Will I get fitter biking on-road or off-road?

We delve into the pros and cons of the different riding surfaces with the help of British Cycling cyclo-cross manager Matt Ellis

Gravel riding road riding UK
(Image credit: Future / Richard Butcher / Andy Jones)

Ride a bike, get fit, right? Simple as that. But when it comes to fitness, is on-road or off-road better? How does terrain affect gains? Not forgetting, of course, everybody's favourite hurt locker, the indoor trainer.

The road has long expanses of the black stuff, peppered with all sorts of gradients that allow you to put out measured efforts and readily rack up four or even six hours of riding with little let-up. These are the sorts of rides that road racers swear by.

But imagine that same four or six hours done off-road. Given the extra energy expended wrestling the bike across technical sections, or pounding up the kind of very short, steep, and technical inclines that you don't find on tarmac, would the output – the training load – be ramped up another level?

"There's loads of aspects… I think mixing it up is best," says British Cycling's cyclo-cross coordinator Matt Ellis.

"To get off onto trails, it's nicer, quieter, but you're getting a more general workout," he says. "You're working more parts of your body, if I'm working pretty hard… there's a lot of ups, there's a lot of downs, and it's a bit more interesting sometimes.

"There's a lot more of your senses you're using – your concentration and your skills, which is a big factor, but also you've got to press on," he says, pointing out that even a flat off-road surface tends to require more pedal power than a smooth tarmac one.

"On the road, a lot of the speed will come down to the equipment – you put on fancy wheels, you're going to go faster. Whereas off-road you put on fancy wheels, you're just going to make a nice noise, but you probably won't be much faster."

"If you're doing loads of off-road stuff, then there's a place for the indoor trainer, where you can replicate the speed and that real measured on-the-bike effort – there's probably a place for that from a coaching perspective."

It's also worth saying that specificity tends to be key – if you're training for a road race, you're probably going to want to err on the side of long, hard road rides. Even if road racing is and never will be your bag, if you're mainly riding off-road and you want to add a layer of speed, the road and even the indoor trainer is a great place to do that.

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After cutting his teeth on local and national newspapers, James began at Cycling Weekly as a sub-editor in 2000 when the current office was literally all fields.

Eventually becoming chief sub-editor, in 2016 he switched to the job of full-time writer, and covers news, racing and features.

He has worked at a variety of races, from the Classics to the Giro d'Italia – and this year will be his seventh Tour de France.

A lifelong cyclist and cycling fan, James's racing days (and most of his fitness) are now behind him. But he still rides regularly, both on the road and on the gravelly stuff.

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