Anomaly 17
New member
I know that online "calories burned" calculators are just estimates, but here's what I don't get. If I ride my hybrid, my average speed is about 12.5 mph. Over 30 minutes (according to bicycling.com) at my weight, that's 286 calories burned. Now if I ride my brand new road bike, I average about 15, which is 357 calories burned when speed, duration, and weight are the variables used to calculate caloric expenditure.
So here's the part that makes no sense to me; when on my road bike, I am riding a much lighter, and faster bike, so with the same amount of energy as it takes to go slower on my hybrid, the online calculators claim I am burning more calories by riding faster, even though the workload is the same. But, on the hybrid, because I'm going slower, it will take me longer to go the same distance, so I am actually working for a longer period of time.
It seems to me that the bike itself should somehow be a variable in this equation, because it's more work to ride a heavier, slower bike, even if you are riding at a slower speed, so it seems to me that you should be burning just as many (if not more) energy than when you ride a faster bike.
Can someone with mathematical prowess explain to me why or why not these types of equations (basing caloric expenditure on the variable of weight, speed, and time) are even remotely accurate?
So here's the part that makes no sense to me; when on my road bike, I am riding a much lighter, and faster bike, so with the same amount of energy as it takes to go slower on my hybrid, the online calculators claim I am burning more calories by riding faster, even though the workload is the same. But, on the hybrid, because I'm going slower, it will take me longer to go the same distance, so I am actually working for a longer period of time.
It seems to me that the bike itself should somehow be a variable in this equation, because it's more work to ride a heavier, slower bike, even if you are riding at a slower speed, so it seems to me that you should be burning just as many (if not more) energy than when you ride a faster bike.
Can someone with mathematical prowess explain to me why or why not these types of equations (basing caloric expenditure on the variable of weight, speed, and time) are even remotely accurate?