E-bikes and fitness

[Rusty Nails]

Following on from some recent health issues I have had problems with high exertion cycling such as steep hills or extended periods of cycling fast on slight gradients.
I have been thinking about buying an e-gravel bike with drop bars to continue the sort of rides I like, but taking the hardest bit out of climbing.
I am worried that I might get too used to the assistance and not ride my conventional bikes enough afterwards.
What is the experience of those with e-bikes? What are they like on the flat or mild gradients, with their extra weight? Do e-bikers still often ride their conventional bikes and has it helped or hindered their fitness?

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

As I have an ebike, and have had since 2011, I have checked this out several times in response to similar threads on a variety of forums
There are a couple of link below to help

Personally I feel that if I am getting out of breath and my leg muscles can feel the strain when I get home - then I must have done something better than sitting on the sofa watching Homes Under the Hammer!!!

To be more serious - I have seen a lot of research - from proper organisations - and most of it comes out of the side of ebikes being good for fitness.
Now clearly they are never going to replace hard core road bikes pelting along a flat road at 30 mph or climbing an Alp - but they go fo rthe concepts that
a) an ebike will allow someone who is not able to ride a normal bike for long - or at all - to get out and pedal. And, although the resistence os not as great the fact that they are getting fresh air and exercise is always good
b) casual ebike users are able to go further and faster and hence get to more, and mor einteresting, places because they can get there is slightly less time and with less effort
c) as using an ebike is less effort people who use them for leisure are more likely to go out on them and hence get more exercise - if less exercise each time
d) they make cycling commuting possible for people that would otherwise use a car due to faster travel without getting as sweaty

In my case I have asthma and on occasions I still have to stop on big hills (OK - big for Widnes which is fairly flat!) and when I start out. On anormal bike I could get worried about getting back home but on my ebike I can increase the pedal assist and get home with less potential trouble.
The motor also means that I can get to local areas that I just would not reach easily on a normal bike - and go far further on the canal networks.
OK - if I was a fit young thing I could do these rides easily anyway - but I am not so the ebike is enabling be to ride my bike far further, faster (a bit) and more often..

You do have to remember that ebike laws vary. In the UK/EU the motor power is quite low and the motor has to cut out when the bike reaches 15.5 mph (it makes sense in kph!) - hence if an ebike rider is riding at anything over 16 mph then they are simply riding a heavy bike at that speed with - potentially - and a bit of extra resistance for forward motion caused by the motor in neutral.
(which is quite funny when I ride along a long flat road and someone passes me and says I am cheating - but I know I was generally going at 17-18 mph the whole way!)

I know some of this is not relavent to the exact question - but it may be useful for others as well
Here are a couple of link to get started

https://www.bikeradar.com/advice/fitness-and-training/electric-bike-fitness/

https://ijbnpa.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12966-018-0751-8

 

[numbnuts]

After riding my etrike for a few year I find it hard to ride my touring bike and my MTB they both feel very strange now, yet I have ridden thousands of miles on them both.
On my trike I have a throttle (pre 2016) so if I come to a slight hill I just give it a burst of throttle and up I go, can't do that on the bikes.
I don't think I have lost any strenth in my legs, well I don't think so, but at 71 lets say they are not as good as they use to be.

 

[youngoldbloke]

I was out with the club ride this morning, and over long stretches of the route the speed was well over the 15.5 mph cut off. my Orbea Gain weighs in at over 16kg, ready for the road. I'm 75, most if not all of the others are under 60 and riding much lighter unassisted bikes. I was certainly getting a lot of exercise trying to keep with the group under my own leg-power at over 20 mph. Admittedly I had an advantage on parts of the return leg into a vicious westerly, but I feel got a good workout!

 

[BoldonLad]

We (self and wife), acquired e-bikes last year (May), when we reached 75yo. No particular health problems. We specifically chose “light” models (Specialised Vado 4 Turbo, in our case). We didn’t want to lose what fitness level we had, so, we ride them with assistance level set to 0, only turning on assistance if we absolutely have to. For example, this morning, on a 16-17 miles ride, we used level 1 assist for less than 0.5 miles, the rest was at level 0. This approach has allowed us to cycle with confidence we can make it, but, (I think) to avoid losing our fitness level, unduly.

 

[Rusty Nails]

I was out with the club ride this morning, and over long stretches of the route the speed was well over the 15.5 mph cut off. my Orbea Gain weighs in at over 16kg, ready for the road. I'm 75, most if not all of the others are under 60 and riding much lighter unassisted bikes. I was certainly getting a lot of exercise trying to keep with the group under my own leg-power at over 20 mph. Admittedly I had an advantage on parts of the return leg into a vicious westerly, but I feel got a good workout!

We are the same age and my leg troubles come from a combination of spinal stenosis and PAD so any hopes of me reaching 20mph unassisted for anything more than a short distance have long gone, even on my carbon Genesis Datum.

Most of my rides are around 25 miles and average around 14mph (when I avoid the most hilly rides) with a normal flat cruising speed of around 16/17 mph.

Until a couple of years ago I used to enjoy 40 mile rides in the Brecon Beacons but have chickened out for a while and hopefully an e-bike would change that.

Edit: interesting articles @ebikeerwidnes.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

When it comes to fitness volume is king, and you need very little high intensity. If the E-bike enable you to ride more (than on your normal bikes) I’d say go for it. By more; I mean duration and frequency not distance.

 

[All uphill]

I know a few people with ebikes; they all say there is no way back to non-ebikes, but they also say they now cycle further and go on tougher routes.

If I had one I'm pretty sure I'd go further and more often into Devon.

 

[youngoldbloke]

We are the same age and my leg troubles come from a combination of spinal stenosis and PAD so any hopes of me reaching 20mph unassisted for anything more than a short distance have long gone, even on my carbon Genesis Datum.

Most of my rides are around 25 miles and average around 14mph (when I avoid the most hilly rides) with a normal flat cruising speed of around 16/17 mph.

Until a couple of years ago I used to enjoy 40 mile rides in the Brecon Beacons but have chickened out for a while and hopefully an e-bike would change that.

I have PAD too - affecting both legs. At best I can walk only 500 m (with walking poles) before having to stop, a walk of a mile on fairly level ground is an achievement for me. The 'just enough' assistance with the Mahle X35 system on the Orbea Gain seems to be just that, compensating for the lack of muscle strength caused by the PAD. However steep long climbs take quite a toll on the battery levels as I need to use more assistance than a more able bodied rider.

 

[numbnuts]

We are the same age and my leg troubles come from a combination of spinal stenosis and PAD so any hopes of me reaching 20mph unassisted for anything more than a short distance have long gone, even on my carbon Genesis Datum.

Most of my rides are around 25 miles and average around 14mph (when I avoid the most hilly rides) with a normal flat cruising speed of around 16/17 mph.

Until a couple of years ago I used to enjoy 40 mile rides in the Brecon Beacons but have chickened out for a while and hopefully an e-bike would change that.

Edit: interesting articles @ebikeerwidnes[/US
[/QUOTE]

I had spinal stenosis, but I had an operation only in two days and I'm fine now

 

[Rusty Nails]

I was out with the club ride this morning, and over long stretches of the route the speed was well over the 15.5 mph cut off. my Orbea Gain weighs in at over 16kg, ready for the road. I'm 75, most if not all of the others are under 60 and riding much lighter unassisted bikes. I was certainly getting a lot of exercise trying to keep with the group under my own leg-power at over 20 mph. Admittedly I had an advantage on parts of the return leg into a vicious westerly, but I feel got a good workout!

Please excuse my silly questions as a non e-bike rider, but does this mean that you get assistance to help you keep at or below 15.5mph, even on gradients, but the second you exceed that it switches off and you are suddenly relying 100% on leg power to get a 16kg bike to cruise at 16mph or beyond?

 

[Rusty Nails]

I had spinal stenosis, but I had an operation only in two days and I'm fine now

Luckily my condition is nowhere near crippling and causes intermittent pain, which I can manage so do not want to go down the surgery route yet.

 

[steveindenmark]

I am 64 and bought an e bike for my daily commute. It is 20km each way and I leave home at 4.30am. I still use my road bike a lot more than my ebike. But its nice to have it there just in case I want an easy day.

I will add that I am riding the Pan Celtic Race in July 1066 miles from France to Wales. The ebike has been a great aid in getting me out riding when otherwise I may have taken the car. I ride it on eco or with the power off. It rides very well without power.

You do not have to lose fitness with an ebike if you don't want to. Turn the power off or run it all the time on eco. You will find you do more mileage on an ebike.

To me its just another bike in the stable.

If you want a drop bar touring, gravel bike. Look at the Moustache Friday 28.7. Its an excellent bike with a range of about 120km.

 

[Slick]

I'm on the verge of getting one as well, and to try and get back after injury, I've been out on Mrs Slicks ebike a couple of times now. I went to the shops a couple of weeks ago, and came back about 3 hours later with 40 miles under my belt, a couple of heavy bags of shopping and a huge smile on my face as I loved it. I did notice a couple of things, none more so than its actually more of a handicap when on the flat or even downhill as you can feel the drag of the motor when descending, but it seemed to help when I turned it off during those periods. 16 mph is actually quite slow, or feels slow to even someone with my ability, so I'm rethinking the whole idea if I'm honest, as I would normally cruise with no assist above the cut off limit, which means you are left lugging quite a heavy machine around. That said, on the hills, it was amazing, the freedom to go anywhere rather than planning your ride around the climbs was quite liberating. The other thing I need to consider is, I was thinking about multi day tours, nothing epic, but after a 50 miler I find the next day can be a bit of a slog and it seems to take longer and lonfer to free up the legs, so I reckoned it might make touring a bit easier as well.

 

[Rusty Nails]

Very interesting replies so far, giving me plenty of food for thought. I haven't even thought as yet about what are available and which models are in my price range. That will come later.

One idea that has struck me is that I might try to hire one for a few days so I can learn more about them in practice so will search around locally for a hire shop.