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  1. #1
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    Apr 2012
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    Exercise on BMX/Mountain Bikes?

    Looking for some info on what's the best or advice on the differences between BMXs and Mountain bikes.

    I own a mountain bike but as a kid, I loved my one-gear bike which I found I was the one doing the most workout going uphills, whereas my friends had mountain bikes and had ease getting up huge hills. And generally I liked the feel of being always in one gear going fast and doing jumps.

    Anyway, I know this defeats the purpose of a mountain bike, but the majority of the time I'm always on the mid-highest gear - lower RPM on flats and hills as I love working the muscles.

    Would you get as much workout on a BMX compared to a Mountain Bike or really makes no difference?

  2. #2
    Guest
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  3. #3
    Senior Member
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    Jun 2011
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    Austin, Texas
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    If you're going to be "mashing" in high gears, watch your knees. Pushing your way up a hard hill puts a lot of strain on your knee joints and may cause you to develop long-term injury over time, especially with the typical riding position on a BMX. The advantage of having multiple gears is to save wear and tear on your joints by making cycling an aerobic exercise (think swimming) rather than a weightlifting one, and builds up your knee support tissues gradually. Most single-speed mountain bikes have much lower gearing than their on-road counterparts. From my experience, when I switched from my SS road bike to a geared one, the amount/distance I did went way up, which definitely increased the equivalent "exercise" I got.

  4. #4
    Senior Member THE ARS's Avatar
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    Sep 2011
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    Boston
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    You can convert your current bike to SS on the cheap.

    http://boston.craigslist.org/gbs/bik/2984336525.html


    Tom

  5. #5
    Gordon FreeDan. IthaDan's Avatar
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    Jan 2012
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    Quote Originally Posted by THE ARS View Post
    You can convert your current bike to SS on the cheap.

    Tom
    even easier than that-don't shift.

    (click for album of my bikes)
    Just call me "Dan".

  6. #6
    Newbie
    Join Date
    Apr 2012
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    Ok, scrap that. I went for a ride in the bush and had an awesome time. Why I never did this before is beyond me.

    Cheers guys for the responses

  7. #7
    Senior Member rebel1916's Avatar
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    Aug 2011
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    What?

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