When out riding I have notice that according to the computer on my handlebar I am burning around 40 to 48 calories a mile. I realize that my weight and age and speed all factor into the equation, but is something around 40 to 50 calories burned a mile what others are seeing? Or do I need to recalibrate.
Cheers

Don't mean to be snide, but have you done a search on the forum about this? I think in the past year there have been at least 5 or 6 long threads about it. Rather than repeat everything they say, I would encourage you to take a look at them.

For example ...
https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...iding-question

If you do not have a powermeter, you do not have a half-way accurate way of assessing the calories you are burning. Period.

Beyond that, riding faster and longer burns more calories than riding slower and shorter distances. Being able to measure and quantify these things can be useful, but only if these measurements are valid. Heart rate, speed, age, etc, etc are relevant, but cannot be used to measure calorie burn with any degree of accuracy or reliability.

For these reason I love my power meter. Now I know exactly what I'm burning. I started using my fitness pal yesterday and it has a segment where you can put in the exercised and it gives you a caloric usage based on type and intensity of exercise. This morning I did what Fitness pal considered a moderate 12-14mph ave. 1 hour bike ride and it calculated 685 calories automatically. My power meter gave me 444. those 241 calories are the snack that I shouldn't eat today or the extra dressing on the salad. Pm is really helpful when you are already in a good weight range but want to go to an athletic range since 200 calories can make it or break it if you have a certain goal.

However like said above, HR, speed intensity and duration will help you lose those pounds quick, but when it comes to fine tuning, like a boxer going from 158 to 146, you need the appropriate tools and nothing short of a power meter will help with that.

I have a basic Cat Eye computer (i.e. the only sensor is for wheel rotation) that purports to calculate calories burned. It doesn't allow you to program the weight of the rider+bike, which is a major factor in calories burned. Does your computer let you program weight? (Even if it does, it will just get you into the ballpark of the actual number, which is somewhat useful but clearly not something you can rely on).

What others have already said is good info. Still, back to your question: yes, 40 cal./mile is a good guess. However a second question worth asking would be: is guessing any better than not counting at all? I use the scale to count my in and out.

I guess I should have just googled my question instead of wasting everyone's time, I am new to this forum. Yes I do enter my weight, and I am seeing between 40 to 48 burned a mile. I also know that the faster I go the more I burn. It's fun for me to think about the treat I had the night before disappearing as the miles go by. Maybe I don't have a PM but I am having fun.

No need to google ... just skim through the threads on the first page of this Training & Nutrition forum. If you hover your mouse over the title, you can see the first line or two of the thread to see what it is about.

I thought that too, that the extra food (calories) I eat disappear as I ride. But after around 500 miles in 2 `1/2 months my weight is the same. I took to much stock in mapMyRide app telling me how many calories I have lost. There was an over whelming agreement that it was way over blown. I calculated it and mapMyRide was saying I was burring about 80 calories an hour. For the most part I just cut that number in half and also started to curb my diet. I thought I would go down in weight eating the same food but just adding riding to my list. I am glad I asked and now have an idea of what I really burn.

If I am wanting to lose weight I calculate 25 calories per mile (6'2", 195#). This allows me to not feel like I can eat at 5 guys every night because I am riding every other day. I keep a food diary to see what inputs I am adding to the system. As others have said, most "gizmos" other than powermeters are fairly inaccurate. The online calculators are a flippin joke.


If I am maintaining I just watch the scale. Oh, and don't feel bad about asking anything on here, however as mentioned you may want to do a search as there is a TON of good reading to be done on this topic.

Thanks for the info I am 6'2" also, but 212. I guess because we are all made different inside,ie metabolism, the best way to lose weight would be the food diary and a morning weigh in, along with a lot of nice relaxing bike rides. Cheers