General Cycling Discussion - Hello, thinking about starting to ride a bike, got some quetions.

ok well ive been an on and off runner for the last few years, and shin splints are kinda getting me down, im thinking about taking up riding a bike a few times a week, also my girlfriend enjoys riding bikes to. anyways just curuios how well is cycling for weight loss compared to running? what kinda miles should someone be putting in for weight loss?

something else im wondering is what kinda bike should i be riding? right now i have a mounting bike, and a bmx bike (i know im not going to do this with a bmx bike) anyways i would be mostly riding on paved roads and a few dirt roads i guess but i really don't want one of the thin tire bikes with the wrap around handle bars, what kinda riding is mounting bikes for?

last thing i can think of now, is do many people ride in the winter? and in the snow, do you have many problems with that?

thanks

"cycling for weight loss" An efficient bicycle makes it very hard to burn calories. It is very easy to go long distances on a bike without doing much work. If you add a few bottles of gatorade you may even be behind in the cal buring.

"what kinda miles" You probably want a hilly route with little traffic so you can ride fast. To ride fast you basically have to keep 'accelerating' just to stay the same fast pace.

Consider using the bike for commuting or adding calorie buring to otherwise low calorie trips to the post office.

Consider a rowbike.com for an excersise bike. You might also put knobby tires on your mountain bike as a calorie burn enhancer.

so if i road a mt. bike and just left it in like 3rd gear and tryed to pedal fast, that would be good? or should i just stick to running?

Look for a flat bar road bike, Trek, C-dale, Specailized, Gaint all make them.

Fordraceing_man: Welcome to BF! There are lots of folks riding MTBs on the road. They are heavier than road bikes, obviously, but you can make them a bit faster and more efficient just by switching to slick tires.

Check out the Winter Cycling forum for your questions about snow riding. No snow here so I don't have any first-hand knowledge, but I understand that there are studded snow tires for bikes. You should ask over there.

so is biking really not that well for weight loss?

is it something i can do in and hour in the mouring before work like running?

It's great for weight loss. But it's not as efficient as running for quick weight-loss. But it's much easier on the joints. If you have shin splint problems now, you may be on your way to joint issues.

How many miles do you need? Beats me. Depends on your metabolism and how many calories you're taking in. Too many variables to say something like "you must ride 50 miles a week for a month to lose 10 lbs."

yeah the joint problems is a big reason im thinking about going to a bike cause ive heard how bad running can be on your joints but i like being able to run for 45-60 min and being good for the day, just wondering if thats enough on a bike.

One of the things I like about riding a bike is that it's possible to go for an easy spin one day and the next you can just crucify yourself. Timetrial into a headwind, stoplight intervals, hill repeats. If you push yourself, you can spit up chunks of lung on a bike just as easily as by running.

I'll suggest a mountain bike for you. It is the most versatile bike as it will work well on the road as well as off. Mountain bikes are great for dirt roads. I've ridden my mountain bikes over 15,000 miles on dirt and gravel roads, in the last three years, and they will assist with weight loss. I've also ridden my road bike for 5,000 miles or so.

YOu are probably already aware but weight loss is something that comes from a combination of things, but mainly it starts at the dinner table. Get on a diet that you can live with for the rest of your life, then throw in lots of miles on the bike. You'll be plenty thin if you stick with it.

I am 6'2" and 150 lbs. I was around 200 when i started eating better, and later riding. These forums are FULL of info, that can't all be covered in this thread. Use the search function to discover tons of good info.

yeah, im aware of that, but for some reason when i run i can eat what i want and lose to about 180 and stay right there, i did it for 3 years in the army, and then i didn't do anything for a year and got fat, about 220 then with a few months of running i was right back to 180, i know diet is a huge thing but i think cardio does more then some people give it credit for, i was just kinda curious how biking compares to running.

xx

It's all about burning calories. Running gets you there quicker, but cycling can you there too, but you have to do it with the same intensity that you get from running and go further and longer. Of course regulating your caloric intake will help quite a bit. Meaning on the days you are not working out; eat less. And leave out the junk food and anything with sugar, hydrogenated oils, or fats. That's my approach.

i was just kinda curious how biking compares to running.

That somewhat depends on how you ride. For example if you want to go as fast as Lance Armstrong you will likely have to burn a lot of calories in training to even be considered slow. If you want to ride aggressive single track mountain bike trails, you will burn a lot of energy.

If you just want to go out and ride at a brisk pace, and average say 15 mph on paved roads on a fat tire mountain bike, or average around 18 mph on a road bike, then this really doesn't compare to running. You will have to ride a lot longer to burn an equal amount that you would running, in most cases.

Its really all up to how you ride and i suppose how you run for that matter. The only good info i can give you is that a lot of people think you can ride a bike casually for an hour and then eat whatever they want for the rest of the day and somehow lose weight. Ain't gonna happen most likely. Conversly, the more you ride the more you can eat.

Most of the time, i eat more than anybody that i am around. At the table, i am usually the last one done, because i am on my sometimes 3rd helping. But i ride a lot and the things I am eating are carefully chosen most of the time. After a century or similar long ride, I can eat non-stop and still be hungry.


If you are really curious how it compares, than just ride for awhile. I've done both and can tell you that running is a LOT less fun and a LOT more work. It's also a lot harder on the body, as it pounds on you with every step. This becomes more of an issue as one ages, and maybe not so much the younger you are.

Lastly, i just want to repeat that riding is only a part of a plan to lose weight. A good diet that you can live with for the rest of your life will shave pounds off your body. Throw in thousands of miles of riding a year, and you will be shaving them off with a VERY sharp knife, very quickly.

I am closing on fifty and running is sadly no longer an option for me. I have started cycling more and more these last few years. Now I can eat whatever I want to and still stay at 70 kg. (i am 6'). I think there is more to staying thin than just calories. A high activity level makes your metabolism work better, more like when we were young and could eat vast amounts and stills tay thin. Get a decent MTB and get semislicks. If you get caught by this bug, buy a good roadbike, that is the way to bicycling heaven IMO.

When it comes to weight loss the number one thing for most people is something the "experts" seldom consider.

Pick something you like, or at last something you will keep doing.

If you like cycling and your girlfriend likes cycling that gives cycling a big boost. You should be able to change some of the time you would have spent sitting and talking or watching tv to time you spend cycling (and perhaps talking).

I'd say running is very often a very bad activity to take up fro weight loss. For the fat or even just heavy running puts a lot os stress on joints and such. That means a running program often is over after a week with the person ending up even less active, because with shinsplints it now hurts to just walk. (Note cycling can have similar problems if one goes overboard at the start).

Honestly for weight loss I would recommend getting a set of several activities you like doing and change which ones you do (or do most) from time to time to keep it from getting old.

Ford,
Bicycling isn't a weight-bearing exercise, so it won't have the same weight loss benefits as running. But, as others have said, it's MUCH easier on the joints (for the same reason.) And it can be used as PART of a weight-control program. Of course, if you ride so much you're physically incapable of eating enough to keep up the calorie burn, I guess that would work, too. For reference, I use a rough figure of 6000-8000 Calories per 100 miles, depending on how hilly or flat the route is. I personally have a hard time eating that much, so riding back to back centuries usually results in weight loss. That's a lot of time in the saddle, though!

ok well ive been an on and off runner for the last few years, and shin splints are kinda getting me down, im thinking about taking up riding a bike a few times a week, also my girlfriend enjoys riding bikes to. anyways just curuios how well is cycling for weight loss compared to running? what kinda miles should someone be putting in for weight loss?

something else im wondering is what kinda bike should i be riding? right now i have a mounting bike, and a bmx bike (i know im not going to do this with a bmx bike) anyways i would be mostly riding on paved roads and a few dirt roads i guess but i really don't want one of the thin tire bikes with the wrap around handle bars, what kinda riding is mounting bikes for?

last thing i can think of now, is do many people ride in the winter? and in the snow, do you have many problems with that?

thanks


If you can run for that length of time you can bike for much longer. Now you are not a cyclist, so riding for 4 or 5 hours seems like a bit lengthy. Trust me though; if you get to really like biking you will find it very easy to fit in many rides, which are of the multi hour variety.

As for the bike, I am very biased in this sense, get a thin tire roadie. You can ride fast and go hard on the road; you will make a mountain bike look and feel like riding a slug in comparison. The bonus part is that you already have a mountain bike to do all the awesome off road stuff as well.

If you are really dead set against a roadie get a slick set of tires, as well as off road tires for your MTB. With the slicks you really get to practice you handling off road and can go at a fairly decent speed on the black top. Then when you get tired of wipe-outs at slow speed off road with your slicks, change to your knobbies, and wipe out at faster speed. :)

so how many of you actually ride all year long, or do you stop in the winter? (this is for people with cold climates)

I am a fairweather cyclist. As soon as the roads are crap I pack it in and head for the gym.

so how many of you actually ride all year long, or do you stop in the winter? (this is for people with cold climates)

Get yourself some studded tires, and winter riding can be a blast!

http://www.zippyvideos.com/6325862273014126/snowride4/

ok well ive been an on and off runner for the last few years, and shin splints are kinda getting me down, im thinking about taking up riding a bike a few times a week, also my girlfriend enjoys riding bikes to. anyways just curuios how well is cycling for weight loss compared to running? what kinda miles should someone be putting in for weight loss?

something else im wondering is what kinda bike should i be riding? right now i have a mounting bike, and a bmx bike (i know im not going to do this with a bmx bike) anyways i would be mostly riding on paved roads and a few dirt roads i guess but i really don't want one of the thin tire bikes with the wrap around handle bars, what kinda riding is mounting bikes for?

last thing i can think of now, is do many people ride in the winter? and in the snow, do you have many problems with that?

thanks

I also agree with a flat bar road bike. There also known as hybrid's. Here's some nice ones to choose from.
http://www.fujibikes.com/2007/bikes.asp?id=322&subcat=1
This one here is geared more for comfortw/ wider tires.
http://www.fujibikes.com/2007/bikes.asp?id=333#

Here's the entire Jamis line of comfort bikes.
http://jamisbikes.com/usa/bike_intros/06_street_intro.html

Get an old single speed klunker, they weigh about 40 pounds and to make it heavier fill the frame tubes with lead or rocks or whatever else, also get a back pack and fill that with rocks and wear it while riding. If thats not enough work out for you, consider pulling an auto trailer behind you with chunks of steel girders in it.

ok well ive been an on and off runner for the last few years, and shin splints are kinda getting me down, im thinking about taking up riding a bike a few times a week, also my girlfriend enjoys riding bikes to. anyways just curuios how well is cycling for weight loss compared to running? what kinda miles should someone be putting in for weight loss?

something else im wondering is what kinda bike should i be riding? right now i have a mounting bike, and a bmx bike (i know im not going to do this with a bmx bike) anyways i would be mostly riding on paved roads and a few dirt roads i guess but i really don't want one of the thin tire bikes with the wrap around handle bars, what kinda riding is mounting bikes for?

last thing i can think of now, is do many people ride in the winter? and in the snow, do you have many problems with that?

thanks

I think cycling is far better for weight loss, for the simple reason that execise duration is important both for overall calories burnt and for appetite suppression. It's hard on your body to go on a 3 hour run, but it's pretty easy to go on a 3 hour ride.

Nutrition is a bigger factor than the exercise mode, however. If you eat a good diet, you can lose weight with moderate exercise, and conversely, if you eat crap, you can ride 15 hours a week and not lose weight

do bikers have races and stuff like runners have? like theres always 5ks and 10ks and marathons, what would be the bikers verson of all of those things?

so how many of you actually ride all year long, or do you stop in the winter? (this is for people with cold climates)
I love cycling in winter. There is a problem with cold feet but aside from that I think going full blast on a frozen lake is a thrill. In spring in Norway it is also prossible to bicycle on frozen snow in the mornings, you can go everywhere ! I try to go on some really long forest rides in late winter that are among my favorite rides. I am also a fervent believer in freestyle nordic skiing as a wellsuited winter activity for us cyclists. You really get the benefit of welldeveloped quads when you are skating on snow.