bear with me on this…

I’ll first admit, I’ve not tried them, so this is coming from a purely theoretical angle.

eMTB’s I get, no doubt, further for longer, winch and plummet and assist those that may otherwise may not be able to enjoy MTBing as much as they could for whatever reason. I like the idea of eMTB’s and understand the benefits.

road ebikes though, not so sure. I get that the further for longer, may apply, but can’t help bit think that the speed cut off for an ebike is quite far off the speed that a lot of riders will be able to achieve on flatter, or slightly undulating roads. so would only benefit climbs.
eMTB’s are great for undulating and variable terrain, for that extra grunt, as speeds generally are hovering around the limit, at best, so you’re more likely to get a nice push when you need it, more consistently, but for road bikes, is that the case?

highly likely that I’m talking rubbish, so any real world experiences?

Think I agree (theoretical only here too), only useful in the hills, assuming you aren’t being naughty and taking off the limiter. Not even the mental 45mph de-restricters; the US/canada limit is 20, its often the same bike with just a software mod.
Also for the training enthusiast, I guess you can play with the assistance to keep you in certain HR/training zones when the terrain otherwise would not allow it.

I suppose there is a case for commuters who have a secure park for a multi thousand pound bike, but no showers.

boardman adv 8.9e here..
used primarily as a commuter, yes i ride beyond the 15.5mph cut off a lot of the time
up the hills i ride the motor, in headwinds i ride the motor, when i’m tired, i ride the motor..
its nice to have the support available if required

so would only benefit climbs.

you’re massively over-thinking it I suspect. “only” climbs lol. If you’re going to want assistance on anything on a road bike, it’s going uphill!

I suspect the real market is for people who though old age can’t keep up on a club run anymore but have been club members for decades and don’t want to quit.

And probably the less fit end of the sportive crowd, who want do 100 miles with their mates, but don’t want to commit to the weekly riding in-between to get fit for them.

Either way, they’re probably derestricting them.

There doesn’t seen much point as a commuter, the whole point of a road/gravel bike is you’re sacrificing a small amount of comfort for speed. Just like most eMTB’s are bigger FS’s. If you’re going to commute at 15.5mph it may as well be on a comfy cargo/utility bike?

you’re massively over-thinking it I suspect. “only” climbs lol. If you’re going to want assistance on anything on a road bike, it’s going uphill!

well yes, but as track racing and crits and the Dutch prove, you can tire yourself out on the flat with sufficient effort.
It does seem like the potential rider needs to work out what they want out of a ride though.
For example, at 85kg (and I hope, quite fit) I could happily ride a flat route with a few friends at a good speed, drafting, through and off etc. But if those friends were 20kg lighter which isn’t unreasonable, any significant hill is going to be a BIG and probably unsustainable effort to keep pace with them.

Either way, they’re probably derestricting them.

relatively small batteries on road bikes though, how long would they realistically last if you’re spanking it everywhere at 20MPH+ on the flat with very little pedalling effort rather than just using it to assist climbs/headwind etc?

Two guys in my club have them, both for health reasons. Means they still get out so more power to their arms.

For most (all?) riders the toughest part of a ride is when going uphill and it is also the slowest with very few riders going above 15mph when going uphill. If an e road bike with small battery meaning only a few KGs sacrifice then they make sense for those who want help on the hills, use less energy on the hills etc,.

relatively small batteries on road bikes though, how long would they realistically last if you’re spanking it everywhere at 20MPH+ on the flat with very little pedalling effort rather than just using it to assist climbs/headwind etc?

I’m assuming, because as mentioned a road bike doesn’t make sense unless you’re putting the effort in, if you wanted to let the bike do the work you’d pick a comfortable bike as there’s no point in the aero/comfort compromise that is a road bike.

It would be more along the lines of the rider putting in 100W and the bike adding 50W fairly consistently to keep up with the average 16mph club run. Not like the winch and plummet MTB’ers constantly troubling the 250W limit.

Aye, this^

I’ve ordered a hybrid ebike with smallish battery to help me recover from long COVID – the hope is that as I get fitter I can start using the motor less and less, and ride it more like a ‘normal’ bike but with a bailout option in case I hit the wall (with LC I find that it’s a very big wall, and appears incredibly suddenly)

Be interesting to see where they go though. The top end road e-bikes now are down to around 23lbs – so as the tech trickles down I guess other ebikes will become lighter and more efficient too.

Surely the whole point is that you get a boost when you need it, ie when climbing. A decent road ebike won’t be any slower on the flat than a standard bike even without any assist. And most riders can keep up with stronger riders on the flat, it’s only during the climbs that they struggle

I think they make sense, especially if you have a health issue, but also if you just want to ride with stronger mates

Personally however, I’d prefer to just ride with slower mates than get an ebike for the road, but that’s just personal pride

Surely the whole point is that you get a boost when you need it, ie when climbing. A decent road ebike won’t be any slower on the flat than a standard bike even without any assist. And most riders can keep up with stronger riders on the flat, it’s only during the climbs that they struggle

Depends how light/heavy you are.

A few extra lb’s will make hills hard work but you’ll have the power to keep up on the flats. A skinny person lacking fitness will find hills comparatively easy but struggle on the flat.

Most group’s will keep the effort level fairly constant so they’re not splintering the group on hills or of they hit a headwind on the flat. Obviously anyone deviating from the “average” finds hills/flats proportionately difficult.

the steep yet relativey short hills i hit on the way to work, usually 1-2 minute climb can be done out of hte seat on the ebike and taken at speed, maxing it’s 250w motor and bouncing off assist/no assist.
it turns a grind into a potential sprint

only today i caught up to a skinny hybrid commuter on the longest hill i ride.. he literally dropped into granny and pushed, i sat back and chilled. to a less fit rider this hill would potentially mean walking, on a low powered ebike they can literally take it easy at walking pace. or if fitter, sprint up it

i have a Trek Conduit ebike for commuting – the 15.5mph limit is crap for roadwork as above that its a draggy/heavy bike thats harder to pedal than a ‘normal’ bike. The only place its better is on hills.

I can see the point. It’s decadent, but they are all toys so you could say the same about most bikes.

You are not super fit or have health issue; you might be carrying a bit of timber or are just plain not biker shaped. You enjoy riding but when you plan a nice ride find yourself consciously or subconsciously avoiding places you’d otherwise go because you don’t enjoy hills. The basic laws of physics means that if you are a bit heavier or don’t have much of a top end , you’ll run out of comfortable gears exponentially quicker. A bit of E assist makes them less daunting. You are on a bike that is road bike shaped rather than hybrid partly for vanity reasons and partly because it’s a bit quicker on the bits where human power does the trick.

When my hip was at its worst I could manage find in my ‘zone’. Put me under a bit of pressure – usually when the tarmac went up , and I’d struggle pretty quickly. I might have fancied one if I had had the cash and they existed at the time.

My neighbor (65+yr old lady) has bought a 650b+ version to replace a nice carbon Cervelo.
It’s pretty flat around here, but she said her knee was giving her pain and general age, so ebike assistance means she can still go on big rides. She only rides solo too.

On the road I ride with the Pensioner+ Peloton who are decent riders. However time is catching up with us all and the oldest (75) has just bought an ebike. I don’t think it will be long before the rest are looking at them. It means you can still get out for a decent ride but not kill yourself!

I have one, a Spesh Creo SL. I also have a carbon Synapse. I ride them both similar amounts, the Creo is a couple of mph faster over a ride if ridden at same HR as the Synapse. Mine was also bought for heart rate control reasons, as was my Emtb.

OP, have a look at my Strava for round Arran the other week and you’ll see the numbers.

A bloke in my local road club has one he must be almost 90 now, gets him out on the slower club runs. As mentioned once the speeds get up above 25kmph average they are less useful but for some people a god send.

On a non-racing note **** ****, who has been a member of *** for over 70 years and who also turned 90 in the summer, clocked up an impressive 8,324 miles in the year.

That was from 2 years ago, saw him out on his bike this month.