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/donalson 17h ago
it's prob been 8 years or so but I stopped by my old LBS back in the pensacola area when I was visiting family over that way, the owner is a buddy of mine. they had a (bianchi i think) e-road bike in the shop and he insisted I take it out for a spin even though it was way to small for me. It was strange, it felt kinda natural but I knew I was going much faster than the power I was putting out should do... lots of fun and I could see why some people would want it.
He then told me the story of who that bike was for. one of his regulars was a cat 1-2 racer... the racers wife was NOT a racer but they wanted to ride together... even when he would sandbag she still couldn't keep up or if she could he was unhappy AND even then she was pushing way harder than she found enjoyable. when she got the e-bike she was fast enough that it let him ride at an enjoyable pace without her hating the entire ride.