it really depends on where someone is starting out. when i lost 75 pounds in my first year of bike commuting, it was because i was woefully obese at 250 pounds. when i started doing some daily cardio with the bike commuting, the weight started flying off (~10 pounds/month as i stated earlier), then i did indeed hit a plateau, where i was starving myself at 1400 calories/day and still biking 28 miles 5 times a week to continue losing weight once i got below 185. i eventually decided that getting back down to my high school weight of 170 was just not worth that much unpleasantness to me. 1400 calories/day sucks ass. it's not enough to enjoy life.

besides, i was quite pleased with the results as they were, even if i wasn't at my old high school weight:


before bike commuting.........................after bike commuting



bottom line, if you've got A LOT to lose, bike commuting can certainly help you shed pounds fast, but if you're just trying to shave off the last 15 or 20 pounds to get back down to your old high school weight, bike commuting will likely not be the silver bullet you're looking for. starving yourself is the only thing that i've found that works for those stubborn last pounds.