Go Back  Bike Forums > Bike Forums > Electric Bikes
Reload this Page >

Are You Losing Weight?

Notices
Electric Bikes Here's a place to discuss ebikes, from home grown to high-tech.

Are You Losing Weight?

Old 06-09-20, 04:18 PM
  #1  
jjafterdark
Banned.
Thread Starter
 
Join Date: Jun 2020
Posts: 95
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 79 Post(s)
Liked 6 Times in 6 Posts
Are You Losing Weight?

I've read many accounts of new e-bike riders losing weight, often a significant amount of weight. I don't read many accounts of people riding regular bikes who are losing weight. I'm certainly not saying it doesn't happen but there are so many accounts of the former, it seems like a positive trend rather than just isolated phenomena.

My theory is that ebikes allow for riding at a lower level of intensity which promotes weight loss compared to the intermediate level of intensity for bike riding in general. I wonder also, if riding a regular bike at a low level of intensity might be better for weight loss than riding at an intermediate level of intensity. Obviously, riding at a very high level of intensity for a prolonged period is not really possible, and probably not desirable for a variety of reasons.
jjafterdark is offline  
Likes For jjafterdark:
Old 06-09-20, 07:31 PM
  #2  
b88
Full Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2018
Posts: 216

Bikes: Specialized

Mentioned: 1 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 142 Post(s)
Liked 53 Times in 43 Posts
I’m gaining weight. I get tired riding my regular bike.
On the ebike I hardly break a sweat.
b88 is offline  
Old 06-09-20, 11:08 PM
  #3  
alloo
Full Member
 
alloo's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2019
Location: Albuquerque, NM
Posts: 490

Bikes: 2022 Priority Coast, 2022 Priority Current

Mentioned: 2 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 175 Post(s)
Liked 137 Times in 99 Posts
Yes, I lose weight if I reduce my caloric input. I try to lose 1-3 lbs per week. Some weeks, I'm successful others not so. I lost 30 lbs last year. I ride 25 miles 4x per week. I use level 2-3.

Last edited by alloo; 06-09-20 at 11:20 PM.
alloo is offline  
Likes For alloo:
Old 06-10-20, 09:14 AM
  #4  
danh123
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2018
Location: Central MA
Posts: 95
Mentioned: 2 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 42 Post(s)
Liked 5 Times in 4 Posts
Originally Posted by jjafterdark
I've read many accounts of new e-bike riders losing weight, often a significant amount of weight. I don't read many accounts of people riding regular bikes who are losing weight. I'm certainly not saying it doesn't happen but there are so many accounts of the former, it seems like a positive trend rather than just isolated phenomena.

My theory is that ebikes allow for riding at a lower level of intensity which promotes weight loss compared to the intermediate level of intensity for bike riding in general. I wonder also, if riding a regular bike at a low level of intensity might be better for weight loss than riding at an intermediate level of intensity. Obviously, riding at a very high level of intensity for a prolonged period is not really possible, and probably not desirable for a variety of reasons.
Your theory makes sense. Also, the ebike may be more fun to ride so people end up spending more time riding.
danh123 is offline  
Likes For danh123:
Old 06-11-20, 07:47 AM
  #5  
roundypndr 
Been around the block
 
roundypndr's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2020
Posts: 75
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 102 Post(s)
Liked 230 Times in 166 Posts
I can see losing weight riding an E bike, I had a similar situation when I changed jobs, and took a different route that was much less strenuous, causing me to lose some body muscle, close to 15 pounds in weight.
roundypndr is offline  
Old 06-11-20, 10:35 PM
  #6  
linberl
Senior Member
 
linberl's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2014
Location: SF Bay Area
Posts: 3,460

Bikes: Trident Spike 2 recumbent trike w/ e-assist

Mentioned: 25 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1321 Post(s)
Liked 374 Times in 288 Posts
I can lose weight doing either one and I ride both ways. But it's more about matching calories eaten to calories burned. I ride in part
so I can eat stuff I like (all of which is fattening). Doesn't matter whether I burn that 350 calories on my bike with the motor or without - but
if I eat more than 350 calories over my baseline and don't do extra riding, I'll gain weight. Probably good that lots of places are closed
right now - less tempted to ride from bakery to bakery, lol.
linberl is offline  
Likes For linberl:
Old 07-09-20, 01:01 PM
  #7  
Riveting
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2013
Location: Highlands Ranch, CO
Posts: 1,221

Bikes: '13 Diamondback Hybrid Commuter, '17 Spec Roubaix Di2, '17 Spec Camber 29'er, '19 CDale Topstone Gravel

Mentioned: 5 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 590 Post(s)
Liked 445 Times in 260 Posts
I'm losing weight riding an ebike because my commute is 35 miles RT (with 1,500' combined ascent), and the ebike allows me to do that commute 4-5 days a week, as opposed to my non-ebike that I can only do 2-3 days per week because my knees get too sore and I choose to recover instead. On top of that, when I was on the non-ebike, on the 3 or 4 days a week that I knew I wasn't riding the next day (because my knees were sore), I would tend to drink too much beer and/or to much wine with dinner. The ebike keeps me riding more, which helps me to consume less.

Full disclosure: several years ago I did lose 60 lbs in 18 months riding a non-ebike, but I was able to ride 6-7 days a week because I hadn't yet blown my knees out (from doing hardcore sprinting). My new ebike is getting me back in the game.

Last edited by Riveting; 07-09-20 at 01:11 PM.
Riveting is offline  
Old 07-09-20, 03:21 PM
  #8  
linberl
Senior Member
 
linberl's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2014
Location: SF Bay Area
Posts: 3,460

Bikes: Trident Spike 2 recumbent trike w/ e-assist

Mentioned: 25 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1321 Post(s)
Liked 374 Times in 288 Posts
I've got a fitbit heart rate monitor. It lets me know when I'm in calorie burn mode or higher intensity. Seems like the harder I work and the more I sweat, the lower the calorie burn. Riding motorized it's easy to stay in the calorie burn zone. However, the easy spinning which reduces calories does not seem to help build muscle at all. Riding motorless I see a difference in my abs, butt, and thighs regardless of
what the scale says; it tones my parts up. Riding motorized I can drop numbers on the scale but there is less toning and muscle definition.
So I do both now on a regular basis, short high intensity spurts without the motor and sustained spinning with the motor.
Unfortunately, with shelter in place and most things closed, I've been baking a LOT. That has completely messed with the benefits of
my bike, haha.
linberl is offline  
Old 07-11-20, 08:56 PM
  #9  
paulmalva
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2020
Posts: 20
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 2 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 1 Time in 1 Post
Originally Posted by linberl
I've got a fitbit heart rate monitor. It lets me know when I'm in calorie burn mode or higher intensity. Seems like the harder I work and the more I sweat, the lower the calorie burn. Riding motorized it's easy to stay in the calorie burn zone. However, the easy spinning which reduces calories does not seem to help build muscle at all. Riding motorless I see a difference in my abs, butt, and thighs regardless of
what the scale says; it tones my parts up. Riding motorized I can drop numbers on the scale but there is less toning and muscle definition.
So I do both now on a regular basis, short high intensity spurts without the motor and sustained spinning with the motor.
Unfortunately, with shelter in place and most things closed, I've been baking a LOT. That has completely messed with the benefits of
my bike, haha.
Yeah, I have that too. If I ride only my ebike for a couple of weeks I also seem to lose my top level power quite fast.
And then when I switch back I can no longer get up hills.
It seems the spinning with low intensity is really great for burning fat but it also burns/reduces muscle mass.
paulmalva is offline  
Old 07-11-20, 10:14 PM
  #10  
linberl
Senior Member
 
linberl's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2014
Location: SF Bay Area
Posts: 3,460

Bikes: Trident Spike 2 recumbent trike w/ e-assist

Mentioned: 25 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1321 Post(s)
Liked 374 Times in 288 Posts
Originally Posted by paulmalva
Yeah, I have that too. If I ride only my ebike for a couple of weeks I also seem to lose my top level power quite fast.
And then when I switch back I can no longer get up hills.
It seems the spinning with low intensity is really great for burning fat but it also burns/reduces muscle mass.
The thing is if you know about this, you can adapt. Now unfortunately my bike isn't geared for a motor (I added a kit) so I have 8 gears
and the lowest PAS I ride in 6th so I can spin out pretty easily. If I had harder gears I could just up the gearing to work harder, but I
don't want to change my bike up. So I just shut down the motor (has a pause button) and barely use it on my exercise rides. It makes
my errands a lot faster and less sweaty, and it's great if I ride manually for exercise and run out of steam on the way home. You just gotta know when to use it to reap the benefits maximally.
linberl is offline  
Old 07-13-20, 03:35 PM
  #11  
BiciMan
Full Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2015
Location: Ann Arbor, MI
Posts: 282

Bikes: '97 Bianchi CDI, '97 Specialized RockHopper, '13 Specialized Sirrus Pro, '13 Trek 8.5 DS, '13 BH EasyMotion NeoXtrem, '14 Trek Domane, '86 Schwinn AirDyne ;)

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 39 Post(s)
Liked 23 Times in 21 Posts
I don't lose or gain weight much because of riding, electric or non, and I'm into my 8th decade of riding. I do gain 5-8 pounds each winter because I do ride my AirDyne then, less than I ride my other bikes the rest of the year. A tiny part of that gain is due to non-optimal holiday eating.

On the other hand, I have lost about 10-15 pounds this year because I have not eaten at a restaurant since mid-March -and even though I have also ridden less since then. A tiny part of this gain is due to not getting a haircut since then either. Stay healthy and safe everyone.
BiciMan is offline  
Old 07-19-20, 08:42 PM
  #12  
vimal85
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2020
Posts: 8
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 3 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
yeah I would think you would get more of a workout in a regular bike
vimal85 is offline  
Old 07-20-20, 09:24 PM
  #13  
veganbikes
Clark W. Griswold
 
Join Date: Mar 2014
Location: ,location, location
Posts: 13,280

Bikes: Foundry Chilkoot Ti W/Ultegra Di2, Salsa Timberjack Ti, Cinelli Mash Work RandoCross Fun Time Machine, 1x9 XT Parts Hybrid, Co-Motion Cascadia, Specialized Langster, Phil Wood Apple VeloXS Frame (w/DA 7400), R+M Supercharger2 Rohloff, Habanero Ti 26

Mentioned: 54 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 4253 Post(s)
Liked 3,866 Times in 2,579 Posts
I lose weight all the time, and then quickly find it again though that is due to excess noodle consumption. However riding more well help and certainly if you are enjoying the ride more you will maybe go further or use it more often. You may get a better exercise on a regular bike but if you aren't going to ride it, it doesn't matter. On the e-bike I can still work out if I want and am more likely to push myself a little harder.
veganbikes is offline  
Old 07-21-20, 09:06 AM
  #14  
zebra6331
Junior Member
 
zebra6331's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2020
Location: NW Indiana
Posts: 11

Bikes: 2020 Verve 3

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 4 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 1 Time in 1 Post
I'm guessing because you ride longer and keep heart rate up.
zebra6331 is offline  
Old 07-27-20, 08:03 AM
  #15  
jayhawk12
Newbie
 
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: kansas city area
Posts: 38

Bikes: electric bike plus another bike. Previously had a little bike shop

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 7 Post(s)
Liked 7 Times in 6 Posts
I have worked in a bike shop and for about 10 years had a little bike shop in my detached garage. I explain that because it allowed me to talk with a whole lot of people about ebikes. I also built or sold ebikes to several customers at their request.
I suspect that at least some of the weight loss may be because the ebike rider wasn't riding at all so riding an ebike allowed them to get exercise. Same with some seniors and folks who wanted to commute but had big hills or didn't commute because it was too far or too sweaty.
jayhawk12 is offline  

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off


Thread Tools
Search this Thread

Contact Us - Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Terms of Service -

Copyright © 2024 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Use of this site indicates your consent to the Terms of Use.