6 ms·

but is it really exercise with an ebike? I'd like to see others chip in on that (or studies ;).

by Tarsul 4y ago

thefz 4y ago
You can pick the torque you want for less or more assistance, and it stops at 25Km/h anyway.
endisneigh 4y ago
why wouldn't it be? you can still pedal and lower the assistance. personally I find using an ebike with low assistance to be more difficult than a regular, light road bike
- Tarsul 4y ago
  my question was not well-written. Should've been: Is it worthwhile exercise? And you answered that one. I guess it all depends on how much assistance you let go through.
- skeeter2020 4y ago
  >> personally I find using an ebike with low assistance to be more difficult than a regular, light road bike this doesn't make an sense, unless you are intentionally using a big, heavy ebike with little pedal assist on purpose; why wouldn't you just stick with the road bike if it's less work, saving the complexity, cost and e-waste?
  - endisneigh 4y ago
    it's less work than an ebike barely helping, yes. however given the same effort I can carry more things and go much faster on an ebike.
ryukafalz 4y ago
Yes. Try riding one and it’s self-evident that it is. (Unless it has a throttle and you’re using that the whole time, but if your goal is exercise don’t do that!)
DIVx0 4y ago
Either this is a flippant response or you've never been on an ebike. They are not motorcycles and require effort from the rider. The effort can be as minimal or as strenuous as you desire. If you measure by duration the effort is the same. If you measure by speed than one may exercise less overall but folks tend to make more ebike trips so there could be an offset there. It is ridiculous to question if there is any effort expended.
- pgwhalen 4y ago
  This reply doesn't assume best intent. I've ridden many ebikes and the effort is so clearly lower, to the point that it feels about the same as walking 1-2 mph. Maybe I ride it differently than everybody else somehow.
  - endisneigh 4y ago
    too many variables to compare - assistance level, wattage, gear, etc.
    - pgwhalen 4y ago
      This is definitely my suspicion, I mentioned it in another comment. The e biking experience I have seems extremely assisted, but I bet that's at one end of the spectrum.
chronogram 4y ago
I remember going to a talk by a cardiologist who said he told patients to take the bicycle and sometimes they'd come back with a worse heart. Then it would turn out that those patients thought an electric bicycle is good too, since it looks like a bicycle and you have to use the pedals like a bicycle. But since you don't really exert yourself it doesn't help the heart. That was maybe 10 years ago, so electric bicycles were not so ubiquitous back then.
- watwut 4y ago
  That is not how ebikes work. Also, the anecdote is suspect, cause whole lot of hos patients will ride literally nothing or ride super rarely regardless of what bike they have.
acdha 4y ago
Very much so. My heart rate readings are basically the same as on my road bike but I’m making the trip with ~100 pounds of kid & cargo. I’ve seen a few studies supporting this in general: people ride with the same intensity but go further or get there faster. There’s a really key benefit which is less obvious: e-bikes remove disincentives. Everyone I know who bought one rides more because they don’t have to worry about that one big hill, or the spot where you need to be on a road & going <20 mph triggers driver aggression, or you can carry your heavier groceries home, etc.
- float4 4y ago
  > I’ve seen a few studies supporting this in general: people ride with the same intensity but go further or get there faster. I highly doubt this. I believe it's true for you, but in the Netherlands I always notice how e-bikers generally ride the maximum legal speed (25km/h) but at a preposterously low cadence and while sitting perfectly upright. Non e-bikers on the other hand go slower, have a higher cadence and (if there's a significant head wind) move their torso left and right in accordance with the pedal strokes. No way those intensities match. I do believe that the area under curve can be similar, because e-bikers can indeed ride further.
  - acdha 4y ago
    I’d easily believe there’s a country bias: the Netherlands has so much more infrastructure encouraging non-enthusiast usage whereas here in the U.S. most places are still selecting for more adventurous riders.
samatman 4y ago
It objectively is, yes. The objective part being the heart rate monitor on my watch. I routinely get into the 130-145 range. Or sometimes not! The throttle is not labor intensive. But that gets boring.
pgwhalen 4y ago
I'm surprised about the down votes, I'm similarly curious. I bike a lot, and occasionally take a bikeshare e bike, and the difference is night and day. Yes, I'm moving my legs in the bike pedaling motion, but it in a way that feels like it exclusively is just a different input mechanism for the motor. I wonder if there is a large spectrum of power in e bikes, and that bikeshare e bikes are at one end of that spectrum.
cowmoo728 4y ago
It depends on the bicycle. Some of them, at the right assistance level, the rider still pedals enough to be in light cardio range, which provides huge health benefits. Other ebikes, not so much.
NoLinkToMe 4y ago
Depends on the e-bike and the riding behaviour, naturally. If you simply use the assist to go faster but otherwise put in the same effort, then it's exercise. And if you enjoy the speed and it's convenient to travel more or even switch out car trips, it gets extra points. But if you simply take the same amount of trips, spend less time due to the extra speed, and mostly cycle on full pedal-assist (there's ebikes that are simply electric motorbikes with pedals) then no, it wouldn't be exercise.
anonporridge 4y ago
There's some evidence that ebike riders get more exercise than regular bike riders, https://electrek.co/2019/08/11/electric-bike-riders-more-exercise-than-cyclists/ https://electrek.co/2019/08/11/electric-bike-riders-more-exe...
Doxin 4y ago
Oh for sure. What people don't realize is how high the "whee!" factor is on an ebike. You're gonna be wanting to go fast automatically and near the bikes top speed the assistance gently tapers off. You'll balance at a speed where the amount of work you're doing is reasonable. You'll cycle much farther than otherwise because if your legs give in you can always cruise home at a slightly lower speed. It's probably the best invention in transport since the car. Remember all the hype for the segway how it'd be the new mode of transport? all that applies to electric bicycles.

but is it really exercise with an ebike? I'd like to see others chip in on that (or studies ;).

by Tarsul 4y ago

but is it really exercise with an ebike? I'd like to see others chip in on that (or studies ;).

thefz 4y ago

You can pick the torque you want for less or more assistance, and it stops at 25Km/h anyway.

endisneigh 4y ago

why wouldn't it be? you can still pedal and lower the assistance. personally I find using an ebike with low assistance to be more difficult than a regular, light road bike

Tarsul 4y ago
my question was not well-written. Should've been: Is it worthwhile exercise? And you answered that one. I guess it all depends on how much assistance you let go through.
skeeter2020 4y ago
>> personally I find using an ebike with low assistance to be more difficult than a regular, light road bike this doesn't make an sense, unless you are intentionally using a big, heavy ebike with little pedal assist on purpose; why wouldn't you just stick with the road bike if it's less work, saving the complexity, cost and e-waste?
- endisneigh 4y ago
  it's less work than an ebike barely helping, yes. however given the same effort I can carry more things and go much faster on an ebike.

ryukafalz 4y ago

Yes. Try riding one and it’s self-evident that it is. (Unless it has a throttle and you’re using that the whole time, but if your goal is exercise don’t do that!)

DIVx0 4y ago

Either this is a flippant response or you've never been on an ebike. They are not motorcycles and require effort from the rider. The effort can be as minimal or as strenuous as you desire. If you measure by duration the effort is the same. If you measure by speed than one may exercise less overall but folks tend to make more ebike trips so there could be an offset there. It is ridiculous to question if there is any effort expended.

pgwhalen 4y ago
This reply doesn't assume best intent. I've ridden many ebikes and the effort is so clearly lower, to the point that it feels about the same as walking 1-2 mph. Maybe I ride it differently than everybody else somehow.
- endisneigh 4y ago
  too many variables to compare - assistance level, wattage, gear, etc.
  - pgwhalen 4y ago
    This is definitely my suspicion, I mentioned it in another comment. The e biking experience I have seems extremely assisted, but I bet that's at one end of the spectrum.

chronogram 4y ago

I remember going to a talk by a cardiologist who said he told patients to take the bicycle and sometimes they'd come back with a worse heart. Then it would turn out that those patients thought an electric bicycle is good too, since it looks like a bicycle and you have to use the pedals like a bicycle. But since you don't really exert yourself it doesn't help the heart. That was maybe 10 years ago, so electric bicycles were not so ubiquitous back then.

watwut 4y ago
That is not how ebikes work. Also, the anecdote is suspect, cause whole lot of hos patients will ride literally nothing or ride super rarely regardless of what bike they have.

acdha 4y ago

Very much so. My heart rate readings are basically the same as on my road bike but I’m making the trip with ~100 pounds of kid & cargo. I’ve seen a few studies supporting this in general: people ride with the same intensity but go further or get there faster. There’s a really key benefit which is less obvious: e-bikes remove disincentives. Everyone I know who bought one rides more because they don’t have to worry about that one big hill, or the spot where you need to be on a road & going <20 mph triggers driver aggression, or you can carry your heavier groceries home, etc.

float4 4y ago
> I’ve seen a few studies supporting this in general: people ride with the same intensity but go further or get there faster. I highly doubt this. I believe it's true for you, but in the Netherlands I always notice how e-bikers generally ride the maximum legal speed (25km/h) but at a preposterously low cadence and while sitting perfectly upright. Non e-bikers on the other hand go slower, have a higher cadence and (if there's a significant head wind) move their torso left and right in accordance with the pedal strokes. No way those intensities match. I do believe that the area under curve can be similar, because e-bikers can indeed ride further.
- acdha 4y ago
  I’d easily believe there’s a country bias: the Netherlands has so much more infrastructure encouraging non-enthusiast usage whereas here in the U.S. most places are still selecting for more adventurous riders.

samatman 4y ago

It objectively is, yes. The objective part being the heart rate monitor on my watch. I routinely get into the 130-145 range. Or sometimes not! The throttle is not labor intensive. But that gets boring.

pgwhalen 4y ago

I'm surprised about the down votes, I'm similarly curious. I bike a lot, and occasionally take a bikeshare e bike, and the difference is night and day. Yes, I'm moving my legs in the bike pedaling motion, but it in a way that feels like it exclusively is just a different input mechanism for the motor. I wonder if there is a large spectrum of power in e bikes, and that bikeshare e bikes are at one end of that spectrum.

cowmoo728 4y ago

It depends on the bicycle. Some of them, at the right assistance level, the rider still pedals enough to be in light cardio range, which provides huge health benefits. Other ebikes, not so much.

NoLinkToMe 4y ago

Depends on the e-bike and the riding behaviour, naturally. If you simply use the assist to go faster but otherwise put in the same effort, then it's exercise. And if you enjoy the speed and it's convenient to travel more or even switch out car trips, it gets extra points. But if you simply take the same amount of trips, spend less time due to the extra speed, and mostly cycle on full pedal-assist (there's ebikes that are simply electric motorbikes with pedals) then no, it wouldn't be exercise.

anonporridge 4y ago

There's some evidence that ebike riders get more exercise than regular bike riders, https://electrek.co/2019/08/11/electric-bike-riders-more-exercise-than-cyclists/ https://electrek.co/2019/08/11/electric-bike-riders-more-exe...

Doxin 4y ago

Oh for sure. What people don't realize is how high the "whee!" factor is on an ebike. You're gonna be wanting to go fast automatically and near the bikes top speed the assistance gently tapers off. You'll balance at a speed where the amount of work you're doing is reasonable. You'll cycle much farther than otherwise because if your legs give in you can always cruise home at a slightly lower speed. It's probably the best invention in transport since the car. Remember all the hype for the segway how it'd be the new mode of transport? all that applies to electric bicycles.