Can road riding cause a loss of mtb fitness?

['Dale]

The mountainbike professionals I work with rarely swop their MTBs for road bikes in training, unless it's for mental or psychological variety, do more sight-seeing with friends at social pace, or for a short preparation runway for the odd road race that they get involved in.

 

[daveno7]

1 hour ago, 'Dale said:

The mountainbike professionals I work with rarely swop their MTBs for road bikes in training, unless it's for mental or psychological variety, do more sight-seeing with friends at social pace, or for a short preparation runway for the odd road race that they get involved in.

 

but road pros will use their mtb in the off season...Basso...Sagan...Gesink are some of those I remember...

[DieselnDust]

On 9/15/2024 at 4:42 PM, Ryan said:

Probably  a dumb assumption...A couple months back I changed my mid week mtb training rides (on the road) to road bike training rides. The mileage and climbing are virtually the same but I seem to have gotten slower on the mountain bike.  Anyone had a similar experience or am I missing something?  Basically my weekend mtb rides are tougher over same route..

Can you describe the terrain you typically ride your mtb over.

di you have a heart rate file from one of these rides vs a road bike ride hr plot to compare?

m guess is there’s a difference in intensity but it could be something else like a change in frequency or rides, recovery or all of the above. Your question is inviting shotgun answers like mine 

[SwissVan]

On 9/15/2024 at 4:42 PM, Ryan said:

Probably  a dumb assumption...A couple months back I changed my mid week mtb training rides (on the road) to road bike training rides. The mileage and climbing are virtually the same but I seem to have gotten slower on the mountain bike.  Anyone had a similar experience or am I missing something?  Basically my weekend mtb rides are tougher over same route..

What is this mtb training rides on the road, is that even allowed?

Next thing folks will be putting slick tyres on their mtbks 🤪 

['Dale]

40 minutes ago, daveno7 said:

but road pros will use their mtb in the off season...Basso...Sagan...Gesink are some of those I remember...

Yes, the reverse holds true too.

The PRO roadies uses gravel and mountain bike for recreation and relaxation, away from the mental exhaustion that comes with a million hours of training and racing on the tarmac.

 

[Baracuda]

As a serious middle aged amateur in the back end of the field, I find that mtb fitness and strength is a different kind of strength to road riding- yes more intense, but more torque orientated than top end spinning power. 

I found that spinning on my gravel bike with 28mm road tires inflated to 100psi did little to improve MTB fitness. I replaced them with Panaracer SK 38mm tires that sound like a old Land Rover on tar, nice low end resistance that needs constant torque, and although one is obviously slower and it takes more power to stay with the bunch, the strength is more transferable to an MTB.

Edited September 17 by Baracuda

[dave303e]

the other major one I noticed and again this is more an indoor trainer vs outdoor ride.

Was the drop in neck fitness. You often look mostly down and without a helmet on on and IDT. so lift the tv up to get your chin up and put a helmet of not keep those neck muscles strong and working

[Sandro]

On 9/16/2024 at 7:42 AM, Mook said:

Me thinks the difference in cadence is what gets to you. On the MTB you should typically be doing a higher cadence than on the roadbike. On the roadbike most riders tend to push bigger gears, hence you gain muscle strength as @daveno7 says - BUT you lose "steam" in terms of cardio. 

Try to increase your cadence intentionally when on the road bike. Try to mimic your MTB cadence, while working in some high intensity, low cadence, intervals in between.

I've had this very same experience when switching between MTB and road bikes.

I also found this is 100% the difference, by upping my cadence just 10 rpm higher on my road bike its helped my MTB and road bike fitness.

Edited September 17 by Sandro

[shaper]

Road riding is good for building endurance and the aerobic engine, MTB will build power when you have to put it down to get up or over things.  This is perhaps where you feel you are loosing fitness as road riding is more focused on easy pedalling and often steady state, although you can push a slightly higher gear and work harder to gain fitness,

To keep power fitness for your MTB riding when on the road bike, if you are not group riding and are not overly concerned about average speed for your ride (as I know some are), then incorporate sprints and stomps into your road riding as part of the overall training, as well as going long distance for the endurance.

This article explains quite well https://pezcyclingnews.com/toolbox/on-bike-strength-training-for-better-performance/

There are many articles on low cadence, high torque for power.  You can also replicate this on the indoor trainer if not whilst out road riding.

It should help you maintain that short sharp power output you need when riding your MTB on hills and over obstacles, which is perhaps why you feel slower?

[Ryan]

On 9/16/2024 at 7:59 PM, DieselnDust said:

Can you describe the terrain you typically ride your mtb over.

di you have a heart rate file from one of these rides vs a road bike ride hr plot to compare?

m guess is there’s a difference in intensity but it could be something else like a change in frequency or rides, recovery or all of the above. Your question is inviting shotgun answers like mine 

On weekends I do longer single track based mtb rides and races. During the week I ride a tar based training ride with as much climbing as I can in time available. Week rides 40km 800m climbing. Weekends mtb 60 to 90km 1200 to 1800m climbing with a fair amount of technical riding. Like others have mentioned I have been feeling sluggish on the weekend rides and need to address this quick

[Ryan]

For some info I was sick three weeks back minor flu and took a week off after an easy week prior to falling ill 

[DieselnDust]

2 hours ago, Ryan said:

On weekends I do longer single track based mtb rides and races. During the week I ride a tar based training ride with as much climbing as I can in time available. Week rides 40km 800m climbing. Weekends mtb 60 to 90km 1200 to 1800m climbing with a fair amount of technical riding. Like others have mentioned I have been feeling sluggish on the weekend rides and need to address this quick

 

2 hours ago, Ryan said:

For some info I was sick three weeks back minor flu and took a week off after an easy week prior to falling ill 

Rightie ho so i see the issue.

the bulk of your rides are to gain altitude. Im going to guess that your climbing style is more cranking than spinning? If this is a correct assumption then what you are in effect doing is tightening up your muscles and training them to fire at a lower cadence but higher load. You're building strength not speed and for road you want speed. try and reduce the gradient of the climbs you're training on and increase your climbing cadence.

Also bear in mind that your riding positions are also likely different while riding (even though you may have had static bike set ups for both bikes to align your position) as you engage your muscles differently unless you are an outlier.

The flu would not have helped either, as this flu's aftereffects seem to stick around for about 3-5weeks after fever, much like a SARS COV 19.....

I would suggest that you look at the sequence of your workouts and the cadence's you are executing. When training for road and mtb you need to cater for the nuanced differences of the two disciplines. Happy to chat offline if you want to more detail

[Ryan]

1 hour ago, DieselnDust said:

 

Rightie ho so i see the issue.

the bulk of your rides are to gain altitude. Im going to guess that your climbing style is more cranking than spinning? If this is a correct assumption then what you are in effect doing is tightening up your muscles and training them to fire at a lower cadence but higher load. You're building strength not speed and for road you want speed. try and reduce the gradient of the climbs you're training on and increase your climbing cadence.

Also bear in mind that your riding positions are also likely different while riding (even though you may have had static bike set ups for both bikes to align your position) as you engage your muscles differently unless you are an outlier.

The flu would not have helped either, as this flu's aftereffects seem to stick around for about 3-5weeks after fever, much like a SARS COV 19.....

I would suggest that you look at the sequence of your workouts and the cadence's you are executing. When training for road and mtb you need to cater for the nuanced differences of the two disciplines. Happy to chat offline if you want to more detail

Thanks Diesel. Awesome feedback. I may have underestimated the effects of the flu. Also have a habit of overtraining. Appreciate the advise muchly!

[ChrisF]

On 9/19/2024 at 6:44 AM, Ryan said:

On weekends I do longer single track based mtb rides and races. During the week I ride a tar based training ride with as much climbing as I can in time available. Week rides 40km 800m climbing. Weekends mtb 60 to 90km 1200 to 1800m climbing with a fair amount of technical riding. Like others have mentioned I have been feeling sluggish on the weekend rides and need to address this quick

 

Something else to consider.

 

The 40km rides require minimal nutrition.  The weekend rides combined distance and climbing is another animal in terms of nutrition.

 

If your tank runs low it may well contribute to feeling sluggish.

[Ryan]

7 hours ago, ChrisF said:

 

Something else to consider.

 

The 40km rides require minimal nutrition.  The weekend rides combined distance and climbing is another animal in terms of nutrition.

 

If your tank runs low it may well contribute to feeling sluggish.

Thanks Chris I will work on this