Does an E-Bike make things too easy?

[Gubbins]

I ask this because mine has been broken for the last 3 weeks and I am back on the un-powered road bike. Initially I found it really hard work, but after a couple of hundred miles I am getting back into it, enjoying it, and my fitness levels seem to be on the up, so some would argue that riding with assistance has made me a bit soft!

 

[D8ve]

An electric bike will make you lazy but. If you want to legally do 20 then you need to get a manual bike and work hard.
But if you can't ride hard then electric bikes keep you on the road

 

[Jimod]

I recently took my non electric bike up to where my son lives. His place makes my area feel like Holland. Anyway, I did a small circuit which had long and plentiful hills. I was sweating like a hot thing after it but I managed it.

Now, if I hadn't bought an ebike 3 years ago, I would never have bought the normal bike just over a year ago.

So, for me, the ebikes have helped me.

 

[flecc]

The first one certainly set back my fitness Phill. I bought it to help with heavy trailer towing, but within a year I'd lost much of my previous cycling fitness. Hills that I used to enjoy storming over had become a really hard slog and it wasn't long after that when i gave up the unpowered bike altogether. I was 68 at the time so perhaps that's not unreasonable, but I'm sure if i hadn't bought the e-bike I'd have been able to continue unpowered fro quite a few more years.
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[electric.mike]

Not for me,ime in the wouldn't ride a none powered bike camp,an Ebike is a tool and should be used for the job you want/need it for.
I can see how a serious biker could lose the edge if he changed over for no good reason.

 

[Artstu]

The complete opposite for me. I'd probably ride 100 miles a year maximum un-powered due to illness. An e-bike allows me to ride considerably more miles a year, so that has to be better for me.

 

[Jonah]

It does depend a bit on the bike. My throttle powered Brompton makes me lazy but my crank / torque sensored Kalkhoff helps keep me fit. I could not do my daily commute on an unpowered bike (hills too steep) and would not do regular 40-60 mile rides without some assistance. So, with an unpowered bike I cycled perhaps a few hundred miles a year at most whilst now I do 500 miles a month.

 

[shambolic]

For me with limited mobility, it is one of the few sources of exercise. The electric bike and Hydrotherapy keep my muscle tone. I have to find hills to make the assisted pedalling worthwhile though.

 

[neptune]

At the moment, I have an old lead acid powered e bike, which I rarely use.I ride my pedal bike at least ten miles every day for fitness and fun. I am 69 this year. I keep thinking of getting a new e bike, probably a Woosh Sirocco 2. My plan would be to use it about once a week for a longer trip.

 

[Gubbins]

I have come to the conclusion that getting old is like riding a skateboard down hill, with someone occasionally oiling the wheels!

 

[EddiePJ]

I'd say not. It's just a different discipline that opens new or extended possibilities for riding enjoyment. Buying my e-bike gave me confidence to get off my backside and ride, and over the last year of riding, my fitness has increased. You get just as tired, but to a degree the riding distance is increased, so creating a form of balance.
I'm not sure that the same sense of achievement is gained though. Yesterday's pedal ride below, has given me a greater feeling of achievement than any other ride. It still wouldn't have happened though, had it not been for an e-bike.

http://app.strava.com/activities/173489863


http://www.pedelecs.co.uk/forum/threads/toughest-ride-of-my-life.18509/





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[danielrlee]

I look at it like this:

An individual is able to pedal continuously at a power level they feel comfortable at. Add a motor and you can supplement this power with anything from a fraction to many multiples of the human level of input. As long as you put in the same amount of effort for the same length of time as when previously unaided, you've done no less than you would otherwise.

When you're comparing with an unaided journey over a fixed distance, of course it's easier assisted, but would you have attempted the journey otherwise?

Electric bikes break as many mental barriers as they do physical ones.

 

[jackhandy]

As far as I'm concerned, at 65, I bought an ebike kit 2 years ago to wander about on when I retire:
15 months later I moved to an Ezee kit on a trekking bike, purely to give me more assist on hills.
I'm now retired & averaging 100+ miles per week.

I'm a reasonably fit bloke for my age, but have no interest in over-excercising just to prove something - to whom? The bike is not a sport accessory - It's a means of getting about a beautiful (but very hilly) part of the country without using the car & making enough effort to reap some benefit.

One thing I have noticed though, is that, since I've regularly been doing the increased mileage, although my lower-body muscle-tone has improved markedly, I'm going to have to start controlling my calorie intake, as I've stopped losing weight
I assume my body's adjusted to the increased activity, the same as "Her indoors' " does when she indulges in a spell of that there Yo-yo dieting.

 

[axolotl]

Depends whether you're buying the bike for fitness or for other reasons. Personally, I don't care that much about fitness and, frankly, any type of bike will make me fitter than driving a car. What I do care about is cost, sustainability and my carbon footprint.

 

[john h]

I often turn off the power on my cd , and pedal non powered, great thing about ebike is i have that choice, as danielrlee said a lot of it is a frame of mind, i have even went out on a carea vengance i bought a while back to convert to ebike(still not got round to it)

went 10 miles on it felt great when i came back

 

[RobF]

I reckon ebiking has at least doubled my range, but on the downside has more than halved the improvement rate in my fitness.

The Bosch system suits me because you do have to pedal all the time, even if you are not putting much effort in.

I would like to say this was all part of a grand plan when I bought the Rose 18 months ago.

It wasn't, I really had no idea about this sort of stuff then or how the bike would need to be used.

Happily for me, the job's turned out all right.

 

[Gubbins]

I reckon ebiking has at least doubled my range, but on the downside has more than halved the improvement rate in my fitness.

The Bosch system suits me because you do have to pedal all the time, even if you are not putting much effort in.

I would like to say this was all part of a grand plan when I bought the Rose 18 months ago.

It wasn't, I really had no idea about this sort of stuff then or how the bike would need to be used.

Happily for me, the job's turned out all right.

I think you have hit the nail on the head here... The bosch system seems to me to be a good compromise giving assisted pedalling without offering a free ride.

 

[OldBob1]

At the end of the day if it gets you out in the fresh air and see some of our country side, its got to be a bonus.
I find very often after coming back from my normal 12 mile round trip to the shops I pass the house and extend the ride.
P.S. must mod the battery to get 40+ miles

 

[fishingpaul]

I enjoy riding my electric bike,it often replaces a car journey into work,in fact nearly every day when the forecast is dry i take the bike.my thoughts are a normal bike ride home up a steep hill after a hard days work,the car would win every day,after a hard days work a slog up steep hills would make me choose the car.at least i have a little fresh air and gentle exercise on my electric bike,a normal bike would never be used just collecting dust.

 

[OldPedaller]

Without wanting to prove anything to anyone but myself, I like to work quite hard on the ebike and am sure my fitness has improved as a result. My non-powered bike was gathering serious dust before I got the ebike. Nowadays I will drag it out now and again because I've got cycling fitness back again.