E-bike snobbery

Get to a big hill on an eBike and you can tell your legs haven't got it in them? You can rely on the pedal assist. Misjudge how much fuel you needed for your journey and you bonk several miles from home? You can rely on the pedal assist. Those two things happen to you on a traditional bike and your option is to get off your bike and walk or call up for rescue.

That's the point, he turns the motor off on a very heavy bike so he gets way more exercise in a shorter amount of time.
He has the motor off during his session in the woods and then cycles home with a bit of assist.
I can't see how you can't understand how an eBike can get you fitter with more strenuous exercise than a 1kg road bike against a 25kg MTB with the motor off.

Same as my other mate who rides for a proper club, he can do more strenuous exercise in less time on his eBike and then put it on a nice pedal assist which feels like his very expensive road bike to get him home.

You need to ask yourself why some professionals are using them to get faster and fitter.
 
You need to ask yourself why some professionals are using them to get faster and fitter.

They are using them as an aid, not as a direct means to get fitter per se. I'm pretty fit and pretty strong but doing laps of bike park wales tires me out. Its something I'm not used to. Using an ebike or uplift to get to the top and get in more runs will make me fitter, faster. It enables you to do more of the bit that you are training for. This is where people seem to get a bit confused IMO. Its also the bit that annoys people who don't ride ebikes. People suggesting that you get a harder workout or that its just as hard on an ebike. Thats not true very often and yet a lot of ebikers who by all appearances are not in peak condition like to espouse that view.

Ebikes are brilliant things (ignoring the knobs that ride them like motorbikes and give all cyclists a bad name) but it does annoy me when they try to say that they get just a good a workout as they would on a regular bike when thats clearly not the case. They enable people to do things they would otherwise not do or not be able to do but please stop trying to push the idea that they are better for fitness than a regular bike. Just enjoy them for what they are.
 
People suggesting that you get a harder workout or that its just as hard on an ebike. Thats not true very often and yet a lot of ebikers who by all appearances are not in peak condition like to espouse that view.

Turning my motor off and riding up a hill on an eBike is way worse than riding my Forme road bike up the same hill, it is definitely giving me a harder workout in less time, how can you not see that?
 
Turning my motor off and riding up a hill on an eBike is way worse than riding my Forme road bike up the same hill, it is definitely giving me a harder workout in less time, how can you not see that?

Because unless the hill is barely a slope you can replicate that effort with gearing. I could stick my road bike in a gear that would make it impossible to get up anything but the gentlest of slopes. How much harder do you think you can get than "dear god I can't turn the peddles"?
 
Because unless the hill is barely a slope you can replicate that effort with gearing. I could stick my road bike in a gear that would make it impossible to get up anything but the gentlest of slopes. How much harder do you think you can get than "dear god I can't turn the peddles"?

Point taken and how I used to do it before eBike :)
 
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Turning my motor off and riding up a hill on an eBike is way worse than riding my Forme road bike up the same hill, it is definitely giving me a harder workout in less time, how can you not see that?

You're picking a very strange hill to die on.

So for a fair-ish comparison. Lets say you have Orbea Avant that weighs 11KG and you have their electric bike, the Orbea Gain, at 11.5KG. Are you really, in good faith, going to say the electric bike that weighs 500g more than the non electric bike is going to be better for fitness?
 
You're picking a very strange hill to die on.

So for a fair-ish comparison. Lets say you have Orbea Avant that weighs 11KG and you have their electric bike, the Orbea Gain, at 11.5KG. Are you really, in good faith, going to say the electric bike that weighs 500g more than the non electric bike is going to be better for fitness?

Already replied to Fez :)

However the difference between my eBike and Forme road bike is around 17kg - 25kg compared to 8kg but the gearing explained by Fez makes sense.
 
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Already replied to Fez :)

However the difference between my eBike and Forme road bike is around 17kg - 25kg compared to 8kg but the gearing explained by Fez makes sense.

Its a pretty common misconception to be fair. The old "ride your clunker to train on and then when you race you will be so much faster". Well yes, you will be because for the same power output you will go faster but ultimately your training on the clunker isn't making you any stronger than your training on your race bike.

The only difference between training on a heavier bike vs a lighter one, all things being equal is that your minimum effort will be higher on the heavier bike. So lets say both bikes have the same gearing and you are riding them both up the same hill. The lighter bike in the easiest gear will require less effort than the heavier one.

Anyway, don't take any **** from @Junglist, hes still riding a bike from like 2021 or something :p
 
We'll just have to agree to disagree. No big deal.

The only people who dislike e-bikes are people who have not ridden / owned an e-bike.

It's just that I will never see them as good as exercise as a traditional bike powered by me as the engine.
My Levo G3 is harder work than my road bike to commute to work on. For the same average power on a 9 mile commute my Ribble is quicker by around a minute on my commute than my Levo (backed up by power metres). I used to hold the same opinion as you regarding e-bikes, until I owned one.
 
My Levo G3 is harder work than my road bike to commute to work on. For the same average power on a 9 mile commute my Ribble is quicker by around a minute on my commute than my Levo (backed up by power metres). I used to hold the same opinion as you regarding e-bikes, until I owned one.

I’m sure it is. It’s heavier and it’s a bike designed for off road use with knobbly tires. It was never designed to be used for a commute on smooth roads. If you ride that without electric assistance of course it’s going to be harder because it’s a rubbish tool for a commute.

e-bikes, when you are comparing them like for like (a road bike vs electric road bike. Not a lightweight carbon road bike compared to a heavy electric full suspension mountain bike) electronic bikes are easier to ride.

I don’t even know why people feel so hell bent to argue against the obvious. It’s not even a bad thing lol.

If they weren’t easier to ride and make life more convenient then people wouldn’t be flocking to buy them as they’re not cheap.
 
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The thing is i find it evens up the playing field for group rides. You set the assist as much as needed to enjoy the ride. When i did a Gran Fondo the other week a guy with a motor was riding in a group of non electric bikes. I imagine without it he'd be miles behind and they'd either have to wait at the top for him or he'd just lose the ability to ride with friends. If he's only capable of 200w but his mates are capable of 250w then depending on the level of assist he might still be exerting the same amount of effort as he'd put out on a normal bike and so be struggling just as much. The only difference is he's now able to keep up.

The only reason electric bikes annoy me is when i'm out with the wife and she can fly up hills at 25mph on a dutch style bike as it's not limited and i'm killing myself. Made even worse when we've had a few beers and big lunch out somewhere :(
Isn't an eBike that goes 25mph against the law, unless of course it's taxed and insured like a moped?
 
Turning my motor off and riding up a hill on an eBike is way worse than riding my Forme road bike up the same hill, it is definitely giving me a harder workout in less time, how can you not see that?
all your doing is spinning pedals at a set cadence.
no one ever got big legs from riding hills alone
 
They are using them as an aid, not as a direct means to get fitter per se. I'm pretty fit and pretty strong but doing laps of bike park wales tires me out. Its something I'm not used to. Using an ebike or uplift to get to the top and get in more runs will make me fitter, faster. It enables you to do more of the bit that you are training for. This is where people seem to get a bit confused IMO. Its also the bit that annoys people who don't ride ebikes. People suggesting that you get a harder workout or that its just as hard on an ebike. Thats not true very often and yet a lot of ebikers who by all appearances are not in peak condition like to espouse that view.

Ebikes are brilliant things (ignoring the knobs that ride them like motorbikes and give all cyclists a bad name) but it does annoy me when they try to say that they get just a good a workout as they would on a regular bike when thats clearly not the case. They enable people to do things they would otherwise not do or not be able to do but please stop trying to push the idea that they are better for fitness than a regular bike. Just enjoy them for what they are.

I'm not sure I agree here, what it does allow is me able to cycle for a lot longer in zone 2 than higher zones when things get steep. I also now get to descend a lot more, which is great for core and muscles.

Friend who's an ultra marathon runner swapped to an ebike before me and believes it's absolutely great for his ultra training.

So it all really depends, you definitely don't get as varied workout like you do on an Enduro bike. But the ability to ride in zone 2 can be very beneficial.

Though this all depends if your riding in eco mode or boost for the whole ride :p
 
I'm not sure I agree here, what it does allow is me able to cycle for a lot longer in zone 2 than higher zones when things get steep. I also now get to descend a lot more, which is great for core and muscles.

Friend who's an ultra marathon runner swapped to an ebike before me and believes it's absolutely great for his ultra training.

So it all really depends, you definitely don't get as varied workout like you do on an Enduro bike. But the ability to ride in zone 2 can be very beneficial.

Though this all depends if your riding in eco mode or boost for the whole ride :p

Yeah, its a tool that can be used to make your training more effective but the idea that you get a better workout in general on an ebike is usually bobbins spouted by people who just don't like to admit that they are lazy and unfit. If a super fit cyclist told me they get a better workout or it enables them to do x,y and z they can't easily do otherwise then I would believe them. When fat Steve who has been riding his ebike for 3 years and is still fat Steve tells me I tend to be a little less believing.

Although I do get out of breath and tired, I'm not really bothered too much about fitness and working out, i just find them more fun to ride *shrugs*

Yep and thats totally cool. Thats the best thing about ebikes. They get people moving and exercising and thats never a bad thing.
 
I’m sure it is. It’s heavier and it’s a bike designed for off road use with knobbly tires. It was never designed to be used for a commute on smooth roads. If you ride that without electric assistance of course it’s going to be harder because it’s a rubbish tool for a commute.

e-bikes, when you are comparing them like for like (a road bike vs electric road bike. Not a lightweight carbon road bike compared to a heavy electric full suspension mountain bike) electronic bikes are easier to ride.

I don’t even know why people feel so hell bent to argue against the obvious. It’s not even a bad thing lol.

If they weren’t easier to ride and make life more convenient then people wouldn’t be flocking to buy them as they’re not cheap.

Who said anything about riding it with the motor off?
 
An e-bike is the only way I can get my wife to come riding with me, so as far as I'm concerned they are brilliant. It enables us to do loads of rides she'd otherwise just refuse to go on.
 
The only people who dislike e-bikes are people who have not ridden / owned an e-bike.
Definitely not true at all.

This whole notion that people that haven't tried one are missing out is a load of rubbish. Some people just don't want one it's as simple as that.
 
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