Riding an electric bike drops heart and cancer risks, finds German study

[Mr. Coffee]

I'd freely agree that riding an e-bike for exercise is better than no exercise at all.

But I'd also add the caveat that riding an acoustic bike for half an hour probably gives you more effective exercise than riding an e-bike for an hour or ninety minutes over the same terrain.

On heart rates and heart rate zones, absent some fairly extensive testing you are out to sea and have a hard time knowing what effective exercise actually means for your own body. In the literature and online "heart rate zones" are all defined in contradictory ways. On top of all that on a bicycle staying in one heart rate zone over varied terrain is pretty challenging at best and often impossible, and my own experience is that usually you are stuck either in too low a heart rate for effective conditioning or too damned high a heart rate. On top of that everybody is different.

Now if you hypothetically had an e-bike that also communicated with your heart rate monitor, and it adjusted your pedal assistance on the fly (possibly including negative assist) you might have something interesting. If you could also program the bike to provide interval training (e.g. 30 seconds at 80%HR, 30 seconds at 60%HR, repeat) then you'd have something really interesting.

 

[m@Robertson]

Ghost pedalling or hard pedalling... I wonder how many people in this thread are actually pedalling their e-bikes for 2 to 5 hours to actually get any exercise.
I was 97 kg (214 lb) two months ago and now after my long rides (thanks to the warmer weather) I got down to 94 kg (207 lb) and it's counting...

Frustratingly, I am not losing weight... but I am losing waistline by a fair amount. This has happened to me before. In 2017 I was keeping my weight but I lost I think three pants/waist sizes. Then I got hit by a car and during convalescence I gained two back, and have struggled until recently to repeat the feat. Down one pants size. The verdict from the doctor is I'm exchanging fat for muscle.

The key bit I think has been a personal technique change to a higher cadence - from 55 or so to about 75 to 80 - during the introduction of my second Bullitt to the Monterey Bay area, where I can use that higher cadence on hills and use the resistance on those hills to really push harder than I originally considered practical on the flat land of Central CA.

If you could also program the bike to provide interval training (e.g. 30 seconds at 80%HR, 30 seconds at 60%HR, repeat) then you'd have something really interesting.

Thats what I have been doing with cadence sensing systems since I started. Although certainly more crudely. Notching the assist up and back down again to provide intervals of intense exertion and rest phases, all the while maintaining steady cadence without stoppage.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Now if you hypothetically had an e-bike that also communicated with your heart rate monitor, and it adjusted your pedal assistance on the fly (possibly including negative assist) you might have something interesting.

Specialized e-bikes do that. You set Mission Control -> Smart Control so your heart rate will not exceed the set value. You also need to set the initial assistance value so that assist (which could be pretty low) controls how much workout you are getting.

But I'd also add the caveat that riding an acoustic bike for half an hour probably gives you more effective exercise than riding an e-bike for an hour or ninety minutes over the same terrain.

That is correct. However, e-bike assistance allows you set off for pretty long rides, keeps you in the aerobic regime, and gives you motivation for really long rides.

 

[Mr. Coffee]

Specialized e-bikes do that. You set Mission Control -> Smart Control so your heart rate will not exceed the set value. You also need to set the initial assistance value so that assist (which could be pretty low) controls how much workout you are getting.

That sounds like a fraction of what is needed, but certainly helpful.

You also need to set a range for your heart rate rather than a maximum value, and adjust the assistance on the fly (like I said you might need to have negative assist to make this all work well enough). And you'd also like to have a program for what ranges you'd use during the ride (e.g. have a warmup period and cool down period as well as the workout itself).

As an example, using my numbers. My minimum rest heart rate is about 48, and my (estimated) maximum heart rate is 166. So for a two-hour easy distance workout what I'd probably like to have is:

1. Ten minutes warmup at 50-60 percent. So with my heart rate between 107 and 119.
2. One hundred minutes at 60-70 percent. So with my heart rate between 120 and 131.
3. Ten minutes cooldown at 50-60 percent. So with my heart rate again between 107 and 119.

Workouts like that are great for improving fitness and endurance, but after doing that for a few weeks you'd probably want to throw in some interval training so you could get stronger as well.

You'd also likely need to know what gear your bike is in and take that into account, and likely need some kind of terrain anticipation (to know if you have an uphill or downhill ahead of you) to make this work supremely.

If any bike manufacturers are lurking and want advice on how to put this all together, PM me.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

You also need to set a range for your heart rate rather than a maximum value, and adjust the assistance on the fly (like I said you might need to have negative assist to make this all work well enough).

The problem with the minimum range of HR is that if you do not want to pedal hard, your HR will not raise even on a traditional bike.
I am on beta-blockers and my HR is controlled by the drug, so any HR stuff is beyond my interest.

 

[Roamers]

Frustratingly, I am not losing weight... but I am losing waistline by a fair amount

Muscle is denser than fat!

 

[Roamers]

But I'd also add the caveat that riding an acoustic bike for half an hour probably gives you more effective exercise than riding an e-bike for an hour or ninety minutes over the same terrain.

I'm not as anal as many recording and analyzing my rides (monitor HR and cadence; at end of ride look at average speed), My observations are analog vs. ebike (level 1 assist), same cadenence (80-90), same route, within a couple of beats maintained HR, I'm average about 4 mph faster on ebike. Unscientificly, I'm getting about the same workout, ebike is contributing to distance traveled over same time, plus gives us the ability to maintain speed on the few slopes we ride.

 

[Jeremy McCreary]

That sounds like a fraction of what is needed, but certainly helpful.

You also need to set a range for your heart rate rather than a maximum value, and adjust the assistance on the fly (like I said you might need to have negative assist to make this all work well enough). And you'd also like to have a program for what ranges you'd use during the ride (e.g. have a warmup period and cool down period as well as the workout itself).

As an example, using my numbers. My minimum rest heart rate is about 48, and my (estimated) maximum heart rate is 166. So for a two-hour easy distance workout what I'd probably like to have is:

1. Ten minutes warmup at 50-60 percent. So with my heart rate between 107 and 119.
2. One hundred minutes at 60-70 percent. So with my heart rate between 120 and 131.
3. Ten minutes cooldown at 50-60 percent. So with my heart rate again between 107 and 119.

Workouts like that are great for improving fitness and endurance, but after down that for a few weeks you'd probably want to throw in some interval training so you could get stronger as well.

You'd also likely need to know what gear your bike is in and take that into account, and likely need some kind of terrain anticipation (to know if you have an uphill or downhill ahead of you) to make this work supremely.

If any bike manufacturers are lurking and want \advice on how to put this all together, PM me.

My wife has an app that finds public bathrooms. Incorporate that technology with a bladder volume monitor, and you'd have a pretty complete physiological cycling package. Best to stop for a quick pee, knowing exactly where to go, before concentrating on your workout plan becomes impossible. ;^}

Kidding aside, I admire performance riders who can stick to a regimen like this long-term.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

My wife has an app that finds public bathrooms. Incorporate that technology with a bladder volume monitor, and you'd have a pretty complete physiological cycling package. Best to stop for a quick pee before concentrating on your workout plan becomes impossible. ;^}

Kidding aside, I admire performance riders who can stick to a regimen like this long-term.

Jeremy you are too merry at times!
My senior friend (of your age I think) has the list of all possible pee-places in Warsaw and around!
His favourite phrase is "we need to stop so I could stick my little bird out!"

 

[Jeremy McCreary]

Jeremy you are too merry at times!
My senior friend (of your age I think) has the list of all possible pee-places in Warsaw and around!
His favourite phrase is "we need to stop so I could stick my little bird out!"

Does Specialized Mission Control have built-in bathroom-seeking and -planning capability? If it's so good at budgeting battery capacity, I don't see why it couldn't do the same for bladder capacity with the right probe.

My wife would pay a lot for that. As I get older, I see her point.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Does Specialized Mission Control have built-in bathroom-seeking and -planning capability?

Once (when I was riding a traditional bike), I relieved myself in a desolate (I thought) place in Warsaw. I was caught by a police patrol and the cops were not happy with me!

Never happened since I started riding Specialized e-bikes

 

[Gionnirocket]

For me being out on longer rides because you don't wear yourself out on the hills and feeling happy and alive are the key benefits. Endorphins have more than a temporary benefit and for me are 10x more important than monitoring every statistic of your ride and body.

And I'll add I don't worry about what others are doing or not doing.. or if they are deluded in believeing how their bike tells them they are doing it better than everyone else.

 

[Roamers]

My wife has an app that finds public bathrooms.

What app is that? Even on a road trip I'd like an idea what's coming up at an exit vs. the need to stop on the highway and whip it out.

 

[Jeremy McCreary]

What app is that? Even on a road trip I'd like an idea what's coming up at an exit vs. the need to stop on the highway and whip it out.

Strangely enough, the app is called "Flush". She uses the iOS version and likes it.

Did a little research. In-app purchases include toilet paper and hand sanitizer delivered by (who else?) DoorDash. ;^}

 

[Mulezen]

I'd freely agree that riding an e-bike for exercise is better than no exercise at all.

But I'd also add the caveat that riding an acoustic bike for half an hour probably gives you more effective exercise than riding an e-bike for an hour or ninety minutes over the same terrain.

On heart rates and heart rate zones, absent some fairly extensive testing you are out to sea and have a hard time knowing what effective exercise actually means for your own body. In the literature and online "heart rate zones" are all defined in contradictory ways. On top of all that on a bicycle staying in one heart rate zone over varied terrain is pretty challenging at best and often impossible, and my own experience is that usually you are stuck either in too low a heart rate for effective conditioning or too damned high a heart rate. On top of that everybody is different.

Now if you hypothetically had an e-bike that also communicated with your heart rate monitor, and it adjusted your pedal assistance on the fly (possibly including negative assist) you might have something interesting. If you could also program the bike to provide interval training (e.g. 30 seconds at 80%HR, 30 seconds at 60%HR, repeat) then you'd have something really interesting.

Studies (more than one) have shown ebikes provide 94% of the benefits of regular cycling.
Mr. Caffeine…you’re obviously in great cardio health. My HR, despite my general fitness, is very high. Monitoring my HR is important for me. Some days I’m up the local hill in Eco, other days it’s turbo. I bought my first ebike in 2018 after this hill kept pushing my HR above one sixty.
I agree that HR actuated assistance would be interesting

 

[Mulezen]

There was no science present in your comment to discuss. You were just being snotty, and making no attempt to contribute anything but a bad attitude. Don't whine when you reap what you sow.

I do tend to be snotty to those that insult me…BTW resistance exercise builds muscle…I’ve researched this in labs and in National Competitions

 

[Roamers]

Strangely enough, the app is called "Flush". She uses the iOS version and likes it.

I've now learned there is an app for anything you want! An article that lists several similar apps that appear to have larger databases.

The Best Bathroom Locator Apps - National Association For Continence

The National Association For Continence provides education, community and support to those living with bladder, bowel or pelvic floor health disorders.

nafc.org

Since they are "user updated" would it be appropriate to add mile markers for my emergency roadside pee spots on I-80?

 

[Jeremy McCreary]

I've now learned there is an app for anything you want! An article that lists several similar apps that appear to have larger databases.

The Best Bathroom Locator Apps - National Association For Continence

The National Association For Continence provides education, community and support to those living with bladder, bowel or pelvic floor health disorders.

nafc.org

Since they are "user updated" would it be appropriate to add mile markers for my emergency roadside pee spots on I-80?

Interesting dilemma. Always nice to help others in times of urgent need, but I'd keep those spots to myself. You heard the brush @Stefan Mikes had with the law. Next time, the cops could be waiting for YOU. Probably take an especially dim view of public urination on mile markers. ;^}

 

[fooferdoggie]

Studies (more than one) have shown ebikes provide 94% of the benefits of regular cycling.
Mr. Caffeine…you’re obviously in great cardio health. My HR, despite my general fitness, is very high. Monitoring my HR is important for me. Some days I’m up the local hill in Eco, other days it’s turbo. I bought my first ebike in 2018 after this hill kept pushing my HR above one sixty.
I agree that HR actuated assistance would be interesting

I think the higher end specialized have that feature.

 

[Kayakguy]

Yeah.... like skiing. IDK about the that, using gravity to go downhill thing, kinda contradicts the idea of exercise... but what do I know

But cross country skiing is an antidote to that gravity thing.