Are you overweight and having a hard time dropping the pounds? Stop worrying about which type of bike is best for your weight loss efforts and read on.
All you need is the bare minimum: a bike that you can ride comfortably (even if it’s a stationary one), coupled with the desire to get fit.
You also need to accept that you may need to increase your cycling skills and hone your kitchen expertise to lose weight.
It may sound too simple, but honestly, that’s all you need.
Let’s take it step by step and tackle what kind of bike you should be looking at.
Table of Contents
- 1 Which type of bike is best? It depends
- 2 Road bikes in the spotlight
- 3 Which type of bike is best for offroad or badly-paved roads? Mountain bikes
- 4 Which type of bike is best for riding around the city or commuting? Hybrid bikes
- 5 Which type of bike is best for shorter, slower and relaxed rides? Cruiser bicycles
Which type of bike is best? It depends
There are different types of bikes. The type of bike will determine what riding experience you will have.
Roadway bikes deal with different terrains compared to mountain bikes, which handle differently than hybrids.
Although you can use any bike while following a cycling training program for weight loss, knowing what you’re riding will help you get the most from your workouts.
Tip: Be sure to check out our complete buying guide about top-rated bikes for heavy people.
Road bikes in the spotlight
Road bike characteristics
As the name indicates, road bikes are specially built to ride on hard surfaces such as pavements.
Road bikes are built for speed on well-paved roads.
They are usually built for speed (i.e., racing), so a typical road bike will have curved “drop” handlebars.
These allow you to take a low aerodynamic position, and slim tires that decrease the amount of tire resistance on the road.
Bikes in this classification range from $600 to $16,000 (honestly).
They range from featherweight professional racing bikes to sturdy exploring bikes that can carry racks and packs.
Out on a road bike
A road bike is quick, effective, responsive, and it will likely offer you the most speed for your pedal power out of all the bikes we’re talking about here.
They are famously simple to navigate, which will allow you to concentrate more on your surroundings.
If you’re relatively inexperienced, you might feel a little nervous given the quick reaction and narrowness of the tires.
The more you ride, the more confident you’ll become.
How to lose weight on a road bike
Road bikes are terrific for losing weight because they are ideal for long rides, climbing hills, and fast, tough pedaling.
If you’re using a road bike for weight loss exercise, pay attention to all the skills involving shifting, braking, cornering, and pedaling.
You’ll be using them a lot, and the more used to get to them, the more fun you’ll have and the fitter you’ll become.
We must point out that if you’re looking for a bike with a comfortable saddle for big bottoms, then a road bike is not your best option.
Which type of bike is best for offroad or badly-paved roads? Mountain bikes
Characteristics of a mountain bike
Mountain bicycles are developed to perform best where the pathway ends.
You’ll find they have big, knobby tires and usually boast some sort of suspension system (shock absorbers in the front and/or the rear).
These will help you tackle rough surfaces with relative ease.
Mountain bikes have flat handlebars that place the rider in a more upright position than the bent-forward one of a road bike.
Their prices can vary from a few hundred dollars for newbies to thousands of dollars for the more experienced.
Unless you’re going to be doing extreme off-road mountain biking, a lower-priced model will suffice.
Feeling on a mountain bike
Riding a mountain bike feels steady and fun, and these sturdy models will make you feel as though you can ride over anything.
Curbs and holes and roots and rocks? Not a problem.
While mountain bikes do not travel as quickly and smoothly on asphalt as road bikes, they are still pretty quick and highly flexible.
How to lose weight on a mountain bike
The good part about using a mtb for a biking program in order to enjoy the health benefits of cycling? You have many places to choose where to ride.
You may feel too self-conscious to ride in the street in front of people (as you may fear rejection and being judged by others).
And a mountain bike will allow you to ride on a bridle path or among nature with fewer people around.
Many biking training programs aren’t conducive to hard-core mountain cycling, so you must ensure that you are conversant with the relevant skills.
Relevant skills are shifting, pedaling, braking, and tackling higher elevation levels, all of which will help you get the most out of your ride.
Which type of bike is best for riding around the city or commuting? Hybrid bikes
Characteristics of hybrid bikes
A hybrid bike looks like the sort of bike you’d have drawn as a kid.
They typically place the rider in a somewhat upright position and have flat bars.
They have medium-width tires that move smoothly and quickly on pavements and are broad enough to offer stability on gravel courses and bumpy dirt roadways.
Their prices tend to be middle of the road (if you’ll excuse the pun), ranging from $375 to $1,350, depending on the quality of your choice.
Feeling on a hybrid bike
A hybrid bike promotes a vigorous albeit comfortable ride. Speed demons they are not, but you’ll still get a good pace out of them.
These bikes often inspire confidence in newbies. The riding position is less racy than a standard road bike.
And since they don’t have a suspension, they tend to be less complicated to ride than a proper mountain bike.
How to lose weight on a hybrid bike
Can you lose belly fat by riding a bike? Yes! Tip: Use a hybrid bike as it is a great weight-loss tool. You can ride it easily pretty much anywhere.
Whether you’re cruising down your neighborhood or tackling smooth motorcycle trails…
They are also great for traveling and running errands.
You can follow all sorts of cycling programs and workouts on your hybrid bike!
Calorie and fat burning on this type of bike seem like a walk in the park.
Just as you would do with road and mountain bikes, make sure that you get the most out of your hybrid bike.
You can do this by improving at shifting, pedaling, braking, and cycling to higher grounds.
Which type of bike is best for shorter, slower and relaxed rides? Cruiser bicycles
Characteristics of a beach cruiser bicycle
A cruiser bike, or a beach cruiser, is a bike that combines balloon tires, an upright seating posture, a single-speed drivetrain, and a simple steel build with expressive styling.
It’s not unusual to see someone on these bikes sipping a (skinny and hold the sugar) latte while cruising down the road.
They are easily discernible by their broad seats and high handlebars, which put the rider upright.
They tend to have large tires for excellent stability and are usually heavier than other bikes.
Feeling on a cruiser bike (Which type of bike is best?)
Riding a cruiser bike feels stable and straightforward.
As the name implies, they are not designed to sprint to the finish line or take on technical trails.
Simply put, cruiser bikes are great to cruise and you can enjoy a somewhat more leisurely experience with them.
They tend to be extremely basic, frequently having fewer gears than other bikes. All you have to do is get on and go.
How to lose weight on a cruiser bicycle
You can do bike weight reduction exercises on your beach cruiser (as an add-on to your torso strengthening exercise sessions at the beach, for example).
Still, it’s only fair to point out it will be trickier than it would be on one of the other bike types already mentioned.
Remember that a cruiser is developed chiefly for pleasant pedaling on flat ground.
Cruiser bicycles don’t have the geometry, tailoring, or saddle position that lets you adjust quickly to steep descents or climb up to higher ground.
If you want to lose weight by using a cruiser bike, you will probably need to put more thought into your cycling workouts, specifically in terms of terrain.
Avoid extremely high hills; you’ll have fewer gears to experiment with, and your general pedaling cadence will likely be slower.
Instead, we suggest that you concentrate on flat terrain training sessions.