Car Vs Bike: Which Is More Efficient | GCN Fuel Economy Challenge!

Cyclists vs drivers, it seems to be an age old rivalry. But is one better than the other? We know that cars are faster over longer periods, but are they more efficient? Ollie and Alex sought to find out, cars or bikes! This is the GCN Tech fuel economy challenge!

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Did the results surprise you? Let us know in the comments below!

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[whatwelearned]

You should have given this challenge to Hank who, as a excitable King Charles Spaniel, is powered purely by belly rubs and people telling him he's a good boy. Much cheaper than gels.

[Seppster]

Alex and Ollie do it again. Keeping us educated and amused at the same time. Love this video.

[PhysicsNerd-glgm]

I commute about 10kms each day and it is genuinely quicker to take the bike above the car, I feel better for it and I have a more productive day whilst saving the planet! Nothing quite beats two wheels!

[andyfairchild]

I’m not convinced a Cooper JCW is the epitome of car efficiency! Huge fun certainly, but fuel economy…. Perhaps not 😂
GCN presenters do seem to love a hot hatch 👍

[LloydZyanRUy]

Is Ollie considered a pro cyclist since he's doing cycling as a profession, technically speaking?

[sekc-chua]

This is so Top Gear. Can't wait for Ollie to shout: "POWER!!!" 😂😂😂

[liquidSpin]

Just when you think GCN is running out of cool ideas/experiments this video comes along~ Love this video~

[Tattersail]

Suggestion for next video in the ongoing comparison/racing category:
1 TT Bike powered by 5 car engines pitted against 1 minicooper converted to velomobile

[prestachuck]

This might be the first time that I can remember actually enjoying the background music in a GCN video! More electric blues, please!

[lucafwn]

Next time: who can go further, Alex on his Mini or James May on his Orbea?

[ezquielc]

I got bored one day so looked at my rides calculated the calories burned against the distance riden and from thatcalculated the theoretical miles per gallon to be just over 800miles per gallon. 😁😁

[helion]

That was a very nice episode of Top G...CN

[Velo]

Lol! Y’all put fuel in the Mini using liters but the computer in the car you’re reading off is in gallons (MPG).

Never the less I really enjoyed this episode.

[jefferycampbell]

I'm calling for a science check on Dr Ollie's statement at 8:52 that the body burns "only glycogen" at higher power and stops burning fat. My understanding is that fat burning continues at near max rates even as the body starts drawing more and more energy from carbs.

[esoxcycles]

Ollie flicking us all the bird during the summing up 😂

[brannmacfinnchad]

As a thought, to even it out.
What about dividing the car weight by cyclist/bike weight, and using that to multiply calories, using calories burned as metric. Say the car weighs 5x the cyclist (or whatever); they get 40, 000 calories worth of petrol to go on. Cyclist rides until they hit 8k calories burned. Do it with two cyclists, one using premium gels and such like this time, and the other eats real and budget food (to compare the costs).

See who gets further.

[aliancemd]

The irony of saying petrol is expensive now and giving the cyclist overpriced sweets and juices.

[kinlai]

Maybe you guys should do a test on "Cost of fuel in a car vs Cost of food on a bicycle". How far can each of you go on a limited amount of money.

[cccycling]

I ride my road bike to work, 30-40 miles a day once or twice a week (depending on how many weekend rides i want to do) and take the motorcycle the rather times. My motorcycle gets 45 miles a gallon, but the route is a few miles left. I computed the fuel vs the food I would have to eat and they’re actually very close. The motorcycle does save me an hour off the bike however, but the road bike is more enjoyable IMO.

[jevgeniardassov]

If D is for daytime driving, I would like to see Alex driving in nightmode or N… 😂