E-bike Cheats

[Dadam]

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]

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]

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...

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

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"

 

[ColinJ]

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.

Yes, they are (out there), and I did (see you gasping), and some of them (Calderdale hills) are (brutal)!!

 

[Shut Up Legs]

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.

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

Yes, they are (out there), and I did (see you gasping), and some of them (Calderdale hills) are (brutal)!!

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]

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.

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

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!