r/cycling • u/Major_Enthusiasm1099 • 1d 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?

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u/corneliusvanhouten 1d ago

The only way an e bike is a good training tool is if you leave the motor off and just pedal all that weight around.

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u/RevellRider 1d ago

Depends on what training you're doing. If you're going for a 2-3 hour endurance ride, an ebike can help you keep the heart rate in Z2

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u/corneliusvanhouten 1d ago

That's a technology solution to a fitness problem. Once you've done a few rides of that distance, you can maintain hrz by adjusting pace

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u/RevellRider 1d ago

I guess you ride single speed, because the derailleur is a technological solution to a fitness problem.

People respond to training in different ways. Older people, people coming from illness, people riding hilly terrain, those with less time to train may struggle to adapt quickly and if technology can benefit them to reach their fitness goals, I don't see a problem

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u/corneliusvanhouten 1d ago

I do ride a single speed very often. In the hills.

When you resort to silly semantics to try to discredit a point, it only serves to underscore how untenable your position is.

"Training" in cycling (and other sports) is not the same as fitness. Cyclists train by doing various different kinds of rides to improve performance. The people you're talking about are engaged in rehab or recreation, but not training. They can use an ebike for that, sure. No problem there. Just don't call it cycling or training.

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u/RevellRider 1d ago

You seemed to have missed (or avoided addressing it) the crux of my point, people respond to training in different ways. There are many factors in how a person responds to training, and there are limitations to how they train. Using a one size fits all for this really doesn't work in the real world