Who Can Climb 1000m Faster? | Road Vs MTB

It's been a while since we've taken on GCN in a challenge so we've invited the big man Conor Dunne to our stomping ground, the Forest of Dean for a vertical kilometre challenge! What goes up must come down and Rich hopes that a lightweight XC hardtail and familiar descents work in his favour as he strives to put out a bigger VAM number than our lycra-clad counterparts!
⏱️ Timetamps ⏱️
00:00 - Setting Up The Challenge
01:04 - VAM Challenge
16:39 - Who Climbed 1000 Metres Faster? MTB or Road?
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1000 likes gets part 2 where Conor and Rich will switch up the location and the bikes to hash it out over another 1000 vertical meters in the saddle.
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[@gmbn]

1000 likes gets part 2 where Conor and Rich will switch up the location and the bikes to hash it out over another 1000 vertical meters in the saddle.

[@Lulliger]

Yes, 1154 likes!!!😁

[@Natuh21]

Make them race the same hills, 1 tarmac, 1 trail (mtb territory) and 1 compact gravel. And lets see what wins, ligher bike OR better gearing. I could climb the hills nearby better on my 10kg road/urban bike than my 12kg mtb or my 14kg gravel. But those are short and steep so pushing hard its much easier.

[@FloppyWaffle]

When's race day?

[@martinmckowen1588]

Gas meters? Or metres 😊👍🏻

[@mellissanash7517]

Wouldn't it have been better if Rich did it on the rigid Orbea XC bike?

[@HighresROBERT]

As someone who rides in Colorado..... the fact they have to do laps to hit 1000m is cracking me up.🤣

[@Gaunafabandcustom]

That's still like 3000ft

[@GavsShahs]

but is it potentially more effective because u get to rest in between more often…

[@Cumberland_swasige]

Why, because everywhere isn't Colorado? Duh.

[@vasiliipopov416]

The funniest thing about this challenge is the "MTB" terrain looks perfectly rideable on 32c road tyres

[@kezzah9415]

i mean the pushup is a fire road and hes going down a flow trail tbf

[@alinapopescu872]

Get Dr. Bridgewood to represent GCN in a climbing challenge and the situation will be completely different.

[@phillee9651]

Bridgewood .. MK 2 ..

[@chrisridesbicycles]

Feather!

[@izi941]

Sure it depends mainly on the rider….but generally speaking, MTBs are more suitable for uphill than road bikes. And MTBkers make daily much more elevation and much steeper climbs than roadies. After all, road bikes are made for speed and endurance, and MTBs…well, it’s in the name. So yeah, an average MTBker on MTB will make 1000vam faster than average road biker on road bike.

[@gmbn]

Good idea!

[@justinlangley3432]

@@izi941 most roadies live for the climbs. You’d be surprised.

[@paul4292]

Can you make a video where you compare different bikes (enduro, trail, xc, gravel, road) on the same routes with same power input/watts? I want to know how much more efficient a road bike is compared to mountainbikes

[@richeeg3271]

It's hard to say, but if you get some really slow commuter tires on your road bike, 2L of water, you'll have it pretty similar to a modern high end xc mtb

[@paul4292]

@@richeeg3271true but I want to know whats harder, for example if I do 25km with my enduro in the woods or if a friend does 100km on the street with his road bike? Cause Its not only the bike its also the softer loser ground that makes a difference etc etc. Ive seen a video where they did that with xc or trail vs enduro if I remember correcly. They had garmin pedals to see the watts. The enduros did the route in about 2 minutes and the xc/trail bikes were like 20-30 seconds faster with same watts. So about 1/4 faster. So if you and a friend ride, you enduro, he a lighter faster trail or xc bike and you go up a hill with same power. Your friend reaches the top in 45minute and you will need 1 hour with same energy output

[@lewismcgillion8949]

Depends a lot on the route really, on the road a road bike is probably going to be >50% faster than an enduro bike. On a technical downhill an enduro bike will probably be 500% faster than a road bike haha

[@paul4292]

@@lewismcgillion8949 im talking about energie efficiency while pedaling, not going downhill

[@paul4292]

In a road bike forum they said 150km on street with roadbike is like 50km in the woods with a mountainbike. I want to know if that is true and considering there is a big difference in efficiency already between xc and enduro i think the difference could even be bigger than 150km=50km

[@bjorne46]

Last year i did 1000m in 2 hours and 11 min. On my 150mm full suspension. The kicker is, it was in Austria over a distance of 12.2km.

[@ravidu621]

That's steep!!

[@ravidu621]

That's steep!! Also, 6 km/h of mean speed must have been felt like am eternity

[@bjorne46]

@@ravidu621 too busy climbing to think about it.

[@helicopter12345678]

Obviously a direct climb a road bike would win but nice challenge boys a bit of Top Gear style i reckon...🤣 Art

[@izi941]

Depends how steep. The steeper it is, the faster the MTB is….even on the asphalt. Example: try doing 30+% climb with a road bike and with a MTB

[@helicopter12345678]

Good point.. ​@@izi941

[@WendsH]

@@izi941 Nah, I'd say the road bike would still be faster, especially if they had comparable gear ratios. No power loss to suspension, and lighter weight bike overall means less to haul up a gradient. If there's leafs or sand on the road, though, MTB takes it lol

[@noneofyourbusiness4294]

@@WendsH generally speaking, you won't have similar gear ratios between the two, unless you set the bikes up for that particular challenge. Mtbs do have the advantage on a challenge like this, it's just a matter of fact. Road bike cassettes typically stop where mtb cassettes start. And the ratios are much, much closer together. And that's absolutely fine. Roadbikes, while they do have to do some climbing, are more focused on endurance. Or in other words: slight differences that can keep you going. Mtbs.. yeah, unless you're riding downhill, in which case even a 7 speed cassette will do the trick, because you won't be climbing, but taking a lift... you're gonna look at something along the lines of 42, 46, maybe even 51 teeth on the lowest gear. It's what the bike and drivetrain are designed for. On steep climbs, the mtb will win. When it comes to going fast and being stable: road bike all the way. You barely can compare the two in a fair setting, if at all. Or in other words: if you want to drive a screw, use a screwdriver, not a hammer, although it may get the job done

[@timosirkka5597]

@@WendsH This guy understands physics!

[@raphaelwolff8205]

Great race guys,really enjoyed the battle.

[@supakidgalaxy]

I hope we get to see Connor go for unbound again this year

[@melibaut]

Both routes look fun and enjoyed this style of video!

[@gmbn]

The Forest of Dean is a great part of the world to ride bikes!

[@markward6387]

I'm a roadie but I got to give it you , you're decents look alot more fun and zero traffic lights 😂

[@Shadowboost]

My climb yesterday was 3700 ft and descending was like 15 miles

[@matt_acton-varian]

Great challenge guys, interesting to see the tactical divergence in this. Another aspect is that off-road climbs are often steeper but slower. Finding the balance to get the optimal VAM is a huge advantage too.

[@mickyslim1000]

brilliant video, laughing throughout. Neil and Blake are funny together. That gap was the first 'feature' i ever did on my hardtail..

[@neildaniel8232]

@2.17 - since when is the FOD in Wales? I'd love it to be Welsh but the locals will adamantly tell you it's most definitely in England 🤣

[@justinlangley3432]

Yeah that was weird. It is 100% in England.

[@mrvwbug4423]

Yeah, it's still most definitely east of the River Wye, it might be closer to Cardiff than to Bath (where GCN/GMBN are located) but it's still on the English side of the border. Though I know a few people in northern Wales who consider anything south of Shropshire to be England haha.

[@PDQCycleCoaching]

Fod is in England not Wales !

[@johnlieto8906]

Bravo!! Love this, Conner you are such a good sport!

[@paulsslightlyactivelife]

Closer than I was expecting, and exhilarating to watch you both. FOD is my absolute fave place to ride. Well done to both of you.

[@gmbn]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@colincarter5266]

Awesome friendly comradery between and MTBer and a roadie. Good video.

[@SylvainsShipyard]

This was fun, I want another challenge between you two!

[@gmbn]

Thanks for watching!

[@FatboyAussie]

Like a giraffe out the gates had me in stitches

[@user-vv2ev6fx6g]

Rich buy Conor one of those giant breakfasts he had last week if he wins or not he loves em, 😂😅

[@gmbn]

Maybe that's what was still weighing him down! 😅

[@nmcelroy3540]

😂😂😂😂😂😳

[@mattcoates_83]

Great video! Great to see focus on fitness and earning / achieving something on analogue bikes! Dare I say… Felt like a video for adults rather than kids 😬 Well done GMBN 👍🏻

[@davidzof]

So the roadie decided to do a climbing competition by... riding on flat roads. Doh !

[@GaryLowry-dk4hc]

Pretty sure asccent isn’t a word

[@dannyk3718]

It's been a double dose of Payne this weekend ...time to go out and make some pain of my own great vid guys

[@gmbn]

We've had him doing double shifts! 😉

[@ricktan5663]

Need to do the chain less descent race again

[@TheOC1968]

Connor is still suffering from that breakfast.

[@user-so8sb4vk6b]

Roll on part two

[@greengonzonz]

Conor on XC? He'll need to add another bike to the quiver n+1 Picrure Conor on an MTB... It'll look like a BMX 🤣

[@mrvwbug4423]

Maybe Pinarello will make him a custom frame like they did for his Dogma F.

[@arieschop8726]

Wonder what the stats would look like if you look at net vertical. (assent minus descent)

[@timpattydaechsel5988]

A video I would love to see is, who climbs faster? …Mountain Biker? or Trail Runner ? On one of our local segment climbs used by mountain bikers and many trail runners , 1.6 km, 9.3 % grade 154 vertical , it seems running and biking are really close , as the grade gets steeper it would seem the runner has an advantage, maybe 9 percent is about that cross over ? …

[@BiciShorts]

Is there no bigger hills? It’s like trying to get altitude out of Central Park in NY.

[@madetowin1612]

That fitness race. Not pretending nothing)). Im mtb❤️

[@ChrisRufus76]

Everyone loves Connor

[@TheBrokenMountainBiker]

Pair of mountain goats!!

[@owenneedham4651]

Bro 23 is perfect riding temperature, what are you on about 😂

[@chrisridesbicycles]

The thing with the alpine climb where all can be ridden in one go should be a video at some point.

[@joneinarmattiasvisser6113]

Hmmm, feel like I could beat you guys running, 1000m in an hour🤣

[@anthonynicasio7044]

Almost half way to 1000 likes!!🎉

[@brianclarke9299]

Great challenge. Great soundtrack

[@brannmacfinnchad9056]

Out of curiousity, as a roady...does your headunit count jumps towards elevation gain? Say you manage to get 2meters up, does that get added to gain? I jump about as well as an elephant, so not able to check myself.

[@agenthoini]

Interesting thought :D I reckon if the head unit uses a sensor to measure barometric pressure and it reads often enough to pick up rapid changes that only last a second then why not :D

[@nsambafrancis8033]

Congratulations gmbn family the roadie is crushed, we have won once in a while after a long time of losing

[@gmbn]

Been a long time coming!

[@KiranMachiraju]

I want to see Connor ride his big bike 😅

[@martinnielsen2037]

Do it on a pumptrack😃

[@philhunt1442]

Man those road shoes look like orange crocs

[@openbabel]

So the viewer want to know how much advantage in minutes does the rider get on this ride by wearing professional aerodynamic cycle clothing ?

[@bikeanddogtrips]

conor should have just held his wahoo above his head - like Adam when he turns in to He-Man

[@DancerOfClouds]

5600 Likes. Part 2: Bring it on

[@bartoszodrobinski2815]

What is the trail centre that Rich was riding at. Looks interesting

[@Nomads_Rowing]

Forest of Dean, near Ross on Wye, UK

[@colshark1]

Did he just say "the forest of Dean in South Wales " ? 😂

[@mrvwbug4423]

How about a downhill oriented challenge with Conor, Manon, and/or Ollie. We already know Simon and Hank are good MTBers, so should let the other GCN presenters have a crack at it.

[@bob69365]

It was a given, Rich for the win and not just cos Connor can’t win 💩 😂

[@bchearne]

How about an arm wrestling contest between a roadie and a mountain biker?

[@justinh7099]

flat bar hard tails are so hawt right now

[@SkarryTerry]

Next climb challenge, Gravel vs MTB.

[@gmbn]

For sure! Worth a shot 👍

[@akaraikiriakatsuki3157]

I think if both are taking the road path. Road bike would be faster. But the mtb rider will not be as beat up and can probably climb another 1000m

[@ogamaniuk]

Off topic question for Rich: I'm a beginner and own Orbea Onna 20, a $820 USD hard tail bike. I'm feeling it's time to upgrade. Should I get Alma as you have or should I consider Orbea Oiz? My budget is up to 5k. Btw what Alma you have?

[@mrvwbug4423]

What type of riding do you plan to do? If you're looking at doing a bit of everything I'd get the Occam if you're wanting another Orbea. Get the Oiz if you really want to get into XC racing. I might not be Rich but I know bikes pretty well.

[@River_Miles]

Damn guys, can't even make the statistical criteria at the end match for both runs?

[@gaddobronx6740]

What you should do is have the roadie do the same mtb climb and see who can do the 1000m faster. Or even Rich could go on the road bike and see how each of you guys adjust to the different discipline.

[@krehme]

Good job guys! You know that if Conner had used Oli’s parabola method to gain elevation he would have won. :)

[@bobwilkie5721]

Nonsense; the MTB guy spent most of his time freewheeling

[@GogglesTyresandTrainers]

FOD is England, not South Wales

[@unpaidintern5331]

Is that a creaky bottom bracket at 3:42? xD

[@heywood165]

When you’re tall like Conor you can probably make any bottom bracket creak, the leverage he must get from his legs will be insane. Bearings should probably be scaled up with the increase in frame size.

[@unpaidintern5331]

@@heywood165 Well I'm 1,98m (he's taller by only 6cm) and my BB does not creak. :/ Am I doing something wrong?

[@heywood165]

@@unpaidintern5331 Well it’s obviously because he’s not running a Hambini bottom bracket then, only other reason I can think of…

[@prestachuck2867]

I say rematch the same exact challenge, but choose a starting point where the roads go upwards as soon as the trail does, AND GCN gets have Andrew Feather instead of Conor.

[@scotgill9975]

Why were the front forks bobbing on the climb? I would think the front fork would be locked while climbing…

[@ro...valverde1622]

I did just under 1100m today on a single climb near my house 😅🤭

[@bettyjones8363]

Conor is twice is height and size. Also he chose a long route.

[@aemiliadelroba4022]

I don’t understand what this proves !😮 They are not sharing the same route , so the results will be different.

[@nuttynut722]

aren't they in the same office anyway?

[@yoda112358]

Really not a mtb vs road challenge. it's a result of the terrain. head to the mountains for example where you can get 1000m in a single climb and the results change.

[@adamweb]

Exactly, we used to ride a MTB trail in Idaho with 1000m of elevation in just 8km!

[@user-zx3hl4hq3t]

You’re right but good luck finding 1000m climb in the UK.

[@mrvwbug4423]

Yeah, you're not gonna find that in the UK. The only point close to them that is over 1000m high is the summit of Snowdon in north Wales, it's 1084m and has neither a road nor a bike trail to the top (but does have a train haha).

[@user-zx3hl4hq3t]

@@mrvwbug4423 There are actually several mountains over 1000m in the UK (especially in Scotland), but yeah, no roads to go that high. Regarding Snowdon, I'm actually quite sure that you ride it at certain times of the day but only on a specific path.

[@jthomp1254]

again!!!

[@dtibor5903]

Climbing on road is way more efficient

[@witepa]

To be fair, GMBN is on a hardtail... aka a suspension gravel bike, pretty much a road bike.

[@mrvwbug4423]

Wouldn't make much difference, on a full sus he'd just lock out the suspension for that climb, which is just a steep fire road.

[@chad.haggerty]

Rich - “you ready for the beeps?” Doesn’t beep.

[@IPM71]

I do 1000m in about an hour on a road bike. And I'm not even a roadie. I reckon it would be easier on an XC bike.

[@witoldrudnicki8962]

Best possible opponent with very bad strategy. Conor is big guy so by definition bad climber. And his strategy - going fast on gentle slopes is very bad. One should minimize the road traveled and speed so least possible effort is used to fight rolling resistance and wind resistance. Also minimize time downhill. Both conditions mean go on a steep road - as steep as still relatively easy to ride 12 to 15 kph.

[@mrvwbug4423]

Conor was a Rouleur as a pro, so better on the hills than you'd think. He would be leading out/protecting the climbers on mountain stages

[@brannmacfinnchad9056]

Sounds like this race came down more to tactics and route planning than "stronger rider" or "Better bike"...and Conor definitely lost at the latter.

[@neilelliston]

Both riders should ride on the same bikes. Same routes. See how that goes

[@derekcraig3617]

Apples and oranges don't compare

[@prolfinator]

Naz Reid

[@manfrommontreal]

Olli from GCN would smoked the both of you 😅

[@sirroger1066]

stupid but fun

[@Agent_Schmied]

Aber ist doch Conor nicht der beste Bergsteiger. Trotzdem auch interessant.

[@nemure]

both where absurdly slow, I climb 750m in 45 minutes at my local climb with my road bike ._. anyhow both did a very poor job picking a route, was painful to watch tbh

[@letstalk741]

Looks like roadies are in disadvantages cause he's riding on road and the heat is heating the road then the evaporated from that makes it difficult to ride and you'll easily get tired

[@mrvwbug4423]

In the trees the humidity can spike causing it to get really muggy, so you're gonna suffer in the heat either way.

[@mmenjic]

12:12 then why did you call him, or why didnt you told him you were only 400m up so he slows down or .......................

[@chrishey6891]

So to make it "fair" the road route is flawed. if Conor just does a climb on repeat he wins easily

[@hartstrengthendurance9643]

Next time...Rich on a road bike, Connor on an MTB. Same routes as today :) Really dig the crossover challenges you guys do! Keep em coming!

[@hartstrengthendurance9643]

Grab a GTN guy too!!!

[@EwanStrauss]

Im 1st to be 3rd

[@rolandfor]

Don’t mix or compare roads bike va mtb! Not the same thing!!

[@stuartthurstan]

Ditch the bikes boys. I regularly do vertical kilometer runs in about 65-70 minutes.

[@roberttell1587]

Conor with the boss chair! I hope you don't let anyone else sit in it.

[@tallteacher]

Connor put to much effort into moving air out of the way…..

[@TivonSanders]

How about a race on paved roads? Cross Country mtb versus Road bike. Which is actually faster on pavement?

[@mrvwbug4423]

No contest, the road bike by a lot.

[@stealthy7]

Very disappointed with the food choices at the end. I`d be on a Full English as a very minimum. Extra egg sausage AND bacon

[@ryuujinusa]

Good choice with Connor, the worst climber by far. No offense to Connor

[@mrvwbug4423]

Conor is a better climber than people think. His job on a team was to lead out the climbers or sprinters depending on the stage

[@YONICO666]

1st

[@kalijasin]

GCN always last place. LOL 😆

[@nomadcarpenter8549]

Can we get rid of the beeps. They are really cringe. What do others think?

[@mrvwbug4423]

GCN loves their beeps haha

[@nemure]

you picked the weakest gcn rider 😂

[@packingtroll]

cope