Ebike vs Road Bike

[Deacon Blues]

I'm an x-runner-now cyclist-who is 68 years old and owns three bikes, a Pedego RidgeRider, a Specialized Diverge, that is set up as my winter bike, and a Giant Defy Advanced Pro 0, that is my light summer bike (18 lbs).

85% of the time I ride my carbon road bikes. I usually save my RidgeRider for gravel roads and trails. Because I haven't been riding much this winter I decided to take my ebike on the last two seniors group ride, instead of my winter road bike. This group is a mixture of bikes and ebikes and no one seems to mind what you ride.
I also ride with a much faster seniors group in the summer, where bringing an ebike is frowned apon, unless you're over 80 years old.

I knew that my ebike is faster, overall, than my road bike, but it still surprised me at how much easier the rides have been. The difference is staggering.

The urge is strong to continue riding my ebike on group rides, instead of my road bike, but old habits die hard. I feel guilty riding my ebike. "It's too easy", a voice in the back of my head says, but in reality the ride is more enjoyable. I no longer have to look at an upcoming hill and think, "Crap, another hill". Instead, I think, "Another hill....time to increase the power level".

I took my Giant Defy Advanced Pro 0 off the storage rack in my garage today to pump up the tires. Damn, I like this light bike, but double damn I also hate going up hills. Can you see where I'm headed in this post?
It's called a Specialized Creo, and up here in Canada they have just listed the prices for their aluminum framed Creo ebikes. FINALLY, a price that I can live with.

I'm planning to ride my Defy for one more summer and then giving myself an early 70th birthday gift. Life is good and riding an e-road bike might make it even make it better.

 

[Al P]

Don't beat yourself up. Ride the bike that suits the type of ride you're going to take and enjoy the ride.

 

[indianajo]

I'm planning to ride my Defy for one more summer and then giving myself an early 70th birthday gift. Life is good and riding an e-road bike might make it even make it better.

Do what you can do. I'm age 69 going on 104, I hope. I ride a geared hub motor bike, which doesn't drag when I leave it turned off most of the time. But my trips to my summer place are fixed in length, whatever the weather. 30 miles in 3.5 hours at 110-130 bpm is a good workout. 25 mph in my face, it can drag on to 6 hours of 132 bpm struggle. No more of that, when the wind is that bad, I turn the motor on. I'm in control of my exercise, not the rapidly warming globe. And I don't have to hang around in a stinky old gym, that tends to give me respiratory diseases anyway this time of year. (I'm part native Am). BTW, there are three 15% grades near the place on the way out. I can still get up them with 60 lb groceries, at an entire 1 mph.
Payoff, when I tore my rotator cuff, and the hospital wouldn't let me have surgery without heart checks, they spent $5000 determining why my heart ran 110 bpm during heart tests. Reason, I'm angry about the waste of money on my heart. There is nothing wrong with it, the cardiologist said. Plus, read about the Surrey bike club of 70-80 year olds that have the same T-cell count as 29 year olds, according to bbcnews.com. The same cells that repair our aching muscles, can take out cancer cells as a side job. Besides I have no cartlege in my knees - if I don't ride regularly due to colds, I get where I can't walk. Cardio exercise leads to endomorphine - see Dr. Ken Cooper's books.