I’ve been riding 40 years just bought my first mountain Ebike. I kind of look at it like this. when I’m on my naturally aspirated bike, which weighs 36 pounds 6 inch travel I choose not to ride up certain features and take the other trail. Then come down those features. on my E bike I choose to go up those features then hammer down those or something else. I rarely used turbo my bike has three years let’s say Eco trail and boost. In the mountains, my heart rate is always higher on my E bike and I choose to ride further again this is me as you say this is how I do it and I use my E bike to train for Enduro‘s. Mind you I’m 63 and just love the hell out of this E bike. If you only have an hour to go ride you can go and hammer for that hour get 15-18 Miles. here in Colorado I can get 2000-3000 ft of elevation both directions. Sorry dude I’ll chat forever but yeah, I think you should do a mountain bike full suspension and go hammer the hell out of black diamonds at or at least blue trails or all natural trails like Downeyville. 47 years in California I was I rode all over Santa Cruz for ever till I moved to Colorado then wow the Epix here are incredible, happy trails. Your videos are really good. You deserve a ton more subscribers.
This is the clearest comparison I've seen yet taking into account different fitness levels and uses - it's informational, not biased, so you can go make your own decision. Thank you!
Ebikes have their place and are a dominating force in the bicycle industry and I think are here to stay. I have two ebikes one I built with a Bafang kit and a Canyon Grail: On. I ride these bikes often and that wouldn't be the case with a regular bike due to health issues.. I'm still moving and burning calories and with back issues I can go farther than I could with a analog bike. They definitely have their place. Enjoyed the comparison and the video.
All the data in the world is irrelevant if someone with an analog bike doesn’t ride it, but does ride their e-bike. The one you’re most likely (and able) to ride is the one you should buy and ride. Anyone who thinks the ebike is the same workout is just lying to themselves though (or has never ridden one back to back with a regular bike). I’m very interested in that velotric. Super clean look and 38lbs is actually really light for a cheap e-bike.
@@B1KER literally half the weight of my Lectric XP 2. The Lectric’s great when there is power, but riding it without any assist is near impossible being 70lbs (with luggage rack) and having 3” tires.
What people mean by getting a workout but going farther isn't to say within the same amount of time in the saddle... it is to say that your body battery doesn't go down as quickly therefore you actually ride for longer. I usually ride for about 2hrs on my regular bike before I'm fairly tired. But on my ebike I ride for three to four hours. So even though I'm not getting as much of an anaerobic workout on the ebike, I'm getting more aerobic workout. This allows me to ride longer, and I burn way more calories on the ebike rides than the regular bike. But this is only due to being able to ride longer before I tire out. I actually didn't expect your numbers to be that close! If you compared mtbs in this same format.. it would be way different
It’s so close because I’m strong enough to be almost at that assisted top speed the whole time. I am also really interested in seeing how it would play out on an eMTB.
Good video, the only difference is smiles, where when your pedaling hard on your reg bike you are not smiling as much as you are to when your on an ebike. If funner was a word it might be acceptable in this circumstance. I ride both analog and ebike, train hard on analog, recovery rides on ebike seems to be the ticket....
I'm about your size and my commute avgs 13 ish mph, which feels slow and takes 45 min. from a nearby store where I leave my car. I've been contemplating an ebike conversion kit to up the avg speed and drop the travel time and ride from my house. But then I feel like it's cheating, and I'm not getting the same workout. Rather torn on the matter given the cost of conversion kits. Another part of me wants a road bike (vs my current hybrid) to hopefully up the avg speeds, but pretty sure a new bike isn't going to be noticeably faster. I was impressed that you were getting 17 ish plus mph on the analog bike. Great video!!
Great video, wanted to share two big thoughts I had. I got into ebikes in October of 2022 with the purchase of the Velotric Discover 1. I had never ridden an ebike before, but was really curious. At the time my exercise level was non-existent and I was hoping this could help. I honestly fell in love with it and rode it daily for about six months. In March 2023 the bike starting having issues, but was under warranty so I contacted their support. First issue they sent a replacement part, but it was a weird experience with them. About a week later the bike flat out stopped working, defeating the entire, "electric" point of it. After some back and forth with the company I basically got a nicely written, "that sucks, you're on your own now!" even though it was under warranty. The whole experience has totally turned me off to Velotric and I sold the bike at a loss, but purchased another brand that I couldn't be happier with as it is a major upgrade. Velotric came out with their Thunder series right as I had had it with the company, even though the Thunder series looks great, the company standing behind it seems more interested in sending out bikes for review than caring about the customers who purchase them...Ebikes are my hobby now and I use my new brand one for everything except weekend grocery shopping, that includes back and forth to work on the daily. While your results are not too surprising, I don't know why anyone would assume you'd get the same or even a better workout on an ebike than a regular bike, I am so glad you mentioned the end the fact that, "losing calories isn't everything". As I said, my ebike is my primary form of transportation for everything I do except when a car is fully needed (like groceries or if a distance is just absurdly far away). I use my ebike to get back and forth to work, for work outs, to clear my head or more and more frequently I just crave going on a ride. Even though I'm a similar build in weight and height to you, I really haven't lost any weight with my new hobby, BUT I have clearly seen improvements to my health. My Apple Watch shows my resting heart rate has gone WAY down since the start of this year (when I started using ebikes daily), not to mention so many things that use to bother me simply don't anymore... Kinda crazy how even just basic exercise combined with getting away from things really gets your brain working right? Not to mention I think in the last two months I filled up my fuel tank to my car a single time, so saving money is a great thing too. In my case, my ebike hobby is a big part of my life and I'm only the first year in. I hope to continue this hobby... even if it can be expensive, it is far better than other vices I've had in the past.
The only reason I said the workout thing is because it's a common remark in the MTB world where most of my content is. I'm happy you are using your bike and it's changing your life. Like the channel motto. It only takes a bike to be a biker, so get out and be one. Bummer about your experience with Velotric, none-the-less, I'm stoked that it didn't squash your new found fun!
I still do 1800 meters of positive ascent on my mountain bike, riding a steep mixed 50 km trail and I do so in around 3 hours. My bodies start falling behind in distance and time until it became unbearable to ride with them “they are 2 hours slower” so I advised them to get into the e-bike system, they did, now the gap between us is only 30 minutes “me still faster 😂”
Riding all the way in turbo and wondering why it wasnt a similar workout? Also with an E-Bike you can kind of choose at which heart rate zone you with to do a workout. Plus its a different story in mountainbiking because the downhills are a bigger workout than on an analog bike, because of the weight difference. I have many different bikes, a reagular enduro MTB, an E-MTB, a gravilbike and a dirtjump bike and i havent ridden my E-MTB in a long time because i enjoy the others more, but that doesnt mean you cant have a good workout on an E-MTB. I can be just as much huffing and puffing as on a regular MTB and for sure go urther. I think you kind of intentionally missed the point with this video. None the less its good and entertaining. So props to you.
I didn’t rig my results. I think it really comes down to the cutoff on a e-bike being 20!mph and me being able to maintain that with out the E. I think if I did the same thing on an e-MTB the results would be grossly different. If I didn’t have that bike in Turbo I think I would have actually had more distance on the analog bike. That ebike was so heavy when I wasn’t in Turbo I couldn’t keep it at 20 mph. I can see what ya mean though. Bottom line, on MTB it would be way different results.
I got an eMTB and I get way more tired on my downhill shuttle bike...but that's because I usually ride high speed DH trails that are really bumpy and sap the energy out of your arms and hands. I'll do maybe 2-3 shuttle laps and be exhausted after about an hour or so. With the eMTB though I can go out for around 2 hours (on trails that have climb access only) and do way more laps and am not stuck waiting on my wife for shuttles. Because the e-bike doesn't sap my energy as much instead of riding maybe 2-3 times a week I'm riding pretty much every single day. So in the short term I use less energy on the e-bike, but over the course of the entire week I burn way more energy on the ebike than my DH bike and I get more time in the saddle which means more experience and more progression.
Great video. Coincidentally, I bought an Orbea Rise from Mike's Bikes back in September '22. Great customer service. Bought an ebike to keep up with my fitter friends so they're not stuck waiting for me all the time. I'm too cheap to pay for Strava so I can only go off my perceived effort. But it seems like I'm putting in the same effort; just moving up the hill quicker. And my times to the top only dropped from 25 minutes to just under 20 minutes. I'm also more of a closet e-biker. I don't use anything over "eco" unless I absolutely have to. Otherwise I feel like I'm cheating myself way too much.
@@B1KER I'm pretty sure the heartrate and relative effort stuff is locked out on the free version but coincidentally, Strava activated a 30 day trial on my account so I'm gonna take a close look and see how bad I'm cheating myself.
Flat ground road bike test is useless in terms of what an eMTB is like. Do this same test on an actual dirt trail. See how many more laps you get. See how much more descending you get. See how long you can keep you HR in the zone you want.
After riding/demo'ing a few e-mtb's and climbing some serious steep trails that I couldnt do on my analog bike, i find my heart rate is way higher but it saves my legs! So I will be getting an emtb to smash the miles in Laguna 🤘🤘🤘
If your cadence was the same but your watts were lower, shouldn’t you have shifted to a harder gear? I think a fair comparison would have been to match watts because you weren’t putting in the same effort. That’s like me saying my heart rate was lower after riding my motorcycle compared to my gravel bike, I didn’t put in the same effort on the two rides. That was your original statement…you can get the same workout (watts) and go further. You didn’t test what you were trying to debunk in my mind. Still a great video that’s very informative but I think you missed your own point.
I couldn’t get my watts to be the same. When I would pedal hard it would go over the 20 mph limit on a Class 1 ebike and the motor would cut out. I think this test would be way different on MTB because I wouldn’t be so close to the max on my analog like I was on here.
Yknow how i see it? I can exercise as much as i want until i get absolutely exhausted, then i use the assist or the accelerator to get me back home, and it's been really effective. Once im fully back in shape i probably wont need the electric assist, and will have an extra heavy bike to exercise with. And i also have a vehicle for when i need to transport faster than any road cyclist.
the velotric is an awesome ebike, we picked the thunder and thunder st up at our shop, honestly compared to all the random hub motor ebikes out there velotric is on another level
It’s a choice. You can be lazy and let the bike do the work or you can push just as hard as you normally would and go faster and further. You chose one way. I choose the other.
E-mtb vs Amish mtb is not really something you can compare. I ride both and they both have the advantages and disadvantages. Yes an E is going to get you up the hills much quicker with less effort, yes you can get your heart and lungs pumping by just leaving it in eco mode. The disadvantage is that point the bike downhill and you are now trying to throw around a 50lb bike. Yes you are going to get a far more planted feel and for my case a bike that does feel a bit more comfortable once the tires leave the ground. As far as the Amish bike goes your going to be sucking wind the whole way up your climb and may only have enough energy to do one run, depending on your level of fitness. Were as on the E you can do multiple runs. I personally prefer my amish bike going downhill over the E as it is lighter and more nimble, I can easily place it were I want. Both bikes have their place. My wife is able to ride at a higher level on the E as the assistance allows her to have the power and momentum to get up over things she would normally struggle on a amish bike. For those that say they need to earn the decent, and E-bikes are cheating that's fine. I find that is more like you cannot afford one and just butt hurt when someone passes you going up the hill. Would love for you to do a comparison video and get your take.
@@mushieslushie LOL, in all honesty it all depends on how much time I have to ride and how I am feeling that day. In Sedona and Cottonwood we have a lot of short steep punchy climbs and yes sometimes I do put it in turbo just because I can. But more often I try to stay in eco and trail mode if I am tired or racing the sunlight. I don’t ride for the fitness side of it. I ride cause I like to have fun, and suffering is not fun to me. I put in my work during the week on Zwift and when it is time to go outside and ride , I can choose either style of bike that suits how I am feeling. We’re I live and I do not care who you are or what type of bike you are on, you can only ride as fast as the trail will allow you to.
Two things for you to consider if you ever run this test again: 1 - try using tour or sport mode which would be more realistic use for a workout not a joy ride. 2 - Try this again after you have ridden the ebike for a month or two. New ebike riders almost always overly rely on the power from the bike. It typically manifests by being in Turbo and a being in a too high gear. Still a very cool video and given how it went and the numbers I don’t think you really have solid evidence that the original statement / hypothesis is not accurate.
You need to do it on a Mountain Bike. I'm seeing a lot of guys in this area that used to put in 50 miles every 2 weeks that are now doing 75. Also some of the 50+ crew are able to ride with the 30 somethings without need of an O2 tank and a support system.
good comparison, kinda what I expected really. I must say your looking much fitter these days now, not fit as a fiddle, because your not a small 150lbs guy, but definitely fit as a cello, lol. hope that's not a rude comment, was meant to be humorous, lol
@@B1KER one other thing, do you like the drop bars or flats better? I tried to get used to drop bars, but even riding on the hoods, i coulldn't like the position and brake levers as much as flats..
@@JitinMisra I started on flats and rode that way for awhile. But I noticed I was putting my hands in different positions for longer rides that would be better on drop bars. I think if you are doing short around the town stuff it doesn’t make sense for the drop bars as much. But when doing longer rides the drop bars definitely put your hands in more comfortable positions.
@@JitinMisra I was doing a 15 mile commute one way that brought me to using drop bars. The first road ish bike I bought was a flat bar single speed. After doing that commute for a little while I put the drops on.
@@B1KER I’m 61 and been mountain biking and road biking since 92. I retired from Cross Country racing in 19. And I still mountain bike and cycle for fun. I see a lot of fat people riding e-bikes. The level of effort is minimal. Lazy even. If you know anything about fitness the easy ride on a motorized bike is not going to cut it. I appreciate it when someone is lame or sickly and needs a motor to help you ride. In fact a great friend of mine has a heart condition and his cardiologist gave him permission to ride e bikes. But if you are only fat and/or out of shape a real bike would actually make a difference in your fitness goals. Not an e bike
@@CountryFenderBass I think at the end of the day the decision is do nothing or go ride an ebike, it’s at least something. Could be the gateway that gets them to actually put the effort in.
@@B1KER oh I agree. It gets you outside. But when you start a sport and pick the easy way out vs putting in the work you are kidding yourself about future results. Your mindset is already in lazy mode. Watch e bikers on a rail trail (and that’s another issue for a later date) . They cruise along at 20 mph+ and are barely pedaling. It’s not working out. It’s enjoying a beautiful day on a moped. Like I said I understand the real reasons to ride one and I support that. I test rode one in Sedona Az during bike week. I rode for miles and when I was done I was completely rested and even my armpits were dry. I got zero work out benefit. Just don’t kid yourself thinking you are getting any fitness benefits.
@@B1KERSurely a non electric bike is just a bike? Fully enjoyed your video & I own both types, for me the electric road bike uses around the same amount of effort, as yeah it helps up hills, but when I'm cycling above the motor cut off speed, my carbon fibre road bike is 12.6kg, so it takes more effort to keep ahigh speed, but I do enjoy riding it more, as I hate hills 😂👍🏻
I just turned 50 and have been riding an emtb for 3 years now. I get great workouts, ride way more and have a ton of fun in the process. I ride it everywhere including bike parks. I do t care about 'controveries', comparisons or negative opinions. While everyone keeps debating about them, Ill be out riding and I have no desire to ever ride an Amish bike again.
"E-bikes" are just electric motorcycles, made to look like a human-powered bicycle. My problem is when they are used in timed-events, like a time-trial or century. I encountered this in the last half-century I did. I trained hard to place in my age-group and would prefer not to compete against motorcycles. Those of us who like human-powered vehicles should be able to have events and space away from motorized vehicles like "e-bikes."
I’d like you to do the e MTB and focus on how or if it offers a realistic ride downhill where you are able to progress your skills. The road e-bike seems like something very nice for a person who isn’t really into riding and wants the function. I’m 60 and think maybe in 10 or 15 years I might like an e-bike to get up to the top of trail heads but I want the same level of connectivity with the downhill experience. For now I want to keep building skills and fitness in both climbing and downhill..
There are a few brands with really light eMTB's. Those may be what you are looking for. I think the Pivot is like 36lbs. Same thing with the Specialized.
But wait, you took a break on the ebike despite not needing it, you even said so. The thing with the ebike is that you couldve been able to ride even longer because you youtself werent tired.
I think after the battery died pedalling the extra weight would have tired me out more and if I did a longer test I would have went way farther on analog bike. But there’s flaws in this test as well as other scenarios. So I guess it is what it is.
You can't go father on a E-Bike than a Regular Bike because if the battery dies on you have to pedal the rest of the way, I know that for a fact because I've done that with my forrner E-Bike before I sold it.
@@B1KER I’m sorry I appreciate the effort you are putting into your content it just blows my mind you couldn’t come up with not putting it on the highest setting if you’re trying to see if it’s possible to get a workout…. Seems pretty obvious.
@@randomdude5938 I hear ya. To me I was thinking most people get on an eBike and go straight to Turbo then say they are getting the same workout. Then on top of it, if I would have gone in eco, I would have went way less farther and still had a very similar outcome because the motor would cut out at 20 and when pedalling anaolog I'd pedal over that. Like I said before, I'm sure there are a ton of different ways to go about the test. Ultimately, that's the one I tried, then I sold the bike. So I guess we'll never know.
@@B1KER it’s strange to me you would assume anyone would get on an ebike, put it on turbo, and claim to be getting as good a workout as a normal bike, let alone most people. If someone has told you that I would cut them out of your life. They are probably a narcissist who will lie about literally anything to save face. Aside from that, no informed consumer would buy a hub motor ebike for fitness. Gears become pointless and your pedals are basically just a throttle. An informed consumer buying an ebike for fitness would buy a class 3 (28mph) mid drive ebike and probably rarely go above eco mode. Eco on most mid drives adds about 2-3mph to what your speed would be without. I often with my power off because I mostly ride on rail trail/ multi use paths with a lot of other traffic so going super fast is not practical or polite. I know exactly how hard I’m working because I ride with a heart rate monitor and I promise you there is no difference between riding a 55lb ebike for an hour going 16 mph with no assist and doing the same at 18.5 on eco. I just go further and faster. Most ebikers are lazy. Sure. Most people are. That doesn’t mean you can’t get the same workout if that is your goal and you put some thought into it to how to accomplish that goal, instead of trying to prove it’s impossible by doing it in a way no one looking for a workout would ever try….
No such thing as a "Analog" bike. It is called a "bike" Add an electric motor = ebike very simple. Nothing has to be renamed here to please the ebike crowed. I ride a bike! Don't worry, everyone still knows what you mean.
I’ve been riding 40 years just bought my first mountain Ebike. I kind of look at it like this. when I’m on my naturally aspirated bike, which weighs 36 pounds 6 inch travel I choose not to ride up certain features and take the other trail. Then come down those features. on my E bike I choose to go up those features then hammer down those or something else. I rarely used turbo my bike has three years let’s say Eco trail and boost. In the mountains, my heart rate is always higher on my E bike and I choose to ride further again this is me as you say this is how I do it and I use my E bike to train for Enduro‘s. Mind you I’m 63 and just love the hell out of this E bike. If you only have an hour to go ride you can go and hammer for that hour get 15-18
Miles. here in Colorado I can get 2000-3000 ft of elevation both directions. Sorry dude I’ll chat forever but yeah, I think you should do a mountain bike full suspension and go hammer the hell out of black diamonds at or at least blue trails or all natural trails like Downeyville. 47 years in California I was I rode all over Santa Cruz for ever till I moved to Colorado then wow the Epix here are incredible, happy trails. Your videos are really good. You deserve a ton more subscribers.
I’m really interested to see how the numbers play on an eMTB.
63 good on you !
@@garysmith643 good times Gary smith
Don't forget to yell STRAVA when passing on the American river trail on an ebike. Roadies absolutely adore it 🤗
Good call 👍
This is the clearest comparison I've seen yet taking into account different fitness levels and uses - it's informational, not biased, so you can go make your own decision. Thank you!
That was the goal! Glad it was helpful!
Ebikes have their place and are a dominating force in the bicycle industry and I think are here to stay. I have two ebikes one I built with a Bafang kit and a Canyon Grail: On. I ride these bikes often and that wouldn't be the case with a regular bike due to health issues.. I'm still moving and burning calories and with back issues I can go farther than I could with a analog bike. They definitely have their place. Enjoyed the comparison and the video.
I think if it gets people outside it’s a good thing!
All the data in the world is irrelevant if someone with an analog bike doesn’t ride it, but does ride their e-bike. The one you’re most likely (and able) to ride is the one you should buy and ride.
Anyone who thinks the ebike is the same workout is just lying to themselves though (or has never ridden one back to back with a regular bike).
I’m very interested in that velotric. Super clean look and 38lbs is actually really light for a cheap e-bike.
Actually 36! Honestly, I was totally blown away by the build compared to the others I've seen.
@@B1KER literally half the weight of my Lectric XP 2. The Lectric’s great when there is power, but riding it without any assist is near impossible being 70lbs (with luggage rack) and having 3” tires.
What people mean by getting a workout but going farther isn't to say within the same amount of time in the saddle... it is to say that your body battery doesn't go down as quickly therefore you actually ride for longer. I usually ride for about 2hrs on my regular bike before I'm fairly tired. But on my ebike I ride for three to four hours. So even though I'm not getting as much of an anaerobic workout on the ebike, I'm getting more aerobic workout. This allows me to ride longer, and I burn way more calories on the ebike rides than the regular bike. But this is only due to being able to ride longer before I tire out. I actually didn't expect your numbers to be that close! If you compared mtbs in this same format.. it would be way different
It’s so close because I’m strong enough to be almost at that assisted top speed the whole time. I am also really interested in seeing how it would play out on an eMTB.
Good video, the only difference is smiles, where when your pedaling hard on your reg bike you are not smiling as much as you are to when your on an ebike. If funner was a word it might be acceptable in this circumstance. I ride both analog and ebike, train hard on analog, recovery rides on ebike seems to be the ticket....
Very true!
A fair, balanced and reasonable take on ebikes.
The internet has no space for that kind of approach.
How dare you!
Burn it down! 😂
I'm about your size and my commute avgs 13 ish mph, which feels slow and takes 45 min. from a nearby store where I leave my car. I've been contemplating an ebike conversion kit to up the avg speed and drop the travel time and ride from my house. But then I feel like it's cheating, and I'm not getting the same workout. Rather torn on the matter given the cost of conversion kits. Another part of me wants a road bike (vs my current hybrid) to hopefully up the avg speeds, but pretty sure a new bike isn't going to be noticeably faster. I was impressed that you were getting 17 ish plus mph on the analog bike. Great video!!
I don’t think the road bike will be much faster either. Good luck on your decision.
Great video, wanted to share two big thoughts I had.
I got into ebikes in October of 2022 with the purchase of the Velotric Discover 1. I had never ridden an ebike before, but was really curious. At the time my exercise level was non-existent and I was hoping this could help. I honestly fell in love with it and rode it daily for about six months. In March 2023 the bike starting having issues, but was under warranty so I contacted their support. First issue they sent a replacement part, but it was a weird experience with them. About a week later the bike flat out stopped working, defeating the entire, "electric" point of it. After some back and forth with the company I basically got a nicely written, "that sucks, you're on your own now!" even though it was under warranty. The whole experience has totally turned me off to Velotric and I sold the bike at a loss, but purchased another brand that I couldn't be happier with as it is a major upgrade. Velotric came out with their Thunder series right as I had had it with the company, even though the Thunder series looks great, the company standing behind it seems more interested in sending out bikes for review than caring about the customers who purchase them...Ebikes are my hobby now and I use my new brand one for everything except weekend grocery shopping, that includes back and forth to work on the daily.
While your results are not too surprising, I don't know why anyone would assume you'd get the same or even a better workout on an ebike than a regular bike, I am so glad you mentioned the end the fact that, "losing calories isn't everything". As I said, my ebike is my primary form of transportation for everything I do except when a car is fully needed (like groceries or if a distance is just absurdly far away). I use my ebike to get back and forth to work, for work outs, to clear my head or more and more frequently I just crave going on a ride. Even though I'm a similar build in weight and height to you, I really haven't lost any weight with my new hobby, BUT I have clearly seen improvements to my health. My Apple Watch shows my resting heart rate has gone WAY down since the start of this year (when I started using ebikes daily), not to mention so many things that use to bother me simply don't anymore... Kinda crazy how even just basic exercise combined with getting away from things really gets your brain working right? Not to mention I think in the last two months I filled up my fuel tank to my car a single time, so saving money is a great thing too.
In my case, my ebike hobby is a big part of my life and I'm only the first year in. I hope to continue this hobby... even if it can be expensive, it is far better than other vices I've had in the past.
The only reason I said the workout thing is because it's a common remark in the MTB world where most of my content is. I'm happy you are using your bike and it's changing your life. Like the channel motto. It only takes a bike to be a biker, so get out and be one. Bummer about your experience with Velotric, none-the-less, I'm stoked that it didn't squash your new found fun!
Looking good bro. Keep up the great work. Wish you have more subs man.
Thanks man. Someday I’ll get there.
How is your hair so perfect in the MIDDLE of a ride!?!?!?!
Good question!
I still do 1800 meters of positive ascent on my mountain bike, riding a steep mixed 50 km trail and I do so in around 3 hours. My bodies start falling behind in distance and time until it became unbearable to ride with them “they are 2 hours slower” so I advised them to get into the e-bike system, they did, now the gap between us is only 30 minutes “me still faster 😂”
Nice! It has its place. But you can still put down that power if you want to dedicate the time. 🙌
Riding all the way in turbo and wondering why it wasnt a similar workout? Also with an E-Bike you can kind of choose at which heart rate zone you with to do a workout. Plus its a different story in mountainbiking because the downhills are a bigger workout than on an analog bike, because of the weight difference. I have many different bikes, a reagular enduro MTB, an E-MTB, a gravilbike and a dirtjump bike and i havent ridden my E-MTB in a long time because i enjoy the others more, but that doesnt mean you cant have a good workout on an E-MTB. I can be just as much huffing and puffing as on a regular MTB and for sure go urther.
I think you kind of intentionally missed the point with this video. None the less its good and entertaining. So props to you.
I didn’t rig my results. I think it really comes down to the cutoff on a e-bike being 20!mph and me being able to maintain that with out the E. I think if I did the same thing on an e-MTB the results would be grossly different. If I didn’t have that bike in Turbo I think I would have actually had more distance on the analog bike. That ebike was so heavy when I wasn’t in Turbo I couldn’t keep it at 20 mph. I can see what ya mean though. Bottom line, on MTB it would be way different results.
I got an eMTB and I get way more tired on my downhill shuttle bike...but that's because I usually ride high speed DH trails that are really bumpy and sap the energy out of your arms and hands. I'll do maybe 2-3 shuttle laps and be exhausted after about an hour or so. With the eMTB though I can go out for around 2 hours (on trails that have climb access only) and do way more laps and am not stuck waiting on my wife for shuttles. Because the e-bike doesn't sap my energy as much instead of riding maybe 2-3 times a week I'm riding pretty much every single day. So in the short term I use less energy on the e-bike, but over the course of the entire week I burn way more energy on the ebike than my DH bike and I get more time in the saddle which means more experience and more progression.
Totally makes sense on the eMTB.
Cool video!!
For pedals, I use anti-seize copper grease. Works like a charm! I bought a little glue-stick looking thing of it for like $8-$10🤙🏻
Apparently pedal was broken so when I tried to loosen it, it wouldn’t stay tight on the tool.
Great video. Coincidentally, I bought an Orbea Rise from Mike's Bikes back in September '22. Great customer service. Bought an ebike to keep up with my fitter friends so they're not stuck waiting for me all the time. I'm too cheap to pay for Strava so I can only go off my perceived effort. But it seems like I'm putting in the same effort; just moving up the hill quicker. And my times to the top only dropped from 25 minutes to just under 20 minutes. I'm also more of a closet e-biker. I don't use anything over "eco" unless I absolutely have to. Otherwise I feel like I'm cheating myself way too much.
Right on man! BTW, you can see that Strava stuff for yourself without paying!
@@B1KER I'm pretty sure the heartrate and relative effort stuff is locked out on the free version but coincidentally, Strava activated a 30 day trial on my account so I'm gonna take a close look and see how bad I'm cheating myself.
Flat ground road bike test is useless in terms of what an eMTB is like. Do this same test on an actual dirt trail. See how many more laps you get. See how much more descending you get. See how long you can keep you HR in the zone you want.
That’s what I was thinking
Great video. MTB version next for sure.
Definitely!
After riding/demo'ing a few e-mtb's and climbing some serious steep trails that I couldnt do on my analog bike, i find my heart rate is way higher but it saves my legs! So I will be getting an emtb to smash the miles in Laguna 🤘🤘🤘
I’m into it on MTB. Just not as much on road.
@@B1KER gotcha, ebike laps are the best‼️
@@B1KER you need to get an e-road bike to really test against.
If your cadence was the same but your watts were lower, shouldn’t you have shifted to a harder gear? I think a fair comparison would have been to match watts because you weren’t putting in the same effort. That’s like me saying my heart rate was lower after riding my motorcycle compared to my gravel bike, I didn’t put in the same effort on the two rides. That was your original statement…you can get the same workout (watts) and go further. You didn’t test what you were trying to debunk in my mind.
Still a great video that’s very informative but I think you missed your own point.
I couldn’t get my watts to be the same. When I would pedal hard it would go over the 20 mph limit on a Class 1 ebike and the motor would cut out. I think this test would be way different on MTB because I wouldn’t be so close to the max on my analog like I was on here.
Great video! Some interesting number comparisons. That E-bike looks like a great bang for the buck.
Definitely is! Looks super clean.
Yknow how i see it? I can exercise as much as i want until i get absolutely exhausted, then i use the assist or the accelerator to get me back home, and it's been really effective.
Once im fully back in shape i probably wont need the electric assist, and will have an extra heavy bike to exercise with.
And i also have a vehicle for when i need to transport faster than any road cyclist.
That's not a bad perspective!
Definitely interested in a similar comparison for mountain biking!
As soon as I come up with the bike!
Nice job! The details are very interesting.
Thank you very much!
the velotric is an awesome ebike, we picked the thunder and thunder st up at our shop, honestly compared to all the random hub motor ebikes out there velotric is on another level
Totally agree
Interesting wild 😜 life and interesting 🤔 comparison. I’m trying to get my wife an ebike that just happens to fit me 😂. All about the turbo 🎉
Fortunately I'm in the same boat as you. My wife and I ride the same size frame. I was planning on doing the same thing!
Those damned California tweekers! 😂
Ikr! 😂
What width tires are you Marin and what mount are you using for the computer mount ?
The Marin was 25’s. Normally I run 40f 35r and keep the same pace.
Great video!
Glad you enjoyed it
I loved climbing that hill on my chameleon at 2 miles per hour! (said no one ever).
😂😂😂
Interesting to see a Mtb comparison now u have all the stuff. Maybe just go to an ebike demo day and do same test
I’ve got some ideas!
Nice video!!
E-bike, the pickleball of biking (road, gravel or MTB) when Im 60 I will def' consider it.😉
I definitely see a place for it.
Spent a day on an e-mountain bike on some familiar trails and barely broke a sweat. Was a blast, but I’d never confuse it with a decent workout.
So many do!
It’s a choice. You can be lazy and let the bike do the work or you can push just as hard as you normally would and go faster and further. You chose one way. I choose the other.
@@randomdude5938 Sure, but I know myself and would never do that. Most of the people I see on e-bikes don’t do it either.
What a cool idea for a video!
Glad you liked it 👍
E-mtb vs Amish mtb is not really something you can compare. I ride both and they both have the advantages and disadvantages. Yes an E is going to get you up the hills much quicker with less effort, yes you can get your heart and lungs pumping by just leaving it in eco mode. The disadvantage is that point the bike downhill and you are now trying to throw around a 50lb bike. Yes you are going to get a far more planted feel and for my case a bike that does feel a bit more comfortable once the tires leave the ground. As far as the Amish bike goes your going to be sucking wind the whole way up your climb and may only have enough energy to do one run, depending on your level of fitness. Were as on the E you can do multiple runs. I personally prefer my amish bike going downhill over the E as it is lighter and more nimble, I can easily place it were I want. Both bikes have their place. My wife is able to ride at a higher level on the E as the assistance allows her to have the power and momentum to get up over things she would normally struggle on a amish bike. For those that say they need to earn the decent, and E-bikes are cheating that's fine. I find that is more like you cannot afford one and just butt hurt when someone passes you going up the hill. Would love for you to do a comparison video and get your take.
There are a lot of valid points in there. 👍
I'm sure the moment your heart starts pumping you look down and say 'why the hell am I in eco mode.'
@@mushieslushie LOL, in all honesty it all depends on how much time I have to ride and how I am feeling that day. In Sedona and Cottonwood we have a lot of short steep punchy climbs and yes sometimes I do put it in turbo just because I can. But more often I try to stay in eco and trail mode if I am tired or racing the sunlight. I don’t ride for the fitness side of it. I ride cause I like to have fun, and suffering is not fun to me. I put in my work during the week on Zwift and when it is time to go outside and ride , I can choose either style of bike that suits how I am feeling. We’re I live and I do not care who you are or what type of bike you are on, you can only ride as fast as the trail will allow you to.
Would be good to get a MTB comparison.
I'm working on it!
Two things for you to consider if you ever run this test again: 1 - try using tour or sport mode which would be more realistic use for a workout not a joy ride. 2 - Try this again after you have ridden the ebike for a month or two. New ebike riders almost always overly rely on the power from the bike. It typically manifests by being in Turbo and a being in a too high gear. Still a very cool video and given how it went and the numbers I don’t think you really have solid evidence that the original statement / hypothesis is not accurate.
It’s hard to say. I think with eMTB it may be a lot different.
Awesome video ! If I had an electric mountain bike it would be on bust all the time ! Lol I'll stick to analog !
I hear ya!
looking good dude
Appreciate it
Definitely a good video would be with an EMtB with a good brand. A known brand.
Definitely! Will do soon.
I cant ever figure out how garmin calculates calories consumed.
You have to manually input it.
You need to do it on a Mountain Bike. I'm seeing a lot of guys in this area that used to put in 50 miles every 2 weeks that are now doing 75. Also some of the 50+ crew are able to ride with the 30 somethings without need of an O2 tank and a support system.
Sounds like a plan!
Hi! you remember me? Now i and my friend Simon make a Blurby e-bike!
What’s up big worm! That’s cool!
good comparison, kinda what I expected really. I must say your looking much fitter these days now, not fit as a fiddle, because your not a small 150lbs guy, but definitely fit as a cello, lol. hope that's not a rude comment, was meant to be humorous, lol
I’m in for a Cello! Better than a Tuba 🤘
Doesn’t all that wild life scare you? Do you carry a gun or bear spray and such ? I love country roads but I’m afraid of wild life
@@JitinMisra Just the tweakers. I’m fine with the rest.
What food did you consume during that ride with the gravel bike? 1500+ calories would make me hungry
I do 30 on the regular without eating anything
How did you hook that mirror to your helmet ?
It slides on my glasses.
@@B1KER one other thing, do you like the drop bars or flats better? I tried to get used to drop bars, but even riding on the hoods, i coulldn't like the position and brake levers as much as flats..
@@JitinMisra I started on flats and rode that way for awhile. But I noticed I was putting my hands in different positions for longer rides that would be better on drop bars. I think if you are doing short around the town stuff it doesn’t make sense for the drop bars as much. But when doing longer rides the drop bars definitely put your hands in more comfortable positions.
@@B1KER Just curious, how many miles is that distance for you ?
@@JitinMisra I was doing a 15 mile commute one way that brought me to using drop bars. The first road ish bike I bought was a flat bar single speed. After doing that commute for a little while I put the drops on.
Dude...looking good! Me...not so much lol.
Such is life buddy. We all have ups and downs. 🤘
Riding an E bike for fitness is like ordering a Diet Coke with your McDonalds meal
I hear ya, but it’s something. 🤷♂️
@@B1KER I’m 61 and been mountain biking and road biking since 92. I retired from Cross Country racing in 19. And I still mountain bike and cycle for fun. I see a lot of fat people riding e-bikes. The level of effort is minimal. Lazy even. If you know anything about fitness the easy ride on a motorized bike is not going to cut it. I appreciate it when someone is lame or sickly and needs a motor to help you ride. In fact a great friend of mine has a heart condition and his cardiologist gave him permission to ride e bikes. But if you are only fat and/or out of shape a real bike would actually make a difference in your fitness goals. Not an e bike
@@CountryFenderBass I think at the end of the day the decision is do nothing or go ride an ebike, it’s at least something. Could be the gateway that gets them to actually put the effort in.
@@B1KER oh I agree. It gets you outside. But when you start a sport and pick the easy way out vs putting in the work you are kidding yourself about future results. Your mindset is already in lazy mode. Watch e bikers on a rail trail (and that’s another issue for a later date) . They cruise along at 20 mph+ and are barely pedaling. It’s not working out. It’s enjoying a beautiful day on a moped. Like I said I understand the real reasons to ride one and I support that. I test rode one in Sedona Az during bike week. I rode for miles and when I was done I was completely rested and even my armpits were dry. I got zero work out benefit. Just don’t kid yourself thinking you are getting any fitness benefits.
I absolutely despise the term Analogue bike, to refer to a none electric bike.
What’s your preference? Acoustic kinda triggers me. 🤷♂️
@@B1KERSurely a non electric bike is just a bike? Fully enjoyed your video & I own both types, for me the electric road bike uses around the same amount of effort, as yeah it helps up hills, but when I'm cycling above the motor cut off speed, my carbon fibre road bike is 12.6kg, so it takes more effort to keep ahigh speed, but I do enjoy riding it more, as I hate hills 😂👍🏻
well duh you where on turbo or boost majority of the time! try eco or mid settings then compare again.
If I was in eco the milage would have been the same. I was averaging 18 on the analog.
@@B1KER lol! are we talking distance here or workout output? try it next time but less distance like 10 miles and see. i like the idea of this though.
@@21armyn I guess what I was thinking was, it would be the same distance and the same workout. Instead of the same workout but ride farther.
I just turned 50 and have been riding an emtb for 3 years now. I get great workouts, ride way more and have a ton of fun in the process. I ride it everywhere including bike parks. I do t care about 'controveries', comparisons or negative opinions. While everyone keeps debating about them, Ill be out riding and I have no desire to ever ride an Amish bike again.
Saying your out of shape without saying your out of shape
@@vin374 you're welcome to join me for a ride anytime
@@onetravdown sorry I don’t ride e-bikes. I earn my DH
@@vin374 cool story
@@onetravdown I thought so. Keep riding your moped.
"E-bikes" are just electric motorcycles, made to look like a human-powered bicycle. My problem is when they are used in timed-events, like a time-trial or century. I encountered this in the last half-century I did. I trained hard to place in my age-group and would prefer not to compete against motorcycles. Those of us who like human-powered vehicles should be able to have events and space away from motorized vehicles like "e-bikes."
That’s crazy they were in the same class. 🤯
I’d like you to do the e MTB and focus on how or if it offers a realistic ride downhill where you are able to progress your skills. The road e-bike seems like something very nice for a person who isn’t really into riding and wants the function. I’m 60 and think maybe in 10 or 15 years I might like an e-bike to get up to the top of trail heads but I want the same level of connectivity with the downhill experience. For now I want to keep building skills and fitness in both climbing and downhill..
There are a few brands with really light eMTB's. Those may be what you are looking for. I think the Pivot is like 36lbs. Same thing with the Specialized.
But wait, you took a break on the ebike despite not needing it, you even said so.
The thing with the ebike is that you couldve been able to ride even longer because you youtself werent tired.
But the battery would have died and I barely would have went farther.
@@B1KER you think so? You didnt seem very tired in the end to me
I think after the battery died pedalling the extra weight would have tired me out more and if I did a longer test I would have went way farther on analog bike. But there’s flaws in this test as well as other scenarios. So I guess it is what it is.
So, it's not the same workout...
Gee, who would have thought.
I know right!?!?
Don’t professional bikers use e-bikes as their daily?
Some, maybe more for rest days.
You can't go father on a E-Bike than a Regular Bike because if the battery dies on you have to pedal the rest of the way, I know that for a fact because I've done that with my forrner E-Bike before I sold it.
Makes sense!
If you’re trying to get a workout maybe don’t use turbo…. Like you don’t actually think this is any sort of definitive test do you?
It was just what I came up with. 🤷♂️ I’m sure there are about 100 different ways you could do this. 🤘
@@B1KER I’m sorry I appreciate the effort you are putting into your content it just blows my mind you couldn’t come up with not putting it on the highest setting if you’re trying to see if it’s possible to get a workout…. Seems pretty obvious.
@@randomdude5938 I hear ya. To me I was thinking most people get on an eBike and go straight to Turbo then say they are getting the same workout. Then on top of it, if I would have gone in eco, I would have went way less farther and still had a very similar outcome because the motor would cut out at 20 and when pedalling anaolog I'd pedal over that. Like I said before, I'm sure there are a ton of different ways to go about the test. Ultimately, that's the one I tried, then I sold the bike. So I guess we'll never know.
@@B1KER it’s strange to me you would assume anyone would get on an ebike, put it on turbo, and claim to be getting as good a workout as a normal bike, let alone most people. If someone has told you that I would cut them out of your life. They are probably a narcissist who will lie about literally anything to save face.
Aside from that, no informed consumer would buy a hub motor ebike for fitness. Gears become pointless and your pedals are basically just a throttle.
An informed consumer buying an ebike for fitness would buy a class 3 (28mph) mid drive ebike and probably rarely go above eco mode. Eco on most mid drives adds about 2-3mph to what your speed would be without.
I often with my power off because I mostly ride on rail trail/ multi use paths with a lot of other traffic so going super fast is not practical or polite. I know exactly how hard I’m working because I ride with a heart rate monitor and I promise you there is no difference between riding a 55lb ebike for an hour going 16 mph with no assist and doing the same at 18.5 on eco. I just go further and faster.
Most ebikers are lazy. Sure. Most people are. That doesn’t mean you can’t get the same workout if that is your goal and you put some thought into it to how to accomplish that goal, instead of trying to prove it’s impossible by doing it in a way no one looking for a workout would ever try….
@@randomdude5938 seems like you’ve got it pretty figured out. You should make a video! 🙌
Ebikes are not a workout. I prefer an actual bike. Something about raw power on the human body.
Totally agree
No such thing as a "Analog" bike. It is called a "bike" Add an electric motor = ebike very simple. Nothing has to be renamed here to please the ebike crowed. I ride a bike! Don't worry, everyone still knows what you mean.
Bikes also have different pronouns now. It’s a crazy world.