You’re your own worst enemy if you think riding your Orbea Rise is “giving up”…
Au contraire… As keen MTBer’s, we’re likely to put as much effort as we can within reason anyway, so I find that an eBike just means most of us go further and ride more trails for a given amount of time…
Also, it’s a lightweight eBike, you’re getting a bit of a helping hand up the climbs, you’re not Boosting your way up the climbs on a personal uplift device so to speak.
And it’s winter… If it’s summer, the trails are running prime, you’ve got your fastest rolling tyres on and you’re really feeling it at the moment then yeah, maybe you should still be on your regular bike… If there’s any time when eBikes come into their own for just getting you out there and having fun when otherwise it might be a struggle, it’s in winter…
I’ve seen what happens to people’s fitness when they get an e-bike, and I’d rather that didn’t happen to me
Yeah… Most people who realise it’s a pedal assist rather than the motor should be doing all the work, actually ride more/further/faster and stop finding excuses not to go riding, and get fitter as a result. Also eMTB’s are superb for helping build cardio fitness. On most climbs on a regular MTB, you can be struggling to keep warm in the winter, cadence so low and barely going anywhere, pushing hard on the pedals but ultimately not achieving much except to knacker yourself out prematurely… On an eMTB, you will be spinning a much higher cadence up the same climb, which will actually keep you warmer, give you more of an aerobic workout (less of an anaerobic workout though) and you’re likely to stay out riding for longer as you won’t be knackered anywhere near as quickly…
The pro DH and EWS boys all use eMTB’s as important training tools for a very good reason!
