Calories burned cycling: per hour and per km (table)

How many calories does cycling burn in an hour: the short answer

A 70 kg (154 lb) adult riding on flat roads at a steady 18-20 km/h (11-12 mph) burns roughly 480-560 kcal an hour. A gentle spin under 16 km/h is closer to 280. Pushing at 25-28 km/h (16-17 mph) takes you to 700-850 kcal an hour. These are estimates, not measurements: your real figure can sit 15-20% above or below.

Three things drive the number: your body weight, the power you actually produce (how hard you work, not only how fast you go) and the duration. Below you will find the formula to work it out yourself, a ready-made table by weight and speed, calories per kilometre, what changes with hills, wind, mountain biking, e-bikes and indoor trainers, and why your watch and your app disagree.

How to calculate calories burned on a bike

The most common method uses METs, metabolic equivalents. One MET is your resting energy use, about 1 kcal per kilo of body weight per hour. Each activity has a value, and the practical formula is kcal = MET x weight in kg x hours. Cycling values come from the Compendium of Physical Activities, the reference table used in research: about 4.0 METs for easy riding under 16 km/h (10 mph), 6.8 between 16 and 19 km/h, 8.0 between 19 and 22 km/h, 10.0 between 22.5 and 25.5 km/h, 12.0 between 25.5 and 30 km/h, and about 15.8 above 32 km/h, which is racing pace.

Example: a 70 kg rider cycling 90 minutes (1.5 hours) at 8.0 METs burns 8.0 x 70 x 1.5 = 840 kcal. It is a good population-level average, but it knows nothing about your headwind, your riding position or your efficiency. Treat it as an order of magnitude.

Table: calories per hour by weight and speed

Values in kcal per hour, on flat road with no wind, computed with the METs above. Columns: 16-19 km/h (6.8 METs) / 19-22 km/h (8.0) / 22.5-25.5 km/h (10.0) / 25.5-30 km/h (12.0).

60 kg: 408 / 480 / 600 / 720. 70 kg: 476 / 560 / 700 / 840. 80 kg: 544 / 640 / 800 / 960. 90 kg: 612 / 720 / 900 / 1,080. Under 16 km/h (4.0 METs) the same weights give 240, 280, 320 and 360 kcal an hour.

For other durations, simply scale: 30 minutes is half, two hours is double. A 70 kg rider doing 45 minutes at 19-22 km/h burns about 420 kcal. The heavier you are, the more you burn at the same speed, because you move more mass, especially uphill.

Calories per kilometre (or mile): the 0.4 rule

For a quick estimate by distance: on flat ground you burn about 0.4 kcal per kg of body weight per km. A 70 kg rider uses about 28 kcal per km, so 10 km is about 280 kcal, and a mile is roughly 45 kcal. If you divide the hourly kcal from the table by your average speed you get the same thing: 560 kcal divided by 20.5 km/h is 27 kcal per km.

Surprisingly, the per-kilometre figure barely changes with speed: roughly 27-30 kcal per km for a 70 kg rider between 17 and 28 km/h. Riding faster burns more per hour, but you finish sooner, and since air resistance grows with the square of speed, the cost per km creeps up a little at high speed. In practice 40 km at 20 km/h and 40 km at 30 km/h cost similar totals; in the second case you simply pack the effort into less time.

Hills, wind, mountain biking, e-bikes and indoor trainers

Climbing: at the same speed you burn far more, because on top of air and rolling resistance you are lifting your own weight. A ride with 1,000 metres of climbing adds several hundred kcal compared with the same distance on the flat; to quantify it you need power. Our watts per kilo calculator helps you see how hard you are pushing on a climb.

Mountain bike and gravel: the Compendium gives about 8.5 METs for general mountain biking, but speed is low and technical sections work arms and trunk. The hourly estimate ends up similar to a road ride at a steady pace. E-bike: the motor takes over part of the work, so you burn less over the same route, sometimes a lot less, but it remains moderate exercise. How much depends on the assistance level and on how hard you push.

Indoor trainer and spin bike: no wind and no descents, so watts are steady and consumption is easy to read. If you have a smart trainer or a power meter, the practical rule is that 1 kJ of mechanical work equals roughly 1 kcal burned: 200 W for an hour is 720 kJ, so about 720 kcal. The human body turns around a quarter of the energy it spends into work at the pedals, and the kJ-to-kcal conversion happens to cancel that efficiency. See also our guide to indoor training with a smart trainer.

Why your watch, app and calculator give different numbers

A smartwatch estimates calories from heart rate, weight, age and sex; a map app from speed and elevation; a power meter from real work. These are different models, so you can see 650 kcal on your wrist and 520 in the app for the same ride. For cyclists the figure closest to reality is the one based on watts. The weakest is the one that uses speed only, because wind and hills fool it.

Another difference: many platforms show total calories, including what you would have burned sitting down anyway. If you want the extra cost of the activity, subtract about 1 kcal per kg per hour, that is 70 kcal an hour for a 70 kg rider. The best habit is to always use the same tool: as a comparison between rides it works even when the absolute value is not exact.

Calories, weight loss and how much to eat on the bike

Burning 500 kcal on the bike does not mean losing them on the scale: the balance depends on the whole day, on what you eat afterwards and on how your body adapts. Cycling is nonetheless good for health: World Health Organization guidelines suggest adults do 150-300 minutes of moderate activity a week. For weight goals or medical conditions, ask a doctor or a dietitian, not a table.

On long rides you should not use burned calories to decide how much to eat: under about an hour and a half water is usually enough, beyond that you need to refuel with carbohydrates. Amounts and timing are in our guide on what to eat and drink on long bike rides. If you are starting from zero, the beginner cycling training guide shows how to build consistency, which matters more than any single number.

Common mistakes and how to use these numbers

The usual mistakes: eating back more than you burned because the estimate looks high, trusting an app value as absolute, comparing yourself with a friend of different weight and power, and thinking an e-bike ride counts for nothing. Use the table to orient yourself, not as a rigid calorie budget.

A good way to put it into practice: pick a route you enjoy from our cycling routes, hold a steady pace at which you can talk, and watch how the effort feels over time rather than the kcal count. To ride with others, check the group rides. See you on the road.