# dirt miles VS road miles



## yorkn (Apr 18, 2010)

My road buddy rides all these miles,but when our last session was on
the dirt and up some hills he was wiped out is there any rule of thumb 
for the road VS dirt


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## Atomik Carbon (Jan 4, 2004)

I use the general rule that a 50 mile mtn bike ride is equal to 100 mile road ride. I generally find the mtb speed is hals that of the road bike.


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## sherijumper (Feb 19, 2007)

I find it way easier racking up miles on the road . Off road you work alot harder , the more technical the trail the more toll on the body .


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## yorkn (Apr 18, 2010)

Thanks guys I was just curious
peace


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## meloh1 (Jan 13, 2004)

Really not comparable. The riding is totally different. Road riding is more steady state and builds endurance and high aerobic capacity. MTB riding is more anerobic, builds more strength and is more on/off. Do both and they complement each other very well. Your buddy wasn't used to the anerobic and strength required for mountain biking. Nor the constant handling and attention required. You can't let your mind wander mountain biking but you can zone out road riding. Mentally different.


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## Twenty Times (Mar 27, 2009)

When on the road, you get into the cockpit and go. You pretty much keep a cadence and unless the terrain changes, you will keep it for the majority of the ride. 

On mountain bikes, there are a lot more variables. We have our obstacles to deal with, whether they be moguls, rocks or log rolls. We also do not follow relative straight lines and need a special set of alertness. Our bike are usually 5-10 lbs heavier (or more) then a road bikes and tires have a lot more rolling resistance. 

A general rule of thumb is 1 MTB miles is = to 2 road mile. You know the trails you ride. If your body is getting its butt kicked through tight, technical singletrack filled with rocks and roots and various climbs, you may want to add. 

However the variables are great. Having experience in both forms of riding is great. If a roadie hit the dirt, they will have more trouble adjusting then a mtb'r hitting the road. I do both, so I feel secure in saying that.


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## Ricko (Jan 14, 2004)

I've always figured it at about 2 to 1. A 30 mile road ride is just a little workout and I'm not feeling at all spent afterwords, after a 20-25 mile MTB ride, I'm feeling pretty spent. Road riding is great endurance training for MTB though, I've been putting a lot of pavement miles in lately and MTB isn't kicking my arse as much:thumbsup: .

The two types of riding are so completely different and I love them both for different reasons but riding dirt is where my true passion lies, the road bike is just an MTB training tool.


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## Destin (Jan 2, 2009)

From my expirience, 1 mile off road is equal to about 5 miles on road. Road riding is for wimps, unless your name is lance armstrong. Mountain bike action recently did a race beteween a professional road biker and a pro mtber. They had to do like a 10 mile climb on the road, and an 8 mile climb off road. The lowest combined time won. On the road leg, the road racer won by under a minute (just a few seconds if i remember right). However on the mtb leg, the mtb racer won by minutes, smoking the road biker.


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## dysfunction (Aug 15, 2009)

Riding both my comment is that there are far too many variables to state that XX mtb miles ='s YY road miles. It's just a different type of riding, both have things that are tremendously fun, and things that somewhat suck. I will echo though that road miles do build endurance, and mtb does build strength. That becomes readily apparent quickly when you do both.


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## Timon (May 11, 2008)

> From my expirience, 1 mile off road is equal to about 5 miles on road. Road riding is for wimps


attempt to ride faster and it won't feel so wimpy.


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## nachomc (Apr 26, 2006)

nomit said:


> attempt to ride faster and it won't feel so wimpy.


Nah, brah, just spin that 22/34 all day brah :lol:


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## One Pivot (Nov 20, 2009)

if your buddy was wiped out, he'd probably be wiped out on the road going up hills too. road climbs can be total sufferfests. 

i think comparing time is more accurate. an hour on a mtb is fairly similar to an hour on a road bike. you'll just typically cover more distance on a road bike in that hour.


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## frdfandc (Sep 5, 2007)

Destin said:


> From my expirience, 1 mile off road is equal to about 5 miles on road. Road riding is for wimps, unless your name is lance armstrong. Mountain bike action recently did a race beteween a professional road biker and a pro mtber. They had to do like a 10 mile climb on the road, and an 8 mile climb off road. The lowest combined time won. On the road leg, the road racer won by under a minute (just a few seconds if i remember right). However on the mtb leg, the mtb racer won by minutes, smoking the road biker.


You forgot to add something to this. The MTB'r also puts in a lot of road miles in the off season as compared to the roadie who only did road riding. After the test was over, the roadie said he was going to incorporate MTBing into his training.

Road riding isn't for wimps. If its so wimpy, how about you giving it a try?

Its an excellent way of increasing your aerobic capacity and leg strength. Great compliment to the mountain bike.

I've been road riding and mountain biking for almost 20 years now. Started road riding when I was 14. My comparison is that 1 mile mountian biking is equal to 2 to 3 road miles. I feel beat after 15-16 mtb miles, but 15 miles on the road, I'm just getting warmed up. Now after 30-35 miles, I'm starting to tire. Hit the 50 mile mark, and I'm totally spent.


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## Ricko (Jan 14, 2004)

*Like comparing apples to oranges...*



Destin said:


> From my expirience, 1 mile off road is equal to about 5 miles on road. Road riding is for wimps, unless your name is lance armstrong. Mountain bike action recently did a race beteween a professional road biker and a pro mtber. They had to do like a 10 mile climb on the road, and an 8 mile climb off road. The lowest combined time won. On the road leg, the road racer won by under a minute (just a few seconds if i remember right). However on the mtb leg, the mtb racer won by minutes, smoking the road biker.


10 miles of road climb as well as 8 miles of MTB climb can come in many different flavors, you really can't make an accurate comparison between the two. There's nothing wimpy about road riding, you just have to open your mind to different forms of cycling and appreciate each for the benefits that they have to offer. I live in an area where there isn't much MTB near by and riding road keeps me in condition for the times when I do ride MTB. I can get in a good workout spinning 30-40 miles on the road bike and I can ride right out my door, an MTB ride means that I have to load the bike in the truck and drive somewhere and this is quite time consuming. Riding road is also a great way to to get in a ride when the trails are muddy.


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## Guest (Apr 18, 2010)

> From my expirience, 1 mile off road is equal to about 5 miles on road. Road riding is for wimps


The "wimpy" part of that statement is lame.
This comparison depends on terrain. The area where I live is hills and mountains. You don't get the short, steep climbs on road bikes that you do on mountain bikes, but the long climbs here will give you your money's worth on or off road. Downhills are more challenging offroad, but you don't want to make a mistake going 40-50 mph on a winding descent on a road bike either.
With my mountain bike I can ride around in the woods all day, with my road bike I can ride somewhere 30-50 miles away and back. If you are feeling like you are not getting a good workout on a road bike, try going a little faster.


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## perttime (Aug 26, 2005)

Too many variables to compare.

All road miles are not equal either and off-road the route makes even more of a difference.


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## Twenty Times (Mar 27, 2009)

As a mountain biker who rides a road bike, I can say that there is nothing "wimpy" about the road. it is just a different type of ride. For the most part, on a road bike you will do more total miles and possibly/probably more total time.

For me, I prefer the woods for many reasons (yes, safety is 1) - but buying my road bike allows me to roll out the front door and ride. I can find time to ride when there is minimal time available and that only make me healthier (1) and a better rider (2).


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## bsieb (Aug 23, 2003)

Time in saddle may be a useful comparison, a six hour ride is a six hour ride around here.


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## Gasp4Air (Jun 5, 2009)

I agree on there bing too many variables to make a meaningful comparison. Here in central CT where it's all rocks and roots and hills, I figure at least 3 to 1.


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## dave54 (Jul 1, 2003)

Independent biomedical research from a number of sources all hover around 0.6 or 0.7 to 1 in terms of total work effort expended.

Road -- use primarily leg muscles, less of the upper. But push the leg muscles harder. Effort is more continuous.

MTB -- uses the upper body and core more than road, legs get used somewhat less. Brief periods of rest or non-use of each muscle grouping during the ride. 

Net result, for the average rider tested 0.6 to 0.7 miles of dirt = 1 mile paved. This is typical for the average rider under the most common riding conditions. Your results may vary.

I'll take their word for it, since I don't want to ride all day with sensors and gizmos strapped all over my body.


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## lumber825 (Sep 4, 2009)

Two weeks ago I did a 30 mile Road Ride with no problem. Friday the 9.57 mile trail ride kicked my butt. These were my first real rides this season and I am not a super athlete just a guy trying to get into better shape.


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## savagemann (Jan 14, 2008)

Everything is pretty steep around here on the trails, and I've always felt that 1 off road mile is about 3 road miles " where I live"

Most of the time the descents are pretty steep and my legs burn just as much if not more going down the mountains. There is really nothing very flat around here, unless you are on the road.

I live at the base of Mt Diablo foothills in the bay area CA. It's about 3800' and has alot of steep parts. It's where I ride alot of the time.

there are some -40% grades going down for extended periods, but what really kills me are the +35% grades going up. They hurt so bad.

We usually ride 15-20 miles off road and I feel dead after about 20.

I've done 40+ mile road rides on my mountain bike and didn't feel nearly as hurt.


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## spazzy (Aug 15, 2004)

savagemann said:


> Everything is pretty steep around here on the trails, and I've always felt that 1 off road mile is about 3 road miles " where I live"
> 
> Most of the time the descents are pretty steep and my legs burn just as much if not more going down the mountains. There is really nothing very flat around here, unless you are on the road.
> 
> ...


I call BS on the 35-40% grades where you live. The steepest road in the world, Baldwin Street in New Zealand is approx 35%

Also Canton Ave in Pittsburgh is a 37% grade for a short distance but Baldwin street is 35% for a longer distance so its considered "the steepest in the world"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canton_Avenue
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baldwin_Street,_Dunedin


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## Brodino (Sep 15, 2008)

Hey don't call BS! It feels like 40% grade when HE is riding it! :thumbsup: 

I could have sworn that some of hills i ride are 40% but then I get to the top look back at my conquest and then realise I was just being a pu$$y.  

Oh well onto the next hill....


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## spazzy (Aug 15, 2004)

Hill_Lover said:


> Hey don't call BS! It feels like 40% grade when HE is riding it! :thumbsup:
> 
> I could have sworn that some of hills i ride are 40% but then I get to the top look back at my conquest and then realise I was just being a pu$$y.
> 
> Oh well onto the next hill....


LOL, yea I totally understand, we dont have huge hills in Wisconsin but there are enough of them to make me thank god for my granny gear by the end of a long ride!


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## Bikinfoolferlife (Feb 3, 2004)

savagemann said:


> Everything is pretty steep around here on the trails, and I've always felt that 1 off road mile is about 3 road miles " where I live"
> 
> Most of the time the descents are pretty steep and my legs burn just as much if not more going down the mountains. There is really nothing very flat around here, unless you are on the road.
> 
> ...


Diablo's steep, but it ain't that steep. Here's the breakdown for the Mt Diablo hill climb http://graphics.stanford.edu/~lucasp/grade/mountdiablo.html.

You guys might like to check out Francois' thread on the norcal roadbikereview forum as to what our road climbs can be like here in the bay area http://forums.roadbikereview.com/showthread.php?t=32664. I live a little further up from the top of OLH, always a killer finish to a long road ride from the house.

It's so hard to compare road to mountain miles, the details for particular routes/trails can change everything. For my local riding I'd probably go somewhere in the range of a 1 off road to 2 or 3 road miles depending. A 3 or 4 hour ride of either type is usually going to have similar elevation gain for me, but in fewer miles off road (and will feel well worked after either).


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## One Pivot (Nov 20, 2009)

i live up in the palomares hills.. 950 feet in about a mile going up. it sucks, its much much harder than a mile on most of the single track around here!


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## Biohazard74 (Jul 16, 2009)

I do both road and off road. I love both. As long as I'm riding a bike I'm happy. Of course mountain biking is my passion but when I'm not able to I'm happy on the road.


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## savagemann (Jan 14, 2008)

spazzy said:


> I call BS on the 35-40% grades where you live. The steepest road in the world, Baldwin Street in New Zealand is approx 35%
> 
> Also Canton Ave in Pittsburgh is a 37% grade for a short distance but Baldwin street is 35% for a longer distance so its considered "the steepest in the world"
> 
> ...


I'm not talking about paved roads. I'm talking about trails. Some of them are hard to walk up, let alone ride up.
The steepest part of Diablo on the road is only like 20% grade.


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## savagemann (Jan 14, 2008)

Bikinfoolferlife said:


> Diablo's steep, but it ain't that steep. Here's the breakdown for the Mt Diablo hill climb http://graphics.stanford.edu/~lucasp/grade/mountdiablo.html.


Here is my garmin data from a recent ride on Diablo.
If you look at mile 3.5 ish through 5.5 ish, that is riding up the road from Diablo Ranch to Summit Trail. Very mellow grade of about 5-6%. Pretty average for Diablo on the road. It's about a 700 foot gain over approx 2 miles. Pretty easy on the pavement.

Off road is a whole nother deal though. There are some very steep ups and downs as I'm sure you know BFFL.

Mile 1.75 through mile 2 is going down Mothers Trail.....which is a pretty steep grade at parts. I've gone down steeper, but it is a brake burner for me.

Miles 8 through 10.5ish are the climb from Curry Point area, Knobcone, Blackhawk Ridge to Oyster Point.....some pretty steep stuff going up that way.

It's been a long time since I rode up Mitchell Canyon, but I remember that being pretty steep as well, but it has been about 20 years since I did so.

While the 30-40% stuff is very abrupt, and doesn't last for very long, it is painful.

I know the Garmin data isn't 100% perfect, but I find it to be pretty good when you compare it to a detailed map.


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## spazzy (Aug 15, 2004)

savagemann said:


> I'm not talking about paved roads. I'm talking about trails. Some of them are hard to walk up, let alone ride up.
> The steepest part of Diablo on the road is only like 20% grade.


I Stand corrected, there are definitely some trails way over 35% grade, chutes and what not. :thumbsup:


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## Bikinfoolferlife (Feb 3, 2004)

savagemann said:


> Here is my garmin data from a recent ride on Diablo.
> If you look at mile 3.5 ish through 5.5 ish, that is riding up the road from Diablo Ranch to Summit Trail. Very mellow grade of about 5-6%. Pretty average for Diablo on the road. It's about a 700 foot gain over approx 2 miles. Pretty easy on the pavement.
> 
> Off road is a whole nother deal though. There are some very steep ups and downs as I'm sure you know BFFL.
> ...


Thanks, I don't doubt there are short sections that could be that steep, I can think of other places that have sections of trail that can pitch up pretty good, too. I was thinking you meant 35-40% were grades for a given trail/road overall. I've ridden Diablo (mostly offroad, some road where the single track isn't legal), not a lot, but definitely has some steep roads and trails.

In looking around last night on the net for some examples of grade I was coming up with very little....maybe we need a mtbr thread like francois' on rbr? Maybe the current gen of gps/altimeters are up to it (don't even iphones now have gradient apps?).


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## savagemann (Jan 14, 2008)

Bikinfoolferlife said:


> Thanks, I don't doubt there are short sections that could be that steep, I can think of other places that have sections of trail that can pitch up pretty good, too. I was thinking you meant 35-40% were grades for a given trail/road overall. I've ridden Diablo (mostly offroad, some road where the single track isn't legal), not a lot, but definitely has some steep roads and trails.
> 
> In looking around last night on the net for some examples of grade I was coming up with very little....maybe we need a mtbr thread like francois' on rbr? Maybe the current gen of gps/altimeters are up to it (don't even iphones now have gradient apps?).


Yea, I've looked into it as well, and couldn't come up with much.
I think the better GPS and Altimeters will give a fairly accurate reading when set to the most accurate record modes. Most units do alot of interpolation to come up with average data, and I don't know how accurate it actually is.
My 305 will record in 2 different modes. I think there is smart mode, which is what you want to use for longer rides, and there is "every second" mode where it creates a data point every second, which is much more accurate. Problem is 1 long ride will completely fill up the memory on a 305.

My buddy has the IPhone and has several different cycling related apps for it. We've compared data and they are fairly accurate, but the GPS wins hands down on accuracy.

I'm sure there is a program that you can import gps data into that will do a fairly accurate calculation of the gradient data from a GPX or similar file, I just haven't really looked into it much. Something to poke around at in the GPS forum.

Personally, I've never really been concerned with that kind of data, until recently after I got my Garmin and started exploring it's capabilities. It was either steep, real steep, make you throw up steep, or hike a bike steep........= )
Those were the 4 grades I've known for the last 20 years.....hahahaha


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## mimi1885 (Aug 12, 2006)

You burn more calorie on mtb ride than road for sure. I ride road on my Mt bike with 700c tire, I use the Garmin 305 on both bikes. On the 30 road ride total ascend 2500ft over 2 climbs, I only burn about 1200 cal, but on the 7 mile mtb ride I burn 2050 cal, total ascend 2200ft. It's hard to compare road miles and mt miles but for sure it's harder physically on dirt.


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## Jwiffle (Jan 26, 2004)

I'm with those that say it's hard to equate the miles...it's like apples and oranges: they're both great tasting fruit, but entirely different. You know the trick of closing your eyes, smelling an orange while eating an apple is supposed to make the apple taste like an orange - well it doesn't work on me since I recognize the texture and so taste accordingly, much like cycling: I've ridden a road bike offroad, but it still seemed like off-road riding to me.

Time is somewhat comparable. Mountain biking will leave more muscles tired in the same time period, though. I've done centuries both mtb and road, and with comparable climbing, I'll finish the road century in several hours less, and yet not feel nearly as beat up. (I won't ever make the mistake of doing an mtb century on a rigid mtb again!)


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## jahkneefive (Sep 8, 2009)

I'm sure if you did road the same at you did mtbing, ie sprinting up hills, powering over rocks, etc they would be about the same. The main factor is that most of us use road riding as light cardio/distance days. So we hop in the saddle at a specific comfy cadence and maintain it the entire ride. Our heartbeat doesn't fluctuate much and our "work performed" is pretty constant over a given distance/time. Which is pretty much useless for any sort of race and/or rapid cadence/power changing environment, aka MTBing. Find a hardcore road rider that actually pushes his training and I'm betting he'd fair very well on the up and down trails. Me personally, I use my road days as a light cardio/recovery day inbetween squatting/soccer/running. Gives my muscles a chance to work out some of the soreness while allowing them to recover. In reality my opinion is this is how 40% of road riders ride(never pushing the pace just out for the enjoyment of outdoors), which is why a lot of them don't fair well on trail up and downs. Thats a lot harder to do as an MTBer..its not like you can lolly-gag your way up a granny gear climb or stroll over a rock garden. MTBing by nature forces you to build muscle/endurance just to ride the trails (I'm excluding Green trails of course)


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## Ricko (Jan 14, 2004)

jahkneefive said:


> I'm sure if you did road the same at you did mtbing, ie sprinting up hills, powering over rocks, etc they would be about the same. The main factor is that most of us use road riding as light cardio/distance days. So we hop in the saddle at a specific comfy cadence and maintain it the entire ride. Our heartbeat doesn't fluctuate much and our "work performed" is pretty constant over a given distance/time. Which is pretty much useless for any sort of race and/or rapid cadence/power changing environment, aka MTBing. Find a hardcore road rider that actually pushes his training and I'm betting he'd fair very well on the up and down trails. Me personally, I use my road days as a light cardio/recovery day inbetween squatting/soccer/running. Gives my muscles a chance to work out some of the soreness while allowing them to recover. In reality my opinion is this is how 40% of road riders ride(never pushing the pace just out for the enjoyment of outdoors), which is why a lot of them don't fair well on trail up and downs. Thats a lot harder to do as an MTBer..its not like you can lolly-gag your way up a granny gear climb or stroll over a rock garden. MTBing by nature forces you to build muscle/endurance just to ride the trails (I'm excluding Green trails of course)


One of my road rides is routed out to best simulate MTBing actually. It winds through 25 miles of all the subdivisions in my town, up and down every hill, hard braking, short sprints, lots and lots of turns with a lot of braking and accelerating back up to speed. Whew, my heart rate is come up just thinking about that ride!:thumbsup: .


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## kapusta (Jan 17, 2004)

yorkn said:


> My road buddy rides all these miles,but when our last session was on
> the dirt and up some hills he was wiped out is there any rule of thumb
> for the road VS dirt


Not only are road and mtb miles very different, but it varies *tremendously *even among mountain miles. Even with similar elevation changes, I have done some mtb rides that were three times the work per mile (or more accurately, I was as whooped after doing only around 1/3 the miles) as other rides. Because of this, I have a _really _hard time taking seriously the claim that it is demonstrated that 1 road mile is 0.6 to 0.7 off road miles on a consistent basis. That may be some rough average, but in reality there is enormous variation in mountain miles.

I do notice that for me, road miles don't seem to vary a whole lot. It varies some (maybe by 50%) , but not like MTB (where it could be like 300%) . These numbers are my subjective estimates, nothing scientifically measured.


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## shiggy (Dec 19, 1998)

bsieb said:


> Time in saddle may be a useful comparison, a six hour ride is a six hour ride around here.


Agreed. Time = time. Plus perceived effort. A hard 2 hour mtb ride is similar to a hard 2 hour road ride. But there are still differences because of the riding styles required.


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## savagemann (Jan 14, 2008)

I think the reason it is so hard to come up with an average between the two is based on location.
Here in the bay area, most rides have a decent amount of steep stuff, so my percieved efforts are about 3:1. Someone who lives in a flatter location is going to have a very different calculation/perception of effort expended durring a road or mtb ride.
Also throw in variables such a gear ratios and riding style as Shiggy mentioned, along with personal fitness and there are too many things going on to come up with any kind of average.
As I said, for me being a super clyde who is not in the best shape, but decent cycling shape, riding a 35lbs bike in a fairly steep geographical area, I feel it is about a 3:1 for me.
I also am a spinner, and very rarely get out of the saddle and mash...running 22-32 chainrings and 11-34 cassette I can make it up some pretty steep stuff.
Throw me on a 19lbs road bike with a compact double and a 12-25 cassette and watch me
throw up after about 20 minutes of climbing in easy gear.
If I ride road, I'm all about the tripple with a 12-27........= )


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## spazzy (Aug 15, 2004)

Ricko said:


> One of my road rides is routed out to best simulate MTBing actually. It winds through 25 miles of all the subdivisions in my town, up and down every hill, hard braking, short sprints, lots and lots of turns with a lot of braking and accelerating back up to speed. Whew, my heart rate is come up just thinking about that ride!:thumbsup: .


Agreed, I have a ride like this as well. Gotta love keeping up with 25 mph traffic in some sections :thumbsup:


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## jahkneefive (Sep 8, 2009)

spazzy said:


> Agreed, I have a ride like this as well. Gotta love keeping up with 25 mph traffic in some sections :thumbsup:


I use a grappling hook. Works perfect for the back of truck beds.


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## Timon (May 11, 2008)

shiggy said:


> Agreed. Time = time.


i don't quite agree.

when on the roadbike, i pedal 98% of the time. basically everything under 40mph.

mountain bike its on and off and on and off.....because if i were to pedal downhill with power and through every corner....i'd get seriously injured pretty quickly. albeit there's certainly more overall body work being done on the mountain bike...so it may even out. but i think 5hrs on the road takes more out of me than 5hrs on the trail, because of the constant pedaling.


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## dave54 (Jul 1, 2003)

nomit said:


> i don't quite agree.
> 
> when on the roadbike, i pedal 98% of the time. basically everything under 40mph.
> 
> mountain bike its on and off and on and off.....because if i were to pedal downhill with power and through every corner....i'd get seriously injured pretty quickly. albeit there's certainly more overall body work being done on the mountain bike...so it may even out. but i think 5hrs on the road takes more out of me than 5hrs on the trail, because of the constant pedaling.


Rolling resistance of fat tire vs skinny tire. Gearing. Upper body work. Constant change of pace and body shifting. Biomechanical research clearly show mtb burns more calories and uses more muscles than road.


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## bsieb (Aug 23, 2003)

shiggy said:


> Agreed. Time = time. Plus perceived effort. A hard 2 hour mtb ride is similar to a hard 2 hour road ride. But there are still differences because of the riding styles required.


I know mountain biking feels easier on my butt and hands, mostly because of the frequent position changes, I suspect... and the suspension. I would rate rigid mtb as most fatiguing, then road biking, then FSR mtb. I've done 18 hr days on the FSR on a gravel road while touring on the Dempster Highway.


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## CycleAddict (Aug 8, 2009)

There are so many variables to compare between them. I ride SS on dirt and mostly geared on the road. This just adds another variable. I obviously work very hard when riding SS off road (especially locally) but the constant pedaling on the road isn't easy. On the road I don't get a break, and I rarely stop for one. They just feel like different types of exercise to me, but they compliment each other well. Since I ride SS off road, I do feel that I need to ride significantly more road miles to feel as wiped out, but they are still different types of physical work. 

I find it hilarious when people think Road is wimpy. It builds endurance like crazy, and keeping up with cars bookin' 45mph down hill in lycra gets the adrenaline pumping pretty good. There's still a huge risk factor. I love riding off road for the technical aspects which is why it will always be my first love, but road riding is easily accessible from your door step. Mixed terrain riding is a pretty good combo of the two though. That's where cross bikes come in handy.


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## dysfunction (Aug 15, 2009)

dave54 said:


> Rolling resistance of fat tire vs skinny tire. Gearing. Upper body work. Constant change of pace and body shifting. Biomechanical research clearly show mtb burns more calories and uses more muscles than road.


ride harder. Seriously, this is a pointless argument. I can get as hard a workout with either, they're just different.


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## hardtailkid (Jan 25, 2010)

You could always get the best of both worlds like I do. I'm not gonna say my age, but I can't have my drivers license yet. I did a 55 mile road ride (on my Iron Horse mtb) but I didn't just pedal and stare down the road in front of me. I was constantly doing jumps/drops and wheelies at any chance I had. If you just incorporate little things like that, you can make the most out of every mile you ride on the road. I did that in less than 5 hours, by the way.

Andy.


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