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eMTB Fitness Results

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#21 ·
Muse MTB said:
not missing any power with heavy squats and deadlifts...even my XC racing days never hurt my legs like a good gym session does. With the riding being complimentary to the lifting, I get stronger at both and have more fun than doing just one.

And my lowest setting on my ebike is barely enough to offset the weight of the bike...feels about 98% of my normal bike. I try to keep it there, or even motor off, on most of my rides, with short jumps into boost just for bad hills.
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Yeah, the emtb workout works very well when complemented with another painful, power form of exercise.

The lowest setting on the ebike is good. And so is turning the motor off. But for the long term... they're not very sustainable. It's possible to work very hard on an emtb, but it's not very rewarding, so few can keep it up.

But the true test.. time trial up a 2000-foot hill on a regular mtb and check the data.
 
#22 ·
Muse MTB said:
I just pulled up my Strava data from the past year. In the 6 months BEFORE I bought my Orbea Rise, I rode 7 times and had a nearly 3 month window with no riding. Since buying my Orbea in NOV 2024, I have done 37 mtn bike rides, and other than 2 times (due to travel or sickness) have not gone more than a week between rides. That recent activity includes a number of single speed rides that I would NOT have done without the fitness build up from the eMTB rides.

So basically I am riding 6x as much now as I was before the eMTB...I will take that!

And before anyone says I am just lazy, the reason I quit riding 4x a week back in 2024 was because riding was interfering with my heavy gym sessions (4-6x weekly). Thanks to the eMTB, I can now enjoy riding without impacting my gym efforts. Averaging 10+ hours of exercise a week this year between the gym, walking my Mutts, and the occasional rides.
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Do you track your HR?
- Specifically Z2 and VO2 Max?
 
#23 ·
Enplus said:
Do you track your HR?
- Specifically Z2 and VO2 Max?
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You see this a little with golf.

Someone who plays once or twice a month goes out and buys all new gear and now to justify the purchase they're playing once or twice per week. Now is it the new gear? Possibly. Normally it's the fact they are playing much more that's made the real difference.
Ultimately if you were barely riding a normal bike and now suddenly ride an Ebike all the time, I'm sure you'd be fitter.

But it's not really an apples and apples comparison. If you rode your bike seven times in six months. But then the next six months you rode it thirty seven times you'd see a collosal difference.
 
#24 ·
Mudguard said:
You see this a little with golf.

Someone who plays once or twice a month goes out and buys all new gear and now to justify the purchase they're playing once or twice per week. Now is it the new gear? Possibly. Normally it's the fact they are playing much more that's made the real difference.
Ultimately if you were barely riding a normal bike and now suddenly ride an Ebike all the time, I'm sure you'd be fitter.

But it's not really an apples and apples comparison. If you rode your bike seven times in six months. But then the next six months you rode it thirty seven times you'd see a collosal difference.
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It's a genuine question though.

I'm quite interested in those two specific metrics because I struggle personally with staying in zone and maximising the fitness reward.

Even a broad sense of what his general exertion level is like is interesting. I've never had serious time on an e-bike - I'd like to know whether you're likely to creep into higher levels of exertion and whether your perception of effort and speed end up creeping as you get used to the power.

Related, I'd love to know whether you're more likely to ride just knowing it hurts less.
 
#25 ·
Mudguard said:
I don't think 100 is outrageous on a push bike? Most of my riding is at about 90rpm?
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90rpm on 16% grade vs 26% is very different. I was on a demo Bosch SX motor, came to a steep grade on a xc race course, and decide to draw full power from the mid level motor. Not sure I can sustain that effort if it was 2 miles 2000 feet as someone referenced.
 
#26 ·
Enplus said:
Do you track your HR?
- Specifically Z2 and VO2 Max?
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I do.

Enplus said:
I'd like to know whether you're likely to creep into higher levels of exertion and whether your perception of effort and speed end up creeping as you get used to the power.
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Not really. You learn your relationship with the bike and dial in modes accordingly.

Enplus said:
Related, I'd love to know whether you're more likely to ride just knowing it hurts less.
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Absolutely, if you’ve got terrain that makes Z2 stupid slow or impractical without assist.
 
#28 ·
YMMV. Even on technical terrain, eMTB rides do not have the same cardio impact as a regular MTB ride. 20-30 bpm lower. Hands and upper body are just as worked, maybe more, but it's simply not going to get you in peak fitness riding only eMTB unless you're also pushing yourself REALLY hard and keeping it in eco mode or power off. I find myself using my eMTB for occasional fun rides and the MTB and gravel bike (and gym) are where I build fitness.
 
#29 ·
One thing that continually mystifies me is why people go so slow uphill on the eMTBs.

If the point of the ebike is to get more miles in per hour of riding...why aren't you doing it?

Could be a local phenomenon but I see a lot of people straight up crawling uphill on their ebikes. Why not go faster?
 
#30 ·
Le Duke said:
One thing that continually mystifies me is why people go so slow uphill on the eMTBs.

If the point of the ebike is to get more miles in per hour of riding...why aren't you doing it?

Could be a local phenomenon but I see a lot of people straight up crawling uphill on their ebikes. Why not go faster?
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"If the point of the ebike is to get more miles in per hour of riding...why aren't you doing it?"

That is ONE thing the ebike enables. It's good. But not everyone is into that. The other points of the ebike are:
  • do longer rides. Maybe 30 miles instead of 12? Climb 6000 feet instead of 2000
  • climb some much steeper trails, and maybe descend them too
  • get lost, explore, do new trails, new routes
  • ride to the trailhead instead of driving
  • ride more days.
  • ride with different folks, slower or faster than you
  • armor up, use big tires, progress.

So yes, one of the possibilities is riding faster and doing a ride in less time. But... there is so much more possible so a slow pace by emtb shouldn't be a mystery.
 
#31 ·
RickBullottaPA said:
YMMV. Even on technical terrain, eMTB rides do not have the same cardio impact as a regular MTB ride. 20-30 bpm lower. Hands and upper body are just as worked, maybe more, but it's simply not going to get you in peak fitness riding only eMTB unless you're also pushing yourself REALLY hard and keeping it in eco mode or power off. I find myself using my eMTB for occasional fun rides and the MTB and gravel bike (and gym) are where I build fitness.
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So, so true. Peak fitness is unlikely with ebike. One may ride in ECO or turn the motor off a few times but... in the long term, it is unrewarding so it's hard to stay motivated. Good to take the XC or trail bike out once in a while and hammer OR get hammered and then try again.
 
#32 ·
Spacechopper said:
Does anyone know if it’s possible to omit the e-bike subforum from showing up on my homepage? I keep clicking on this garbage and I’d rather just not see it.
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Sounds like a 'you' problem. Maybe work on developing some self control?

 
#33 ·
Enplus said:
It's a genuine question though.

I'm quite interested in those two specific metrics because I struggle personally with staying in zone and maximising the fitness reward.

Even a broad sense of what his general exertion level is like is interesting. I've never had serious time on an e-bike - I'd like to know whether you're likely to creep into higher levels of exertion and whether your perception of effort and speed end up creeping as you get used to the power.

Related, I'd love to know whether you're more likely to ride just knowing it hurts less.
Click to expand...
Ebike has a lot of benefits but achieving peak fitness isn't one of them. It's just not the right tool for the job since it is very unrewarding and not conducive to getting PRs and lactate threshold.

Plus the motor really helps at the 10 'o clock position, turning the cranks over... every single time. So you lose that power and that resolve

But as a supplement the regular mtb to build base fitness and ride more, it is awesome. And the downhill/cornering learning is very real.
 
#34 ·
Le Duke said:
One thing that continually mystifies me is why people go so slow uphill on the eMTBs.

If the point of the ebike is to get more miles in per hour of riding...why aren't you doing it?

Could be a local phenomenon but I see a lot of people straight up crawling uphill on their ebikes. Why not go faster?
Click to expand...
Damned if we do, damned if we don’t.
 
#35 ·
Le Duke said:
One thing that continually mystifies me is why people go so slow uphill on the eMTBs.

If the point of the ebike is to get more miles in per hour of riding...why aren't you doing it?

Could be a local phenomenon but I see a lot of people straight up crawling uphill on their ebikes. Why not go faster?
Click to expand...
Because it actually requires some skill, too - particularly on technical terrain and even more so on wet/greasy technical terrain.
 
#36 ·
I ride the Levo about 5-6 times a week and the Stumpy once. Works for me. I'm generally one of the two fastest riders in my group of riding (non E) friends, none of whom own an e-bike.

Changing my diet combined with the E-bike, I've gone from 195-200 pounds ready to ride to 179-184 #.
 
#37 ·
Sadly, I'm just not riding the ebike much this year....yet. I tend to reserve it for longer harder rides, and until now, most of that stuff has been snowed in.

So far for 2025 I've done,
5 ebike rides covering 55 miles in 5.5 hours
44 bike rides covering 531 miles in 55.5 hours
129 dog walks covering 88 miles in 27 hours

My current fitness isn't great. Did a two hour ride last weekend and I was cooked. Clearly, I need to ride the ebike more. 😁

.
 
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#39 ·
mlx john said:
I ride the Levo about 5-6 times a week and the Stumpy once. Works for me. I'm generally one of the two fastest riders in my group of riding (non E) friends, none of whom own an e-bike.

Changing my diet combined with the E-bike, I've gone from 195-200 pounds ready to ride to 179-184 #.
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This is the way. I ride about 15-20 times a month, a couple of those on regular mtb. I'm turning 60 this year and my fitness is better than ever. Speed and hillclimb PR's are a no-go anymore. But great on distance and altitude gain. Fatigue and recovery are harder now.

Whenever I ride pure emtb, my fitness turns to **** (although i smile bigger). I use the regular mtb for a reality check and for goal-setting.
 
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