E-bike Cheats

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Dadam

Über Member
Location
SW Leeds
Think how much harder you could work on just a bike On the same routes. I have yet yet to see any e biker working hard when out on the bike. They are mostly like those on exercise nikes at gym, talking to a mate on their phones.

Well "I have yet to see" doesn't mean they aren't out there. You should have seen me near gasping my last on Saturday with the motor on full assist! It's a light assist bike and those Calderdale hills are brutal.
 

straas

Matt
Location
Manchester
With GPS errors, gale force tailwinds, slipstreaming buses etc I don't think anyone is particularly bothered about segments are they?

Bit of fun occasionally to push yourself and see if you can get a PR but not much beyond that.

Strava is an excellent free resource for recording ride data, tracking gear use etc and is well integrated with major GPS brand products.
 

Mike_P

Legendary Member
Location
Harrogate
Also I find it good to be able see how I compared with others on a segment the same day when conditions were roughly the same. Then you spot someone who has gone way faster than everyone else...
 
Location
Widnes
The problem is only when some people do actually start to think they matter

and start shouting about how terrible it is that person x was cheating
when, unless they actually saw them they cannot know - they could have been on a bike that is so light and aero that no pro race woudl ever allow it
or it could be a numpty on an ebike sitting there holding teh throttle - you only have what they post

but there are always people who HAVE to be first and see any table as a race

which is one of the reasons I put all my rides as private - I don;t want to compete

I did have it as public for a while

I noticed someone claiming I was a cheat and had not done "that time" on that segment and I must have been cheating

well yes - I did - and it was on an ebike but it was logged as an ebike - and the bike make and model were correct as something that is only ever an ebike
AND my average speed was about 20 mph and faily constant at that - so the motor was not helping

but the strong tailwind might have been a factor helping the heavy bike with flat bars go that bit faster than normal!

but apparently he was "very annoyed"
 

Shut Up Legs

Down Under Member
You know an idea is past its best when the Daily Telegraph notices it and trumpets it as the latest thing. That happened in May 2024 when the Telegraph discovered segments and blurted "52mph in a 20mph zone: How cyclists are turning UK roads into death traps!" (Cries of Shame! and Disgraceful! )

Strava does have its uses. I have friends/ acquaintances who post activities on there and I occasionally send kudos or add a comment just to say hi. And if I ever do a particularly special or interesting ride I upload it.

It shows how little the article's author knew about cycling: for most of us, doing 52mph is a very risky exercise and not something we'd do regularly. It would be particularly dangerous on e-bikes and even more so on e-scooters, given how inherently unstable they are compared to bicycles. But then the "journalist" probably just wrote the article as clickbait, anyway.
 
Location
Widnes
Yes, they are (out there), and I did (see you gasping), and some of them (Calderdale hills) are (brutal)!! :okay:

There are a few bridges on my rides - and the motor will not get me up them
I normally just stand on the pedals and go for it
The motor helps - I can tell if I have switched the motor off and forgotten to put it back on - but I do have to put some effort in to get up to the top
If I take the long route to avoid puddles in winter (which is currently closed) then I have a long steep climb - not a massibe hill but you ain;t going to do it without noticing!
Yes the motor helps - but not enough to make it easy
 

Jenkins

Legendary Member
Location
Felixstowe
Part of the issue is a headset always uploads to Strava as ride and the user had to amend it to e-bike ride unless Strava immediately suspects it is an ebiked ride. Also e-bike ride segments are scarce. There was a workround whereby an ebiked ride could be copied as an e-bike ride segment but that stopped working ages ago and still left the user having to alter the activity category. Think all my pedelec rides are in the e-bike ride section.
On Garmins and the Android app version of Strava you can change the record mode from 'Ride' to 'E-Bike Ride' so it uploads correctly without needing to be changed post upload.

Don't know about other head units and the iPhone app though.
 
Location
Widnes
On Garmins and the Android app version of Strava you can change the record mode from 'Ride' to 'E-Bike Ride' so it uploads correctly without needing to be changed post upload.

Don't know about other head units and the iPhone app though.

Yes that is how my rides are logged

didn't stop one person saying I was cheating though!
 

Ajax Bay

Guru
Location
East Devon
So many e-bikers who cheat and claim they were riding pedal bikes. Why do people cheat?

Strava E-bike Cheats


I never used Strava.
So why are you bothered that people are "cheating" on it?
I wasn't. I was talking about cheats in general. "Why do people cheat?"

Then why is your opening post this, and the thread called "E-bike Cheats" 🤔 ?

Go find something else to do
Look forward to answers from Florida @AlBaker
Is uploading rides on e-bikes to Strava "cheating"?
If you "never use Strava" have you any idea how it works?
Have you cheated in some way (not e-bikes)?
Is this guilt what triggered you to start this thread?
You ask "why do people cheat?"
How about making some suggestions and see if others agree?
 
Location
Widnes
Clearly using Strava on an ebike is fine as long as it is set as an ebike ride and not a normal bike ride

What I used to think was dodgy was the fact than when my ride were public they appeared on the leaderboard with no flags saying they were on an ebike

As I was never near the top - as I wasn't actually trying to get on the board - then it was not obvious, so I never checked to see if it stayed there

but I did wonder if people might take offence if they checked and saw that my bike was a Raleigh Motus - and therefore an ebike

Thing is - on flats or downhills which most of them are - the fact that it has a motor is irrelevant as the motor cuts out at 15.5 mph and the speed would be over that

but i do wonder how people know that a certain time was set on an ebike and not a normal one
in some cases I think it may be "because it is obvious" or "everyone knows"
 
OP
OP
A

AlBaker

Bikel-ist
They ought to reverse it. The person with the slowest time for a segment is KOM / QOM. You will have swathes of cyclists trying to ride up hills as slow as possible, and stay upright.

We did slow races at motorcycle events. Put your foot down and you're out of the race. I like slow bicycle races because anything over 8 mph (13 km) is too hard..
 

Webbo2

Über Member
We did slow races at motorcycle events. Put your foot down and you're out of the race. I like slow bicycle races because anything over 8 mph (13 km) is too hard..

You should get an e bike then you will be able to ride at 15.5 mph.😉
 

Jenkins

Legendary Member
Location
Felixstowe
There are a few segments shown on Strava when you correctly upload your ride as an E-Bike ride - way fewer than for 'normal' bikes but there's notig stopping you from creating your own.

Would it be cheating if I was to take an unassisted bike out for a ride and then upload as an E-bike ride to claim a few KOMs that way ^_^
 
Location
Widnes
There are a few segments shown on Strava when you correctly upload your ride as an E-Bike ride - way fewer than for 'normal' bikes but there's notig stopping you from creating your own.

Would it be cheating if I was to take an unassisted bike out for a ride and then upload as an E-bike ride to claim a few KOMs that way ^_^

I can;t do it now as all my rides a private

but when they were public my rides all appeared along with non-electric bike
which was one of the reasons I went back to private

even now - when I check after a ride - such as when there was a gale force wind across The Bridge - it looked very much like my ride was lumped in with all bikes

has this changed - or am I looking at it wrong??
 
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