Electric Bikes. Are They Cheating?

I’ve been riding an electric bike for about a year now. Indeed, I have two, each a slightly different system.

One is a hub motor and the other a crank motor.

If you are not riding to race or to train, I can’t see how these bikes can be called cheating.

In training, you could say you were cheating yourself out of a tougher workout, and if racing, that would only be interesting, electric against electric.

So, if getting around efficiently, avoiding gas pumps, and all without too much strain is your goal, I think they are great. I describe the ride as; effort without the pain.

Another way to to imagine the ride is to think of it as tandem. You are riding tandem with a small motor, the motor approx. doubling your effort.

So, maybe we can call E bikes, motor tandems and it’ll be clearer.

That said, how much advantage do they give over a regular bike?

Scott Dickason, who supplied my first bike (EVs is his company) asked me to film a test for him.

Here it is.

What I didn’t know, was that he was planning to test me too.

What is perhaps remarkable is that I’m doing well, and yet sitting upright in a supposedly inefficient posture.

The next test I’d like to do is to have Steve do the same hill on his road bike and then on a motor-less comfort bike, one about the same weight with the same number of gears.

I know the latter will be slower, but how much slower?

Scott wanted to pay me for making the film. I said, no, because I want to be free to recommend any bike I like, not just his. which I do think are pretty good.