eMTB question if I may?

1 guy can manage 10 miles on a bike before they are blowing out their arse. Happy days, they can now hit 30 miles for the same effort.

2nd guy can manage 30 miles on a bike before they are blowing out their arse. Happy days, they can now hit 50 miles for the same effort.

3rd guy can manage 50 miles on a bike before they are blowing out their arse. Happy days, they can now hit 80/90 miles for the same effort.

The battery on most Ebike’s I’ve seen seems to be running rather low after 25 hilly off road miles!

The 3rd guy can manage 50 miles (which I can do more than) would only be able to do 25 on an Ebike due to battery life.

What appeals about them to me is the speed. A moderate rider can get one and go up all the hills getting KOM’s on Strava on everything except the descents. It can turn an average rider into  faster overall than a pro on a normal bike.

If you are fit you can ride everywhere in Eco and get decent range. I did 30 miles yesterday with 3100ft elevation gain and used 60% of my 500w battery, so 45 miles and about 4000ft climbing is doable. On flatter terrain 50 miles would easily be achievable.

Grannyjone

Im not sure that’s true tbh.

I wasn’t a pro, but no legal ebike would have kept up with me when i was in my 20s. I mean, i was pretty fit, but certainly not pro level eh.

Granny, yeah be the first to admit I was pulling those figures out my arse! 😆 was really just to illustrate a point.

I’m off end of next week, might borrow my brothers bike see what can actually be done on low assistance and 550wh. I’ve only actually really tested it at full assistance and tried to run the battery down as fast as I could. Need to test the opposite now.

All about the watt hours though, if you take a spare battery you double the range in a given set of conditions.

…or a 3rd option, buy a normal bike, engage will power, ride it more than 3 times, find it tough at first

….speaks someone who has never been properly overweight. It’s miserable and a vicious circle as it brings on depression which makes you eat which adds more weight on etc etc.

Ive got to go through the whole losing weight thing again after I hurt both my ankles. I originally lost about a fifth of my body weight but then hurt myself and I’ve put it all back on.

Making the decision to do the dieting and exercise is easy. Doing it was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. The first few weeks of going out running (only very short distances) had me in tears while I was running, I was mumbling to myself “I don’t want to be fat” over and over again as I tried to run (jog) for more than 30 seconds.

If there is anything that can help this guy then just go for it. He’s going to find it indescribably hard for a while yet so keep going.

Shame on anyone who doesn’t want to ride with these guys “cos it’s not interesting”. I would have been so grateful to have someone to run/ride at my pace to encourage me. A big beaming smile when he gets up his first big hill or completes a mileage goal is an amazing reward for both of you.

It’s actually fairly well known that people with ebikes actually ride more than people without them.

I call BS on this.

But bar that comment, I agree that an ebike might work well. If it keeps him on the bike for a bit longer, makes it more enjoyable and means he doesn’t give up then it’s a very good option. Yes, a normal bike will get him fitter quicker, but only if he uses it, an ebike will likely mean he gets out more.

I had a really good think about this.  It’s a very good question, especially in the abstract.

I’d go ebike rather than conventional.

Reason being that at that weight far more flab is going to be lost through diet than burning it off and so exercise should be focussed around fun, enjoyment and being sustainable.

In my experience of those losing weight, the ones that have succeeded have been the ones that have concentrated on creating a lifestyle which makes them active and happy and not laser focussed on calories and forced exercise.

I would, however, use the peer motivator of expecting that his diet is going to go in the same positive direction as his exercise.  You’re not going to weight him pre ride, but part of the deal of being helped with a new hobby is that it is part of an overall lifestyle change.  Maybe set fun challenges like a week of no pudding/beers/mini cheddars/whatever to get his ticket to ride!  Keep it fun and obviously always ride, but take maximum banter yardage for fails.

Good on you by the way. And him.

I call BS on this.

can if you want but you’d be talking shit.

I’ll present your subsequent comment as evidence to the contrary. 😉

…or a 3rd option, buy a normal bike, engage will power, ride it more than 3 times

or 4th option, buy an ebike, get out in the country side, realise what fun it is, work hard at losing weight, while all the time keeping up with your mates, eventually trading in you ebike for a regular one (or not)

My gf sometimes does assisted chin-ups in the gym, presume she earns your ire as well?

I definitely ride more since getting the ebike. I’ve done 350 hard miles so far this year, I’d probably done about 35 by the same point last year.

wee update on range for ye on a 547 watt hour battery.

this week, did a flat run round some cycle paths, loop of glasgow kinda thing, so all paved paths/canal paths, skooshed a 38 mile loop on that, still had 2 out of 5 bars left.

at the other end of the scale managed 22.6 miles in a big mugdock loop today, 637metres(what map my ride say, I think it’s reasonably accurate, I counted contours and was north of 550 doing that) of climbing involved, tried to head up earls seat, but I was concerned I’d have killed the battery on that, so only got round the back of the hill up to about the 270/290m mark with a bit more capacity I’d have gone for it no bother. got home with 1 bar on the battery fairly comfortably.

I’ve also been up the braes(cycled from home up the hill) and comfortably rattled it around there with a couple of bars to spare.

All in all, fairly capable that amount of battery, think a 1000 wh battery is the holy grail tbh, means you could attack climbs willynilly. which is something you’d do, you actively look for climbs!

I once wish that the world was downhill, verdict there is that now it can be! 😆

Another strange phenomenon is that I actually find I stop at red lights with it! un head of! 😆

todays loop. stuck to the main paths as I was just range testing.

http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/2064773236

verdict on effort, I’m pretty unfit at the moment, and it was relatively easy. feel it a bit though. I did try to keep the assist as low as I could so there was resistance at all times. ultimately, you can ride these things as hard or as easy as you like(you need to use the gears to get the best out of it). still not the same as a real bike, but I wouldn’t have been out 4 days on the trot at this particular time if I was on a real bike. probably done about 80/90 miles in it this week.The fun factor is off the scale!

I think the idea idea of less strenuous exercise more frequently is very true. So there is benefit there.

I’ll be interested to see of it has had any affect on my fitness when I go back to my own bit next week.

I’ve got some real nice bikes, but wasn’t riding them much due to ebbing off of fitness and being 18st

bought an e bike year and a half ago,

i know get out loads, helped by the fact 2 of my mates have them too now,

doing over 100 miles a week in winter (at night )  prob 3-4 rides a week

been out tonight for 3 hours,   riding to work and back tomorrow instead of driving – around 30 miles mostly through the woods

they are a massive incentive to get out there.  I could nt normally ride to work,then work all day, then ride home on my normal bike

is till put out the same effort when riding, but the e bike makes it quicker add i go further

i used to do around 15-20 miles on an evening ride, now I’m doing 30 – 40 miles on the e bike

I know of 3 people like me who have bought them (infact 2 of us have 2 of them)  and we’ve all lost weight and gained fitness since buying them

Just for a what I think is possible on my Levo I reckon I could get a hilly 100km out of it. I did a 70km ride with 1500-2000 metres of climbing a couple of years ago. That was, mostly, on 10% assistance and the battery still had 2 or 3 bars at the end. I am also relatively light though, the bike is ~1/3 of my bodyweight!

Thanks again seosamh77, had a chat with him and he is going to go ahead with it – just the base model. Hope to have it up and running in a couple weeks time.

Quick question about the climbs; I already actively seek out climbs on my road bike because they’re just ace.  An eBike effectively flattens the climbs, so would I not enjoy the climbs as much because they’re now not steep or long enough or do you just feel awesome, like when there’s a huge tail-wind and you’re pretending there isn’t?

My other concern is that by making it easier to ride further, but still with the 15mph limit, they suit riding for longer, which is problematic when it’s already hard to find enough time to ride.  If you’re only able to do a 2 hour blast, I don’t think you can really rinse the battery that quickly because you’ll be travelling over 15mph.

I suppose that’s a question of if I average 13mph on a ride that’s averaging 110ft per mile of climbing, what is the average going to look like if you spank a battery in 2 hours as well?  If I climb the worse climbs between 6-7mph, can I do them at 15mph and cash in the descents to get the average up around 20mph?

Moy sure if I’ve said it before, but I’m sure these make more sense if you can have the assist in the 20-25mph range.

They just feel like being a fitter rider, if you enjoy spanking a climb, then turn the motor down (or off) and you will soon feel the difference.

re the speed limiter, mine has been chipped, so i can disable the limiter in a couple of minutes, it will quite happily sit at 30mph+ on the flat, although it does have a marked effect on battery life.

i wouldn’t bother doing it again tbh, it doesn’t really improve the bike, and tbh at that sort of speeds you can feel the limitations of the standard forks (fox 32 120mm) they are a little flexy, also the tyres aren’t really designed for it.

so I’d say the speed limit is about right, or perhaps 18-20mph would be right.

Quick question about the climbs; I already actively seek out climbs on my road bike because they’re just ace.  An eBike effectively flattens the climbs, so would I not enjoy the climbs as much because they’re now not steep or long enough or do you just feel awesome, like when there’s a huge tail-wind and you’re pretending there isn’t?

IMO you would not. Unless it’s a technically challenging climb then I’ve not hit any climbs that I get a feeling of “woo, that was a hard climb and I managed it” and I’ve ridden some steep climbs. I also tend to ride at only 10% assistance, turn it off and you’ll manage that though but you’ll go bloody slow!

If you’re only able to do a 2 hour blast, I don’t think you can really rinse the battery that quickly because you’ll be travelling over 15mph.

I’m not entirely sure what you’re asking here but even at 50% (I don’t ride with 100% even as an option as it feels weird to me YMMV) I can’t average 15mph on anything but flat road or downhill. Are you asking about an e road bike there?

Yeah, sorry, I’d like one to make my hilly 20 mile road commute take half the time and feel like 10 miles, save me getting the car out and driving halfway, and make the journey work from a time point of view.  I don’t think they make sense for this unless they’ll work over 15mph as they’ll tend to make it easier, rather than faster.

It’s great that they let you bike further and for longer, I just don’t need that yet, I need genuinely faster so I can save time.

I did wonder how useful they would be for towing the kids on the cycle tracks here, they’re all disused railways, so flat or gentle slopes, but with the weight and the rough surfaces you’d struggle to maintain 15mph I think, then it opens up more loops before the kids get bored because you can go further.

Why not get him to buy a cheapish hardtail and start off on flat stuff?

And exercise won’t fix him.  You can’t outride a bad diet.

Your mate ever get a kit?

Mine just came today, alsorts of awesumz! 😆