What are the benefits of riding an electric bike for fitness?

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Electric bicycles have a wide range of advantages, allowing you to go further and faster, provide a green alternative to commuting, and allow more people to experience the fun of riding a bicycle. But when you step on the pedals, the motor and battery will help. Can you adapt to an electric bicycle?

Since many aspects of bicycles seem to focus on performance improvement, electric bicycles are often questioned because they can reach out on hillsides or ride to work easily. However, riding an electric bicycle can still improve your health.

We have previously challenged bicycle coach and elite rider Tom Bell to see how hard he rides an electric mountain bike. Although he did not fully reach the maximum heart rate of 208bpm, reaching 198bpm shows that he did not get a free ride. This is not the case.

"You can still work as hard as you can on an electric bike, you just added assistance," Bell said. "So, although if you want to back down, it can be used to make climbing and riding easier, but you can also put in a lot of effort, but work harder for it."

This was supported by researchers at Brigham Young University in Utah. They tracked the heart rate of experienced mountain bikers riding bicycles and electric mountain bikes.

When riding e-MTB, their subjects reached 94% of their average heart rate on unassisted mountain bikes during a 6-mile learning cycle and 700-foot climb, putting them comfortably in the heart rate zone 4 .

In other words, they are working hard, even if the e-bikes get rid of the highest-end stings from riding. Interestingly, their perceived effort level on e-MTB is lower. Of course, they ride faster and complete the cycle faster.

In the end, the study concluded that electric mountain bikes appear to be "an excellent form of aerobic or cardiovascular exercise, even for experienced mountain bikers who regularly participate in this fitness activity."

The same researchers in Utah also studied the health benefits of commuting on electric hybrid bikes and found that the average heart rate of riders reached 89% of the average heart rate when riding an unassisted hybrid bike, allowing them to exercise at a moderate intensity. Studies have shown that the use of electric bicycles "retains most of the benefits of cycling on cardiovascular health"

Participants in the study also stated that compared with traditional bicycles, they are more likely to use electric bicycles for daily transportation, including cycling to work.

In addition to concluding that electric bicycles “can provide most of the cardiovascular health benefits obtained during the use of traditional bicycles,” they may also “may help reduce some of the obstacles to traditional bicycle use, such as increased transportation time, reduced convenience, and Physical health is “fatigue.” If people ride bicycles more than they drive or use public transportation, they may become healthier.

This conclusion is confirmed by another study, which investigated the riding patterns of 10,000 electric bike and non-electric bike users in seven European cities. The study found that electric bicycle users travel longer, so their increase in physical activity is similar to that of ordinary cyclists.

Tom Bell agrees again: "Electric bikes can help you stay longer on the bike. Even though the average intensity may be lower, there is a great correlation between riding/training duration and physical fitness. Many aerobic exercises The benefit comes from increasing the duration of the ride, not just the intensity."

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Bell said that electric bicycles can also help riders stay outdoors longer, thereby increasing the frequency of riding.

"In terms of mountain biking, since the motor can be used to make stepping back to the mountain easier than nothing, it makes repeating downhill paths easier and arguably more fun, because more running time can be done in a given time," He said.

"If these e-bikes make riders prefer to ride bikes, it will allow them to ride more consistently. Over time, this will have a great positive impact on their health."

Bell also pointed out that e-bike riders usually have speeds exceeding 25 km/h, at which point assistance must be stopped (in the UK, EU and Australia). "When this speed is reached, the rider no longer needs the help of the motor, which means that they still need to apply a considerable amount of power to maintain the speed," he said.

In short, electric bicycles can provide fitness benefits for experienced riders and those who might be intimidated by cycling.

At the same time, electric bicycles can also help people who are unable to ride due to health problems, especially considering that electric bicycles can provide different levels of assistance, so that riders can better manage their efforts, especially when climbing.

Yates' answer is electric road bikes. He thinks that his Ribble Endurance SL e helped him get off the bike and enjoy the ride again. Yates said: "I will always be passionate about riding, and my mind and heart still want to experience the feeling of freedom." "Without this bike, I might be trapped indoors watching TV during the day."

Yates has become an evangelist of electric bicycles, serving as Ribble's brand ambassador, and now he is also riding the brand's unassisted Endurance SL R road bike.

Yates is not the only former professional riding an electric bike. Brian Robinson was the first Englishman to complete the Tour de France in 1955, and the first to win a stage (1958 and 1959 each stage won a stage Champion), he drove a Ribble Hybrid AL e at the age of 90.

At the same time, the five-time Tour de France champion Bernard Hinault is riding Look's road electric bike E-765 Optimum. "For anyone who rides a bicycle, this is a real revolution," Hinault said. "I will never believe that they can retain all the feel of a 100% muscle-driven bicycle."

Most importantly: electric bicycles can be an ideal way to enjoy the fitness benefits of cycling, while still providing help when you may need it-whether it's riding further, reducing the peak consumption of riding an unassisted bicycle, or in difficult situations Help on terrain.

Electric bicycles can reduce your riding peaks, so it is easier to go further. However, if you are new to cycling or have not reached the state of health you want, start with a short ride on a simple route to feel your abilities instead of being too ambitious.

Compared with the occasional epic ride, more frequent and shorter rides will bring you more fitness benefits. Before starting a ride that may drain the battery, you also need to know the range of the electric bike.

If you are new to cycling, try to choose a route that is not very demanding at first. Even with a motor, you can still push the limit when climbing.

Start with roads or trails that don’t make you overstretched until you understand your physical fitness and the different levels of assistance that a bicycle can provide to support your riding.

Once you are confident in your health and the bike itself, if you lower the level of assistance provided by the motor, you will get more exercise.

On flat roads or moderate slopes, you may be able to proceed smoothly with minimal help or with the motor completely turned off. Retain the highest level of support for the steepest ascents, and you will also expand your range.

Recovering from your e-bike ride is as important as riding a regular pedal powered bicycle. A challenging ride can be as tiring as riding an electric bike, especially if your electric bike enables you to ride longer than usual.

However, e-bikes usually reduce your overall effort level, you should be able to ride more frequently, and riding more frequently will help improve your long-term health.

Most importantly, cycling should be fun-electric bikes are fun! -So enjoy your ride.

Paul has been cycling since he was a teenager and has been writing about bicycle technology for nearly a decade. Before it was invented, he liked gravel, riding a cross-country bike through the south hills, and along a muddy path through Chiltern. He also dabbled in cross-country mountain biking, and then returned to cycling.

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