[Closed] Mountain biking is better for your health and fitness than road

You may have a point but too many other variables...

- The work/rest/up/down/stop/start/HIIT nature of it

no

Fitness is a side-effect of me loving riding bikes rather than any sort of objective.

Cynic-al: Loads of other variables, absolutely loads, totally right. I'm dealing in generalisations here and think for the average person they will get better health benefits from mountain bike style riding than road.

Thomthumb: Well argued.

The roadies i know are way fitter than the MTB ers, god love you but roadies dont need baggies or carry pies on rides

MTB ers rest going downhill as well - pathetic

I find that road riding improves my fitness far more quickly than MTBing.

It's better for your health from the perspective that you don't have to avoid being runover

very obviously..

particularly mental health.. 😀

Altaz: Totally agree, but it's a nice side effect that adds to the experience. Especially nice if I enjoy MTBing more as well.

Taff: Another good point.

Yunki: Again a good point. I know some people like the "time to think" aspect of road cycling, but for me the more social aspect of MTB riding is far more beneficial to mental health and well being.

I guess it depends what you see as your ideals when it comes to health and fitness. If it's super low bodyfat, a skinny power to weight ratio body and a high VO2 max as the ideals of health and fitness then you have a point. I however don't, I prefer an more all-round fitness, skill development, and not having to mess around with my system and insulin levels by eating endless carbs.

I think for the average bloke out there this favours MTBing.

1) Road for fitness.
2) Off road for bike handling skills.

I think that I'm at the point where 2) is slowing me down on the trails. That and no suspension. I had no trouble dropping people on the inclines at Gorrick, implying that fitness derived from road riding is fine. Of course they caught me on the descents.

you only have to look at the ratio of corpulent to slim mtb'ers compared to roadies to see that your theory is wrong.

a lot of mtb'ers are carrying extra round the middle because of the stop-start pie-eating nature of a lot of the U.K. mtb scene.

Road riding for fitness, there's too much time spent not peddling on the mtb imo. Although the rough terrain of mountain bike is better for your long term bone health, I think.

HIT needs to be structured, not just ride up hill, ride down hill stuff.

hmanchester - Member

Compared to the steady state grinding of road cycling.

This is the key part.

Road riding is constant, no rests (unless you stop) and most of the time i'd say around 80% of maximum effort.

Having said that I see your point. More body movement on a MTB

I agree, I'm always amazed at how fat roadies are, and how slim and beautiful mtbers are....

Road riding is constant, no rests (unless you stop) and most of the time i'd say around 80% of maximum effort.

Er, no. Sprints for town signs, hills, flats, downhills, taking turns on the front vs hiding at the back etc etc.

Maybe people ride mountain bikes as it is fun and that is while there are all sorts of shapes and sizes. I go riding with some roadies and they are super fast on the flat and slight inclines so they are generally faster than me but on steep or technical climbs or downhill. I suppose on a mountain bike you do not really get any benefit on momentum on a lot of surfaces so I do not spin as much.

MTBing gives me more of an all-over body workout.
Road riding does more for my endurance, which improves my MTBing.

Generally.

Is what I find, anyway.

And of course any moving bike is going to work you core much more than an exercise bike... Even more so over rough terrain. I reckon given the same amount of pedal time MTB would be tougher on you than road riding, obviously in the real world roadies spend far longer in the saddle.

finbar - Member

Er, no. Sprints for town signs, hills, flats, downhills, taking turns on the front vs hiding at the back etc etc.

Ok, well more constant. With the above you are always putting in effort, all be it slight more in some cases. Guess what i was saying is that with MTB you often get rest periods.

I reckon given the same amount of pedal time MTB would be tougher on you than road riding

[i] I reckon given the same amount of pedal time MTB would be tougher on you than road riding[/i]

what does this even mean? 'pedal time'? does twiddling along in 22-32 for 2 mintes and pushing >400W in 53-11 for 2 minutes both = 2 minutes 'pedal time'?

what does this even mean?

that whoever wrote that has never really ridden a road bike at a reasonable speed for a few hours without stopping?

[i]that whoever wrote that has never really ridden a road bike at a reasonable speed for a few hours without stopping? [/i]
FAIL.

Suspect it depends on where and how you are riding. Quite a few chunky riders of both disciplines around 🙂

Put in the miles on intense routes in either and you get results.

I love both but prefer off road because of the health hazards associated with the Great British motorist!

If I have limited time, then I'll get fitter spending that time on my road bike than I will on my mtb - assuming that I'm going to use my mtb for riding off road - too much time coasting or not pedalling when mtbing. And if riding with mates, too much time stopping to chat 🙂

MTB ers rest going downhill as well - pathetic

If you're resting going downhill you're missing half the fun! Downhill done right is as physically demanding as uphill but with much more fun as a reward.

I reckon my road bike gets me fitter quicker than my mtb, but occasionally wonder about the car fumes I must be breathing in on the roads can't be doing me much good!

OP I guess my point is that most mtb'rs are pretty casual and most doing road alone are much less so.

I also know plenty of mtb'rs who are lazy ****ers and never work hard-22-34 makes this possible.

I use the road for my fitness and the weekend for bombing about enjoying the trails

My heart rate going down hill tends to be higher than the flat.

Fitness is a side-effect of me loving riding bikes rather than any sort of objective.

This.

MrSmith - Member

you only have to look at the ratio of corpulent to slim mtb'ers compared to roadies to see that your theory is wrong.

Self selection? MTBing is (I believe) more approachable for the non-athletic.

According to my consultant, there's also a very strong correlation between osteoperosis and road cycling- it's a very low impact activity in which you sometimes sweat a lot, for a long time, therefore reducing calcium levels. Whereas there's no reliable indication of a link with mountain biking (though that could be down to a lack of info)

Personally I ride despite the health benefits, but I could do without even brittler bones so that sounds like a good thing.

The point of that report is that 3 minutes intense exercise is better than nothing so don't think you can apply that to compare road vs MTB.

IME road biking is more consistent so you effectively get a longer / bigger workout for a given amount of time.

No body told me while mt biking you were supposed to stop and eat pies.

They are different sports. Haven't we all been out with the supposedly super fit roadies who aren't experienced mountain bikers only to find them busted and floundering on a moderately challenging ride? I have.

Furthermore I've been going out on night rides (mtb) with a few roadies this winter, the first time for them and they are reporting huge improvements in climbing strength when they get back on the road bike, something echoed by their clubmates who are left trailing behind them.

Riding on the road will improve your cardiovascular fitness for spinning a big gear at a high cadence for a long time. This will have a beneficial effect on aspects of mountain biking which require you to do the same. Mountainbiking is a much more dynamic sport which requires a more general type of fitness.

There are plenty of fat roadies out there too, but in general i would say if you take body fat percentage, lung capacity and heart rate as indicators of fitness then the majority of them will conform to what people regard as fit. In the same way as you would marathon runners I suppose. Neither of whom would last very long in the boxing ring though, when subjected to that type of endurance. Horses for courses etc

super fit?
[img]

If I have limited time, then I'll get fitter spending that time on my road bike than I will on my mtb - assuming that I'm going to use my mtb for riding off road - too much time coasting or not pedalling when mtbing. And if riding with mates, too much time stopping to chat

Exactly my experience too. I had a great MTB ride with mates at the weekend. It was social, it was fun and in places required some skillz. However I didn't feel very exercised at the end of it. Had I spent the same time on my road bike I won't have had as much fun but would have covered 3 or 4 times the distance and been properly knackered.

Find much better fitness benefits from MTBing than road cycling but this could be a commitment/enjoyment/willingness thing. Griding out the miles is exactly how it feels at times on a road bike...

The roadies i know are way fitter than the MTB ers, god love you but roadies dont need baggies or carry pies on rides

MTB ers rest going downhill as well - pathetic

+1 to this.

I like riding my mountain bike but I like riding my road bike too, which is better?

There's only one way to find out...

The fact that MTBers arn't lycra clad ponces that eat the odd pie on a trail is partly why I like the sport.

Mountain biking is just better.

my experience is that roadies are fitter and stronger, but i find if i spend a lot of time on the road i lack a little kick, by this I mean that when riding off road, because of the nature of trails, twisty, short climbs etc, i need to apply a lot of power but only for a very short burst. On the road i don't apply as much power as frequently, but the average on the road is i suspect higher because the riding is more steady state.

Mountain biking is better for your health and fitness because of:

Depends if you're talking about a average punter or an already fit bloke?

I would have pointed new riders in the way of MTB for general fitness and good health. However since running this club I've seen lots of newcomers to cycling ditch their MTBs in favour of road bikes. The new riders fitness since turning to road comes on in leaps and bounds. Though when I've looked into it I've found the reasons are simple.
1) They won't ride MTBs in the winter months due to the quagmire.
2) They've often needed to factor in a drive to the start, so no car for the missus.
3) They simply don't know the best places to ride off road.
4) The bikes they've bought have fallen apart or they can't/wont keep up with the maintenance.
So now I'd recommend one of the many road clubs that pop up now.

For the already fit. It depends what you put in, but I'd say road. I'd say I'm fitter and faster than a lot of my MTBing mates but I can and do get left behind by non fitness related skills.

Furthermore I've been going out on night rides (mtb) with a few roadies this winter, the first time for them and they are reporting huge improvements in climbing strength when they get back on the road bike, something echoed by their clubmates who are left trailing behind them.

Sorry but this made me almost shout out aloud 'utter tripe' totally without doubt the other way around. Unless you mean someone who has just bought a road bike rather than a roadie or roadman

Although I managed just fine without it for a few months, I did notice a big improvement in my fitness and weight loss when I started riding road again.

I suspect that most top level MTBers train on the road to get their aerobic fitness and stamina, because it is easier to control pace on a road ride to train whatever system you're working on. There are no top level MTBers that don't train on the road, equally there are none that don't spend a lot of time on their skills as well.

When it comes to us mortals, and the type of fitness we are talking about I think road biking is better for fitness than MTB'ing less because of the above, and more because of the way our disciplines are culturally. I had a road bike a few years back and joined a local club, and rides with them tended to be about 4 hours with a 20 odd minute cafe stop half way; the rest was pretty well on the move and while not a chain gang bowled along at a reasonable lick stopping only when there was a big split in the group. For most of the rest of the time the route was well known and even if we got split the front would sit up a bit while they regrouped but you wouldn't stop.

Whereas a club MTB ride culturally will be shorter (2-3 hours vs 4), will have frequent stops to catch your breath and admire shiny bits, and then move off when everyone's ready. If MTB runs were organised with the same culture as the road rides, I doubt at our level there would be much if any difference.

It's all riding bikes at the end of the day...

But what's the injury rate MTB vs Road? Utility vs Leisure etc? Judging by numerous questions asked and answers logged by paramedics / nurses after accidents there must be reams of statistics? And how many get referred for physiotherapy (or similar) by their GP for each division of the sport?

I upped my mtb rides on 2011 to 3x per week to train for events.

I bought a road bike in October, and since the have ridden that twice per week on that and once p/w mtb. I can confirm I am fitter in a cardio way, and have better ability to spin the bigger gears at pace (on bridleway/hills for example) than I had before on the mtb.

I'd say road riding has enabled my to improve my pace over smoother ground, as well as giving me a cardio boost.

Love both - but came to mtb (properly) from road (via triathlon). FWIW - I find its easier to max out on a mtb (climbing) than road (probably due to nature of the terrain) but feel a much better endurance effect on the road. I guess, outside racing, one tends to stop more on a mtb.

Tend to go for 2-3 hour sessions on both and overall more tired at the end of a road, but will have had a much steadier workout (eg less HR variability).

The one thing I noticed though, is that you miss the periods of relaxation on a mtb. I did an event this week on mtb and put my bento box on with some jelly babies and kendal mint cake in it. On a Half IM or road cycle, there are plenty of opportunities to relax on the aero bars and have a quick nibble while still keeping up good pace. IMO, this is much harder on a mtb when racing - no time to have a quick breather on the bars. I tried to adopt a semi-aero position once, relaxing on the handlebars but it felt too unstable!!

Agree with krypton on the point about improving pace on smoother ground (BTW - how was the 50k? Were you the very fit guy on anthem who flew past me on the muddy approach to w'fold?)

The fact that MTBers arn't lycra clad ponces that eat the odd pie on a trail is partly why I like the sport.

O RLY?

[img] [/img]

The work/rest/up/down/stop/start/HIIT nature of it

Well it's good to see the lack of understanding of what HIIT really is has started already.

I think that MTB is better for your health simply down to the breathing in polution factor of road riding.

Roads = Cars = polution = health problems = death 😀

Haven't bothered to read this thread so if any one else has pointed this out 😐

Carry on bag swingers, that is all I have to say about that 😯

Well it's good to see the lack of understanding of what HIIT really is has started already.

Started? Have you seen the crap posted by some on other related threads?

bwaarp - Member
The fact that MTBers arn't lycra clad ponces that eat the odd pie on a trail is partly why I like the sport.

If you're eating pies on the trails it's biking as a hobby rather than a sport, nothing wrong in that it's all fun 😉

Its all good. Though I would point out that roadmen are often grafters and blue collared workers who have cycled all of their lives. Particularly the older cyclist. Some of the smut that comes from their mouths is so funny its untrue. I would say don't judge before you meet these people. Whilst riding along at 18 mph average with coffin dodgers I have had some of the best laughs of my life. I do have fun on mountain bike rides too and love both sports I think the level of fitness is kind of irrelevant. You get out what you put in cliche but true.

While I can sort of see your point OP (and you did state it was a general one) I have to say it's probably more down to the individual (IMO), that is to say I probably push myslef as hard on my road bike (When I bother to ride it these days) as I do on my MTBs...

The difference though is often the nature of the work you have to do.
Looking at the extremes (as I see them) pedaling my DH bike any distance is far more effort than my Road bike obviously, so generally I don't pedal the DH bike as far.
The majority of the effort goes into muscling the DH bike about on technical terrain, the Road bike is all about efficient coverage of miles on roads, So I suppose for every 10-15 miles covered on a DH bike my road bike is probably doing 80ish as a rough equivalent of rider work, the XC bike and SS MTB are probably somewhere between these 2 extremes, (it might be interesting for someone to give us comparative estimates of Joules expended per mile covered for a DH bike Vs a Road bike maybe?)...

In short a lazy person (like me) will put in about the same amount of work whether they are on an MTB or a Road bike, they'll just cover more ground on the Road bike as it's a more efficient mile muncher...

Yes there are more "MAMIL"s about these days, pot bellied 40-50 somethings, pearched atop Carbon ego chariots, and they may well have taken up road bikes over MTBs as it's easier to manage a steady-ish output of effort/energy Vs the rather more peak/trough nature of a long XC ride, plus the more miles you cover the more it feels like an achievement, where as being bolloxed after 30 miles of being beaten up on an MTB could easily demoralise someone just getting back into cycling...
Do MTBs offer a "Better" workout? Nah, just a slightly less efficient bike which knackers you quicker...

Of course what all of this ignores is what actually motivates people, first of all to take up cycling, and secondly which discipline attracts them the most; Some Roadies won't have the slightest interest in MTBs, some MTBers won't care a jot about Road bikes, others (like me) will have a personal bias towards a certain type of riding (MTBs), but can still take a certain interest in other types of bike and riding, and that's fine too...

If you're eating pies on the trails it's biking as a hobby rather than a sport, nothing wrong in that it's all fun

so is that 'proper' biking or not? 😉

FWIW, back in my days of being fit, we'd do silly long mtb rides that'd have broken most people and took nice food with us - eg pies, etc rather than 'racing food' - or stopped off for pub lunches because it was more fun and enjoyable that way. Come to think of it, one of the guys also used to smoke some special stuff around midway too. He was probably the quickest of us all.

Maybe we were only hobbyists though...

Road riding is way better for fitness but it is unbelievably boring, and you have to put yourself at the mercy of poorly surfaced roads and inconsiderate/ unobservant road users.

The only thing better about road riding is it gets you to places quicker.

Road riding is way better for fitness

that is just wrong - if you push yourself and ride with the same type of relentless effort on the mtb as you would on a road bike, then I can't see what the difference would be - except that you get some interval work on the mtb, you are not getting bored, you are not exposing yourself to the dangers of sharing the route with cars - fumes and possible collisions.

The trouble is that you need to be at a good level of fitness to be able to push yourself like this on a mtb.

In short a lazy person (like me) will put in about the same amount of work whether they are on an MTB or a Road bike

I don't really find this is the case. On a MTB I'm happy to go at a slower pace on flat/uphill bits whereas on a road bike the lack of drag and weight makes you want to push harder and go for longer. imo.

I struggle with long sentences - has anyone defined what fitness is?

I guess you would have to define health or fitness.

If your purely looking at VO2 max, watts out put and so on then i suspect road riding would come out on top for most people.

Of cause the avbove is not the only factor when considering health. Research has shown poor bone density in roadies compared to other sports people (bone density in roadies was about same as sedentary individuals who sat on there backside all day) however with mountain biking, due to impact bone density can increase. so roadies not so good on that one.

could add many more points that would in fact favor mountain biking for health benefits but need to go.

I suspect most people on this thread are thinking that mountain biking is far removed from road biking....

Physiologically they are very, very similar and certainly in terms of their relative effect on bone density. Both are non weight bearing exercise; apart from the chubby lads pushing uphill...

that is just wrong - if you push yourself and ride with the same type of relentless effort on the mtb as you would on a road bike, then I can't see what the difference would be

I doubt you can find many mtb routes where you can put out a continuous 2-300 watts, because of climbs, corners, descents, roots, etc, whereas on the road you can actually put out a continuous power for a protracted period. My route to work has two sections of about 5miles where i don't have to give way to traffic, think about sharp corners, cope with anything more than undulations, etc, try and find a similar route anywhere in the south of england off road that matches that.

Off road you might put out far more power for an instant on a short climb, but then you'll put out far less traversing some roots a moment later.

...and all the 'upper body work' that mountain biking seems to involve, please...

DH racing, yes definitely, but the old stereotypical IT manager fannying about in the woods while chatting about which car to buy next, or which coffee machine, or what set of Japanese knives to slice that chorizo, no, give over ladies.

I doubt you can find many mtb routes where you can put out a continuous 2-300 watts, because of climbs, corners, descents, roots, etc, whereas on the road you can actually put out a continuous power for a protracted period.

This...

Shame. Could have been an interesting thread.

Well it's good to see the lack of understanding of what HIIT really is has started already.

Why don't you keep your cynicism to yourself and share your wealth of knowledge with us then? 🙄

In the same way I find it utterly pointless to state that pie eating and chatting casual mountain bikers are less fit than your average roadie. Would you ride on the road just for fun? Or is road riding by the nature of it (focus on fitness rather than fun) attracting on average more fitness orientated riders than mountain-biking?! Think about it before telling the world that road riding is better for your fitness than mountain biking. Please!

Those chatty pie eaters enjoy themselves and do it for fun. Fitness is probably not even secondary for them. Similar - by the way - to the pot bellied cappuccino drinking stop-over at the next cafe and the cafe after that experts amongst roadies.

The only thing that I'd like to add to this thread is that cycling as such is unhealthy in terms of locking you in more or less the same position for a long time and using only certain muscles. By the nature of it mountain biking is not that bad in this respect. But any cyclist interested in fitness and/or health should do some stretching after cycling and some ((core)strength) exercises to counter-act the one-sidedness of cycling.

What made me fitter in the recent month:
- riding with roadies off-road because - yes - they stop and chat less and have on average a higher pace (but they choose rather boring routes, while I can totally second the blue collar humour aspect!!!)
- riding on a singlespeed because it makes you ride in attack mode more often and is much more of a work-out for your upper-body

Sorry but this made me almost shout out aloud 'utter tripe' totally without doubt the other way around.

Sorry, but are you by any chance from the Edwardian era?

Unless you mean someone who has just bought a road bike rather than a roadie or roadman

No, I meant roadies, experienced ones. Mere mortals mind you....I mean you do realise that people can own and use a road bike and not be elite athletes? Despite the fact that you assert (as if you know) that it is "totally without doubt the other way" consider for a second someone who has always trained in a certain way, around a typical club ride structure. Perhaps they have plateaued in their training. So they buy a mountain bike for winter training to spice up their usual regimen.

They are now going out in conditions that you wouldn't dream of taking a road bike out in, they are sprinting up many short, steep (much steeper than any road) intense climbs on a heavier bike. I fail to see how this could not have a beneficial effect.

People are individuals and anyone claiming to know everything about all of them is frankly an ass.

I'm not familiar with this term roadman though, presumably it's some sort of masculinised version of a roadie? rides in dungarees and wellies? has a beard? and maybe keeps stout in his water bottle?

You then, as you assert that these guys who have been out on night rides have become far better climbers.
Never have I heard reports back to the same in all my years.
Most the roadies i ride and race with have been using mtbs during the winter since the eighties, and before that back into the seventies on crossers.
What are conditions that you wouldn't dream of? they were turning up for club runs in the snow a few weeks back.
Every roadie I know from 1st cat to national and world champions have said that MTBing scrubs there speed off.
As for the hills, yes some off road ones are steep. but road one can be to and can be ridden far harder.
I stand by my comments, and that the cyclist that are getting faster on the road from MTBing still have a long way to go.

I did try to edit. I wanted to say that your post seems to imply that have an issue with roadies?
Words like 'supposedly fit' 'busted and floundering' Statements like 'huge' improvements after just one winter of 'night' rides, and leaving clubmates trailing behind.
Big gears at a high cadence?????
And the reference to not lasting long in the ring, has undertones. Though Naseem Hamed seems to do okay for a 8 3/4 stone guy.
And the picture, why the question mark? he does look fit and seems to have been given number 1.
?
Correct me if I'm wrong.

Every roadie I know from 1st cat to national and world champions have said that MTBing scrubs there speed off.

but

Most the roadies i ride and race with have been using mtbs during the winter since the eighties, and before that back into the seventies on crossers.

So let me get this straight. Every roadie you know said mtbing scrubs speed off. And yet most roadies you ride with, ride mtb during the winter and have done for 20+ years. And yet you maintain that mountain biking is of no benefit to roadies and you are incredulous when I say that the roadies I know; who haven't EVER mtb'd are seeing improvements from it?. You surely have confused the sh*t out of me there if not yourself.

And the reference to not lasting long in the ring, has undertones. Though Naseem Hamed seems to do okay for a 8 3/4 stone guy.

Hamed is 5ft 4. And you can assume that when he was in his prime his walking weight was probably much closer to 10 stone when not training for a fight, so a pretty powerful individual for his size. The undertone as you put it, or what i was implying by the ring comment is that the fittest cyclist is only fit for one thing - cycling. As fit as they are in that discipline it is an illusory concept to an extent as there is little real world application, or even another sporting application for that. The term or cliche "fighting fit" exists for a reason and anyone with combat sports experience will tell you it's because they are far more demanding in far more ways than most other sports and hence require a much broader type of fitness and strength. Since the thread was about fitness, and no one had bothered to really quantify it, I thought it was worth pointing out that there can be more to being fit than outright cardiovascular endurance at a given action.

People get sucked into a debate about cardiovascular endurance when really, it's only a piece of a puzzle. Not the whole puzzle. As I said earlier, I've been out on the mtb with supposedly very fit roadies only to find them floundering. They simply weren't used exerting themselves in the way mountainbiking forces you too, moving around the bike, getting beaten up by the trail...they are very different to sitting and spinning. These "athletes" even struggled when it came to pushing their bikes up trails. Overspecialize and you breed in weakness.

And the picture, why the question mark? he does look fit and seems to have been given number 1.
?

He is a she.

Firstly

He is a she

An old ex pro roadie actually said to me this winter half jokingly 'all roadies ride mountainbikes over winter' It's more of a off season thing, a bit of variety or like you say spice. And more to help maintain fitness than gain it.
From personal experience I can say that I've been able to do well in the odd xc race during a busy road season, but I would never do well at all in a road race if I were in a busy XC/enduro year.
However I still disagree with you in 'general' about MTBing improving roadies climbing, it is after all the one area in which roadies do pretty well in...the going up bit.

Roadman is just an older reference to racing cyclist i.e roadman, trackman, tester.

This bit is the total opposite of my experience with road cyclists.

People get sucked into a debate about cardiovascular endurance when really, it's only a piece of a puzzle. Not the whole puzzle. As I said earlier, I've been out on the mtb with supposedly very fit roadies only to find them floundering. They simply weren't used exerting themselves in the way mountainbiking forces you too, moving around the bike, getting beaten up by the trail...they are very different to sitting and spinning. These "athletes" even struggled when it came to pushing their bikes up trails. Overspecialize and you breed in weakness.

However I still disagree with you in 'general' about MTBing improving roadies climbing, it is after all the one area in which roadies do pretty well in...the going up bit.

That's okay. Your differing perception I am putting down to the fact that you seem to know many elite road riders, whereas I know many average/enthusiast roadies, many of whom see climbing as a black art and certainly hold a consensus view that mtb'ers who ride road are relatively speaking, beastly climbers.

Sure, I highly doubt that cross training on a mountainbike is going to be of benefit to a hillclimber on a grand tour on his roadbike, there would be something wrong there if it did, but I was never alluding to people of that calibre to begin with.

I maintain though that a lot of roadies are initially at least, very much out of their physical comfort zone once off road, and whilst we are so fond of generalizing about body types...thin svelte little roadies and bearded pie munching mtbers I have observed that a lot of high level road riders tend to conform to a quite a slim, long limbed, narrow shouldered body type whilst high level mtb riders are on the whole a stockier broader bunch, probably better suited to their respective sports.

When I see the word roadie mentioned I automatically assume it refers to racing cyclists. I stubbornly refuse to accept that now applies to anyone out riding a road bike, so adopt 70s speak i.e roadman.

There is a substantial difference between overall health and having a high degree of fitness optimisation for a specialised sport. If a pro MTBer (DH or XC) is as well trained as a pro roadie I'd expect them to have better general health than the roadie (particularly the DHer). However that advantage in being less extremely optimised is offset by the higher probability of having suffered bad injuries...

whilst high level mtb riders are on the whole a stockier broader bunch, probably better suited to their respective sports.

DH perhaps, but XC racers are similar to roadies, hence so many successfully making the transition.

Interesting point on whether DH racers are 'healthier' than pro-roadies. Probably something in that, they're not making the same demands of their bodies. Not that sure they're more susceptible to serious injury though, plenty of nasty things going on on the road. More likely to die too.

There's a lot of good reading here about the vast difference between roadie fitness and MTB fitness:

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MTB Strength Training Systems – Ride Harder, Ride Faster, Ride Stronger

As he says, there's a difference between training as a professional to win events because that's how you make a living and what your life is about, and training as an amateur who wants to enjoy their riding, do their best in any races they may enter and remain fit and healthy rather than be plagued with the muscular imbalances and overuse injuries that afflict most pro athletes.

whilst high level mtb riders are on the whole a stockier broader bunch, probably better suited to their respective sports.

DH perhaps, but XC racers are similar to roadies, hence so many successfully making the transition.

Interesting point on whether DH racers are 'healthier' than pro-roadies. Probably something in that, they're not making the same demands of their bodies. Not that sure they're more susceptible to serious injury though, plenty of nasty things going on on the road. More likely to die too.

I'm not sure "healthier" is the issue,
I think there's a general missunderstanding of what DH Riding/Racing actually involves amongst STWers (and in some cases it seems a real dislike for DH) , just an impression I have formed from reading some recent posts on this and other threads...
I'm not sure the difference is so much demand level, but that they are just very different applications...

The majority of fast DH racers (In my personal experience is mostly of amatures) are not so "Stocky" in build, they are often relatively skinney, perhaps with a bit more muscle in their forearms and/or calves...
Muscle of course is heavy and carrying excess in any area just means more mass to accelerate, decellerate and manouver through corners and over obstical, thus wasting more effort, in the same way that a roadie won't want a bulky bike or body the same is quite true for a DHer...

Of course the way in which DH riders apply their fitness is totally different, the actual physical application is probably more akin to Sking perhaps (IMO); Primarily the rider is having to hold a series of "stress positions" but still maintaining some compliance in their arms and legs, they need to move about on the bike while holding their weight up, I'd say this means a level of sustained stress within certain muscle groups, coupled with a requirement for more suppleness in others, that isn't seen to the same degree in either Road or even XC racing perhaps?

Pedaling obviously forms a part of the activity in DH, but it's more of an equal component alongside the stresses and fatigue that posture, handling and absorbing impacts to the bike place upon the rider, you could argue that proportianately it is a less critical task than on a road bike...

Of course I don't think you can claim that a DH rider expends the same amount of energy in a ~4 minute race run that a roadie might over a ~4 hour race, I'm not sure that is humanly possible.
But then that one Race run won't be the only one he/she has had to do, tot up all the expended effort over the course of practice, qualifying and of course that final race run and I think you could say that the event in its totality places a similar level of physical demand on the riders fitness, but does so by rather different mechanisms in shorter higher intensity bursts over a longer period...

As for injury, again the mechanisms by both types of rider typically become injured vary significantly, thats is a whole different debate, personally I believe that Road riding is marginally more dangerous and the risk of straining or pulling muscles critical to the sport seems higher... IMO...