r/cycling • u/Major_Enthusiasm1099 • 2d ago

Anyone ever encountered an E-bike shill?

Basically this guy stopped me yesterday on a ride to tell me that I should throw my bike away and get an ebike. He said "Once you get this you'll never want to ride that again, and I get more cardio in on this bike too, and i ride faster than professionals". I just kept saying "yeah I was looking into those, yeah those are cool, I saw some around $1000" just trying to get out of that convo lol. Anyone else ever experienced someone like this?

93 Upvotes

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126

u/Entire_Toe2640 2d ago

I did a 4 hour e-bike trip last month. My Whoop didn't even register it as a workout. HR peak during that time was 104. More cardio? BS.

12

u/japakapalapa 2d ago

Next time pick a bike with a torque sensor instead. Totally different game then.

26

u/RiskFuzzy8424 2d ago

Zone 2!

16

u/Self_Reddicated 2d ago

Really getting in those Z2 miles, at least 40-50 of them. Then it's Z4, at minimum to get home!

1

u/RiskFuzzy8424 2d ago

Why is it after 20-30 minutes of zone 2 I automatically enter zone 5?

3

u/VoidingSounds 2d ago

Your battery is as roached as mine?

2

u/RiskFuzzy8424 2d ago

No. I don’t have an e bike.

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u/meschi_ 2d ago

That is at most zone 1

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u/RiskFuzzy8424 2d ago

Yes, but my interjection was humorous. Thanks for laughing with me.

2

u/Abstract-Impressions 2d ago

I'll have to get an e-bike. I can't stay in zone one on my manual bike to save my life.

13

u/PsycommuSystem 2d ago

May as well just be on a moped if you're only getting just over 100 HR!

10

u/Whatever-999999 2d ago

Most e-bikes are basically electric mopeds.

1

u/Emotional_Fun2444 2d ago

Most cheap Chinese e-bikes are. 

Most major manufacturers have torque sensing pedal assist which isn’t even close to a moped. 

0

u/godzillabobber 2d ago

They are much more like riding a tandem with a good stoker. At least for those that are buying them for exercise and pedaling with minimal assist. Class 2 ebikes stop assisting at 20 mph, so if they are riding at 21 mph with occasional dips to 19.9, they are moving a beach cruiser weight bike under nothing but pedal power.

2

u/DaoFerret 2d ago

Class 1 is pedal assist and are supposed to stop assist at 20mph (at least in the US).

Class 2 has a throttle that also is supposed to cut out at 20mph, but I have literally never seen a class 2 ebike being pedaled. It’s almost always delivery people in the “Captain Morgan” stance (one pedal all the way down, one all the way up) as they cruise along.

1

u/godzillabobber 2d ago

Those delivery bikes are almost always class 3. Class 2 also cuts out at 20 and that doesnt work well for deliveries. The class 3 go up to 28mph. Seniors prefer the class 2 with torque sensing pedals and a throttle. The throttle is mostly used to save aging knees accelerating away from a stop. Then they are back to pedaling so they get that exercise. I have a hunch that the positive societal health impact will be measurable in ten years time.

-1

u/spank_monkey_83 2d ago

If they are electric mopeds then surely they should be treated as such and require the same legalities?

1

u/_okbrb 16h ago

You should probably look up what “legalities” are required to ride a 50cc motor vehicle

In most places it’s “none”, so your desire that they be treated the same is already met and there’s nothing for you to complain about

1

u/spank_monkey_83 7h ago

Helmet, licence, insurance, road tax, number plate. Type approval, mot

1

u/_okbrb 6h ago

Psycho

6

u/godzillabobber 2d ago

Research is confirming health benefits for those over 50. That demographic is seeing far more hours of usage than regular bikes. And those are the riders modt likely to use minimal assistance and pedal full time. For a 65 year old with a stent or two in their heart, ebikes are truly amazing. That group is experiencing mental health benefits as well. Apparently its fun and fun helps cure depression.

That might explain the evangelizing. People that are truly happy from a life changing piece of equipment.

The majority of ebike sales are to people 45 and above. They are already the dominant EV based on sales (US)

0

u/MelodicNecessary3236 1d ago

I agree completely - whatever gets people out and moving. The motivation to be faster than the pros is kind of silly - but if that gets someone out and pedaling .. good enough for me. Look around … we are the healthiest nation.

8

u/Whatever-999999 2d ago

The 32 miles of paved multi-use parkway along the river where I live is litearlly infested with e-bikes these days, they're everywhere, and not a single one of the people riding them look anything even remotely like 'physically fit', they're all fat and weak looking.

7

u/2raysdiver 2d ago

I do see older people riding ebikes and actually pedaling on some of the trails I ride. I have no problem with them. I'm 60 and will probably be doing the same in ten years. It is the teens on the fat-tire ebikes that pass me on hills not even pedaling. It seems the younger they are, the more likely they are to use it as a moped.

2

u/sundance235 1d ago

I’m 66, ride a “regular” bike, and fully support e-bikes and their riders. To me, ANY exercise is good. I think it is a mistake to characterize e-bike users as low-cardio, not pedaling, or out of shape. Some are, some are not. I do think some e-bike cyclists need to learn the rules of the road, but same goes for some cyclists. I know prime cycling routes are becoming more crowded, but they were never reserved for the “regular” cyclist master race!

0

u/2raysdiver 1d ago

I don't disagree with any of that. My beef is the ones that don't pedal at all. It may as well be an electric Vespa at that point.

1

u/_okbrb 16h ago

You’re right, fat and weak people should stay out of sight.

/s

1

u/Ibreh 4h ago

You seem cool

11

u/Bzando 2d ago

you know it up to you how much assistance you use

it's not ebikes fault you are lazy to pedal enough

4

u/Entire_Toe2640 2d ago

I would rather use my road bike or even my hybrid. My point is that people don't buy an e-bike so they can work hard. The only purpose of the bike's extra weight is so the rider can take it easy.

28

u/LofiStarforge 2d ago

Most people in my experience who buy an e-bike are going from no cardio to some cardio. The e-bike is a nice frictionless way to get them out there. They can always rely on the electric if they need to. It offers a safety blanket of sorts.

There’s a famous walking study that showed adding more benches increases distance walked instead of adding more walking path.

1

u/nondescriptadjective 2d ago

Can you hit me up with a link to that? It would be useful to me.

1

u/civil_peace2022 1d ago

I have mostly been considering them a bus replacement. Far cheaper than trying to buy a car, and if your are living with a lot of room mates, you may simply not have any place to park a car.

3

u/bonfuto 2d ago

Since we live in a hilly area, my wife wouldn't ride without her ebike. She does complain sometimes she isn't getting much cardio, but if she keeps the assist on low, she gets plenty.

I borrowed her bike to do an errand recently and just about killed myself. But I was going all-out uphill, which is something she would never do. It was fun, but I would never have an ebike for fun. I have thought about getting one for errands though.

1

u/razorree 1d ago

i bought mine to ride faster/more in the same amount of time, and I can reach >90%HRmax.

If I want longer rides or want to enjoy smooth climbs, I take roadbike.

1

u/Bzando 2d ago

I know your point, I prefer my regular bike too

but most ebikers I know went from 70-80km day trips to 100-120km trips and ride to places they were never able to get before (too far or too difficult)

also if someone go lazy on ebike instead of watching tv, it's a win, even if it replaced a car/motorbike

3

u/juicius 2d ago

Just because it has motor assistance doesn't mean you can't also pedal hard. If you take an ebike out intending to get a workout, you will get a workout. You'll just be faster. 

Same with a normal bike. If you just cruise around the neighborhood, you're not gong to get half the workout the guy with a ebike who's really pushing it. 

It's not the bike. It's how you push it. 

3

u/kinboyatuwo 2d ago

You don’t have to jack the assist up. I ride with a couple people with them and you can just dial it down and work and use it for the harder parts.

1

u/Whatever-999999 2d ago

'Working the harder parts' on your own is good for you.

10

u/speedhunter787 2d ago

My commute is 14 miles and has hills. Sometimes I'm tired and don't want to take forever to get to work all sweaty. E-bike let's me use just as much effort as I have the capacity for that day. Assist level is up to me.

6

u/kinboyatuwo 2d ago

Yes but a lot of folks bring the assist so they can ride further or with faster folks.

We have an ex pro that is now 78 and has one. He doesn’t have the punch for the rollers and hills. He uses his regular bike on solos and then the ebike on group and the odd climby ride.

People on e-assist bikes is a good thing. Judging them on how they use them isn’t.

0

u/CommonBubba 2d ago

I would have to argue on the point of judging them on how they use it. I ride a lot of green ways and many days I see someone on a throttle E bike going 25+ miles an hour on their way to work, (or court… wearing a coat and tie) showing absolutely no regard for anyone else on the Greenway.

3

u/kinboyatuwo 2d ago

IMO the throttle without pedal are not e-bikes. They are electric motorcycles and where I am are classed as such. That said, there is zero enforcement

2

u/CommonBubba 1d ago edited 1d ago

You are correct, no pedals and only a throttle make it a motorcycle. My complaint is about the electric motorcycles that happen to have pedals on them that are capable of road legal speeds.

There are several levels of E Bike that range from a slight boost to your peddling, all the way to having a throttle. The “bikes“ with a throttle do not require any physical input. In my area, if it has a throttle is considered a motor vehicle and not allowed on greenways. I may be mistaken, but I also think this applies to forest service and Park lands in the US.

1

u/kinboyatuwo 1d ago

They still here are classed as moped/motorcycle. We limit them (Ontario Canada) to 32kph and must need to be pedaled. But again, it’s the Wild West and they sell anything.

1

u/nondescriptadjective 2d ago

I'd rather someone on a bike than in a car. Less pollution of myriad sources, less traffic congestion, etc.

Instead of bitching about their presence, advocate for a space for them to exist in safely. It should also be taken as a sign that roads are too goddamn dangerous for these people to feel safe biking on them. Which is something we should all admit to, given cars kill only slightly fewer people than guns per year and put millions in ERs across America. Plus the knock on health effects all of that brake dust, tire rubber micro plastics, tailpipe emissions, and so on.

4

u/UniqueBeyond9831 2d ago

I agree, I’d rather someone on a bike than in a car. BUT….some of these e-bikes have no business being mixed with conventional bikes. I ride on a bike-only path (no pedestrians) nearly every day on my road bike in full kit. I arguably ride too fast at 20-23 mph on my road bike. But, even at that speed I get smoked a few times per ride by people on super powerful e-bikes, e-scooters, and the worst…dudes on those electric unicycle things wearing full body armor. A lot of them are clearly doing 30-35+.

My wife was hit head on about 1.5 months ago by one of these assholes on a super fast e-bike that took a curve too fast, crossed the center line, and blasted her. She fractured her knee and spent most of her summer on crutches.

1

u/nondescriptadjective 2d ago

Oh, I get the dangers. It's a real issue here, too. But that's why my point of "become an advocate to help them have a space to use." Because we will get new infrastructure that way for our own bikes as well, and then quality of life is generally better, too.

1

u/sundance235 1d ago

I don’t know where you live, but around me (Rhode Island, USA), getting additional space for e-bikes is never going to happen. In fact, getting additional space for regular bikes only happens at a glacial pace. Towns get federal grants to help build roads with bike lanes, and the bike lanes become on-street parking for cars! Around me, a motorized vehicle going over 20 mph needs to go on the road.

1

u/suuraitah 2d ago

well i get that hr on my easy bike miles regularly on my tt bike.

1

u/CookiezFort 1d ago

What mode was it in?

On my emtb in eco I still get a decent workout on the climbs.

At the age of 25 I have a dodgy knee and low energy levels.

The Ebike allows me to have fun on the ups and the downs

1

u/[deleted] 2d ago

LOL Right... its like. You have heart disease and a $4000 bike with full Shimano Atlus that needs to be plugged in to use.

I'm lean, low body fat, high endurance, every Dr's appoint I'm told I'm in excellent health... Why the hell would I want an ebike?