Start to train, light bike or heavier bike?

[Trekkie65]

I'm starting to train again after a few months off. I prefer training on a light road bike to gain fitness for Mnt bike, or should I do Heavy Mnt Bike to 'fly on road bike when fit?

[Mongoose!]

You need a third training bike...n+1

[CAAD4]

Use your light bike and wear a Camelback with a brick in. That way you get both Awesome benefits...

 

Friday.

[Long Wheel Base]

I am pretty much a roadie. Most of my training is done on my MTB on the road. Intervals are a lot easier because I don't need as long a climb etc. I have the geometry set up pretty much the same wrt saddle to bars drop and reach. Same length cranks, same style saddle so the transition between bikes is easy. We even have 2 tandems, the one is an older heavier. The group I ride with during the weekday mornings is a more casual group and on my 26" commuter and work bag on my back I have to push hard to pull the group and they just ride tempo. I tried riding with my usual group with this setup and got dropped very quickly.

But you are asking about training for MTB so just ignore all of the above and just accept it that I am just posting to get my post count up  .

[rudi-h]

my motto is... always use your best weapon, always!

 

Training on a heavy bike and racing on a light one might make it seem faster, but there is zero training benefit in doing that.  Assess the route / terrain you are planning to ride and choose the best bike that you have in your shed for that route, it will be the most fun every time round.

 

Fitness comes from putting in pedal strokes at the right intensity for the right amount of time, it does not care which set of cranks you are turning.

[Martin PJ]

Ride the good bike. On race day you put on the race wheels. Life is too short to ride rubbish bikes.

[gtr1]

Not about how heavy the bike, it' s about the quality of training. Ride what you enjoy.

 

As above, when you race, put on the race wheels.

[shaper]

If you want to enjoy your training, ride your light bike !

[lechatnoir]

If you train to a plan using intensity levels etc etc etc, then the bike you ride doesn't matter. Unless it's preventing you from training properly.

[Jewbacca]

Any bike

 

Just ride it more than you talk about riding it and compliment your training with a good diet and responsible decisions.

 

It really makes no difference until you are operating at maximum capacity physically and to be fair, you probably have a LONG way to go before you get to 60%.

 

Good luck. Enjoy

[Vetplant]

I got a new MTB recently, so neglected the road bike for about two months and only got on the road bike on the IDT. Yesterday I took the Road bike out for a spin, Wow, the thing is fast!

 

Don't neglect your bikes, ride all of them as much as possible!

[PygaSchmyga]

Ride the good bike. On race day you put on the race wheels. Life is too short to ride rubbish bikes.

 

 

If you want to enjoy your training, ride your light bike !

 

 

Not about how heavy the bike, it' s about the quality of training. Ride what you enjoy.

 

As above, when you race, put on the race wheels.

What they said

[Hairy]

Any bike

 

Just ride it more than you talk about riding it and compliment your training with a good diet and responsible decisions.

 

It really makes no difference until you are operating at maximum capacity physically and to be fair, you probably have a LONG way to go before you get to 60%.

 

Good luck. Enjoy

I have all those bases covered, except the bold part

[Cat2forLife]

Depends on how you train. If you train with a power meter, the weight of the bike makes absolutely no difference because you're riding to a certain power output.

 

If you're training to speed, then bike weight makes a difference, as it takes more watts to move a heavier bike at the same speed. But this generally only works when you train with another rider, so that you have a speed to gauge.

 

But speed is a very bad measure of performance when it comes to training because there are so many variables that can effect speed such as wind, gradient, temperature etc etc.

 

Training to HR will also not be affect by bike weight because it uses the same principle as power based training.

[Fruity]

Wattbike

 

With that said, I used to ride to work and back, almost every day, on my mtb. 16km to work and 16km back, which included some lekker hills in the mix. After a good few months, I saw quite a big improvement at cycle events - both mtb and road.

[arendoog]

I am in the same situation .Ride the most comfortable geometry bike with lighter gears .My legs are OK ,it is my core ,hands ,ass that is not