Carbonfiberboy 

This thread started a little over 4 years ago. E-bikes have developed several niche markets for reasons made obvious in this thread. I'm a member of an invitation-only group ride which began in the early 90s, when those starting it were in the "prime of life' meaning late 40s, early 50s. I joined it the late 90's, in my early 50s. My wife and I now ride our tandem with one of the founding members, now over 80. She's still at it. I'm only 78, a recovering heart patient. My wife and I choose to ride w/o electrons. Our founding member rides with us and only "presses the button," as she puts it, when she absolutely has to. Our choice was to go with a 26X40 low gear on the Speedster.

Some of the current members joined later, some were already members when I joined. We're an aging population with widely varying power to weight ratios. We have one member, a bit of an ass, who rides a pedal assist e-bike but fancies himself quite the rider, so he goes to the front. We banned his bike for a while, but now let him come back on it as long as he designs and posts rides.

Other than those two e-bikes, right now we're all still on conventional bikes. I can see more of us going to pedal-assist e-bikes as it becomes impossible to climb long 8% grades at more than a walking pace. Why are we all still here? Friendship. We've been doing this for a long time and we're not going to quit as long as uh, we have breath in our bodies. We seldom go on MUPs but when we do, we pass every e-bike we see. Why? We're fit. It's always been about doing what's possible, the max that's possible for each of us. That's a lesson we take seriously, and for us, what cycling is all about.. Even those who have and will transition to e-bikes are fit. Yes, we are frigging nuts, like so many other members of this forum. Our doctors are very, very happy with us. I have long said that when riding with others, we speak to each other with our bikes. We try to be careful of what we say.

Chandne

I did an 80-mile organized ride again in Colorado this year (Copper Triangle) and I saw several ebikes. Mostly, they were Specialized Creos with older riders. That was awesome to see. They were not flying uphill either but going at normal pace. Glad they keep cyclists going..older. younger, whatever.

choddo

I did a long ride last year with an older clubmate on a Creo. We had to keep the pace down on the flats for him and then he buggered off up the hills. Got his comeuppance when his battery ran out at about 95 miles though 😁

Chandne

haha yeah, if you keep the power setting low, the range is quite impressive. There were folks doing the Triple Bypass ride in Colorado with one small battery extender...110 miles and 11,000 ft over three mountain passes. I was at Copper Mountain cheering on the riders over the last short climb. I saw many 65-75 years olds completing the ride and I swear there were some around 80. It was a. bit humbling and inspiring. They looked like lifelong riders.