Has your EMTB made you fitter, or kept you as fit, as your regular MTB?

[The Hodge]

Aye, it was revived a few years ago, but has disappeared again, sadly. Some great riding up on the moors though.

Ive had a good look at my O.S map above Largs ..lots of decent sized hills but very little in the way of marked trails ..( I can see now how you got your 4000ft of climbing ! )..have you got any routes you can share?
It could well be worth a look as day 1 of a trip up North being only 3hrs away ..

 

[MTBGUY65]

I have been riding mountain bikes since 1985 (Yes I know a lot of you weren't born yet) and riding E-Mountainbikes since 2015. I have found that I am a lot fitter because of a few reasons. I try to explain this to people when they inquire about my E-bike as if they think it is just for old people or people who have injury problems.

I ride multiple times more than I would on a regular bike and I don't feel the recovery lag I would feel on a regular bike. I am able to go longer distances with a lot more vertical than I would ever want to ride on a regular bike. I am able to push hard for the entire ride without stopping and keeping my average heart rate up continually to a very high level for most of the ride. Even on the downhills with the extra weight of the bike I am able to keep my heart rate where I need it to be. I don't feel it is productive to max redline on steep accents where your heart is ready to bust out of your chest. I could be wrong on this and I am sure I will hear plenty of rebuttals on that particular point.

I guess everyone is different in how they define keeping fit but for me, the E-bike has far surpassed my vision of fitness compared to a regular bike as I move towards my 70s and I hope I can keep my fitness level where it needs to be. Plus when you enter in the fun factor comparison the mental benefits that contribute to overall health and well-being are over the top for me.

I hope I didn't offend anyone's opinions, this is just my honest straightforward opinion and feeling like a 30 something.

 

[Steady McCalla]

I have been riding mountain bikes since 1985 (Yes I know a lot of you weren't born yet) and riding E-Mountainbikes since 2015. I have found that I am a lot fitter because of a few reasons. I try to explain this to people when they inquire about my E-bike as if they think it is just for old people or people who have injury problems.

I ride multiple times more than I would on a regular bike and I don't feel the recovery lag I would feel on a regular bike. I am able to go longer distances with a lot more vertical than I would ever want to ride on a regular bike. I am able to push hard for the entire ride without stopping and keeping my average heart rate up continually to a very high level for most of the ride. Even on the downhills with the extra weight of the bike I am able to keep my heart rate where I need it to be. I don't feel it is productive to max redline on steep accents where your heart is ready to bust out of your chest. I could be wrong on this and I am sure I will hear plenty of rebuttals on that particular point.

I guess everyone is different in how they define keeping fit but for me, the E-bike has far surpassed my vision of fitness compared to a regular bike as I move towards my 70s and I hope I can keep my fitness level where it needs to be. Plus when you enter in the fun factor comparison the mental benefits that contribute to overall health and well-being are over the top for me.

I hope I didn't offend anyone's opinions, this is just my honest straightforward opinion and feeling like a 30 something.

Great post MTBGuy!

 

[Steady McCalla]

Ive had a good look at my O.S map above Largs ..lots of decent sized hills but very little in the way of marked trails ..( I can see now how you got your 4000ft of climbing ! )..have you got any routes you can share?
It could well be worth a look as day 1 of a trip up North being only 3hrs away ..

I dunno if I'd go out my way to ride those trails tbh, I love them, but I've rode them for not far off 20 years, and they've changed a lot in that time. If you're coming up from the south, and passing, there's loads I'd do before them, Ae off piste, wanlockhead from drumlanrig, old kilpatricks etc. Gimme a shout if you're passing though, I'd be glad to show you round. ??

 

[MTBGUY65]

Too many variables to answer this accurately. You get out of it what you put in. I would say I’m fitter because I use it more and for general commuting tend mostly to ride in lowest setting or off altogether. I’ve also had some of my highest heart rates going for it as hard as I can on full power.

I agree with you 100%, you get out of it what you put into it and you can put a lot more into it with an E-bike for longer periods of time accending a lot more vertical. I am way fitter as well.

 

[The Hodge]

I dunno if I'd go out my way to ride those trails tbh, I love them, but I've rode them for not far off 20 years, and they've changed a lot in that time. If you're coming up from the south, and passing, there's loads I'd do before them, Ae off piste, wanlockhead from drumlanrig, old kilpatricks etc. Gimme a shout if you're passing though, I'd be glad to show you round. ??

Cheers ..did Drumlanrigg / Wanlockhead route back in 2008 on a normal mtb ..tough ride and worse still never found any gold ..
Thanks for the offer and will take you up on that if we ever do ..

 

[MTBGUY65]

It’s all in how you ride and cycle thru power modes. I can ride trails backwards and forwards at maximum pedal cadence and easily achieve anaerobic states, with Max heart rate fir however long I choose. I will also use low power mode fir climbing, if I want more leg workout. The EMTB allows YOU to control your workout rather than the terrain. As a consequence I’m in betters shape all the way around.

Agree 100%!!!

 

[Jmc123]

Since purchasing my dusk r in October last year I've lost 50.2kg in weight. The ebike made me go out and exercise as I felt I couldn't really use any excuse not too. The more I cycled the better I felt which made me think about what I ate and I made better choices. I'm now in the best shape of my life thanks to my ebike and making cycling fun again.

 

[Steady McCalla]

Since purchasing my dusk r in October last year I've lost 50.2kg in weight. The ebike made me go out and exercise as I felt I couldn't really use any excuse not too. The more I cycled the better I felt which made me think about what I ate and I made better choices. I'm now in the best shape of my life thanks to my ebike and making cycling fun again.

Awesome, you've lost my wife's weight! ??

 

[The Hodge]

I agree with you 100%, you get out of it what you put into it and you can put a lot more into it with an E-bike for longer periods of time accending a lot more vertical. I am way fitter as well.

I dont really agree with the point folks are making about riding for a longer period of time ..that is limited to the range of the battery and the mode you ride in ..
As an example I mostly ride in Tour mode ..Eco if things are looking twitchy with regards to battery life and Im well used to all day rides of 30+ miles in excess of 3000+ ft of climbing in big hills on a normal mtb ..
3,500+ft..30+ miles is about all Im managing on my ebike ..
Its true I could go further if most of my riding was in eco ..but then suffering was never my prime motivation for buying one .
Fun & the ability to climb more hills ( than push up them ) was ..?

 

[RustyMTB]

I dont really agree with the point folks are making about riding for a longer period of time ..that is limited to the range of the battery and the mode you ride in ..
As an example I mostly ride in Tour mode ..Eco if things are looking twitchy with regards to battery life and Im well used to all day rides of 30+ miles in excess of 3000+ ft of climbing in big hills on a normal mtb ..
3,500+ft..30+ miles is about all Im managing on my ebike ..
Its true I could go further if most of my riding was in eco ..but then suffering was never my prime motivation for buying one .
Fun & the ability to climb more hills ( than push up them ) was ..?

He isn't making a point on your behalf. It's not all about you.

 

[The Hodge]

What makes you think I was specifically answering a single post ..
I would suggest you re-read and perhaps understand the point I was making ..

 

[selenium]

More fit.

It depends on how you ride.
Do you ride longer and harder with the eMTB?
Take on steeper slopes without stopping?
Ride more-frequently?

Keep in mind that you have control over the assistance level. You're welcome to turn the assistance from eMTB mode down to Eco, or even Off for any portion of your ride, if you feel you want to work those legs more.

 

[Gyre]

With the caveat that some absolute leg strength loss is probably very hard to avoid on an eMTB (assuming you don't climb in OFF mode all the time), I'm pretty convinced that it's down to whether you're willing and able to dial up your distance/elevation/frequency in proportion to your assist level.

Most probably lose fitness but I can see how some people actually gain from it. It's good to have an acoustic bike handy to tell you the truth, good or bad.

 

[dm022]

It's made me fitter for sure but I've come from an unfit background. I think it really varies to your baseline.

I've had injury after injury and had just become really sedentary and packed on a few too many pounds which made moving even harder. The ebike kind of took that out of the equation and it's fun! I do still turbo it up the steep hills but I've dropped weight and I can hike longer and faster than my better half now where I used to be the one huffing and puffing. I'm not going to be running any marathons any time soon but I'm in way better shape than I used to be.

 

[Gary]

Im well used to all day rides of 30+ miles in excess of 3000+ ft of climbing in big hills on a normal mtb ..

Yeah. The fact that so many folk on here seem to consider rides of that sort of distance/profile to be more than they were previously capable of on a normal bike says quite a lot about where their pre-Ebike mtb fitness must've been.

 

[avit]

Seems too many people are addicted to turbo mode.if it's fitness your after, try using your ebike turned off or even in eco every now and then, if that doesn't compete with a regular "analogue" workout then nothing will.
This is the beauty of an ebike, you can be lazy up the hill or give it. I usually only ramp up the power on the ride home when I'm worn out, otherwise I use eco almost all the time, very comparable to regular riding.

 

[Gary]

You're deluded if you think an EMTB in Eco is comparable to riding a normal mtb. And ramping up the assistance to get yourself home easier at the end of your ride is just the same as using it anywhere else during the ride.
Emtb rides are far shorter in duration and generally won't tax your top end physical power outputs so solely riding Emtb is never going to be a great substitute for proper riding/training on a normal bike.

 

[avit]

You're deluded if you think an EMTB in Eco is comparable to riding a normal mtb. And ramping up the assistance to get yourself home easier at the end of your ride is just the same as using it anywhere else during the ride.
Emtb rides are far shorter in duration and generally won't tax your top end physical power outputs so solely riding Emtb is never going to be a great substitute for proper riding/training on a normal bike.

Each to their own and far from deluded.
Im actually bagged after I've gone to my favourite spot and ridden all that I can, I would never go as often if it wasn't for the option to have a little assist on the way home.
My heavy emtb is quite the work out when pushing past its assist limit.

 

[DtEW]

Each to their own and far from deluded.

Welcome, avit. Don't mind Gary. He's just doing his thing.

 

[nasamorpheus]

I agree with you 100%, you get out of it what you put into it and you can put a lot more into it with an E-bike for longer periods of time accending a lot more vertical. I am way fitter as well.

Not true you loose muscle on ebike

You're deluded if you think an EMTB in Eco is comparable to riding a normal mtb. And ramping up the assistance to get yourself home easier at the end of your ride is just the same as using it anywhere else during the ride.
Emtb rides are far shorter in duration and generally won't tax your top end physical power outputs so solely riding Emtb is never going to be a great substitute for proper riding/training on a normal bike.

True.. only pro can have more exercise and muscle from ebike then regular. Why? He just turn off the motor and never turn it on again.

 

[Gary]

So we're now classing riding an Ebike as a hard work out?

M'kay

 

[Gyre]

Well if we're going to contribute to the discussion by poking at each other with useless .gifs, here's mine.

 

[Gary]

Glad to see your spine seems to be recovering Simon.

 

[Pdoz]

I can't understand the illogic conviction some of you have to presuming that a rider will use less effort just because an emtb is adding assistance.

If you approach the ride with the intention of getting exercise, put in maximum leg power AND HAVE THE MOTOR ADDING POWER , then you are getting the same leg workout but the rest of your body is getting MORE exercise punting a heavier bike around at higher speed.

Sure, lazy people can be lazy, and ego junkies will still have personal demons to deal with. But FFS, there is more to exercising on a MTB than sitting on a saddle grinding your prostate into a seat whilst spinning cranks - if that's all you want for exercise then buy an exercise bike.

Oh, and if you feel that the last couple of years you have lost some fitness- stop blaming the bike and look at how you are using it?

 

[Gary]

Whereas I absolutely can understand why so many Emtb owners fool themselves into believing they are getting just as much of a work out as a normal bike.

 

[The Hodge]

Given that Tour is pretty much my default setting ( and riding everywhere in Eco is not why I bought an ebike )..the maximum range I'm achieving with a single charge is 30 -35 miles with between 3500-4000ft of climbing ..I know there are other variables to take into account such as ground condition etc..but this is a fairly accurate assesment given that my last two rides have ended with the battery on its last legs and the available range ( in eco mode ) showing 1and 2 miles respectively .
As mentioned earlier this is the sort of distance and ascending that was a usual / normal ride on my mtb ..where a lot of climbing would be done by pushing the bike up the steepest climbs ..which Im now clearing on the ebike..
Which of the two options do you think had me feeling fresher at the end ..?

 

[jimbob]

For me, I'm fitter. But thats because I ride the ebike far more.

I dont ride it to get 'fit' though, although it does provide a level of effort above sitting and watching netflix which is good.

 

[Underblu]

My emtb is definitely making me fitter:

An EMTB got me on a bicycle,
It is keeping me on a bicycle
I no longer get concerned if a ride segment has many hills
I can push myself further because I know there is electric assistance when I need it

Also mountain bikes especially those with grippier tires and beefier suspensions ride far slower than road or even light trail bikes. I would say a full suspension EMTB in eco mode is at least as difficult to pedal as an analog road or trail bike. Therefore, electric motors make EMTBs far more versatile.

 

[Gary]

I would say a full suspension EMTB in eco mode is at least as difficult to pedal as an analog road or trail bike.

You'd be miles off with that assumption if you're comparing any of the current most popular Emtb motors.
If this thread has shown anything it is that It's clearly very easy to forget what riding a normal bike actually feels like once you go full Ebike.

#NeverGoFULLe