Overweight and looking for what to buy.

[Paranoid]

I'm 125kg (19st 9lb) and very unfit. I'm looking for an electric bike to decrease my weight, increase my fitness level and to provide some enjoyment whilst doing it.

I wont be using it to commute as I work from home and I'm not planning any off road activity. I'll be happy enough to sedately ride on the roads and cycle paths.

I realise I wont get the advertised ranges because of my weight (although maybe in several months time ).

Ideally the bike would have a decent range for my weight, comfortable, and capable having panniers attached.

I'm willing to spend up to £1500 which would include any necessary extras such as helmet, lights etc.

 

[Deleted member 4366]

The Woosh Big bear should do it.

 

[Danidl]

I'm 125kg (19st 9lb) and very unfit. I'm looking for an electric bike to decrease my weight, increase my fitness level and to provide some enjoyment whilst doing it.

I wont be using it to commute as I work from home and I'm not planning any off road activity. I'll be happy enough to sedately ride on the roads and cycle paths.

I realise I wont get the advertised ranges because of my weight (although maybe in several months time ).

Ideally the bike would have a decent range for my weight, comfortable, and capable having panniers attached.

I'm willing to spend up to £1500 which would include any necessary extras such as helmet, lights etc.

The Raleigh Captus is at about that price, and claims 120 kg load, so don't use the paniers for a few weeks.

 

[Woosh]

Crank drive bikes are not exactly suitable for heavy people.
The stress and strain on the motor is inversely proportional to their cadence. If they struggle on hills at less than 30RPM-40RPM, I bet you half of the battery will be turned to heat.

 

[Trevormonty]

There are two ebike control systems torque and cadence sensing. Torque sensing, motor amplifies your effort, power settings are typically 50, 100 and 200%. You have to put some effort in but at 200% can still climb hills without breaking a sweat. Gives superman feel and tends to encourage more effort from rider, by rewarding them with more speed. Factory middrives eg Bosch, Shimano, Yamaha and some hub drive bikes.

With cadence sensing as long as you turn pedals motor will run to power level you set it. Great for sweat free commuting. You won't typically go much faster by increasing your effort as power settings are more like speed settings. Mainly hub drives and typically on cheaper ones.

You need to try both to understand difference. For getting fit I'd say torque sensing is better as it encourages/rewards the rider when they work harder.

 

[Deleted member 4366]

You won't typically go much faster by increasing your effort as power settings are more like speed settings. Mainly hub drives and typically on cheaper ones.

Many controllers now use current control without speed settings, so you get a fixed amount of power with normally 5 levels. You can then choose how much pedal effort you want to give. Your power is added to the motor's power so it has a direct effect on speed. It's a much better system IMHO because you always have the choice of how hard to pedal.

Basically. you pedal as hard as you want, then set the motor's power to get the speed you want. When you want to go faster or when you slow down because of a hill, you can pedal harder, increase the motor's power or both. Normally pedalling a bit harder is enough, but if you get tired, you can always turn the motor up.

Power in proportion to pedal effort has never made sense to me.

 

[Trevormonty]

Many controllers now use current control without speed settings, so you get a fixed amount of power with normally 5 levels. You can then choose how much pedal effort you want to give. your power is added to the motor's power so it has a direct effect on speed. It's a much better system IMHO because you always have the choice of how hard to pedal.

Sounds like better system than cadence sensing systems I've ridden.

 

[Georgew]

It's great that people want to get fit and lose weight but in my opinion cycling...and even more so e-assisted cycling... may not be the most efficient way to achieve this. The bike is such an efficient machine that it requires substantial effort in order to lose weight and acquire fitness. It is load-bearing which has to be a plus however but "hats off" to those who have the gumption to try.

 

[Tugwell Gibson]

When your near 20 stone . I was 21. Chances are you are in a downward spiral of being unfit and unwell which leads to even less exercise and so on.

Any positive change like cycling walking or swimming will have a massive effect. Even ebiking, as you can up the effort as and when you feel able.

True there are more efficient ways like weight training and running but a lot of people don't know anything about weights and running can cause a lot of harm when your obese.

 

[Nealh]

Ebiking can have a fitness effect, just the fact you are willing to get out and ride will have an effect on the cardiovascular system better then just sitting indoors.
On a decent ride of over 40 miles I can loose 2 or 3 lbs and I class myself as a regular and fairly ride fit. If I see a rider in the distance it spurs me on to ride a bit harder to try and catch up.
Like swimming cycling is much kinder to the joints esp as you are not pounding them, tis a good way I find to build up stamina. Also means I can ride further and harder without my asthma coming in to play very often.

 

[Deleted member 4366]

It's great that people want to get fit and lose weight but in my opinion cycling...and even more so e-assisted cycling... may not be the most efficient way to achieve this. The bike is such an efficient machine that it requires substantial effort in order to lose weight and acquire fitness. It is load-bearing which has to be a plus however but "hats off" to those who have the gumption to try.

I think that it's the exact opposite. I can only speak from mt own experience. At 55 years old, I was over-weight and got out of breath walking to the corner shop, which is about 300m from my house. Then I started e-biking. I was doing about 2000 miles a year, my weight went down and my fitness went up.

Then, I hardly did anything for 18 months apart from using my bike for shopping and my weight ballooned to 105kg, so I made a concentrated effort to sort it out. Now, I ride a non electric bike most of the time - something like 50 miles a week average. My weight is down to 81 kg, my cardio fitness is in the top 5% of people my age and I can maintain 200w for two hours. When I walk up to the shop, I now feel like I'm gliding up the hill.

I know that if I hadn't started with electric bikes, I'd be in a very sorry state if not dead.

 

[The Bear]

For me, an ebike will allow me to commute to work by cycling, I tried it on my normal bike but gave up due to the sheer steepness and size of the hills on my way home from work. They demoralised me completely. And we aren't talking about inclines, we are talking bloody great hills.

Also, an ebike allows me to get some form of exercise during the time I would have spent driving to work, so Im not having to commit any extra time to exercise in the evenings. So its a win win in my opinion.

If it wasn't for those b@stard hills I would be doing it on a normal bike. But I simply refuse.

 

[Tugwell Gibson]

A good example of how an ebike has helped me recently. A few weeks out of nowhere and first time I put my back out. I couldn't go to the gym or ride for about 3 or 4 weeks. Then I went on an all inclusive in Jamaica for 2 weeks. Back was now all sorted so I wanted to get back to doing exercise.

It's been wet and windy and I'm feeling chubby and unfit, if I was using my old bike I doubt I would have gone on it again. Even though I had got up to mostly riding Eco and doing 10 to 15 mile rides. But knowing that I could up the power to start with has got me straight back out on it. And within a week I'm back in the gym and riding most days.

 

[Nealh]

As the last few post demonstrate a normal pedal bike can be off putting and a struggle, the ebike assistance has a different mind effect and can allow an easer ride. But if you want to use it as a fitness tool, you can either use less assist and plod along as well as using higher assist and make more of an effort which often means a faster ride and improved stamina. Over time you will maintain a higher level of riding ability that you would mot achieve if you tried to stick with a pedal only bike.

 

[Danidl]

As the last few post demonstrate a normal pedal bike can be off putting and a struggle, the ebike assistance has a different mind effect and can allow an easer ride. But if you want to use it as a fitness tool, you can either use less assist and plod along as well as using higher assist and make more of an effort which often means a faster ride and improved stamina. Over time you will maintain a higher level of riding ability that you would mot achieve if you tried to stick with a pedal only bike.

We tend to do more of the things we like.. so ebiking will get people out and about, even if it's only 50watt of effort, it's still more than sitting at home and raiding the biscuit tin while watching TV. For my case, it's the views and the fresh air and the prospect of a coffee after 30km. Then the 50 goes to 75 etc and the 30km goes to 40 etc. Painless and fun!

 

[LeighPing]

It's great that people want to get fit and lose weight but in my opinion cycling...and even more so e-assisted cycling... may not be the most efficient way to achieve this. The bike is such an efficient machine that it requires substantial effort in order to lose weight and acquire fitness. It is load-bearing which has to be a plus however but "hats off" to those who have the gumption to try.

@Paranoid - Welcome aboard and well done for taking the first step to changing your life. On an ebike you get fit incrementally by adjusting the level of power assist that you want to work to and, once you're physically depleted and have had enough exercise for one day, you up the setting and let the bike take you home. Well, that's how I did it anyhow.

 

[Paranoid]

Thank you for all the responses.
I have opted for the "Big Bear" and it was delivered last week.
My first ride on it was to my brothers who is only 2 miles away and it nearly killed me which only shows how unfit I am. I managed to ride there using the lowest assist level and completely avoiding using the thumb throttle. The journey back was more difficult and I had to up the assist level towards the end.
I've been out on it a couple of times since then on a circuit that is 3 miles and mostly flat. It doesn't sound like a lot but for me it is a great deal. The fact that it is electric and if I get to exhausted I can always just use the thumb throttle (but haven't so far) to get home gives me the confidence to actually go out and try.
I'm hoping we have a bit of an Indian Summer so I can venture further afield. I have a few rides of about 5 to 10 miles I've plotted but the weather has been far to bad for me to try.

I'll try to keep you informed on how it goes but I can't promise anything.

Once again, thanks for your input.

 

[davell]

Don't know if others will agree but you may be better starting with high assistance on your early rides and then lowering it as your fitness improves. If you feel you are not getting any exercise then lower the assist a bit. You can't get fit overnight and trying to use the lower settings may be counterproductive.


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[LeighPing]

Don't know if others will agree but you may be better starting with high assistance on your early rides and then lowering it as your fitness improves. If you feel you are not getting any exercise then lower the assist a bit. You can't get fit overnight and trying to use the lower settings may be counterproductive.

Good point. Don't do too much, too soon. Learn how to work the bike to aid you in your quest. You can tweak the levels on the fly, whilst moving. You don't necessarily have to dread hills anymore.

 

[Georgew]

I think that it's the exact opposite. I can only speak from mt own experience. At 55 years old, I was over-weight and got out of breath walking to the corner shop, which is about 300m from my house. Then I started e-biking. I was doing about 2000 miles a year, my weight went down and my fitness went up.

Then, I hardly did anything for 18 months apart from using my bike for shopping and my weight ballooned to 105kg, so I made a concentrated effort to sort it out. Now, I ride a non electric bike most of the time - something like 50 miles a week average. My weight is down to 81 kg, my cardio fitness is in the top 5% of people my age and I can maintain 200w for two hours. When I walk up to the shop, I now feel like I'm gliding up the hill.

I know that if I hadn't started with electric bikes, I'd be in a very sorry state if not dead.

All very encouraging I'm sure but my point remains regarding the efficiency of a bike.
"A human being travelling on a bicycle at 16–24 km/h (10–15 mph), using only the power required to walk, is the most energy-efficient means of human transport generally available."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bicycle_performance

It does follow that if burning up calories is your aim then there are more efficient ways to achieve this than bicycling. Cycling has other attractions however in that being outside in the fresh air and the sheer joy of cycling means that one is more likely to stick with cycling as a fitness programme than some other activity which is less enjoyable. The advantage of using an e-bike is in having the ability to precisely adjust the level of your input while still achieving your chosen destination and as has been said the assist can be tapered off as fitness is gained.
Using an e-bike to lose weight and gain fitness is a popular topic here... but as someone whose life centred upon cycling for over forty years until a stroke and a couple of heart attacks brought it to an end...the use of an e-bike meant that I could once again join my friends in my cycling club for weekly runs at least on a limited basis and that means the world to me.