I have been cycling for 2 years and commuting for one year. During the winter months I would ride 30 minutes before work and 15 minutes during lunch indoors since I work at a large heavy truck garage. Last winter I did this with a beater mountain bike. It's not a great workout since you can't go real fast and there are plenty of obstacles around the shop but it's better than no ride at all.

This winter I did not have a beater mountain bike to ride around the shop since I turned it into my commuter. I been slowly restoring while riding a 1983 BMX bike I picked up for the last few months and there is something I noticed. My legs have become stronger than ever! I have always had good legs, but the last few months of riding the BMX has made a huge difference! Even my wife noticed that my legs are more muscular than ever. I suppose when you are standing and riding a BMX compared to sitting in the saddle on a larger bike you get a better workout. Being a single speed probably has something to do with it also. I can also break a sweat beating the smaller bike around the shop.

I can't wait until the weather breaks! I am gonna tackle all the hills I can on my road bike! Here's the BMX that I been fixing up and beating around the shop......

I remember an old thread by a guy who had some sort of butt injury, so he simply removed the saddle on his road bike and rode it standing. Took him a few weeks to be able to stand for a whole group ride, but he said it made his legs amazingly strong. Absolutely. Being able to stand all the way up a particular hill around here has long been my test of leg endurance.

This guy does.

I spend a lot of time out of the saddle and standing on the pedals because all of my bikes are set up as fixed gears and singlespeeds, so I have no choice but to stand up often. It's a great workout especially when there are hills.

But not you personally, right?

But that's some serious gear-inches. I have a friend who rides 93 g.i. on his fixie in the mountains, but this guy has him beat. I actually climb faster seated on a SS. Training is always an interesting discussion subject, why we have this forum, right?

I wish