Just come back from ride at Woodhill Forest in Auckland, New Zealand. Needed lights for last uphill and trail to carpark.
As much as i like water sports, mtb is a sport to schedule into the week. Meet up with few mates ride, get adrenaline going and two beers and great time to catch up with mates that don't live close.
E mtb is growing and they have improved massively but more to go. Riding normal bike you can get passed on flat terrain only to be stuck behind on a downhill
Personally its a great exercise and don't do too much riding in hot summer holidays and after daylight saving end get into more riding to compensate for less water sports.
I got a new bike last year and its awesome, thinking e bike when I'm 60

i ride with a bunch of guys that also windsurf. or should that be the other way round.

a couple are on ebikes. it really is a lot of fun and perfect compliment to windsurfing.

some days we do both...... Send it!!!!!!

Got an eMTB, reckon I am just as rooted as I use to be after a normal mtb ride. You just get to do more downhill runs

I reckon E bikes are for the physically impaired and it's great for them. I'm 68 and really enjoy my 3 bike outings a week (road and MTB) with a group of older guys. I see it keeps them fit and something for me to aim for. One is 82 and still windsurfs very regularly!!

I'm up for an ebike when the prices come down.

there are areas i just cant access on my normal bike. i'd like to start doing back country rides and ebikes seem perfect for that.

I ride road bike for exercise.

Want e MTN Bike but too many toys - thinking seriously about e road bike and attaching to an Aluminium trailer (yet to be built ) for Sup and windsurf as parking next to water is difficult leave

Ben1973 said..
With e bikes you find you work just as hard and get the same exercise you just go quicker.

i'd doubt on an ebike you get the same stamina and endurance training.

whilst things seem fairly even on the descents, uphill on an ebike is over much faster and so requires less stamina and endurance.

gorgesailor said..

Gestalt said..

Ben1973 said..
With e bikes you find you work just as hard and get the same exercise you just go quicker.

i'd doubt on an ebike you get the same stamina and endurance training.

whilst things seem fairly even on the descents, uphill on an ebike is over much faster and so requires less stamina and endurance.

Friends that have them say they just go further - instead of a 10 mile ride they'll do 20.... so who knows. Have another friend that uses it to commute to work where a normal bike would just take too long to be practical so in his case it's replaced some driving - can't be bad.

as i posted above i was posting from first hand experience.

whilst its different for everyone people who i ride with noted that after a season on the ebike those that jumped back on their trad mtb found they had lost their stamina and couldnt keep the pace.

these were the same riders who used to say they kept their fitness because they ride twice as far.

i would hazzard a guess it comes down to duration of exersion which on a trad mtb is significantly longer on the climbs.

Gestalt said..

Ben1973 said..
With e bikes you find you work just as hard and get the same exercise you just go quicker.

i'd doubt on an ebike you get the same stamina and endurance training.

whilst things seem fairly even on the descents, uphill on an ebike is over much faster and so requires less stamina and endurance.

The amount of a workout you get on one is up to you. Someone who does it for fitness is just going to go faster, someone who's looking for a easy ride can now have one.

I've been on one since last November, I quit riding my 'acoustic' mtn. bike due to the hill I live on, it's a cardiac trying to go up it straight (too narrow and busy for zig-zagging), and 15 gears wasn't enough.
That was about 10 years ago, and have been missing riding, so I bit the bullet an bought the ebike, and now I'm addicted to riding it, 1000% better than not riding at all, and that cardiac hill is cake now. I didn't want to spend a fortune, and I knew I'd be riding about 85% on the street, but I wanted to have what it took for that 15% dirt riding. I opted for a 750 watt, rear drive, 4" x 26" fatty, 5 power assist levels, 7 gears, 24 mph max., 45 miles ave. per charge, but I can get closer to 70 because I use very little power assist, with the exception of that bitch of a hill to get back up to my house. It's a Rad Power Bike 'Rover', out of Seattle Washington, I have no idea if they are showing up down under, but many are showing up in Hawaii. Mine cost $1600 USD, w/o extras (fenders, rack, bag, rear view mirror). Best $1600 I've ever spent, racking up some serious miles when the wind isn't blowing.
Yes, that's an Ezzy sail key ring.

5' 9" what ever that is in metric. With that seat design, if I have it level, it feels like I want to slide forward, it's a pretty soft seat, and I've got a seat post shock under it, so it's actually set pretty high.
Wide open spaces where I ride, no crowds, little traffic, up and down the coast.

I have an ebike, it runs on petrol, and goes up hills really well, its made by Yamaha.

Love my EMTB, it's more exercise than shuttling or taking a chairlift and yes I do ride significantly further.
Currently DIY on a rather heavy downhill frame but the next will be on a 150mm 27.5 and a much lighter drive system. Hoping for sub 40#.

What's the point of an electric bike when the rider is still doing half the work?