The problem with ebikes

[rob feature]

Well, my problem. Or one of them. I have a bunch of bike problems. Mo bikes, mo problems.

This one is easily enough solved, but I didn't see it coming. I bought my first ebike in August. Been riding one a little over 2 months. I've ridden further, longer, and explored more than I've ever been able to on my pushbikes. 8 hour rides started becoming common where on pushbikes my longest ever consecutive is 5 and 3 is typical.

But last week I went to walk up a few flights of stairs and toward the top noticed my legs getting noodly. This was confusing at first as I've been riding the ebike a lot. Then I started thinking about my water consumption. I can do the whole day on the ebike on 40 ounces. That will get me 2 hours on a pushbike in ~75 degree weather. For confirmation I looked at my legs and sure enough - atrophied to something I hardly recognized.

I never meant to stay off the pushbikes when I got the ebike. I got it for commutes, longer trips and errands to somewhat replace my truck. But it has been so fun to ride that it always won the battle of which bike to ride today since I got it.

So I got back on my pushbikes. Only ridden my street stumpy but got in maybe 10 hours over the last week and can confirm it takes approximately 2 months of even regular ebike riding to lose a LOT of muscle mass and strength...and also that it comes back pretty quickly when you give it the old college try. The lack of water consumption was suspicious from the beginning, and at least for me seems to have a direct correlation to effort.

As much fun as the ebike is, it's time to let it collect a little more dust and ride the pushbikes for everything but commuting and errands. With all the excellent benefits of the ebike, it got easy to forget that it was making me a little lazy.

 

[rayray]

I’d say you just have the wrong ebike for you. I can tell you that with mine you’d be able to work as hard, or take it as easy as you’d like, or anywhere in between. Tell us about your ebike, and we’ll offer our valued opinions.

 

[rob feature]

I’d say you just have the wrong ebike for you. I can tell you that with mine you’d be able to work as hard, or take it as easy as you’d like, or anywhere in between. Tell us about your ebike, and we’ll offer our valued opinions.

No, I love the ebike. That's the problem. I was just spending too much time on it and less time pushing aluminum up hills with just legs. I like to climb and it's not much of a challenge on an ebike. Fun, convenient, but a little too easy And it's refreshing to ride without all that weight.

I'm still riding the ebike to work but getting back to analog for the recreational stuff.

 

[rayray]

See post #2.

Or stick with your plan, because there’s nothing wrong with different bikes for different purposes.

 

[keithj69]

What ebike do you have? The difference between riding my Himiway cruiser (cadence based) and my Surface604 (torque based) is night and day. I can ride the himiway all day on 3 batteries and have no worries. The surface604 on one battery (i have 2 batteries for it) is much different.

 

[rayray]

What ebike do you have? The difference between riding my Himiway cruiser (cadence based) and my Surface604 (torque based) is night and day. I can ride the himiway all day on 3 batteries and have no worries. The surface604 on one battery (i have 2 batteries for it) is much different.

I’ll add to that by saying my Trek Allant+ 9.9S and my Specialized Turbo Creo SL, even though both use torque sensors, are very different. The Allant+ requires more assist, as it is nearly twice the weight (50+ lbs. vs. the Creo’s 27 lbs.) and it sometimes feels like I can’t find the sweet spot in the 4 assist modes. The Creo SL, being lighter, requires less assist, and with the BLEvo app and the O-Synce MultiRemote it can be adjusted in 5% or 10% increments on the fly, so I’m always able to dial it in to the support level I desire. The Creo also has 20% less battery capacity (even with the Range Extender Battery installed), but can easily travel 50% further. They’re just designed for different purposes….kind of like the OP’s ebike and analog bike.

 

[fooferdoggie]

even between Bosch powered bikes. my bulls with the gen 2 speed motor and the trek allant 8 I am 2 to 3 miles faster on the bulls as it has the 1.5" 70psi tires. I can accelerate faster and it feels like less effort (it's not I actually put out more watts) but it feels easier since ti s more responsive. I have worked on the modes to improve the trek but it needs a lot of extra power at low speeds to get accelerated. I have debated on changing the tires but it is much easier on my body then the bulls and the bulls had a good air suspension fork.

 

[Brew61]

Just because you ride your E-bike it does not mean you can't get exercise. You just don't turn the power on all the time. I ride my bike and I will only turn the power on when I hit hills that I need help on. Most of my rides the power stays off. I put on over 300 Km on my bike before I had to charge the battery.

Bruce

 

[alloo]

You can also use level 0 or level 1 assist levels if you want to push.

 

[rob feature]

Yeah, of course I can ride with no assist, but it's not a lot of fun to ride a 60+ pound bike without. I've tried it. It feels like I have somebody on the back. I'd also need to use an extreme chainline for the steeper stuff where I can (and prefer to) just jump out of the saddle and hammer up something. The bike that I put most of my miles on (a Specialized Stumpjumper) also has a granny ring for extended climbs which I can't use on the ebike. I live in a very hilly area and prefer to stay away from the flats. The ebike actually isn't bad just bopping around flat surfaces, but that's not my rides.

I didn't really write that looking for a solution though. I found the solution - just spending more time on the pushbikes. I was just sharing the thought

For those asking it's a Trek Allant+ 7S. It's a sweet ride. I love almost everything about it.

 

[SDGuitarMan]

Sounds like either a higher gear and/or lower pedal assist might solve your problem. Also, a lot of ebike riders wouldn't ride a normal bike. An ebike ridden frequently is much better exercise than a regular bike that's never ridden.

And of course it's not a lot of fun pedaling a 60 pound bike uphill without pedal assist but if you want a workout.....

 

[rob feature]

Sounds like either a higher gear and/or lower pedal assist might solve your problem. Also, a lot of ebike riders wouldn't ride a normal bike. An ebike ridden frequently is much better exercise than a regular bike that's never ridden.

And of course it's not a lot of fun pedaling a 60 pound bike uphill without pedal assist but if you want a workout.....

You're spot on about a couple things here.

I never even thought of the possibility that there were people out there who only ride assisted bikes, but it makes sense. I was having a chat with a colleague not too long ago and we got to talking about riding. At some point she mentioned that even though she rides every day, she had never ridden a bike outside. That one messed with my head a little, but it's apparently a thing.

I've also gone for rides on the ebike where I would have otherwise been on the couch. Like this morning. I was feeling particularly lazy this morning but wanted to run over to the local airport for breakfast. I never want to drive, and it's a little too much for a cold, lazy Saturday morning on the pushbike but the ebike got me off the couch and to the bacon. Bonus points for a morning of lazy planespotting.

 

[SDGuitarMan]

You're spot on about a couple things here.

I never even thought of the possibility that there were people out there who only ride assisted bikes, but it makes sense. I was having a chat with a colleague not too long ago and we got to talking about riding. At some point she mentioned that even though she rides every day, she had never ridden a bike outside. That one messed with my head a little, but it's apparently a thing.

I've also gone for rides on the ebike where I would have otherwise been on the couch. Like this morning. I was feeling particularly lazy this morning but wanted to run over to the local airport for breakfast. I never want to drive, and it's a little too much for a cold, lazy Saturday morning on the pushbike but the ebike got me off the couch and to the bacon. Bonus points for a morning of lazy planespotting.

Yep, using myself as an example, I live in an area with a lot of hills. Last time I rode a regular bike was over 5 years ago. I took it out, hit an uphill, turned around and went home and the bike stayed in the garage as a decoration. A few weeks ago I got inspired to buy an ebike and now I look forward to riding and exploring places I haven't been to in years and other places that I simply drive past and never stop.

And this morning I went out for a spin and just to get a frame of reference after I had read this thread I decided to try going up the hill with pedal assist 1 and a fairly high gear. It was just as much of a workout as a regular bike in a low gear. So much so that I had to increase the pedal assist just to make it up the hill.

So, an electric bike that's used will be a better workout than a regular bike that's never used, AND, with proper use of pedal assist and gears, going up a hill on an ebike can be just as much of a workout as on a regular bike. It's all about how you choose to ride it.

40 years ago I rode BMX and about 25 years ago I did a lot of mountain biking so I do miss the off-road aspect of biking but at my age, if I tried riding like that now I'd probably break a hip anyway so I'm more than happy with my ebike!

 

[EMGX]

It's way more fun to ride a light bike than a heavy bike even at the same levels of exertion. I'm keeping my eye on bikesdirect to see if the full carbon gravel bike that I want ever comes in stock in my size.

 

[Roamers]

It's way more fun to ride a light bike than a heavy bike even at the same levels of exertion. I'm keeping my eye on bikesdirect to see if the full carbon gravel bike that I want ever comes in stock in my size.

I don't feel a great deal of difference (excluding hills) on my Raleigh Hybrid vs. Gazelle ebike without assist. The ebike is ~ 40 # heavier, but that is nothing compared to my fat ass 290#.

 

[SDGuitarMan]

It's way more fun to ride a light bike than a heavy bike even at the same levels of exertion. I'm keeping my eye on bikesdirect to see if the full carbon gravel bike that I want ever comes in stock in my size.

That's very subjective. Even though I can't fly over jumps or go down a mountain on a 60 pound ebike, I also can't climb steep hills on a 20 pound regular bike. I'm too old to ride BMX or do any serious mountain biking so for me, I'd say it's a lot more fun riding an ebike given that it's the only way for me to go biking in a city full of hills. And I'm not in bad shape, I just hate climbing hills on a bike.

And with a regular bike, you're always thinking about "ok, if I ride 15 miles out, that means I have to ride another 15 miles back." On an ebike I can ride as far as I want without worrying about slogging my way back as long as I watch my battery's charge level.

 

[rob feature]

The weight difference is night and day for me. From the Allant to my Stumpy is a dramatic change. Even though it's set up to do roughly the same thing - pound pavement, the difference in handling is not trivial.

The Frisco to Copper climb - at the Colorado Trail. Probably 75% ebikes on the 2 climbs I did last time. It always feels good when you can pass one.

 

[EMGX]

I live on a mountain so I get that. But still I just want to enjoy the feeling of riding a light bike even if it means gearing way down or even getting off and walking the bike a bit if necessary. Different experience for me riding a 40s# ebike vs a mid 20# bike. I'm shooting for a low 20# bike.

 

[rob feature]

My other frequent flyer. Riding something like this at twice the weight would just not work

 

[PedalUma]

I ride eBikes exclusively or almost exclusively and have strong legs. That is the difference between cadence sensor bikes and torque sensor bikes. I want it to feel like a bike but amplified. I too want them to be lightweight and balanced. Here is the exception, when I picked-up a non-electric bike in San Francisco and rode it across the bridge. Those are real hills! Now it is electric. Here is my bike spokes model, Natalie, with it today. She is selling it for me to a young family. An 18" stuffed animal ET in a red hoody arrives Monday. That goes in the milkcrate to improve the bike's aerodynamics.