Who the fittest

[nosherduke996]

Hi all, I have a mate who is about to start cycling for the first time in years. He is not sure if he wants to ride mountain or road bike.
My question is this : For a compleat novice which one would he gain the best fittness level from?

 

[Steve Austin]

Road cycling. its easier to get fit quicker on the road, due to the steady resistance, but MTBing is more fun.

 

[lukesdad]

It will all depend on your mate and what he will enjoy the most because he will end up doing it longer.

 

[Lisa21]

I have a MTB, for two reasons.

1: Many of the places I go would kill skinny tyres

2: I took up cycling to get fit, have fun, and tone up. A road bike would enable me to go further, faster, and with less effort, but I get much more of a workout with my tractor-tyres

 

[mike e]

There is also the question of confidence and safety.

Your friend might not be happy riding on busy roads and in traffic, whereas offroad is a much safer enviroment unless of course you hit a tree or fall on some rocks.....

Which of course would not happen as you'd start off on some gentle trails

 

[PaulB]

Hi all, I have a mate who is about to start cycling for the first time in years. He is not sure if he wants to ride mountain or road bike.
My question is this : For a compleat novice which one would he gain the best fittness level from?

Mate? Riiiiight

 

[3-IN-One]

Mate? Riiiiight

My thoughts exactly.......wink wink

 

[jimboalee]

I'd say MTB. For the sake of greater variablity.

MTBs can be ridden on the road, but roadbikes not up the side of a wooded hill over treestumps and rocks.

I have a friend who has a MTB and a Roadbike. He paid £700 for a Spesh Allez Elite last year and hasn't used it yet.
He goes 'green laning' in the Cotswolds around Winchcombe on his MTB because its "More challenging".

I couldn't even tempt him to ride the Warwickshire Wanderer. Why he bought the roadbike, I don't know!

 

[jimboalee]

I'd say MTB. For the sake of greater variablity.

MTBs can be ridden on the road, but roadbikes not up the side of a wooded hill over treestumps and rocks.

I have a friend who has a MTB and a Roadbike. He paid £700 for a Spesh Allez Elite last year and hasn't used it yet.
He goes 'green laning' in the Cotswolds around Winchcombe on his MTB because its "More challenging".

I couldn't even tempt him to ride the Warwickshire Wanderer. Why he bought the roadbike, I don't know!

I'm telling lies...

He entered a Triathlon so MUST have used the roadbike.

 

[ColinJ]

Let me put it this way - when I ride offroad, I don't have a problem with my legs or cardio-vascular system so road riding sorts them out nicely. On long MTB rides, however, my arms, shoulders and back get knackered so road riding obviously isn't doing it for them!

I like to do about 2 or 3 road rides for every MTB ride, and my MTB rides tend to be shorter than my road rides (in hours - you can't easily compare road miles to MTB miles).

 

[RedBike]

When a group of road riders do a MTB ride sterotypically they leave the MTBs for dead on the climbs but are generally slower overall due to lack of skill over anything technical.

When MTBs ride with Roadies they constantly moan about it being boring and they struggle to keep up with the relentless pace with no rest stops.

In terms of fitness cycling is very specific. For example just because your a good cyclist doesn't mean that you can run for toffee.

 

[jimboalee]

It would be interesting to survey the number of MTBers who switch over to road riding ( professionally ) and visa versa.

 

[simon_brooke]

It would be interesting to survey the number of MTBers who switch over to road riding ( professionally ) and visa versa.

There's more money in road riding, so more people switch from MTBs to road. This doesn't mean anything about relative fitness or relative interest - it's just where the jobs are.

 

[Keith Oates]

I ride both on and off road but the roadie is my favorite, that doesn't mean I don't enjoy the off road rides. A predominantly road rider possibly has more long term stamina but really it's down to how much effort each individual puts into his sport!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[02GF74]

wot they say - road riding for training, off roading for enjoyment.