Do ebikes take the fun out of cycling ?

[IR772]

I often have to ride through Keighley town centre on the emtb,

Is that a local village ?

 

[Gubbins]

Is that a local village ?

Yep. A suberb of Bradford....

 

[LeighPing]

So do ebikes take the fun out of cycling what do you think ?

I totally bypassed regular bikes. I just never had one. Right now, I'm sat in the warm, doing next to nothing, coughing, spluttering, sneezing and sweating with the man flu. The dog's giving me the furry eyeball, he still needs to go to the loo and I can barely get up the stairs without breathing out of my ass.

It's raining heavily and I'm not relishing venturing out in it.. However, once these all in one flu capsules kick in, after I've finished this lemsip with honey and buttercup syrup concoction, I should be good to go for a good 10 minutes or so. The ebike will make his half hour walk go by in 6 minutes and get me up the hill without flaking out.

Fun, not quite. But it would be a lot less fun without one right now.

 

[earthmover]

I have always cycled for fun, off road mainly, cycling on the road only as a means of teenage independence many moons ago! I rode my non assisted Orange Five at the weekend, and really enjoyed it, whilst my girlfriend's daughter rode my E-bike. She absolutely loved it, so that's two people who had fun this weekend because of one bike, and three if you count the fact that her Mum was overjoyed that I'd got her out of the house and away from the damned screen!
Mark

 

[mike killay]

Where I live there are hardly any flat bits.
I used to ride an ordinary bike as a teenager, couldn't wait to get a motor bike.
Bikes can be overrated if you want to use them for transport. For instance, as a fit teenager, I would ride mostly downhill for about 4 miles to a beach. Have a strenuous swim, then be faced with 4 miles of uphill work to ride home.
Even then it was daunting.
That is why bikes are not very popular here.

 

[oldgroaner]

Someone told me that if you cant do it without the motor you shouldnt do it at all.. Go sit and watch daytime tv with the rest of the potatoes..

When you are 73 like me an ebike is essential

ultimately yes, there is no substitute for only moving by ones own energy, which can become a spiritual things, which ebikes never can for me. but, an ebike can be a vital step back to being fit enough to effectively use an ordinary bike, if one has a regular 11 mile commute for example, as I do now on a litespeed, but had to start doing on an ebike to get fit enough

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[D8ve]

So better question is being old and unwell take the fun out of...everything.
And then having assistance get it back.

 

[oldgroaner]

So better question is being old and unwell take the fun out of...everything.
And then having assistance get it back.

How right you are[emoji1]

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[LeighPing]

How right you are[emoji1]

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I'm just unwell.

Sent from a Philippino boy locked in my cellar with a slate and a bit of charcoal.

 

[IR772]

So better question is being old and unwell take the fun out of...everything.
And then having assistance get it back.

Viagra?

 

[Brynric]

So do ebikes take the fun out of cycling what do you think ?

I think they take the age out of cycling.
When I was 25 I would cycle a lot for leisure and occasionally transport. Then I was 45 and the cycling grew less. Then I retired and the cycling returned but the hills got steeper and more intimidating. Then we moved (to the edge of the Cotswolds) and I could only cycle in one direction, the other was too steep.
Now I have an electric bike, I'm 25 again.
( My wife says that's not strictly true but thats another matter...!)

 

[Alan Quay]

Electric bikes can be a gateway drug.

After many years of cycling until my late 20's, I gave up. The combined pressures of work, family, a lack of time and a vivacious enthusiasm for beer, wine and slobbery took their toll. Being on the road with a generous expense account only added to the problem, and my girth.

Electric bikes gave me the opportunity to get back in the saddle, which has had a significant positive effect on my entire outlook on cycling and fitness.

I still have most of my electric bikes, and they get the occasional run out. Mostly though I'm back on the old school analogue bike and loving it.

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[Suseka]

Have to admit to being one of those who bought a standard hybrid using my works C2W scheme 2 years ago, with every intention to do just that... cycle to work. After a few weeks the bike ended up in the garage, unloved and unused because I found the commute simply too taxing (due to my weight and suffering from chronic asthma). This year I bought an e-bike and since purchasing early summer I've been out and about on it -for the commute and just for the shear fun of it. I can now manage the steep inclines and enjoy the rides - so for me... it's definitely put the fun back in. I love my e-bike and can honestly say I'll never go back to a standard ride.. but that's just me

 

[Gubbins]

Have to admit to being one of those who bought a standard hybrid using my works C2W scheme 2 years ago, with every intention to do just that... cycle to work. After a few weeks the bike ended up in the garage, unloved and unused because I found the commute simply too taxing (due to my weight and suffering from chronic asthma). This year I bought an e-bike and since purchasing early summer I've been out and about on it -for the commute and just for the shear fun of it. I can now manage the steep inclines and enjoy the rides - so for me... it's definitely put the fun back in. I love my e-bike and can honestly say I'll never go back to a standard ride.. but that's just me

No.. you couldn't be more wrong mate. It's not just you at all[emoji56]

 

[LeighPing]

Uphill on an ebike is fun. Although, it tends to blow your biking cover with the traffic. You know what they're all saying don't you..

 

[eHomer]

For me the crucial ebike development was "pedal assist", even by just a simple rotation sensor on the cranks.

You still feel as though you're powering the bike, as you indeed are, to a certain extent.

For a couple of years I tried a Dutch Spartamet 35cc petrol powered bicycle, thinking that I could get almost unlimited range and still pedal, but the crank gearing was lower, only suited to hills, so you tended to just sit there and use the throttle, (and still be limited to about 18mph). It may have been ideal for regular commutes, (no dressing up or sweating), but the enjoyment of "pedelecing" was gone.

I'm 65, too fat (95kg), but I still enjoy my regular 25 mile cycle rides around country lanes on my pedelecs. The few hills are less steep, I get to see much more countryside than on a non-powered bike, and yet I'm still getting a certain amount of exercise without ending up in an exhausted sweaty state.

 

[anotherkiwi]

Is this you?

 

[JimRides]

For me the fun of cycling has always been about getting out in the fresh air and maybe visiting places you can't get to on easily on foot or by bus/train/car - the actual physical exertion aspect was never "fun"! So being on an e-bike doesn't take away from any of the things I've always found enjoyable.

Funnily enough though, since getting an e-bike for commuting, I've started using my old, previously neglected, mountain bike a lot now as well. I even tried my journey to and from work on it, which I managed to complete without any great drama, but I wouldn't fancy trying it with the wind in my face!

 

[Croxden]

Another activity where you get out of breath, sticky & sweaty is also classed as fun, without laughing.

 

[johnc46]

I pedal my ebike everywhere even though it's heavier than a normal bike and only use power by throttle when I need help,70 years young and love it. Plus I get great mileage from a charge.