Electric bikes

If you cant cycle 30-40 miles without assistance then dont cycle 30-40 miles.

How is having an eletric bike going to help with fitness? Get a proper bike and cycle within your limits. If you put the effort in you might surprise yourself how quickly you can up the miles.
If the OPs heading out with his Mrs she can keep up and ride further etc.

Horses for courses.....they're ideal for elderly people who want to get out and about or people with respiratory difficulties and other disabilities. You can still get fitter using an ebike by adjusting the settings as accordingly.
Perfect solution that has solved some peoples social mobility needs.
Exactly this. Thanks.
I’m 60 years old with dodgy knees and hip pain after using my road bike , I live where each way I turn I’ve got an uphill route to take.

I bought an Orbea Gain late last year , I only use the assistance on the steeper inclines and gives me help up to 15 mph. Switch it off on the flat and down hill.

I get out more , do more miles , and return home in less pain than I did before and certainly less stiffness the next morning.

You still get the heart going , and the leg muscles get a good work out .

I would have tended to agree with your opinion in the previous years , but since buying this bike and the extra use I get out on it , frankly you are talking bollocks.
Thanks. Just the kind of thing I'm aiming for.
 
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If you cant cycle 30-40 miles without assistance then dont cycle 30-40 miles.

How is having an eletric bike going to help with fitness? Get a proper bike and cycle within your limits. If you put the effort in you might surprise yourself how quickly you can up the miles.
Fitness isn’t just muscles. A lad I know has one ( big money one) and his mental health is finally in control by getting out, seeing things and spending time out getting out of breath in a topper place.
It’s not for everyone
28 mph 😳 lethal
The idea I could go to the Sunderland match from Spenny on it and not break sweat
Or get to a country pub, having a couple without getting done for drink driving. There’s a few outside my local every weekend
 
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I’m 60 years old with dodgy knees and hip pain after using my road bike , I live where each way I turn I’ve got an uphill route to take.

I bought an Orbea Gain late last year , I only use the assistance on the steeper inclines and gives me help up to 15 mph. Switch it off on the flat and down hill.

I get out more , do more miles , and return home in less pain than I did before and certainly less stiffness the next morning.

You still get the heart going , and the leg muscles get a good work out .

I would have tended to agree with your opinion in the previous years , but since buying this bike and the extra use I get out on it , frankly you are talking bollocks.

Aye I' m a bit older than you but thankfully Western Australia is reasonably flat so do 60klms a day at least no hassle.Normal bike.

An old guy turns up on his bike 3 days a week,he'll be 76 now.He bought an electric bike around two years ago.Problems with his hamstrings,they took a long time to recover after a ride

We hired a couple to go out one day and I did not like them one bit.I think the problem was the battery was above the back wheel.The balance on the bike was shocking,I always thought it was going to tip over backwards.

The bike he bought has the battery in the centre,he says the balance is great .He swore he would only use it for assistance once in a while,then got lazy.Then decided that the lack of exercise wasn't good.He is now back to assistance only .

We worked out that using it for assistance only the range is around 120 - 130 klms.The motor is on the crank for the pedals .

Everything is as you say.He could do 2 days on a normal bike.Now does 3 days on the electric and is thinking of increasing it to 4.

When I' m back there on holiday I go out on a bike most days,those hills are bloody daunting.If I lived there I think I would have an electric bike for the hills.

I would strongly recommend get an electric bike.Hopefully I'll be able to go for a while yet and then graduate to an electric trike for balance issues when the time comes.

I'm off out on the bike now,blue skies,sunshine,we are allowed to exercise in lockdown,and the doctor said just carry on.Do you more harm than good stopping the exercise.
 
To make it clear you get assistance when you are pedalling at up to 15 mph , it’s certainly NOT an electric motor that drives you uphill at 15 mph.
Thank you; that is exactly the information I wanted. I thought it was too good to be true that a battery could do that - cheers
 
For those dismissing them, from what I have seen they look canny. Certainly as a commuter option for people who don’t want to arrive at work really sweaty.

I see a lot of couples out on them, pretty much as the OP said, bloke on a normal bike, wife on an ebike getting that push on hills. For a few I have chatted to, they can be a gateway to a normal bike. I know at the minute if I go out with my wife, I find it painfully slow and going slowly up hills is just painful so I power past and wait at the top. Those with ebikes have often built up fitness while feeling they are getting out for a decent ride, use the assist less and less then a fair few decide they want to shed the weight of the battery and motor.

I do mock the lad in my team at work who is younger than me, makes a big deal about going to the gym lots but then takes almost the same 5 mile route into work and says he can’t do it without an ebike. Other than that, I see them as a good fitness builder, gets people outside and gets cars off the road. Win, win win if you think you will struggle with a standard bike.
 
No the ebike isn’t because you can’t compete on them, any comps have lift ups anyway

You do any of these downhill big mountain ones ? Morzine, Saalbach. Been watching some on youtube and they look mental. Great viewing though, on the edge of my seat watching. Can't believe the bravery of some of those riders at the speed they go over stuff you wouldn't want to fall on.
 
I’ve got an e mountain bike and a normal mountain bike, basically use the ebike if there are no lift ups on the trails, don’t want to waste valuable time pushing a bike up a hill when the fun is going back down at speed. There’ll also not be a soul on here that can go downhill faster than me, unless Danny hart still posts
I made a new downhill segment on strava on Tuesday. Nowt technical, just the trail from the top of Carley Hill to the greyhound stadium, but it doesn’t half become exciting when you’re doing it in the dark on lights.
 
I made a new downhill segment on strava on Tuesday. Nowt technical, just the trail from the top of Carley Hill to the greyhound stadium, but it doesn’t half become exciting when you’re doing it in the dark on lights.
Night time descending......the remit of the incredibly mad!!!
You do any of these downhill big mountain ones ? Morzine, Saalbach. Been watching some on youtube and they look mental. Great viewing though, on the edge of my seat watching. Can't believe the bravery of some of those riders at the speed they go over stuff you wouldn't want to fall on.
No I’ve never ridden them mate, Nan Bield Pass and Rhyd Ddu on mount snowden are the craziest I’ve ridden
 
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I had a go of one the other day. Don’t see the point unless you’re old or infirm, or as mentioned you’re trying to keep up with fitter people. Saying that I’d love to take one on the C2C just to get up the hills at more than 3mph.
Night time descending......the remit of the incredibly mad!!!

No I’ve never ridden them mate, Nan Bield Pass and Rhyd Ddu on mount snowden are the craziest I’ve ridden
It’s just a straight path, but your timed runs are normally blighted by walkers and ne’er do wells during the day.
 
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I had a go of one the other day. Don’t see the point unless you’re old or infirm, or as mentioned you’re trying to keep up with fitter people. Saying that I’d love to take one on the C2C just to get up the hills at more than 3mph.
Downhill they don’t preform too dissimilar to a good dh bike although they are heavier so it takes a few runs to to get a feel for the bike and they are a bit harder work to throw them about. The true benefit for me though is the help you get getting back up to the top of the hill if there’s not a tractor or something. I wouldn’t use it to go round the streets unless I was injured
 
You do any of these downhill big mountain ones ? Morzine, Saalbach. Been watching some on youtube and they look mental. Great viewing though, on the edge of my seat watching. Can't believe the bravery of some of those riders at the speed they go over stuff you wouldn't want to fall on.
Have you done Fort William? I went over the bars 3 times in the first few minutes and spent the rest of the descent walking or shuffling on my arse.
Downhill they don’t preform too dissimilar to a good dh bike although they are heavier so it takes a few runs to to get a feel for the bike and they are a bit harder work to throw them about. The true benefit for me though is the help you get getting back up to the top of the hill if there’s not a tractor or something. I wouldn’t use it to go round the streets unless I was injured
Aye but you’re talking about a dedicated tool for a job, not something for pootling about on.
 
Have you done Fort William? I went over the bars 3 times in the first few minutes and spent the rest of the descent walking or shuffling on my arse.

Aye but you’re talking about a dedicated tool for a job, not something for pootling about on.

No. I know my limits. I'd kill myself, or at least put myself off Mtbing forever.
 
If you cant cycle 30-40 miles without assistance then dont cycle 30-40 miles.

How is having an eletric bike going to help with fitness? Get a proper bike and cycle within your limits. If you put the effort in you might surprise yourself how quickly you can up the miles.

They actually help massively, you still have to pedal and it gets you out there.

I have one and used to cycle to work regularly, and there were mornings when I felt a bit ropey and just would have taken the car instead of a regular bike, but I knew the electric one would help me up the hills - so still used it.

The thing is, when you push on a bit you actually get very little assistance (with the legal ones anyway). Above 15mph you get no assistance, so when you are feeling fit its just like a regular heavy bike. When you struggle up a hill or into the wind it assists you, but you still need to put some effort in.
 
Anyone have any advice (other than don't bother/get a 'proper' bike) about electric bikes. Thinking about getting one for the wife so we can do a bit more cycling and fitness for her. Have no idea about them other than you can generally get 30-40 miles out if them before recharge.

I've seen some people advertising conversions so would be interested to hear people's thoughts.

Ideally I wouldn't like to be spending more than £6-700. Quite happy to be going for 2nd hand too.

I wouldn’t bother with a conversion, and if buying second hand watch out for the battery state. A new battery is a significant part of the cost of an e-bike and the old one may need replacing.
 
Downhill they don’t preform too dissimilar to a good dh bike although they are heavier so it takes a few runs to to get a feel for the bike and they are a bit harder work to throw them about. The true benefit for me though is the help you get getting back up to the top of the hill if there’s not a tractor or something. I wouldn’t use it to go round the streets unless I was injured
I often overtake ebikes on flats and downhills. They catch up on the uphills like.
 

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