livedarklions

How can you net zero work if you do any work?
Going downhill is negative work?

Nozipho

Apparently, yes bike and fitness goes hand in hand.

50PlusCycling

Yes, in many ways. First, the bike you get must fit you well. If you can ride your bike comfortably, you will probably ride it more. Second, some bikes are more user friendly than others. Though all bikes of certain types are basically the same, and different brands use the same driveline parts, some are easier to operate than others. Some people can use the full range of gears available on new bikes, some people use only a few, some never shift gears at all. Integrated shifters/brake levers are easier for most, others, oddly (which describes me), find downtube shifters better. Thirdly, some bikes are sexy, and inspire you to ride them, and they never say “no.”

wolfchild

Yep that's a pretty good definition of fitness and I agree with you on that one.....Unfortunately most cyclists and gym goers misunderstand what fitness really is. To them fitness means hitting certain numbers on their strava and power meter or lifting certain amount of weight in the gym

wolfchild

People who obsess about FTP and watts don't realize that fitness has nothing to do with FTP and watts.

livedarklions

They're not wrong, they're just using a different definition and measure of fitness than you or me. Like most words, "fitness" has multiple definitions.

livedarklions

BS. Any time people argue about "fitness", they seem to forget the question " fitness for what?" We have different goals and different ways of motivating ourselves. If people find those numbers useful, who are you to tell them they're wrong? Why are you always so anxious to tell everyone else they're doing it wrong?

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livedarklions

Yes, having suffered from a debilitating foot and ankle condition, my first rule of personal fitness is don't injure myself working out. "Sidelining" makes maintenance of a decent fitness baseline really hard.

GhostRider62

You are mostly wrong, as usual.

ofajen

That is only with respect to the work done against gravity, as gravity is a conservative force.

The work done against air drag, surface impedance (tires and surface roughness) and drivetrain friction is all non-conservative and accumulates over all riding routes.

Otto

ofajen

Not everyone who is aware of FTP and comfortable with calculating or measuring watts or other quantities is obsessed with them. My bikes are both SS and my main fitness goal is to ride them with abandon.

OTOH, having spent this month working out in the gym with one of our kids, I have a pretty good handle on the power I can produce at various levels of exertion.

Otto

WhyFi

How do you define cycling fitness?

CAT7RDR

For myself, fitness without other underlying goals is boring.
Might as well go to a gym or ride on a trainer.

For instance, I like to start most of my rides from home. In order to ride in the local mountains or to the beach, I will have 40 additional miles (there and back) before arriving at the foot of the San Gabriel Mtns or Seal Beach. The fitness required to complete these 6-8 hour rides at a 14 mph pace on a 29er, or 17 mph on a lighter road bike, is demanding. So the bike does matter in my example. Distance, time, perceived effort, equipment and nutrition all have to be considered.

On a 30 minute ride in the OP's example, bike choice does not matter much unless I was riding a Big Wheel.

tkamd73 

Not really, as long as the bike fits you properly, and you actually ride it.
Tim

63rickert

Fitness and health are different. OP asked about fitness. For health, which is a wonderful thing, being able to do 12mph on an MTB could be a significant marker for some. Basic good health should come before fitness. But.

A couple of friends asked me to accompany them and help them through their first century ride. I was skeptical but agreed. We didn’t use the rest stops on the route, we used the taverns. First stop they were thrilled to find a spot open on a Sunday morning. I had a beer. It was a hot day and that beer was with me all day. My friends had Bloody Marys. There were four more taverns en route. I had water. The lunch stop had decent burgers. For my friends it was stiff mixed drinks every time. Shall we say these were not healthy people?

They did amaze me with their fitness. 100 miles in 8 hours flat with two hours of that on a barstool. Our riding pace was 15-18mph. Flat route with very moderate hills. They got up the hills fine. Had I had even one mixed drink I’d have been out of the picture. Fitness and health are different.

More recently I did a birthday ride with a friend who had turned 88. Moderate most of the way. At conclusion I let loose and did a little rush up a tiny hill. Thought I took off sharp enough to drop my friend cold. Nope. He was right on my wheel. His power meter said he had peaked at 380 watts. Just for a moment, but recorded. He’s very thin, maybe 120#. Previous forty miles I’d mostly been thinking he was doing pretty darn good just to be there. No idea he still had that sort of fitness. He’s a hypochondriac and always talking about his health issues. I’d say he is healthy and fit.

wolfchild

My main fitness goal is an " all around fitness ". I am not interested in focusing only on bike specific fitness, but since you asked...Which cycling fitness are we talking about here ??

Mountain biking ??
Track sprinting ??
Long distance endurance riding ??
Loaded touring ??

All of the above require different adaptations.

cyccommute 

I find your scenario unbelievable. Of course you’ve accused me of either being weak, stupid, or both.

It gets better and better. Was it uphill both ways?

30 mph on the flats on a knob tired mountain bike? Nope. I have no idea what that speed feels like because that kind of speed on the flats (into the wind, at sub freezing temperatures, uphill both ways, etc) strains credulity . ofagen above said that the power output is 700W. I calculated it out as closer to 900W. The hour record is 32mph…on a track…on smooth tires…under warm conditions…on a feather weight bike…on an aerodynamic bike.

Again, go ahead and pull the other one.

Virtus

Biking to me is just as much about getting outside as it is fitness. I have two toddlers, I work from home, I lift in my garage gym, and my other form of cardio is a C2 rower.

We don't have mountains here but the beach is only 4 miles away by road.

cyccommute 

Work is moving an object. In this case it would be the system. The mechanics used to move it doesn’t matter.

WhyFi

So pick one and give us your definition of cycling fitness for that discipline.

WhyFi

It's like each post demonstrates that you know just enough to be very wrong.

cyccommute 

Nope I never ride

It does’t matter how sensitive the meter is. Wind resistance can be measured at any speed. I said it was “discernible”, as in “able to detect; perceptible”. If you are walking your bike out of your garage and feel the air moving across your face, that’s wind resistance.

wolfchild

I am comfortable performing all of the above disciplines for recreational purposes and for personal enjoyment... I have no interest in splitting hairs about the meaning or chasing numbers and comparing myself to others.

WhyFi

So don't compare yourself to others. Compare yourself to yourself. Under your definition of "cycling fitness," and under whichever discipline that you choose, would you say that there have been times where you've been more fit and times where you've been less fit?

morecommas

Comfort is the most important thing. Also, you don't want to push around too much of a lunker or you'll hate the training and be much less likely to do it again.