biking vs. unicycling

It's two different workouts. For an accurate answer, you have to define
"stronger."

--
johnfoss - The wilder Wilder

John Foss, the Uni-Cyclone
"jfoss" at "unicycling.com" -- www.unicycling.com

"Read the rules!" -- 'IUF Rulebook'
(http://www.unicycling.org/iuf/rulebook/) -- 'USA Rulebook'
(http://www.unicycling.org/usa/competition/)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
johnfoss's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/832
View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/41046

Quoted message said:

For an accurate answer, you have to define "stronger."

Being able to do more squats with more weight for longer time.

--
Unicyclist of Oz - Level 5 Unicyclist

"-Hello. How are you?
-No cucumber."
--My dumb brother talking to a Subway employee
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Unicyclist of Oz's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/9862
View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/41046

Probably bicycling. You can gear it up and really use some muscle.
Unicycles, however, are going to be better at developing your core
strength and fast-twich muscles.

--
mscalisi - Not such a newbie anymore
------------------------------------------------------------------------
mscalisi's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/4961
View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/41046

My uneducated guess would be that the bike will be better for this. In
general, a bike has longer cranks and you pedal slower. This is similar
to the type of work involved in high-weight squats.

Riding a unicycle is more aerobic, with your feet generally making a
smaller circle, which means a smaller range of leg motion.

A bike also works your upper body differently from a unicycle, though
exactly how different depends on whether you hold a handle, handlebar,
etc.

--
johnfoss - The wilder Wilder

John Foss, the Uni-Cyclone
"jfoss" at "unicycling.com" -- www.unicycling.com

"Read the rules!" -- 'IUF Rulebook'
(http://www.unicycling.org/iuf/rulebook/) -- 'USA Rulebook'
(http://www.unicycling.org/usa/competition/)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
johnfoss's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/832
View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/41046

I'd have to say unicycling -- specifically muni -- will make you
stronger...per your definition. I have a reasonably extensive bicycling
background, and when I began muni, especially as I learned uphill
riding, my quads would get sore. Seemed weird given how much biking I
did, but that's what happened. Now, with doing more muni, my quads
don't hurt anymore, but my wife comments on my quads having much better
definition. I've also noticed that on the bike, major hills are now
easier.

Net, I'd conclude muni strengthened my quads more than just biking. I'm
not sure whether less intense unicycling would do the same or not.

My $.02.

Jerry

--
jpcycler - Always learning
------------------------------------------------------------------------
jpcycler's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/936
View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/41046

Unicyclist of Oz said:

*This question has been bugging me for a while; If you unicycle for
one hour, would you get stronger than if you bike for one hour, or
does biking make you stronger? I would guess unicycling because you
have to pedal consantly. Thanks. *

I would expect, given an identical course, that unicycling would build
more muscle than bicycling. On the unicycle you are always doing more
work; with every pedal revolution you have to correct your wobble, which
takes muscles which never get used on the bike.

--
tholub - Kinetic Sculptor
------------------------------------------------------------------------
tholub's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/804
View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/41046

his question was over an hour though.

i guess an hour up hill climbs on a uni would do better than an hour of
hill climbing on a bike, as hill climbs on a unicycle are essentially
squats.

i say ride uni for core strength/ab workout. and ride bike for areobic
to keep fat down. go squats to actually gain serious strength. or at
least the ability to do more squats.

--
markf - movie nerd

stuck in iowa and unemployed.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
markf's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/8102
View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/41046

When you bike, if your doing it right, you spin almost as fast on on a
uni but you use you calves as well because you circle pedal and pull up.
You can't do that on a Uni so it's pretty much pure quad, which would
help you do squats.

HOWEVER, making your legs pure quad is a great way to badly pull your
hamstrings or destroy your knees.

I'd bet idling with alternating feet would be the best thing for squats.

--
Seager - that one guy who does that stuff

'Team RoadShow' (http://www.teamroadshow.com)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Seager's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/8840
View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/41046

if your goal is to get more fit, and that's what you have in mind before
heading out, either activity will probably be pretty equal if you go out
and ride to specifically utilize each sports' 'toughest' parts.

Sure climbing up a hill is a better workout than on a bike...unless you
do 6 rotaions up the hill and UPD where the bike would continue to climb
(exerting far more leg work for a much longer time)

MUni'ing is too easy to get into a rythm sometimes and your heart rate
slows right down even though your cruising speed is still quite fast. A
bicycle's gears, while designed to help out the cyclist, can be used to
specifically have the ability to make the cyclist wrok much harder than
he needs to be.

They each have their pros and cons, it's all in how you go out and ride
them.

--
Brian MacKenzie - LAN Solo

'TRAINING WHEEL NOT REQUIRED DVD - NOW AVAILABLE!'
(HTTP://WWW.LBMMULTIMEDIA.COM)

'ps. just watched TWNR, the UW36 on the stairs broke my brain' - markf

'Unicycle Product Reviews'
(http://londonunicyclingclub.ca/unicycleReviews.aspx)
*120* reviews on *77* products, never make an uninformed purchase again!

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Brian MacKenzie's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/7650
View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/41046

Biking definitely- you can gear yourself to the terrain, whereas a
unicycle tends to be undergeared, and you pedal faster and shorter
circles.

On the other hand MUni may be more tiring than MTBking- probably has
more to do with having no suspension and making constant adjustments to
keep your balance in technical terrain. I've done a 12hr MTB race on
both a unicycle and a bike- I can definitely push myself harder on a
bike, but I feel just as hammered after doing it on a unicycle.

--
GizmoDuck - NZUNI

o-kO
'www.adventureunicyclist.com' (http://www.adventureunicyclist.com/)

------------------------------------------------------------------------
GizmoDuck's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/794
View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/41046

jpcycler said:

*I'd have to say unicycling -- specifically muni -- will make you
stronger...per your definition. I have a reasonably extensive
bicycling background, and when I began muni, especially as I learned
uphill riding, my quads would get sore. Seemed weird given how much
biking I did, but that's what happened. Now, with doing more muni, my
quads don't hurt anymore, but my wife comments on my quads having much
better definition. I've also noticed that on the bike, major hills
are now easier.

Net, I'd conclude muni strengthened my quads more than just biking.
I'm not sure whether less intense unicycling would do the same or
not.

My $.02.

Jerry *

Unicycling uses different leg muscles than bicycling in part due to the
different body position and pedal position. Any time you change your
pedal position you're going to change what leg muscles you use and what
range of motion those muscles go through.

Make a big change in your riding position on a bike and you're going to
get sore legs until your legs get used to the new pedaling position.
For example change from a relaxed road bike geometry to a very upright
and aero triathlon time trial bike and you're legs will be hating you
until they can get used to the new position. So just because your legs
got sore when you changed from your bike to your uni doesn't mean the
uni was offering a better workout. It just means that you were working
different muscles through a different range of motion. When the muscles
get use to the new activity they won't get sore.

I don't ride my bike much. If I go out and do something like a 40 mile
ride on my MTB on dirt roads my legs get sore in areas that don't get
worked the same way on a unicycle. My legs get sore because they're not
used to the new slightly different activity, not because they're weak.

--
john_childs - Guinness Mojo

john_childs (att) hotmail (dott) com
Gallery: '' (http://gallery.unicyclist.com/john_childs)
' Unicycling Bookmark List' (http://backcountry.unicyclist.com/) ::
'World Clock' (http://tinyurl.com/a99y3) >>>'Click Me'
(http://tinyurl.com/963jr)<<<
------------------------------------------------------------------------
john_childs's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/449
View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/41046

Neither!

Squatting!

If you want to get stronger at squatting, get your butt in the weight
room. Both can help you some, but will have little transfer.

When I was learning to unicycle, I noticed that it hit my obliques a
lot. Obliques are huge in squatting and that might help, just like how
you're going to strengthen your thighs and overall leg with both, but
that doesn't mean there will be much transfer. COMPLETELY DIFFERENT
MOVEMENT!

--
Bob22b - MCL Tearer :d
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bob22b's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/8153
View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/41046

Seager said:

*When you bike, if your doing it right, you spin almost as fast on on
a uni...*

Granted that most people pedal their bikes slower than optimum speed, I
still pedal my unicycles a lot faster than bikes.

I hear different numbers for optimum cadence on bkes. For recreational
riding I think it's supposed to be something like 60-90 rpm. For racing
it might be more like 80-120? But on a unicycle, if you're out for speed
or training, you will basically be pedaling at the highest speed you can
maintain for the chosen amount of time. For me, this is always faster
than on a bike, unless I'm going up a hill or something similar.

This is what makes the bike more efficient; the choice of gears... :p

--
johnfoss - The wilder Wilder

John Foss, the Uni-Cyclone
"jfoss" at "unicycling.com" -- www.unicycling.com

"Read the rules!" -- 'IUF Rulebook'
(http://www.unicycling.org/iuf/rulebook/) -- 'USA Rulebook'
(http://www.unicycling.org/usa/competition/)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
johnfoss's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/832
View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/41046

if someone has already said tis my bad.. but if you use tiny cranks..
its a killer on your legs, a simple mile long ride and im pooped out
cuase its so hard to stop with the little cranks, and i rode a bike for
the first time in a really long time yesturday for like 6 miles.. and
about half way through i relized i could coast... and my legs were fine
and i had it on the lowest possible gear..

Chase

--
Unitik908 - The Lone Clothespin....

All hail the exhaulted Sigpoose, for he is forever king...
R.I.P Unibiker
R.I.P Gazzaloddi
R.I.P Paul Hester
R.I.P Mitch Hedberg
R.I.P Pope John Paul II
R.I.P James_Potters_Cat
YAMS
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Unitik908's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/8690
View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/41046