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What do you tell people that claim 'you're cheating'?
Been cycling all my life, got into it heavily 8 years ago. Live in the Arkansas Ozarks and there are hills everywhere. I can make it OK, but the last few years I seem to be struggling more and more on the hills. I ride as much as I can with work and other duties I have no more time and never seem to get any better. I am not after speed or ultra endurance, I just want to take on hills without it wiping me out. I am getting to the point where I avoid certain wonderful routes because of hills. I have 8 years of GPS data and the average speed is 10 mph - and dropping.
I just ordered an ebike. The shop is next to a hill that on my normal bike I either have to take in 1st gear front and back or stop midway and walk up, followed by another hill I avoid like the plague. On a test ride I climbed right up them both. With my normal bike on a 55 mile ride on Saturday I had to be picked up 4 miles form home due to stress, heat and quad cramps. So, I made the plunge. Most of the guys are supportive, a few claim I'm 'cheating'. I look at it in that I would probably be sitting at home instead of biking around if it weren't for an ebike. I've also told them that biking 50 mile son an ebike is like biking 35 miles on a regular bike - and most of them never ride THAT far. But the persist and are now avoiding me because I'm a 'cheater'. Do you just ignore them? What 'arguments' do you use to justify an ebike? I know I should just grow a thicker hide but it bothers me a bit. Any suggestions? |
Ask them, "Who, exactly, are you 'cheating', and 'cheating' out of what?"
Enjoy riding your bike. Everyone else can **** off :) |
I would just ignore them. Chances are that no amount of you trying to justify your purchase is going to change their minds.
i would consider myself lucky if people like that were avoiding me.. |
Seems like a good way to sniff out the creeps you don't need as friends. I just tell them I was unaware that bicycling was a monarchy and somebody made them king.
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Resort to violence. That always shuts them up. Jail time is worth it. You can dominate there too...by being violent.
(There's always one who will take this seriously, I just hope it is not the OP) :P |
Cheating at what ? Are they maybe speaking about recording / posting times ( Strava) ? |
Tell 'em you charge your battery by spinning a trainer at home. ;)
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""Most of the guys are supportive, a few claim I'm 'cheating'. I look at it in that I would probably be sitting at home instead of biking around if it weren't for an ebike. I've also told them that biking 50 mile son an ebike is like biking 35 miles on a regular bike - and most of them never ride THAT far. But the persist and are now avoiding me because I'm a 'cheater'.""
You tell them you have already ridden all of the hills, but now you are going to ride them on an ebike and just enjoy the ride. There isn't any cheating..... you can get more of a workout on electric if you want to by shutting it down. They are just jealous. It's a fast lonely existence on an ebike. You need to ride with your own kind now, and don't look back. |
Tell them you hope their EPO gives them a blood clot.
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I tell them "You're right. I'm going to go home right now and drive my car instead". Usually shuts them up. Unless they're young whippersnappers, in which case I say "You can talk to me about this when you're my age".
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Originally Posted by Steeljag
(Post 20532419)
Cheating at what ? Are they maybe speaking about recording / posting times ( Strava) ? I am not really letting it bother me I just thought someone might have some real world experience I might gain from. Maybe even make some converts. |
"Ride it, and then tell me that." In my experience, the people who are the most stridently anti-ebike have never even been on one. Kind of like a little kid who says "I hate that" when mom cooks a new recipe for dinner ... "how do you know you hate it, you've never tasted it before?" ... "well, Mommy, I just know I am going to hate it!" Then, there is science. Nothing like actual data to show someone. I know that I don't work as hard at any given time on an e-bike as I would on a non-motorized bike, and I definitely work a lot less hard on big hills, but I also tend to ride farther, which evens out the total calories my body has burned by the end of the ride. If you wear a fitness watch that tracks calories based on your heartbeat during your workouts, you also could show your data to the naysayers, and point out to them that time on the e-bike won't burn as many calories as the same time riding a bike without any mechanical assistance, but for any given length of workout, the calories expended riding the ebike are still going to be significantly higher than the calories spent doing the same length workout of many, many other types of workouts. And, if you end up riding farther, you're probably burning just as many total calories by the end of the ride. At least that is what my fitness watch tells me - not as many calories burnt per unit of time or per unit of distance as riding a non-ebike, but I tend to ride farther, and even if I don't ride father than on my non-motorized bike, I still burn more calories than I would at some other types of workouts that I could spend my time doing at the gym. E-bikes are too new, and there are too many variables, to quantify the way this chart does, but notice that the numbers for cycling are higher than a lot of exercises that are perceived as being moderate to difficult in exertion level. Even with some mechanical assist, you're definitely burning calories at a pretty high rate while riding an e-bike, unless you ride exclusively in throttle-only or maximum assist modes. https://www.nutristrategy.com/activitylist.htm |
When I hear "cheater", I respond with "luddite". And, since encountering one overly aggressive sweaty wanker in advertising tights, I now keep pepper spray in the top tube bag.
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Happened to me earlier this week, when I blew by him on my commute; I smiled and said "YES".
I use an ebike on my commute because it saves me an hour per day compared to a regular bike and a ½ hour per day plus fuel compared to driving (traffic is terrible in the Bay Area). On a bike/ebike I get to enjoy 6 miles of uninterrupted bike trail along a creek with assorted wildlife. This morning I saw a huge grey egret. My time is very valuable to me, more so as I get older. Less commuting time means more time with my wife. |
I've actually had a few people say that to me (all guys, btw) so I simply say "tell that to my damaged right knee"...and smile. I always get a smile back - I mean, who wants to be the jerk that is going to be disrespectful to a person coping with an injury? - and the conversation then turns to something more amicable, fun and engaging....like curiosity about my vintage bike-turned-ebike.:)
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I just light a cigarette while riding past uphill.
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Originally Posted by slomoshun
(Post 20532941)
When I hear "cheater", I respond with "luddite".
I typically use the "nope, I'm too old to race anymore." to the few butt-heads (at most one or two per year) I just say "have a nice day" and ride off. It isn't worth arguing about. |
I have no problem with e-bikes.
I have a problem with the dude that pulls down 30 KOMs on every other ride because his Class 3 Juiced CCX will do 25mph up a hill that pro cyclists take at 19mph, and continually posts them to Strava as "Ride." There's a little drop down for e-Bike. But then MTB'rs never turn their Strava off, so they do the same thing on the drive home at +50mph. |
Originally Posted by Robert C
(Post 20536488)
...most are just making a lighthearted attempt at opening a conversation....
I so wish that was true in my area because friendly back-and-forth can improve the day. If someone is interested in the ebike and wants to open a conversation, I'm all for it. However, there are typically no smiles or grins accompanying "cheater". Trying to engage an angry person with pleasantries and logic is not worth the hassle. Evolution is happening in spite of their adolescent resistance. |
Originally Posted by DrIsotope
(Post 20536516)
But then MTB'rs never turn their Strava off, so they do the same thing on the drive home at +50mph.
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The worst is when I see the insanely fast segment time, go to the activity, and the top speed recorded is like 90-95mph. Obvious then why they didn't have time to stop their Strava-- they had to drive home at felonious speeds.
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On a normal bike i have to struggle up hills, then fly down them at dangerous speeds (we share with pedestrians, here).
on my e-bike i have regeneration, so the system balances this out - i pedal, at a normal speed, both up and down hills. Its energy management. In my town it simply makes more sense to have a smart bike, that is able to spread my effort out into a more consistent riding trend. This tends to answer most people. However, if you're using your e-bike as a motorbike on the same trails as people using manual bikes, you'd be very thoughtless indeed if you failed to see why they have a problem with you. |
I say "I'm having a lot more fun, riding a lot farther, and I'm still grinning when I get done. What's cheating about that?"
If they want to take it further, I refer to my Fitbit results. My "standard" ride is 45 miles with a 1600-ft elevation gain in the middle, which takes me about 3 hours. My Fitbit reports about 50% of the time in fat-burning zone, 30% in cardio zone, and 20% in peak zone. I then ask them how their 3-hour rides go... |
Nobody has said anything to me about cheating. I'm a gray haired old man.
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Truth be told, I hear more derision here on bike forums than I ever hear when out riding. Outside of the forums, no one questions whether it is a bicycle or not.
in the town I work in I do see a small number of e-bikes, mostly bits of back-yard engineering. The people who have them ride them for transportation. It really is only here on "just drive a car" forum that I see e-bikes being put down. |
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