Hello,

This is my first post. I am new to biking and currently own a Trek 820 mountain bike. Long story short I started running about two years ago and have lost 100lbs and I was recently told by my doctor that I needed to slow down on my running because my ankle was showing signs of stress in the the bone. I was told to start biking. My Trek is about 7 years old. I only have around an hour each morning to get a good cardio workout with the bike and I had a couple of bikers tell me that a Mountain bike will give me a better workout than a hybrid or road bike. I bike on the road and up and down hills and want the best cardio workout I can get so I thought I would ask all of you for your inputs on this question. Does a Mountain bike give you a better workout in an hour than a hybrid or road bike?

Thanks for your help.

No. How good of workout you'll get in a hour depends on how much effort you put in the hour. The MTB will be slower than the road bike, but push yourself to the same level on either and you'll get essentially the same workout.

Also the relative speed and efficiency of the road bike will give you more "reward" for your efforts, likely motivating you to push harder on the road bike.

Well, all hours of cycling are not equal. An hour of mountain biking in hilly terrain will be more strenuous than riding a mountain bike on the MUP. Riding a perfectly flat road at 10 mph is super easy but keep your speed at 22 mph and it's an entirely different story. The answer for you probably depends on the roads and terrain near your house, and what you like to ride. If you have great trails and want to do that, get a mountain bike. If you want to go places and see stuff & go faster, get a road bike. it really comes down to which bike you will be more likely to ride more often.

Congrats on your weight loss.

They probably said that because a MTB is likely to be heavier and have smaller wheels and more rolling resistance, so all else being equal it takes more effort to maintian a particular speed on an MTB than it would to maintain that same speed on a road bike. But like the others said, you can get a good workout on either bike. It depends on how much you put into it. Stick with the MTB for now and if you decide you want to continue biking, maybe going on longer rides, you can look into a road bike at that time.

The bike doesn't matter, just the intensity of the workout. That being said i agree w/ the post above, a road bike would be more rewarding on the road. It really just depends on what type of riding you enjoy. The mountain bike is more versatile, but road bike will be faster around the neighborhood.

Congrats on the weight loss!

Cycling is full of broken down ex runners (like myself).

You can get the same workout on a MTB or road bike. The road bike is a little faster, so you go farther for the same riding time. If you get into longer rides you may find a road bike both more comfortable and more rewarding, as it's more responsive.

Agree with all the posts above for the most part; you get out of a workout what you put into it. Ride the mountain bike until you get the urge to ride longer distances on the road and just feel you can't do without a road bike. (That's what I'm in the process of doing.)

Also, with regard to your running, have you tried the Five Fingers from Vibram that will help prevent heel-strike while running? Much like you I have lost a lot of weight in the past year or so, and never enjoyed running until I got my Five Fingers. Give them a try. Good luck.

I have vibram shoes. I wouldn't suggest minimalist running for someone w/feet problems. I tried it, now i can't run at all anymore. It would have happened eventually w/regular shoes, but the vibram speed up the process.

The heaviest single speed will give you the best workout!

Thanks everyone!

Work = Force x Distance - there's no inherent difference between bikes.

Checkout our Clyde/Athena forum. MANY people on the same journey as you!
https://www.bikeforums.net/forumdispl...00-lb-91-kg%29

IMHO, any bike you ride regularly is the best bike for you. Congrats on the weight loss. That is truly impressive.

Obviously I can only speak for myself, but I have had the exact opposite experience. Since switching to the Five Fingers for working out and running after my 4th broken foot my feet have never felt better. Though I would probably agree that if you have chronically bad feet they are going to break down no matter what you wear.

I should have also mentioned that a runner switching to Five Fingers should start out slowly to get properly adjusted to them so as not suffer an injury due to the new stride.