Wall of text, apologies, got carried away!
(It seems quite a specific set of circumstances - "Strength training is more effective than aerobic exercise for improving glycaemic control and body composition in people with normal-weight type 2 diabetes: a randomised controlled trial")
Definitely that's why I mentioned the type 2 diabetes straight away, it's a decent range though, 180+ people across a large age range - however this is just one of a few studies i'm starting to see with increasing frequency over the last few years that's pointing to resistance/weight training being better at fat loss over cardio. I shared it today as it popped up on my google feed and our conversation from last week was fresh in my mind.
If I lifted instead of cycling, the same amount of time too, yes, I can imagine my body composition might change more. I cycle 8-12 hours a week and rather maintain composition at the moment. I expect if I spent that long lifting, I would put on muscle mass and probably a little (but less) fat.
This is another rabbit hole, there appears to be an upper limit of training before you start to increase your mortality risk - anything up to about 150 minutes a week decreases mortality risk but once you exceed that, the mortality risk starts to rise - i'll try and dig out the study later on. It overlaps with excessive cardio as well, over a certain amount increases mortality risk - basically you're damned if you do, damned if you don't
**EDIT** Actually, I don't know. Right now I'm maintaining weight. I eat around 2,400-2,700 cals a day. How much weightlifting would I need to add, if I stopped cycling do you think, to continue maintaining weight?
I don't think there is any clear answer here, it's all going to differ based on the individual, we all respond differently. I totally understand you championing cardio as you had a fantastic result from where you were years ago, we can only ever speak to our own experiences. Also if you enioy your riding, keep doing it, the best exercise is what we like.
My own experience, I was going 7-10 hours of cardio a week when I started going to the gym and not really seeing any change in my body. Did I feel better, sure, did my V02 max increase, absolutely so there were good impacts of course. My weight stayed static and my body fat didn't shift a lot. I got to become friends at work with a trainer who happened to go to the same gym and slowly got me around to doing weights I was very resistant at first as I was firmly of the belief, cardio for weight loss, weights for bulking up. I ended up doing 3 straight forward sessions a week of about 30-45 minutes each of the core 5 lifts. It took about 8 weeks to see any difference but my face thinned out, lost the double chin, dropped a few inches around the waist and started getting some comments about looking bigger from friends. I traded 7-10 hours for 2-2.5 hours and got the results i'd been endless chasing with cardio.
Let me say, doing weights meant I put weight on, however my body fat went down quite a bit, I was mid 20's percentage and dropped to mid teens
(I skirted 13% at one point for a short while pre-wedding - all checked with caliper measurements). I often bring up the difference in this thread between fat and weight loss, I don't care about weight too much, I do care about how much fat i'm carrying and how I look in the mirror. I gained some decent body weight but I was thinner - looked visibly so when I look back at photos but that's the thing, muscle has more density than fat so you get away with being heavier and looking slimmer with increased lean mass.
Let's move onto my wife, she was a total cardio gym bunny, spent hours upon hours on a variety of machines and again, her body didn't change much. The same friend
(we worked in the same place) helped get her onto some simple weights and she got in the best shape she's ever been. She has two photo's she looks back at that she's most proud of her physique, taken a few years apart, one of them she was 58kg when doing cardio, the other she was 64kg doing weights, she looks slimmer and healthier in the heavier picture.
In all i've mentioned above, calorie intake was monitored and mostly adhered to a sensible amount, for both my wife and myself. I naturally ate more when I started lifting as my weight did increase.
Ultimately, as said last week, everyone who cares for longevity and a long healthy life should focus on both, two of the biggest key indicators for living a long life are V02 max and lean body mass.
You'll probably find this is a learned response that you can unlearn. Try doing cardio only at a time you can not eat for several hours after and religious eat nothing during that time. Do that for a few weeks and you'll probably find your body will learn it doesn't get fed after cardio.
Totally agree and I won't over eat after a cardio session, I want to, I want to eat all the things but i've fairly good will power
(assuming I haven't had a few ciders 
) - I monitor my calorie intake daily to ensure right now, i'm eating just below maintenance day to day.
EDIT: Finally, to add, i'm not some extreme exercise addict, I've had long periods over the last 15/20 years where i've done little to be good to myself and put weight back on, some depression spells where I simply didn't care, some times where i've had months of drinking and eating excessively, then had to work damned hard to get back in shape again, i'm just trying to share my experience and things i've learnt along the way and if it helps someone, then it's worth the rambling
(I guess be careful on the days you're not monitoring intake. Whilst it's hard to overeat if you've burnt 2,500 cals, at the same time it can also easily be done
)
