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It simply does not bother me how good modern electric bikes are as I really fail to see the point in them.
Try retiring to South Devon in thirty years time and continue cycling 😉 . My mother is able to ride up hills that she simply would not be able to otherwise. So that's one extra person on a bike. Which is a Good Thing(TM).
My Mrs has recently bought an electric bike. It is a Giant Escape Hybrid 1 which she got for a good price from the www.electricbicyclenetwork.com/ who are selling off ex hire electric bikes. It is like new and had only done 120 miles when bought. She commutes 16 miles to work on it and with it it means she can cycle every day which she wouldn't be able to do as not fit enough on a normal bike. She is saving petrol, wear and tear on the car etc. and it only takes her 10 minutes longer than driving. She is of the opinion that this exercise is better than non at all.
I'm surprised how easy people find these long commutes. I guess we're all built differently?!
I had a 20 mile round-trip and it was a few months before i wasn't too tired to ride at the weekends. I'm talking about riding every single day, rain or shine even when feeling ill etc.
Previously had a 15 mile/1500ft commute each way, and i only managed to do it 5 days per week once (when i was without a car) and i was absolutely totally completely shattered at the end of the week.
30 miles a day week in week out is quite a commitment, nothing wrong with electric bikes either.
As mentioned you don't have to ride it every day or as I do, you can vary it. I live 28 miles from work, some days I cycle it all, some days I'll dive half way and cycle the rest, some days I just park outside the city and cycle in.
I'm lucky I have great bike storage and shower facilities in work. But before we moved building I didn't. Then I found that as long as I showered before the commute and used a liberal spraying of deodorant once I got there I was fine. Sweat doesn't smell if you keep yourself clean! 😉
ADH -the calc I saw was in this paper here;
Needless to say I've not seen any peer review of the approach to confirm or dispute the findings.
I guess the point for me is that often an e-bike is seen as some sort of cheating as opposed to another transport option. And let's face it we're on STW where driving a car to take a bike somewhere to ride is normal behaviour.