Originally Posted by
prj71
Your regular bike isn't assisting you up the hills. Thus you are NOT getting the same workout.
Not really, the workout is based on how hard your legs are working, not what the bike is doing. Sure, for a given hill at a given speed an e-bike will need less watts to get up it compared to an identical bike without a motor. But that e-bike could be travelling faster/further for the same work out.
I'd get the same workout hammering away on an e-bike for an hour as I would on a manual bike. I'd just cover more distance and probably have more fun on the e-bike.
If you're arguing that e-bikes should be banned because they are too easy and not "real cycling", how do you feel about super low mountain bike gearing? Should we all be using 52/38 x 14-24 road gearing?