Originally Posted by momsonherbike

Andrea didn't coin the "analog bike" term - lots of us have been using that nomenclature for years. Probably long before she was old enough to actually throw a leg over an ebike.

Since this study took place in Europe, in countries that have the infrastructure to support a bike culture, and more population that choses to travel by bike to work or for economy sake (gas is very expensive compared to the US, and electric vehicles are still in the early phases of takeover), and distances to places are (or appear to be) shorter - it isn't surprising that ebikes are prolific enough to do a finding on whether people get as much exercise riding an ebike vs an analog.

And, as linberl stated, it comes down to the type of ebike used. One powered by a pedalelec system means the rider has to pedal, and those bikes only give power when they feel human power applied. So there's a straight line correlation: power applied = forward movement on both types of bikes - the only difference is the ebike targets its electric power into "getting there faster". Getting up a hill is the same for both riders - you need to push the pedals and downshift. The ebike will get you up the hill faster, while the analog bike requires a judicious gearing and steady grind. Both riders will sweat, but the ebike rider will sweat less, and thus have more energy to go farther. So we're lead to believe.

On the flip side, the ebike is a heavy beast, and I've had analog bike fly past me with virtually no effort from their riders. I'd have to work harder to keep up with them because of the amount of weight my bike is pushing. And if I run out of battery....

So I guess it all evens out in the wash.

Heading out to ride my bike now...