What's harder!!!

gazcarsf1

Opinions
What do you think is harder a 40/50 mile road bike ride, or a 20/25 xc or trail centre ride on an mtb?

supersonic

Depends on a lot of stuff ie terrain, slopes and so on. But if we can say an 'average' one of each then the XC ride.

tootsie323

Whichever one is done naked in temperatures below freezing.

WindyG

Too many variables, however a 25 mile XC/trail ride is just a normal ride for me but when I've done 50 miles on the road bike I've found it a lot tougher.

rockmonkeysc

The xc ride is always harder for me but maybe I push harder because I enjoy it more.
I also find a 4 minute downhill race run even harder. If I don't feel like throwing up as I cross the line I know I haven't tried hard enough.

Long_Time_Lurker

XC every time (at least where I ride - it's all hills and wooded trails, all covered in thick mud.
Three hours of that and I feel as if I have been riding all day - and I can still feel it in my legs the next day.

njee20

Way too many variables, not least your vague ranges - 25 mile MTB vs 40 mile road? MTB. 20 mile MTB vs 50 mile road? Probably road.

Assuming similar terrain for each.

kajjal

They are very different. After pushing hard on a fifty mile road ride I am completely spent. Road riding is about smooth power delivery so you can push yourself to your limits. Mountain biking is a lot more varied on power delivery and requires much more effort on bike handling. It is as tiring but in different ways. Comparing a fifty mile road ride to a twenty five mile off road ride is about right.

njee20

If you must compare then (all other things being equal), 1 road mile = 1 off road KM seems about right to me.

rockmonkeysc

Surely you can push yourself just as hard in any type of riding?

kajjal

RockmonkeySC wrote:

Surely you can push yourself just as hard in any type of riding?

You can but in road riding it is easier to balance pushing yourself without blowing up due to exerting too much effort. In mountain biking things are more uneven due to terrain, trail obstacles etc which you can't handle in the same way. For example the worst I had on a road bike was being attacked by a duck On a mountain bike I have unexpectedly met a snake, dogs, stampeded by cows / sheep, jumped logs, big hidden holes in the trail etc

lostboysaint

Whichever one you push harder on!

Initialised

I do a bit of both, I'd say an hour on the trails is worth two on the road.

BigAl

Initialised wrote:

I do a bit of both, I'd say an hour on the trails is worth two on the road.

That may well be true for you - but I'm completely opposite.

I don't do much road riding anymore (cars scare me), but when I did, 2 hours would be an no stop 40 mile training session (though I couldn't that now!)

Off road, I probably average half that, stop more often, and treat it as 'leisure/fun' rather than 'training'; it might 'keep me fit' but it won't up my fitness like riding a road bike can

The Rookie

For me I can do 50-80 miles on road at a reasonable pace without feeling ill effects at all, 30miles off road and I feel it, The on road rides are with 2 riders that have done all 4 of the stock Randonneur distances in a 12 month period so they aren't slow.

declan1

So many variables. I'm a roadie so road rides are easier - Just did 36 miles on the mountain bike with 20 of those on the road and it felt like a 60 mile ride on the road bike (this is generalizing). As said above though it depends on so many variables like terrain, weather etc.

FishFish

RockmonkeySC wrote:

Surely you can push yourself just as hard in any type of riding?

This is right. And conversely you don't have to push yourself at all - just go at your pace and enjoy. Biking does not have to be torture - but for those who want a good challenge then both road and xc offer it to a biker.

declan1

FishFish wrote:

RockmonkeySC wrote:

Surely you can push yourself just as hard in any type of riding?

This is right. And conversely you don't have to push yourself at all - just go at your pace and enjoy. Biking does not have to be torture - but for those who want a good challenge then both road and xc offer it to a biker.

Riding at the same intensity on a smooth road and a mountain bike trail is completely different - the mountain biking will tire you out quicker overall.

supersonic

declan1 wrote:

FishFish wrote:

RockmonkeySC wrote:

Surely you can push yourself just as hard in any type of riding?

This is right. And conversely you don't have to push yourself at all - just go at your pace and enjoy. Biking does not have to be torture - but for those who want a good challenge then both road and xc offer it to a biker.

Riding at the same intensity on a smooth road and a mountain bike trail is completely different - the mountain biking will tire you out quicker overall.

Yep, MTBing is much more demanding for me - hoiking the front end over obstacles, side hops, power wheelies and those evil climbs where you balance traction and drive - stop and it's foot down.

njee20

How much of your time do you really spend doing those things though? Yes it has the potential to be far more demanding on a mile for mile basis. But your average trail centre/XC ride doesn't need to be like that, you pedal the bike, yes there's a little more upper body work, but most people also spend a good proportion of their time standing around talking! If people start saying "what about DH racing" or whatever then that doesn't really fit the "comparable terrain" thing...

I've got a friend who'll spend road rides doing wheelies, stoppies, jumping off everything in sight (on a carbon road bike), looks exhausting!

supersonic

A lot of time, do a couple of laps round wharncliffe it is relentless!

njee20

Isn't that more DH stuff? See previous point about apples/oranges. That does epitomise the difficulty/pointlessness in comparing the two though!

supersonic

There is dh stuff, but is an xc route. I guess my point is that on an mtb ride there are many more places where you must push hard or it's get off and walk time. Don't get that on road rides.

The Rookie

This thread emphasis the difference between road and MTB riding, road riding is more of a known quantity, you push at a known level for sustained periods of time, uphills have little effect as you should gear so that you go up at the same effort as you use on the flat. MTB riding is more a whole body work out as soon as the terrain gets slightly technical, more core body strength is needed and used, at times you HAVE to push past your endurance threshold just to keep going, which then means a slight recovery period to compensate.

Overall road riders are 'fitter' whereas MTB riders have to be 'tougher' (for want of a better word), especially if they have poorer technique making the technical stuff more energy sapping.

paul.skibum

I would say a good ride around south east bridleways that I used to ride was comparable to a similar distance on road as the terrain was rolling, not overly technical and a consistent pedal that I used to attack without stopping.

Extend the route out or start further from home to take in steeper hills and more technical stuff and the distance needed to replicate it on road would be longer - The downhills come into play more on the mtb I guess - on road they are rest or easier pedal sections vs physical work outs.

So say something like W2 at Afan which maybe takes 4-5 hours for 44km would far exceed, from an exhaustion point of view, a 4-5 hour road ride which could easily be a 80-100km ride I would think.

njee20

I don't think W2 is any more tiring than a comparably hilly road ride of similar duration. I'm sticking with my miles:km comparator, and once again pointing out the uselessness of comparators.

Thewaylander

I agree it’s a pretty useless comparison.

But the one thing I have noticed off road compared to on, when you start to tire out off road in absolutely crashes and your in 1st grinding, where the road i find i tire out far more gradually very weird. But this is what happens to me of course.

njee20

I know what you mean, I think it can be more gradual on the road, but I've had some pretty unpleasant episodes of blowing up on both!

CrouchingPig

Find road much easier, unless your constantly climbing huge hills. (in the South East thankfully there aren't so much!)

njee20

But you're not climbing huge hills on the MTB either then are you...