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E-Bikes- They work!

Sept. 10, 2018, 9:51 a.m.
Posts: 2203
Joined: Feb. 4, 2007

After 3000km on mine this summer....you get a better cardio workout, use your legs have as much, have a better cadence, better body position, and have loads of fun! First accurate video on them. I have a rocky, levo and devinci, try one it will blow your mind! As someone said to me this summer, soon they will make an acoustic bike obsolete, you may not like to hear that but after riding them twice a day since April...its hard not to think about, if you think they can't go down, check out Yoann hit trespasser on his! 

https://youtu.be/iefJf609Tkg

:woot:

@davenorona

@Dave Norona

Sept. 10, 2018, 10:25 a.m.
Posts: 24060
Joined: Nov. 23, 2002

Better cardio? 🤣🤣🤣

Sept. 10, 2018, 11:11 a.m.
Posts: 141
Joined: Feb. 8, 2016

What's your rationale for 'better body position'?

Sept. 10, 2018, 12:02 p.m.
Posts: 965
Joined: Nov. 18, 2015

Better cardio because you're not having to take breaks every 10min?

Better body position because youre keeping good and close to that little screen below the bars to make sure you don't run out of juice and have to pedal that 60lb monstrosity back, or pedal it at all?

Im not ready to accept these things yet.

Sept. 10, 2018, 12:17 p.m.
Posts: 1578
Joined: Feb. 17, 2009

A friend of mine has the Altitude Powerplay and loves it, he had 6 surgeries on his left knee from a serious snowboarding accident and it's allowed him to actually ride a bike again.  He's tied to ride his non assisted bike (rocky Altitude) and can only get one lower lap of Fromme in before his left knee swells up for a week. On the Powerplay he can be out most of the day and just enjoy riding again.  It's also helped with his physio as he is able to keep a constant cadence. Next year, he's looking to pick up a trail 29er and alternate between the two bikes as his recovery moves along.

My perspective on e-bikes has very much changed in the last year.

Sept. 10, 2018, 12:29 p.m.
Posts: 1781
Joined: Feb. 26, 2015

Posted by: Ddean

Better cardio because you're not having to take breaks every 10min?

Better body position because youre keeping good and close to that little screen below the bars to make sure you don't run out of juice and have to pedal that 60lb monstrosity back, or pedal it at all?

Im not ready to accept these things yet.

What do you mean? Motorbikes are so much fun.

The bike companies are really pushing these things thru their psuedo sponsored internet brand ambassadors.

Must be a huge profit margin on them.


 Last edited by: Brocklanders on Sept. 10, 2018, 12:38 p.m., edited 1 time in total.
Sept. 10, 2018, 1:15 p.m.
Posts: 446
Joined: Feb. 24, 2017

Sweet, all it takes is a new e-bike and we can all ride Trespasser just like Yo. If you buy two of them will one be able to ride twice as good?

Sept. 10, 2018, 2:07 p.m.
Posts: 19468
Joined: Oct. 28, 2003

Posted by: syncro

Better cardio? 🤣🤣🤣

See 2:28 of the video.  

My girl had a near asthma attack from pedalling so hard up a 1 km long 40 degree doubletrack hill in the Alps on a E-rental hardtail fatbike (can I say anything worse?!?).   A techy, steep hill climb she (nor I)  would have never attempted unassisted.    

We E-pedalled up to 1827 meters altitude last weekend and finished a 38 km ride that day.  Not once did we skid or spin our tires and the only trail damage we did was when she spat out a lung on the climb.  Assisted speed was limitted to 25 kph, a strong climbing pace, useless downhill.  

Im quite sure that regular use would improve our cardio.  

The only reason we did it was the rental was 1/3 the price of a Reign and a lift ticket wasn’t needed.  The first taste is free....

Sept. 10, 2018, 2:11 p.m.
Posts: 16818
Joined: Nov. 20, 2002

My ebike is fantastic for commuting.  I'm not so sure it's the best thing for trails.  I do know some people with health related limits that really benefit from an off-road ebike, but claiming a cardio benefit for ebike vs pedal only bike is quite the stretch.

Biggest problem with ebikes at the moment is there are too many ways to get around anything legislated that would limit their impact on trails.  A pedal assist only bike, limited to about 350 W, wouldn't be a totally bad thing, esp for those with health issues wanting to partake in trail riding.  But motors and controllers are easy to change and/or hack, the hardware is readily available, so too damn easy for someone to buy a "legal" 350W bike, and mod it to become a 1500W throttle operated emotorbike, and very little way for a regulating authority to tell, short of testing on a dyno.

Sept. 10, 2018, 3:09 p.m.
Posts: 1316
Joined: May 11, 2018

I have a colleague with MS who uses an Ebike - totally cool in my books.

Others who claim no increased trail abuse, better cardio and so forth - phooey

When these things become more popular I am going to make it a point to ride my fully rigid single speed and every time I see someone riding one of these monstrosities I will simply shake my head in pure unfettered judgement of them. ;)

Now if only I can figure out who has a medical reason to have one and I won't look like an ass ;) ;)

Sept. 10, 2018, 3:38 p.m.
Posts: 1781
Joined: Feb. 26, 2015

Ah the slippery slope.

Going to interesting how this all plays out.

So as long as it has a pedal crank it's ok? So why should gas be banned and battery is ok?

https://motoped.com/shop/pro/

Sept. 10, 2018, 4:21 p.m.
Posts: 24060
Joined: Nov. 23, 2002

Posted by: heckler

See 2:28 of the video.  

My girl had a near asthma attack from pedalling so hard up a 1 km long 40 degree doubletrack hill in the Alps on a E-rental hardtail fatbike (can I say anything worse?!?).   A techy, steep hill climb she (nor I)  would have never attempted unassisted.    

We E-pedalled up to 1827 meters altitude last weekend and finished a 38 km ride that day.  Not once did we skid or spin our tires and the only trail damage we did was when she spat out a lung on the climb.  Assisted speed was limitted to 25 kph, a strong climbing pace, useless downhill.  

Im quite sure that regular use would improve our cardio.  

The only reason we did it was the rental was 1/3 the price of a Reign and a lift ticket wasn’t needed.  The first taste is free....

A blanket statement like "you get a better cardio workout" simply shows a lack of understanding. Coming from Dave I find the statement to be silly as he should know better in terms of what constitutes cardio performance. There's a disconnect between the statements in the vid and what better cardio actually is. There's also a disconnect between your statements and what better cardio actually is. 

Time and intensity are the two things that will allow you to improve your cardio. An e-bike allows you to ride for a longer time at a lower intensity in the same way that a slow jog can allow you to go for a longer time than a hard run. For someone who is unfit or has a low level of fitness this can be a plus, but only to a certain point.  The bike itself does nothing to improve your cardio, what improves your cardio is activity time and intensity. From a riding perspective if the steep trail is too much then pick a less steep trail or a flat trail and ride a regular pedal bike for a longer distance. 

I'm not totally opposed to ebikes as has been well documented in the past, buts lets not confuse how cardiovascular fitness is improved on a bicycle with ebikes magically providing a better form of fitness.  There's no doubt ebikes make it easier to pedal up a hill,  but that doesn't necessarily equate to an improvement in cardiovcascular fitness. It will work probably work for some as it may be the motivator that gets them outside or moving, but there's also as much of a chance of an ebike limiting how far your cardio will improve or evening decreasing it if one comes to rely on the ebike.

Sept. 10, 2018, 4:29 p.m.
Posts: 11969
Joined: June 4, 2008

I have a new robotic-exoskeleton and my lifts have gone through the roof!

Sept. 10, 2018, 4:33 p.m.
Posts: 1784
Joined: Aug. 6, 2009

Posted by: heckler

My girl had a near asthma attack from pedalling so hard up a 1 km long 40 degree doubletrack hill in the Alps on a E-rental hardtail fatbike (can I say anything worse?!?).   A techy, steep hill climb she (nor I)  would have never attempted unassisted.    

We E-pedalled up to 1827 meters altitude last weekend and finished a 38 km ride that day.  Not once did we skid or spin our tires and the only trail damage we did was when she spat out a lung on the climb.  Assisted speed was limitted to 25 kph, a strong climbing pace, useless downhill.  

It makes sense that if you spin at a constant higher cadence, and for longer, than you could under your own power, you will get more of a cardio workout. But, how many people are actually going to be spinning them at that max rpm?  I suspect that for most users, a typical e-ride is less of a workout than a self-powered ride.

Sept. 10, 2018, 4:38 p.m.
Posts: 24060
Joined: Nov. 23, 2002

Posted by: PaulB

It makes sense that if you spin at a constant higher cadence, and for longer, than you could under your own power, you will get more of a cardio workout. But, how many people are actually going to be spinning them at that max rpm?  I suspect that for most users, a typical e-ride is less of a workout than a self-powered ride.

not really as it depends a lot on the rider's power output. you have to factor in time AND intensity.

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