Mountain biking versus road cycling: Which is best for developing bike speed and strength?

With all questions of this nature, you just need to remember that the best training for a given activity is… doing that activity. So, if you’re looking to get faster over the tri bike leg, at the simplest level, the most effective training will be riding in as close to race set-up as possible.

What’s the difference between a road bike and a mountain bike?

However, in the real world, other factors can impact on adhering to specificity. Do you always want to be riding a race set-up? What about if it’s icy out? For me, I enjoy mountain biking; it improves my bike handling and confidence, etc. So, my advice is, especially in the off-season, as long as you’re cycling you’ll be helping to improve your bike speed and strength.

But as you move into the season, that’s when you need to start thinking about increasing specificity. You should be looking to mimic your racing in your training. With regards to position on the bike, wattage, cadence and the roads you ride on, the closer you match the demands of your target events, the better adapted to them you’ll be on race day.

How to turn your mountain bike into a road bike

What type of mountain bike is best for an off-road triathlon or duathlon?

Best mountain bike: how to choose the right one for you

Strength training for cycling: 6 key exercises

220 Triathlon Team Journalists, reviewers, coaches and athletes

About

The 220 Triathlon team is made up of vastly experienced athletes, sports journalists, kit reviewers and coaches. In short, what we don't know about multisport frankly isn't worth knowing! Saying that, we love expanding our sporting knowledge and increasing our expertise in this phenomenal sport.