Why E-Bikes Are So Good for Boosting Fitness
Busting the Misnomer That E-Bikes Are "Cheating"
The comment we hear most when we tell people we sell e-bikes is “But aren’t e-bikes cheating?!” … The answer is categorically NO! E-bikes have a controller, which enables you to choose how much help your bike gives you, this can be turned off, so you can ride your e-bike as a normal bike as much as you want to. Then, when you get tired, you can turn the motor on and keep riding.
This means you can have as much of a workout as you want, but with the additional benefits that you can ride further, tackle more hilly routes, ride with friends who may have been faster than you, and ride more often as it’s more fun! All of which mean you can get more exercise with an e-bike than with a normal bike, we are wondering why you would need a normal bike at all!
In this blog, we explore why e-bikes are so good at helping you get more active, boost your fitness, and enjoy your cycling more.
E-Bikes Help You Ride Further and More Often
Riding an e-bike is fun… We see it every day when customers come, and test ride an e-bike for the first time and return with a huge smile on their face. Having control over what level of assistance you get from an e-bike makes you feel invincible – no hills put you off and longer rides suddenly seem more manageable.
E-bike batteries now offer ranges of up to 100 km, and many models also have the option to get a range extender, which is effectively an additional battery that fits on your e-bike and can double your range. In addition to this, there is a new breed of lightweight e-bikes, which are much easier to ride without power. This all means that range anxiety is a thing of the past, and long rides are very much on the menu!
Riding an e-bike means that if you get tired, you can just ask the bike to give you some help. This gives riders the confidence to get out more often and ride further, which is going to boost fitness and endurance.
New Lightweight E-Bikes Give More Riding Options
Advances in technology have seen motors and batteries coming down in both size and weight. Initially, this was being achieved by reducing the range of the batteries and power of the motor, but the gap is closing. This means that it’s now possible to get e-bikes as light as 12 kg, which offer loads of power and impressive range.
Obviously, the super light e-bikes have carbon frames and come at a cost, but there are now e-bikes on the market in the 16–19 kg range, which come in under £2,000.
These lighter bikes are enjoyable to ride with and without power, and this means you have the option of an all-out fitness ride – a non-cheating ride for those doubters – but you can also get the help whenever you want it.
Lightweight e-bikes are ideal for commuters who might want to get to work without breaking a sweat but have a proper workout on the way home. They are also particularly popular with more serious riders who want to keep riding a normal bike, but want to take on more hills, more tricky terrain, or ride further.
Popular Lightweight electric bikes:
Lightweight e-bikes popular with commuters:
· Foldable E-Bikes. Get More Active More Easily
Foldable bikes were once used almost exclusively by commuters who wanted to do short, flat rides and didn’t mind about the small wheels reducing speed and riding comfort… but not anymore. Foldable e-bikes have a huge advantage in that the motor and battery mean they can tackle any hill, can be built with more robust frames and wider tyres to make riding more comfortable both on and off-road, and can take pannier bags to carry more weight.
This has made them a great option for anyone with caravans or camper vans, or if you like the idea of folding your bike and popping it in the boot for your weekend away or to go and ride in different areas. Once again, this is helping more people use e-bikes more often and for more reasons – where once you would have had to pack the camper van to drive out for a day trip when on holiday, you can now hop on your foldable e-bike and head to the beach, explore the vineyards, or take on that mountain pass!
Our best-selling foldable e-bikes are the Estarlis and MiRiders, which are both British brands and fantastic for adventure riding:
The Future for E-Bikes and Fitness Enthusiasts…
As technology continues to improve and the weight and size of e-bike motors and batteries continue to come down, it feels like we are nearing the day that an e-bike will be almost identical in weight to non-electric bikes. When this happens, there will be no reason not to buy an e-bike, as you’ll have the same riding options as a normal bike – one bike to suit all types of rides. But there is no need to wait – if you’re looking to boost your fitness and enjoy your riding more, then get an e-bike now, they aren’t cheating!
