One mountain bike mile equals how many road miles?

I know there are all sorts of factors, like the difference between zipping along a fire road and being on some slow, twisty singletrack, but on average what sort of factor would you multiply your typical off road mileage to get the equivalent road bike mileage?

I’d guess roughly two and a half, but no real idea to be honest.

And yes, I know the actual answer is more to do with the time spent riding rather than the distance, but still curious.

In terms of heart rate and calories burned in a given time, road riding to mountain biking in the peaks for me is around 6:1.

Id agree with close to that.

40mile mtb in the surrey hills = 100 mile ride rounds surrey/ sussex

Like you say, too many variables…do you freewheel much? How hard do you ride? How much climbing?

You might find a reasonable factor for you and your rides, beyond that it’s meaningless.

My mate always reckons it’s about 2 MTB = 3 road but I dunno. So many variables. To be honest even comparing road rides in different areas is difficult. People say you should easily be averaging 18mph on road but you need to be seriously fit to do that around north devon where you can easily clock 100 feet of climbing per mile ridden across the whole ride!

impossible to say i have done 40mile road rides and felt worse than after 60mile mtb rides, likewise i have done 135miles on the road bike and felt better than 20 on the mtb.

I did the kielder 100 in 11and a bit hours

I did the 104 mile Northern rock cyclone in just over 6.5 hours.

Was quite a bit fitter when I did kielder, so I think the 2 and a bit to 1 ratio is a reasonable baseline.

1 mile on road = 1km off road is often quoted. Seems about right to me. No way it’s 2.5 times. 40 MTB Surrey Hills miles is easier than 100 on the road in even vaguely similar terrain IMO.

I use the 1 mile on road = 1km off road approximation too. Depends a bit on where you’re riding and what the trail conditions are like but as a general average it seems about the right ballpark.

Much the same as a general estimate of climbing, I tend to work off 100ft per mile. Again, it’s not much use in the flatlands of Norfolk or the hillier bits of the Lakes but as a rough guide, it works well.

I did think it was an impossible question to answer, but was just curious as to roughly what it would be.

It’s not exactly the most crucial question in the world, but I’m trying to hit particular monthly targets, aiming towards some summer events, so was just curious. I don’t want to do all the miles on one particular bike, I like my variety too much.

They’re the same aren’t they? It’s nautical miles which are different. (1.15078 miles)

I usually go on 1 mile is the equivalent to 2 road miles in summer but in winter in the mud its 3.

This is based in how far I can ride in similar terrain in a certain time on my own and not slip streaming in a big group.

on the basis of average speed, I’d say 10 road = 7 off road

1=1 or pick another random ratio
.. It all depends on how hard you thrash yourself

surely this is rather pointless given there is no ‘average’ mtb or road bike ride?

road biking around Boston compared to the back roads passes of the lakes must be very different?
Same goes for fireroading (not mtbing imo) around thetford vs. doing laps of stainburns double black warren boulder trail?

Then work in factors of how muddy it is or how much headwind you’re working against and what bike setup you’re riding and it all becomes a mish mash?

no idea, but i know for a fact that a Feb14 off-road mile equals 0.125 road.

Hmm, I can rattle off a quick 30mile road ride with big climbs without thinking about it, but 20mile off-road on the mtb and I know about it. 50% of effort for road?

On Polaris trailquests we used to cover around 50 miles off road in about 6 hours of riding, whereas I would expect to be able to cover 100 road miles in 6 hours.

Wow you guys must be hyperfit. Ive never ridden over 27miles. Hyperfit to get to those figures or eternally single?! 😆

Better going off time and ignoring miles.

1 hour on road is the same as 1 hour on the MTB.

MTB obviously requires short term power, but road can be killer if you’re racing, in a chain gang or pushing yourself.

Either can be easy peasy if you just pootle along in the granny ring but I ride manly gears on the road.

I do approx. 20 road miles nearly every day, yesterday did the same distance over the Purbecks (very muddy), feeling a little sore today. Must be getting old!

1/2. MTBing tends to mean freewheeling, creeping round trip roots at walking pace or winching up hills at the same speed. The road means lungs out riding.

1 mile on road = 1km off road is often quoted. Seems about right to me. No way it’s 2.5 times. 40 MTB Surrey Hills miles is easier than 100 on the road in even vaguely similar terrain IMO.

or

1/2.

I’d agree for my local southern singletracks on a light rigid 29er but that ratio could be a long way out in N Wales, Scotland or the Lakes. It really depends on where you ride off-road. And the bike could be approaching twice the weight, big-mtn FS bike vs a weenie carbon race bike etc.

On the road I’m more interested in getting from a to b and back to a in the shortest amount of time but on the mtb I’m out to have fun and enjoy myself so can’t really compare the two. If I rode my trail bike like I ride my road I’d be done in after 20 miles I reckon but can just about manage a oner on the road so if I had to compare I’d say 5:1

One mile thru Mendip mud = 10,000 road miles.

Wow you guys must be hyperfit. Ive never ridden over 27miles. Hyperfit to get to those figures or eternally single?!

Seriously? 🙄

Ratio of 1:2-3 seems to work for me

I don’t do many offroad miles nowadays, but I will tell you one thing.

20 hilly miles is faster and easier than 20 flat miles.
god knows how.

summer 3:1, winter 6:1

winter 6:1

as in 10 mile on the road is 60 mile offroad?

are you pissed?

1:1 – a mile is a mile…if you want to get better, do more of them…

As others have said, it’s all about time and effort, not distance. I’ve done 80 mile off road days and felt fresher than some 30 mile off road days.

I’m struggling to comprehend the idea that the longest ride hora has done is 27 miles too!!

I’m struggling to comprehend the idea that the longest ride hora has done is 27 miles too!!

27miles is a lot of laps of a car park.