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Net result is probably that you burn about the same amount of calories
That may well be the case but believe me I've ridden both exclusively for periods of time and riding just an eeber definitely doesn't make me fitter.
I'm also getting a much better range on the eeber now I only ride it once in a while.
The same can't be said for the other way around.🤣
presumably that results in a couple of extra runs(?) over and above what you'd do with out the EEB, so the volume of work is probably about the same for a bit more ground covered.
Yes, on this particular day I did something like 500m (1/2) extra ascent and 10km (1/3rd) extra distance. This was through sessioning a bit at the end in turbo to try some suspension settings, but usually it's by adding extra bits to the ride and doing them in eco.
I guess the real question should be, what are you actually "training" for?
Nothing deliberate, could do with 4kg of fat off my bodyweight though.
Impromptu experiment this last weekend - forgot to charge my range extender. Only realised at the start of the STW issue 67 classic ride - a big loop of Cross Fell and High Cup Nick with two big climbs.
So I had 360Wh in my TQ SL eMTB to last me 62km and 1500m. On a normal bike I wouldn't contemplate more than 45km and 1200m, less if the climbing was concentrated or weather was hot. It seemed do-able and my plan actually worked, running out of battery right near the end.
Assistance off for anything I can ride sustainably with my own power. Eco for anything steep and long I can't continuously keep doing and would wear me out. Normal for any short very steep or bumpy climbs. No turbo; if normal doesn't do it then I push, and this was very rare. Set some rough goals for how much battery I needed to have at some key points (bottom and top of first big climb, bottom of second/last big climb), kept an eye on it but not worrying or obsessively so.
The TQ isn't noticeably any harder to pedal without assistance than a normal bike. It does feel like pedaling through treacle if you turn it off mid-ride, but that's just because you become accustomed to the assistance.
How good training effect, I don't know or really care. I got some enjoyment out of the challenge, felt properly tired at the end but not totally exhausted, and my legs still feel it now two days later.
Lately my riding mate and me gave noticed that my legs are getting there as is my capacity to pedal, it's taken ages for it to come back but thanks to binning the ebike I can now actually pedal again.
Imo even though you think you're working, you're not working enough.
Others may vary, but for me, the only way I want an ebike is if I'm never going back to manual
even though you think you're working, you're not working enough.
This is my experience.
I stopped riding my Rise for a few months. I'd been thinking about spending more time on a normal bike anyway but the push was the chainstay cracking and having to wait for the replacement to arrive.
I'd ridden the ebike almost exclusively for ~3 years. Always ended every ride knackered. Focused on working hard in eco and doing long rides, it felt like i was keeping myself fit.
First ride on my HT around Surrey Hills I was done after 12 miles/1500'. It took a few months to get any sort of real fitness back.
Got to the point were I was comfortable doing 20/25 miles in the Peak District with 3500' of climbing and felt like i could still manage another climb. Managed a couple of days out on big hills in Wales and felt really good. Still nowhere near where where my fitness was before the ebike came along but felt like a decent improvement. Every ride felt a little bit easier and like I was gaining something rather than just mooching and having fun.
I'm seriously thinking about selling it and buying a short travel FS trail bike. The only thing stopping me is knowing that if I sell the ebike now, buying another one would be off the cards for the foreseeable future.
I like having it so I can go off and do big days out that I wouldn't manage on a normal bike, but having it has definitely made me unfit.
I like having it so I can go off and do big days out that I wouldn't manage on a normal bike, but having it has definitely made me unfit.
Likewise.
I'm considering intentionally leaving it off more in future.
I'm glad I chose an SL as it lets me explore options like this.
When I was much fitter, I only had a very quick go on a Raleigh hybrid ebike at Longleat back in '19, so I couldn't say if it was possible to get threshold+ training benefit back then.
But since buying one a few months ago, there are a good handful or so rides where I've done threshold+ intervals up to ~13mins long while using turbo 250W assist, where my heart rate has been in the ballpark of my estimated Lactate Threshold Heart Rate and beyond (~150-155bpm, used to be ~170bpm in '22).
I'm not entirely sure what my estimated FTP is these days, because I've not tried (but have been tempted to) fitting my 4iiii power meter off the road bike onto the ebike, plus while I've done a bit of turbo again recently I've not calibrated my Saris H3 for a while and I'm pretty sure calibration goes whacky through those heatwaves. I'd guess 180-200W on a good day, which then risks PEM... Far lower than 310-320W in '22.
The crazy weight I was back around Xmas is slowly coming off, now down to a fraction over 94Kg, when I was ~80Kg in '22. Without assistance, at 95Kg on my 9Kg road bike, it doesn't take much of a gradient on the South Downs hills I love, to send me north of 200W in easiest 34/34 gear... A gear I used to reserve for ~20% gradients and z1/2 climbs!
I've never ridden an e-bike but here's my observations about "fitness"...
I use a turbo trainer in winter and concentrate almost exclusively on shorter, harder sessions (as I can't bear to be in a turbo for more than 45 mins), so mostly sweet spot, over/unders and max effort intervals (z2 stuff is done outside).
Around end of March, I pack the turbo away and don't do any specific "training" though I do a mix of hard/short road riding and longer gravel rides ie generally, I'm not doing anything which specifically "targets" max heart rate.
I am, undoubtedly, "fittest"* at the end of winter when I pack the turbo away. So, my conclusion is that unless you are maxing your heart rate for reasonable periods of times multiple times per week, then you won't be training at maximum efficiency.
Now, you can probably max your heart rate on an e-bike but can you maintain that max/very high heart rate for a decent period of time on an e-bike. Probably, possibly, but it's more likely that the average rider would achieve that on a non e-bike....
* Fittest as generally recognized as having a better FTP (ie Watts per kilo, so higher power rather than better endurance)