Polaris OBark

E-bikes will unambiguously give you a much better workout if you run the battery all the way down before you climb a 2000 ft hill to get home.


It might be due to my inexperience, fit, or something else, but my legs feel more fatigued after an e-bike ride vs. a conventional ride.

Lombard

Not to mention that most ebikes have multiple modes from pedal assist to full throttle. And I've seen these full throttle ebikes on the MUTs and they ride at dangerous speeds approaching those of mopeds.

Polaris OBark

They also cause impotence and communism. Won't someone think of the children?

jzr756

​ I agree 👍💯 very poor etiquette . No malice intended. my apologies for my ill thought out question/poor choice of words. (Maybe Alzheimer's setting in) My bad, . Nothing beats just enjoying the great outdoors. Maybe admin can delete.

Carbonfiberboy 

A friend of mine is an ex-randonneur with a wall full of K-hound medals and good PBP results. Then he got A-fib, had ablations (plural) but still has to keep his HR below 120. He can ride anywhere he wants on his pedal assist e-bike and for as long as his battery will last. On a conventional bike, he simply can't ride anywhere fun enough. The joy was missing, but he gets it back on the e-bike. I don't think his is a unique story. I went to the 80th birthday party of a female friend the other day. Today, she's doing a 40 mile group ride with 2700' of gain - on her pedal-assist ebike. She founded this group ride series about 40 years ago, got the e-bike a couple years ago.

Calsun

I have not noticed any articles claiming that people using e-bikes got a better workout. Lots of comments that people will ride further on an e-bike with less worry about bonking and people that would ride one circuit on trails and with an e-bike would consider doing a second circuit but that cannot be generalized to everyone on an e-bike.

E-bike help with riding up steep hills or riding into a strong headwind. One can also adjust the amount of pedal assistance provided by the motor for the situation and the fitness of the rider.

Not all that different from when triple chainrings started to appear and bikes had incredibly low gears more suited to pulling a cargo trailer.

Polaris OBark

Lots of young, very fit, healthy people around here ride high-end e-mountain bikes.

They don't do this for medical reasons, or to get a different workout.

They do it purely for fun.

As long as they do no harm to the trails or to others, why should this bother anyone?

jzr756

I totally get it. Makes sense. Much thanks for the informative enlightenment. 💯👍

3alarmer 

...first, and most importantly, you are in the wrong forum for nuance. Second, in passing, you are going to hell for this.

CrimsonEclipse

Ebikes are like training wheels.
Concerned that you can't make the climb? You have Turbo Mode!
Biological Range Anxiety? You now have a battery backup!

Just don't act like you're a faster rider.

"I'm getting a better workout on the same trail as you!!"
(*snips wires*)
You are now!

jzr756

That's awesome at 80 years old! I can only hope to be performing at that level @ 80 years old. My sincerest apologies for asking such a dumb a__ question. Had no intention to incite/offend. Thanks for sharing.

jzr756

Thanks for sharing 🙏.

indyfabz

“You can’t fool us by agreeing with us.”—Roy Neary

3alarmer 

...it's the electrical field, coming from the battery draining through the stator. My guess would be that you are also Covid 19 vaccinated. It's been scientifically documented, that this is an unintentional side effect of the 5G chip they put into you when you got vaxxed. Your best bet here, assuming you cannot wear a reflective full body biohazard suit when you ride (they are cumbersome), is to line your helment with aluminum foil as a partial countermeasure. You're welcome.

big john

Adding a motor is like having low gears? Puhleeze.

jon c. 

Seemed to me as if "I get more exercise on an e-bike" was almost a required mantra a few years ago. I hear it less now.

big john

A friend recently got a Creo and said the same thing. He said he had to learn to ride it effectively to stay with the fast group on club rides. Said he had to spin more than he ever has, (he's always been a masher).
The other thing is, he's going faster than before and can keep up better. I think this is the crux of why he gets more fatigued, he's just working harder.

Chandne

They are talks about Class 1 or 2 ebikes- basically the ones you HAVE to pedal and have no throttle. You can get a good workout on this if you want to. However, most regular cyclists will lose power over time if riding an ebike instead of a regular bike. A lower heart rate ride o an ebike can indeed be healthier over time than suffering on a regular bike if doing lots of climbing. You will still lose leg power. The throttle ebikes are ink riding mopeds and do nothing for you BUT they are a nice way to get around instead of burning gasoline.

Mtracer

My wife has a class I ebike and it's the difference of riding or not riding/barely riding. With her non-ebike, she was basically toast just getting a few hundred yards away from the house. Everything is about 4% grade. So, she could ride for a few minutes, be total gassed, and she was done.

With the ebike, she can do 20+ mile rides lasting well over an hour, is pedaling unless coasting downhill. She takes on steeper hills that she still can't make it up (9%+) giving it her all. But she's getting a little farther up those. So, is getting fitter.

She's clearly getting much more exercise with the ebike than she would otherwise. And just as obvious, less than she would get, IF, she could do those same 20-mile rides without an ebike. But she can't, and is unlikely to every ride without the ebike.

Obviously if you do the same ride at the same pace, you're going to get less of a workout with an ebike. But certainly in some situations the ebike provides a wider range of workout possibilities and this could very well lead to better workouts in some cases.

Another perspective, if all that matter was how hard it was to pedal, then I guess we would all get a better workout riding a bike with under-inflated tires, and dry, hard to turn wheel bearings. Let's throw in some brake drag while we're at it. But I think most of us prefer some higher level of performance than a rusty old bike would give us. Why is that? We all know, it's more fun to ride smoothly and easily than to be grinding along.

wolfchild

What is a " better workout" ?....better compared to what ?...What defines an effective workout ?

KPREN

I can only speak for myself. I definitely get a better workout on my e bike than I did on my regular bike and its way cheaper. For me, bicycling is one of those activities where passion and enthusiasm trump common sense.. I landed in the hospital twice in one year after pushing things too hard. One nearly cost me my life. The e bike is way cheaper than the Medicare deductibles. I went from 1,600 miles a year to over 4,500 miles a year with the e bike.
I don't know how some of these people can just throttle along a bike path. My legs and backside would cramp up in a short time without pedaling. I suppose its the Lazy-Boy tractor seats that allow them to do this. Pedaling would be difficult for any distance on a seat like that. Where I observe the greatest number of non pedaling e bikers is at the marina and the camp grounds. .That crowd also seems to be the most clueless on etiquette. I generally see much better etiquette on MUP's.

Polaris OBark

Yeah, that makes sense. I have always been a low-cadence masher. So, maybe it would make me a better cyclist, and it sounds like your friend at least validates the OP's premise.

njkayaker

“Traditional bike riders” ==> people who don’t ride much (AKA “casual riders”).

E-bikes might be too expensive for “casual riders”.

Sy Reene

Wasn't it established long ago that a heavier bike provides a better workout than a lighter bike? And aren't ebikes generally heavier?

big john

It's the extra speed that makes him work. He was a great endurance cyclist in years past but gained a bunch of weight. Another fiend has a Creo because of a-fib. He's fine on long-ish climbing rides unless the pace is really high, then he gets the a-fib. Same thing happens to me but I don't have a motor.

The drag for me is there were guys I could ride with or even drop and now that they have motors it's like they're 30 years younger. Our club banned e-bikes years ago but now there can be 5 of them on a ride.