Pro -vs- 75 Year Old eBiker

J.R.

Well-Known Member
Region
USA
City
Piedmont Highlands
There's a Specialized advert video of a grandma with a hip replacement beating a pro cyclist while riding an ebike. Really funny and well done commercial, but not real. This is not that. It's a race between father and son. Well done and likeable people. It should put a smile on your face.

 
My wife and I did something similar: We had just purchased our ebikes and were taking them out for a spin when we encountered three very serious road cyclists, out for a club ride. We were in casual clothes while they were suited up in spandex. As we aproached from behind my instinctual male tendencies kicked in and I wanted to pass them, so I put the bike into "Turbo" and started cranking. I looked behind to check on the wife and she was following my lead. They were doing a respectable 25mph but we zipped past at 28mph. Once we got well enough ahead, I checekd on my wife and suprisingly, she was smiling. She said that as she passed the threesome, the woman in the group looked back questioningly at the rider nearest her and he said, "Ebikes!". She must have been suprised to see an elderly couple out for a ride, on their clunky bicycles, go flying past them in street clothes. I'm 73 and my wife is 68.
 
There's a Specialized advert video of a grandma with a hip replacement beating a pro cyclist while riding an ebike. Really funny and well done commercial, but not real.

This is not that. It's a race between father and son. Well done and likable people. It should put a smile on your face.


Glad you discovered Syd and Macky... one of my favorite YouTube couples. ;)

They are both pro mountain bike racers who tour and post educational videos.


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There's a Specialized advert video of a grandma with a hip replacement beating a pro cyclist while riding an ebike. Really funny and well done commercial, but not real. This is not that. It's a race between father and son. Well done and likeable people. It should put a smile on your face.

Doing that to a hardcore roadie is just so much wicked fun. I wuz just moseying up a fairly mild 7 mile grade at about 11 mph when a gal
with the most massive thighs & calves I´ve seen zipped pass me on a carbon bike. My e-mtn had panniers fore & aft, & an inframe which I quickly
decided made for a suitable handicap. Feeling a mite affronted by the rude pass, I kept pace behind her for about a 1/2 mile, & then said what the
hell & kicked up my cadence. She chased me for all she was worth for about 5 miles ´til I lost sight of her 1/2 a mile back. Golly that wuz fun!:p
 
About a third of my rides are on my light, carbon road bike, and the rest are on my Cannondale Topstone gravel ebike.
When I'm riding my road bike it doesn't bother me when I get passed by someone on an ebike (usually....read on). Because I own an ebike I know how fast they are, compared to me on my road bike, on even a slight hill.
A couple of weeks ago, while on a group ride, I got my a** kicked (when the road went into a long incline) by a lady (close to 80 years old) on her new Trek e-road bike. I'm a decent rider for my age (69), but she pulled away and disappeared into the distance.
I have to admit that it did bother me a bit that I couldn't even come close to keeping up with her on my 17.7 pound road bike.

On the other hand, while riding my Cannondale Topstone Lefty 3 (Bosch gen 4 motor) I wouldn't think twice about blowing by a rider on his road bike. :p
 
I love chasing ebikers on my carbon bike.
I frequently get chased down by road bikers when I'm doing 23-25 mph on my commute home for the day (on 300w). As a part time road biker myself, I have respect for folks who have the energy and motivation near the end of their ride to sustain that speed, to put the evil fatty ebike behind them, so I don't try to blow them away. OTOH, there's that dickhead who blew every red light that I stopped at, then got passed repeatedly (wasn't trying very hard, would have passed him on my road bike too), then yelled at me at an intersection where he had to stop "you didn't say on your left!", well, dickhead, when I'm passing you in the motor vehicle lane and you're in the bike lane, and you can hear my knobby tires from 50 feet away, all we can conclude is you don't like fattys, you don't like ebikes, and you don't like being passed, and your pace sucks.
 
I frequently get chased down by road bikers when I'm doing 23-25 mph on my commute home for the day (on 300w). As a part time road biker myself, I have respect for folks who have the energy and motivation near the end of their ride to sustain that speed, to put the evil fatty ebike behind them, so I don't try to blow them away. OTOH, there's that dickhead who blew every red light that I stopped at, then got passed repeatedly (wasn't trying very hard, would have passed him on my road bike too), then yelled at me at an intersection where he had to stop "you didn't say on your left!", well, dickhead, when I'm passing you in the motor vehicle lane and you're in the bike lane, and you can hear my knobby tires from 50 feet away, all we can conclude is you don't like fattys, you don't like ebikes, and you don't like being passed, and your pace sucks.
Used go through road bikes faster than Henry VIII went though wives, still got a couple*, but I never wore the uniform. I´m 71, my left leg was in 4
pieces above the knee, a dozen below. The right has had 2 severed tendons & a shattered kneecap. My knees rattle when I walk. I´m totally
fine with ebikes. I still pedal as much as ever but get farther in a more enjoyable way.

*bikes, not wives
 
About a third of my rides are on my light, carbon road bike, and the rest are on my Cannondale Topstone gravel ebike.
When I'm riding my road bike it doesn't bother me when I get passed by someone on an ebike (usually....read on). Because I own an ebike I know how fast they are, compared to me on my road bike, on even a slight hill.
A couple of weeks ago, while on a group ride, I got my a** kicked (when the road went into a long incline) by a lady (close to 80 years old) on her new Trek e-road bike. I'm a decent rider for my age (69), but she pulled away and disappeared into the distance.
I have to admit that it did bother me a bit that I couldn't even come close to keeping up with her on my 17.7 pound road bike.

On the other hand, while riding my Cannondale Topstone Lefty 3 (Bosch gen 4 motor) I wouldn't think twice about blowing by a rider on his road bike. :p
Good point, to be fair, that gal kept up pretty well on the flatter stretches, but my bike is geared specifically to climb in addition to the motor.
It climbs the steepest grades even without using 7 lower gears available; those are basically for pedaling without power. 17.7 pounds?
That´s 40 pounds lighter than mine without the gear I usually carry. I´ve got a 1000w kit I´d love to put on a bike that light. My race built
´Vega mixte,( tange pro tubing) has a 3 1/2 pound frame set, not bad for a steel bike. I can´t seem to get around to putting the kit on it.
It is supposed to make a 40 mph road bike with a 40 mile range. The idea of it scares me some.:oops:
 
Another ebike pretending to be something it´s not. Just put it right out there, & tell it like it is. I´m a geezer & ebikes make riding fun again.
A fauza ebike is not my cup of tea either. I want more umph. Nevertheless the ad touches a nerve, at least in me it does.
 
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