Calories Burned Biking Calculator

Estimate calories burned cycling by body weight, ride duration, and speed — from a leisure ride to racing pace.

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Body weight

588

Calories burned

588

Cal / hour

20.5 km

Distance

20.5 km/h

Avg speed

Calories burned588 kcal
Calories per hour588 kcal/hr
Distance covered20.5 km / 12.74 mi
Average speed20.5 km/h / 12.74 mph
MET value8
How we calculate this Calories = (MET × 3.5 × weight in kg) ÷ 200 × duration in minutes. MET values for outdoor cycling are from the Compendium of Physical Activities (Ainsworth et al. 2011). Wind resistance, hills, and bike type affect actual burn.

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Cycling & Calorie Burn

Calories Burned Biking Calculator — outdoor cycling by speed

Outdoor cycling is an efficient calorie-burning activity for recreation, commuting, and sport. This calories burned biking calculator estimates energy expenditure from body weight, ride duration, and speed using MET-based methodology from the Compendium of Physical Activities.

How many calories does biking burn?

A 70 kg person cycling at a moderate pace (19–22 km/h) for one hour burns approximately 588 kcal. At a leisurely pace under 16 km/h, this drops to about 294 kcal per hour. Racing pace cyclists above 25 km/h can burn over 880 kcal per hour.

Calorie burn scales with speed because higher speed requires more power output against air resistance, which increases roughly with the cube of velocity. This calculator uses MET values as a practical proxy for speed-based intensity.

Biking vs cycling calorie calculators

This calculator focuses on outdoor biking at road or trail speeds. Indoor cycling (stationary bikes, spin classes) has different resistance characteristics and a separate MET profile. Our Cycling Calorie Calculator covers a three-tier intensity model (easy/moderate/hard) for general use, while this calculator provides speed-band estimates aligned with outdoor riding.

Frequently asked questions

Does cycling uphill burn significantly more calories?

Yes. Climbing adds substantial extra work against gravity. A 1 km climb at 5% gradient roughly doubles the power required compared to flat cycling at the same speed. For hill-heavy routes, actual calorie burn will be higher than the flat-equivalent estimate from this calculator.

Is biking or running better for burning calories?

Running generally burns more calories per minute at comparable effort levels (roughly 30–40% more) because it is weight-bearing. However, cycling is lower impact and many people can sustain longer sessions, which may result in similar or greater total calorie expenditure per workout.

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