How many times have you heard "that's cheating!"? ?

[ROB12013]

No need to look any further.
That’s precisely the cause of your problem. What they’re really trying to tell you is that you’re hogging the lane... That’s a cardinal sin.

Chip your bike and no one will utter a single word any more.

Oh I've seen some ebikes......adapted? They used the magnet on the inner crank trick.

 

[ebikemom]

Chip your bike

What does "Chip your bike" mean?

 

[ebikemom]

Have you noticed that people almost always point out your advantages but never their own?

That's true in all of life, isn't it!

 

[ROB12013]

What does "Chip your bike" mean?

Well here in the U.K. ebikes are only legally allowed to assist you up to 25kph so some people choose to "de-restrict" them. There are many ways of doing this I'm told, some methods are expensive and elaborate and some are very simple and cheap.........which I guess is cheating!!

 

[Chris Hammond]

My personal favorite response is, "Yup, I'm cheating Exxon out of my gas money."

 

[ROB12013]

My personal favorite response is, "Yup, I'm cheating Exxon out of my gas money."

Good one!

 

[DaveMatthews]

Well I haven't had an encounter since my first "That's Cheating", but my response going forward was going to be "That's not what your wife said".
It occurs to me that's not the safest of retorts however.
How about... Yes, like you I'm cheating death.
Or... Yup... it's me and you brother!
Spandex is the new testosterone... who knew?!!???

 

[elliot friedman]

I'd usually reply, "I didn't know we were competing, where's the finish line?

 

[rich c]

Last month, I was support rider for a school mtb ride. One of the kids was WAY out of his league amongst the advanced group - holding everyone up on the hills etc. So I offered a bike swap so he could catch up / have some fun. TWICE he declined, calling it cheating. I still don't know if he was stubborn or just determined, but he didn't win any freinds that day!

Ironically, the top level riders had jumped at the opportunity to ride my ebike - they had nothing to prove, I guess.

I admire the young man for sticking to his principles. Not an easy thing to do when others pressure him and would likely bully him into submission. Not everyone is an elite athlete, but isn't the goal to build muscle and character? Not everyone needs or wants an Ebike.

 

[ROB12013]

I admire the young man for sticking to his principles. Not an easy thing to do when others pressure him and would likely bully him into submission. Not everyone is an elite athlete, but isn't the goal to build muscle and character? Not everyone needs or wants an Ebike.

Yes he was in a no win situation there. He could struggle at the back and be the "loser" (or tryer in my eyes) or ride the ebike and be the "cheater" - I think he made the right choice.
The more athletic the endevour or sport you choose to participate in, the more competitive therefore more of a likelihood to experience peer pressure or even bullying.

 

[FSRBart]

Not heard it to date. Any time I’ve run into somebody that’s recognized it as an ebike it’s been a pleasant experience. Usually just questions...

 

[WalkinTarget]

My wife found out I was cheating on her, after she found all the letters I was hiding...








She got so mad and said she's never playing Scrabble with me again.


Seriously, called it one time early in my ebike riding days. Told the guy I didn't think we were racing, then had a nice chat with his wife about them. She wanted one to deal with her foot and knee issues, he kept shaking his head no at her as she checked out my bike.

 

[john peck]

¨It´s a motorcycle!¨, said a friend who owns a LBS. ¨I f you say so,¨ sez I, ¨but the only time I´m not pedaling is when I´m coasting. I pedal
as hard as ever; I just get farther faster.¨

 

[Scarecrow]

I've heard it as soon as I mention I'm just "thinking about getting an ebike".

But my answer is similar to the one I give for having added Levelers to my 25ft Motorhome. In the case of that situation, "It's NOT about leveling the coach -- which anyone can do with a set of what are known as Lego Blocks. It's about "stabilizing" it against high winds when sleeping at night, or to keep it from rocking just by walking from the front to the back."

In the case of an ebike, I do not see it being all about "peddling".
I'm 65 and who knows how much time I have left? Do I really want to spend an hour peddling to some sightseeing destination in a National Park, just to boast how I got there? Or do I want to make a quicker trip of it by using a combination of peddling and battery power? Nobody tells a motorcyclist "that's cheating" because he's not walking! (or maybe they do)

An ebike, to me, exemplifies brain over brawn. Yes, I want the exercise -- but within reason. And I can go many more places with a fat ebike than I can at this age by sheer strength and the power of my legs. It's just a tool in my bag of tricks to help me cope with an uncertain future.

 

[PDoz]

I admire the young man for sticking to his principles. Not an easy thing to do when others pressure him and would likely bully him into submission. Not everyone is an elite athlete, but isn't the goal to build muscle and character? Not everyone needs or wants an Ebike.

That was my initial response, and I initially said " good on you" , but later in the day when it looked like the entire group was going to miss their school busses whilst waiting for him , I realised it was probably more pride than stength of character that was involved. He didn't really improve my perception by throwing around remarks about the " cheater bike" after the event , and trying to get the boys to gang up against my daughter because her dad was on an ebike! The good news is the other boys reminded him that parents who volunteer should be respected , AND they seemed to accept a girl amongst the advanced group ( impressive for a group of 13 yo boys)

 

[john peck]

I admire the young man for sticking to his principles. Not an easy thing to do when others pressure him and would likely bully him into submission. Not everyone is an elite athlete, but isn't the goal to build muscle and character? Not everyone needs or wants an Ebike.

True enough, I´m an old man whose had major traumatic injuries to both legs..really, I´m fine with an ebike, but a kid with a developing body
needs physical challenge to grow. He needs to get off the couch & put down the game controller. Soon enough, he´ll be begging for a car.

 

[PDoz]

True enough, I´m an old man whose had major traumatic injuries to both legs..really, I´m fine with an ebike, but a kid with a developing body
needs physical challenge to grow. He needs to get off the couch & put down the game controller. Soon enough, he´ll be begging for a car.

These are aussie country kids - our internet speeds aren't good enough for gaming.....The outing was organised by my 13 yo daughter and 3 of her ( male) classmates - 25 kids , a day at the local mtb trails. The advanced group were the more experienced half - my daughter took a LOT of encouraging to tag along because she knew her 2 days a week of mtb riding was no match for the experience these guys had. The guys were more than happy to have her tag along - most of them had nothing to prove! This kid really should have gone with the group who had the honesty to identify as intermediate , but everyone was ok with him stretching his ability - right up to the point where he started bad mouthing the ebike choice of the volunteer parent helping make the ride possible.

Re ebikes and kids, I agree it's good for them to ride normal bikes ( in fact, there's a thread on here where someone was asking what ebike for their kid and that's what I said) , BUT there are times the ebike makes a LOT of sense and I don't see that as cheating - When riding with my 13 yo daughter, She'll usually ride my norco optic oldbike until exhausted ( the 11 yo rides my old trance) , then I'll park at the top of a challenging section and she'll zip up / down on my giant full e pro whilst I recover.....It's a good opportunity for them to work on skills despite being exhausted from the pedalling. Last week we had a holiday camping at the base of 50 km of mtb trails - lots of technical and steep country, some amazing down hill runs. We managed by alternating bikes , but to be honest it would have been realy nice to all have ebikes - we'd have covered twice as much country on each ride and they could have learn't a lot more techniques. Then again, it was nice having her work on line choice / efficiency and stetching our trail choices each day, plus there is no way they could have tackled the black runs on a heavier emtb. ( there was a specialized kinevo available locally but I consider that too heavy for what we were doing)

 

[john peck]

PDoz: My bad, thought you were talking about urban American kids. They really don get to have a real childhood like when
I was growing up. . I mean what with cyber bullys, metal detectors at the doors in school, Gangs, drugs, & traffic. They
are constantly under a lot of stress. To a great extent, they are being denied the innocence of youth. Rural kids fare
better, and I think they are better adjusted, healthier. Man was never meant to dwell in 20 story filing cabinets

 

[PDoz]

PDoz: My bad, thought you were talking about urban American kids. They really don get to have a real childhood like when
I was growing up. . I mean what with cyber bullys, metal detectors at the doors in school, Gangs, drugs, & traffic. They
are constantly under a lot of stress. To a great extent, they are being denied the innocence of youth. Rural kids fare
better, and I think they are better adjusted, healthier. Man was never meant to dwell in 20 story filing cabinets

Not bad at all - sometimes I forget how lucky our kids are ! This weekend has been sooo stressfull for them - having to choose between events at a community run music festival ( do they build a cajun drum of join the guitar jam) , somehow fit in some horse and mtb riding between going to an older couples wedding at the town park....metal detectors get used for fossicking for gold in the mountain streams around here !

 

[Over50]

My feelings are hurt (well not really)! I got "cheater" thrown at me today on my commute home. First time in quite a while. Passing through a suburb, a man walking with a young boy (presumably his son) yelled "Cheat! You've got a motor"! I only responded with a friendly wave and I heard an "uh-huh" which sounded like a "bah humbug".

Maybe I can understand the "cheater" perspective in certain circumstances (the senior on his upright cruiser passing the young roadie on an incline) but I don't really get it in other circumstances (like using an e-bike for transportation, carrying cargo ...). I had 2 loaded panniers, a sling bag on my back and I'm riding in long pants on a 90F day. I'm not wearing lycra, carrying no luggage and riding in a crouch. So, I would think it would be obvious that I'm using the bike for transit and not out on a training ride.

My round trip commute today was 2 hours and 10 minutes (36 miles). I guess I could have driven my Subaru which would have been 1 hour and 10 minutes with traffic leaving me 1 hour to sit on a stationary bike or go out for an exercise ride. Or perhaps, to not be a cheater, I could ride my regular bike to work which would probably take me 3 hours and leave my knee very sore. But that would leave me in recovery for the rest of the week and I doubt I could do that 2-3 times per week. Hmmm ... seems like the e-bike is the best of the available options. I guess I'll stick with cheating.