Yes, you can get fit using an e-bike says James Witts. Although some find that hard to believe because they feature an electric motor and battery to assist your pedalling.
They’re proving incredibly popular with ebikes now accounting for almost 10% of bicycle sales in the UK, according to statistics website Statista. That compares to less than 1% in 2015.
How do bikes help your fitness?
The key phrase above is “assist your pedalling”, not replace. “The pedal-assistance that you gain from the motor is graded according to the help you need,” says editor of Cycling Electric, Mark Sutton. If it’s flat, your horsepower might be sufficient; if the topography tips up, you might scroll through the settings to gain an extra boost.
“But you must still pedal,” adds Sutton. “The power isn’t delivered in a surge, but in a way that matches your pedal rate. It delivers gentle support that can result in greater speed with either more pedal pressure or use of the bike’s gears.”
That electric support is legally capped at 25km/hr in the UK, USA and Australia. If you have the strength to rider faster than that, it’s down to you and your fitness. But even if you’re riding beneath 25km/hr, that doesn’t mean you can sit back and relax.
“I’m living proof that they’re not cheating,” says Sutton. “I cycle now more than I ever have and that’s down to how appealing pedal-assistance makes the experience. Put simply, you can do more than you ever could on a traditional bike, so they’re practical as a short journey car replacement vehicle.”
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“Don’t just take my word for it,” Sutton continues. “There are many studies that have concluded that electric bike riders ride more trips, over longer distances and in the process take on more challenging terrain, thus gaining more enjoyment. It’s a feedback loop that’ll guarantee you ride a lot more by choice. One study put the average distance cycled at around double that to an average cyclist’s journey.”
Further research out of Brigham Young University in Utah showed that mountain bikers hit 94% of the average heart rate they achieved on non-assisted mountain bikes. The same researchers also dug deep into the health benefits of commuting on an electric hybrid bike and discovered that, on average, riders’ heart rates reached 89% of that achieved when riding a non-assisted hybrid bike. Ebike use “retained the majority of the cycling cardiovascular health benefits”, according to the study.
Further studies have shown that you burn around 350 calories an hour compared to around 500 on a traditional bike (depending on level of power assistance, of course). Not only is that still a good workout but, as Sutton stressed, the pure joy of ebiking means you’ll inevitably stay out longer and more frequently.
Are bikes a fire risk?
Ebikes cover the full genre of riding. That means electric-assisted versions of road, mountain, folding, gravel, commuting… Each utilises that motor-battery combination. Which leads us to some myth-destroying. Over the past couple of years, there have been various stories of ebikes catching fire due to overheating batteries. It was terrible PR albeit it did highlight the importance of not cutting corners.
“There is next to no fire risk at all from a bike-shop-standard electric bike; that is to say a bike that’s been manufactured as a single unit and sold via a reputable retailer,” says Sutton. “Remember, electric bike batteries often use the exact same battery technology that our mobile phones or EV cars do.”
Sutton researched this subject and found that the world’s largest electric bike manufacturer, the UK’s largest e-bike retail chains, and the world’s largest e-bike motor and battery supplier had never had a single instance of battery fire outside of some quite spectacular user error. “I’m talking leaving a battery next to a fire,” he says.
Sutton suggests that you should shop on the high street or specialist online retailers that only sell complete ebikes. “Avoid mass marketplaces, social media marketplaces and any source where it’s hard to verify the seller and the bike’s history,” he says.
“Also, if you intend to convert your own bike, be careful about what kits you buy as the majority aren’t UK road legal. Kits from the likes of Swytch and Boost are road legal and supplied with safe batteries, albeit in converting your bike you’ll invalidate the original warranty and likely find your local bike shop declines to do repairs on account of the modifications.”
It's also worth looking into the range of your ebike before purchase. This depends on your riding style, the battery size, the terrain you ride and the weight you carry, as well as the conditions and temperature of the day. As a general rule, a typical leisure or commuter ebike will offer 50 miles of assisted riding, which is probably more than most new riders will do in a week, though some ebikes can now be equipped to deliver 300km of range with a dual battery set-up if you’re looking to tour the country.
How much are e bikes?
How much should you expect to pay? “We don’t tend to recommend many electric bikes under £1,000 because it’s difficult to manufacture a quality product that’s built to last at this price,” says Sutton. “However, above this mark, the quality drastically improves. If you’re cycling for leisure or commuting, a budget of £1,000 to £3,000 will buy you something you can rely on with smart features like anti-theft increasingly embedded into the software.”
