Mountain Biking vs Road Cycling For Training

Anyone do mountain biking for training? Motivation for road cycling is a tad low this winter and just wondering if its good training or not?

if that is the only training you will be getting on the bike this winter, I personally think it is a much better option that sitting on the couch catching another football game. But, based on personal experience, one hour of MTB has never equaled one hour on the road bike. When I MTB I am always on trails and there is way too much time spent going down hill. I would think that is would best resemble an interval workout on a road bike.

Anytime I load up and hit the trails, i am rarely out for less than 3 hours. That amount of time always seems to give me a very good workout.

I will ride my mountain bike more in the winter. (it's too hazardous for me during the summer!)

I would compare it to intervals as well. On the trails around here, there's not a lot of resting - you're either going up or down. The winter I spent a lot more time on my MTB, my climbing had definitely improved when I got back on my road bike. BUT I was still fairly new to riding so I had lots of room to improve.

I would say if it's winter and you want to mix it up - go for it! It's a good way to work on handling and strength while having fun!

i did some fair share of mtb, and its nice to switch it up between road biking, especially if you have a peddal course or trail.  you will get like the others have said interval work, mtb tends to be little more intensive, with constant switch-backs. 

personally i feel like it helps me, however not doing any road biking will hurt endurance.

I would think it depends on how you are riding it...  if you are riding on the road and using your mtn bike due to bad weather I'd think it's the same..  or just simple off road trails...

I just got a mtn bike and there is a nice gravel running, riding trail by my house.  nothing technical.. just a nice wide gravel path by the lake.   I"ve ridden it with my HR monitor on and went at the same effort as I would biking.  The HR monitor readings were basically the same as a similar effort road ride.

I think any biking is good biking it depends on the effort you are putting into it

If you are riding on trails, you can't really compare a time of MTB to a time on the road. It all depends on the trail. Flat fire roads where you are spinning more would be more similar than bombing down a rocky, technical descent.



If you are riding a MTB on the road, gravel road, fire road, then yeah, I think you could count it hour for hour. (I'm guessing your asking this to see if this meets a training plan). Lots of people do the bike portion of road tris on a MTB. It still counts.



I ride the MTB year-round, but hit more trails in the winter here in AZ when it's cooler. We tend to have more races in the winter down here too. There are lots of different kinds of MTB races: cross country sprints, downhill, 12 hours, 24 hours, etc. I'm assuming you're asking about XC sprints so I'll give ya the low down on those.

How the races work:
Racers are split into categories, for example: Beginner, Sport, Expert, Pro. If it's your first race, always go in the beginner class. The classes are usually split by age group and gender. For the series I race, the split is huge with the groups being W19-39 and W40+. A little different than tris. Usually you'll get a number plate to put on your handlebars. Sometimes they have rules on having your bar ends plugged too so check for that.

Sometimes the course is different depending on the category. Sometimes beginners have a shorter loop, sports have a longer loop, and expert/pros have the longest. If you can, check the website of the race and see if they have a map of the coruse and go out and pre-ride the course before race day. That way you can check it out and see what you're getting into. Know what course you are doing and how many loops.

Race day they tend to split everyone in waves. So you wait for your wave and take off with them. It's a sprint so you'll be going hard, and after a few races you start to figure out how hard you can go without killing yourself. If you need to pass someone, try to find a good spot and say "on your left" to get by.

Carry everything with you that you may need (tools, tubes, nutrition, water, etc). Most people wear Camelbaks because it's easier to drink from them vs. reaching for a bottle. Sometimes races have feed zones where you can drop a bottle and have it ready for you on the next loop. But aid stations in MTB races seem pretty rare.

Let me know if I missed something, but that's pretty much it. Go out and have fun, and good luck in your first race!

If it's an hour of climbing then yes. But otherwise I don't think so. Back when I was riding seriously on the road, I really loved riding mountain but just wasn't getting the training I needed. I also know a lot of pro mountain riders here train very often on the road for the same reason.

Great, thanks for your help guys.

I just use my mountain bike when the weather looks a bit like raining, also when it's dark and cold. Don't feel like road cycling but really enjoy the mountain biking because it's just something different and for me is a load of fun.

I normally do between 1-2 hours max, so it is more like intervals I suppose, but still cycling is cycling so I'm doing more than just sitting at home.

Plus it's so so much fun!