOregon]

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.

Veronica, you are looking at specific rides. Pooks is attempting to make a decision as to keep her heavy comfort bike or to purchase a road bike, and the question she asked is what everyone who is thinking of transitioning to a road bike will ask. Over the long term, she will burn more calories on a road bike because she will bike more miles. It is that simple.

After she gets the road bike, she can get into the micro analysis of the declining heart rate as her fitness level increases, riding harder and faster to increase the heart rate, and so on. In the long run, Pooks will burn more calories and more body fat with a road bike because she will ride more miles, and as the decision-making process is going on Pooks needs to be looking at the long-term, not the micro aspects of specific rides.

Darcy

[DarcyInOregon]

Pooks, I resumed my cycling with a heavy hybrid comfort bike. Within 5 months I purchased my road bike. Sure, the comfort bike is fun to ride, and yes, it requires a lot of energy to pedal it. However, the heavier the bike, the more limited you will be on how you can bike, and the more limitations you have the less miles you will ride.

Here is the difference between the comfort bike and the road bike, and it has nothing to do with your question about calories.

With the comfort bike, it was a tool to use to gain fitness.

With the road bike, I finish a ride and I exult in my prowess. I exclaim, 'I AM THE WOMAN!" Since I ride almost every day, I am empowering myself constantly.

Yes, that is the difference, and it is a signifciant difference - all mental. With the road bike, my successes give me self-affirmation which permeate into all other aspects of my life, and it makes me a confident self-assured woman.

Darcy

[SadieKate]

Sorry, Darcy, but that only works if she also increases time (duration) on the bike, assuming the intensity goes down because a road bike is more efficient. I can bike fewer miles on my mountain bike and burn far more calories per hour because it is a more intense exercise. Miles do not guarantee longer duration.

Bottom line, it depends on frequency, duration and intensity. If she gets a bike, any ol' bike, that is more fun than she has now Pooks will probably increase one or more of the above. It's all good.

[Geonz]

And it's not a question that lends itself to a simple "X calories" answer - and different people are more suited to different kinds of riding.

Here's a factor that I"m dredging up from the past, which I remember 'cause it's basically true for me. I don't *like* speed for long distances... I have to pay too much attention to the riding and those fast rides have a different attitude, which I enjoy now and again but not as my main fare.
If I'm doing high mileage I would rather ride *hard* at 15 mph on my hybrid than 18 on my ... light hybrid ...
The neat thing about having both kinds of bikes is that my options are *so* expanded. I can get in good shape riding my big ol' thing and have a good "social" time. If all i had was the fast bike I wouldn't ride as often (this is just me!) - because I'd have to be in the mood for fast.

On the other hand, I have gotten strong and fast. Having the slow bike gives me more optoins for groups to have fun riding with. When I started - for those first five years - it would have been really nice to have a faster bike so that I could have kept up with the medium-groups and had a good time. It might not have taken five years to get strong and fast

[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.

[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.

[Kitsune06]

then perhaps it would be best to keep the heavier bike for training, and if she wants a light bike for zoom during events (livestrong?) then she should go for that, too.

[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.