Logging ebike riding?

KeshNZ

NorthCascades wrote: »

You're sitting down and you have a motor doing most of the work for you. It's fewer calories than walking (where you support your own weight).

If you really want to know, attach a power meter, probably a pedal based one.

I wouldn't say that the motor is doing most of the work at all. I still break a sweat and my heart rate goes up. I don't break a sweat walking unless I'm powerwalking or it's a half hour uphill hike or it's a hot day.

This is my bike: https://www.reidcycles.com.au/reid-pulse-matte-black.html

I'm starting to get the feeling that some people think that using pedal assistant ebikes (read not throttle driven) is "cheating" and really easy? It's not if you don't use the mid-high motor settings like I do.

I really don't understand how anyone could think it doesn't count as exercise and doesn't burn any calories when I'm riding for 2 hours a day, 5 days a week, breaking a sweat, feeling my muscles aching, feeling myself getting stronger each day and getting my heart rate up (especially on the mostly uphill ride home).

Anyway I didn't come here to justify my choice of exercise. I came to ask what I should log the exercise as in my app and I now know that I can customise an exercise myself. Thanks to those that helped me with this 🙂

MeanderingMammal

Machka9 wrote: »

MeanderingMammal wrote: »

Machka9 wrote: »

KeshNZ wrote: »

Machka9 wrote: »

So to sum up ... you're using the motor the whole time. Right?

Then ... you wouldn't log it, would you? Would you log a motorcycle ride? No, of course not.

It's a pedelec bike, I'm still working quite hard to keep the bike moving on the lowest setting, plus I'm usually riding in the higher gears for extra resistance. Why would I not log 2 hours of riding like that a day as exercise?

1) Have you tried doing your 2 hours of riding with no motor? You might discover a different definition of "working quite hard" ... for comparison.

That's really quite harsh.

Whilst e-bikes aren't as much work as proper bikes, they're not effortless.

Not harsh ... I just wanted to know if there was an effort difference between no motor and motor.

I read over it a few times thinking about whether to comment or not. The first time I read it I winced.

I'd liken it to someone saying they'd had a tough time at a 5K then suggesting that they should run a Half and then see whether that 5K was tough or not.

Completely different events.

Pedalling an e-bike means you're pushing a lot of dead weight around. You could reasonably all whether riding a carbon TT bike for two hours is more work than a CX or MTB for two hours.

NorthCascades

KeshNZ wrote: »

NorthCascades wrote: »

You're sitting down and you have a motor doing most of the work for you. It's fewer calories than walking (where you support your own weight).

If you really want to know, attach a power meter, probably a pedal based one.

I wouldn't say that the motor is doing most of the work at all. I still break a sweat and my heart rate goes up. I don't break a sweat walking unless I'm powerwalking or it's a half hour uphill hike or it's a hot day.

This is my bike: https://www.reidcycles.com.au/reid-pulse-matte-black.html

I'm starting to get the feeling that some people think that using pedal assistant ebikes (read not throttle driven) is "cheating" and really easy? It's not if you don't use the mid-high motor settings like I do.

I really don't understand how anyone could think it doesn't count as exercise and doesn't burn any calories when I'm riding for 2 hours a day, 5 days a week, breaking a sweat, feeling my muscles aching, feeling myself getting stronger each day and getting my heart rate up (especially on the mostly uphill ride home).

Anyway I didn't come here to justify my choice of exercise. I came to ask what I should log the exercise as in my app and I now know that I can customise an exercise myself. Thanks to those that helped me with this 🙂

You don't have to justify your choice of exercise to anybody. The fact that you're doing any exercise at all puts you in a better place than most people.

This is a weight loss forum. People have a natural tendency to overestimate the number of calories they burn through exercise, and underestimate what they eat.

I'm sorry if my post came off as harsh. I don't believe you're burning many calories, but that shouldn't matter to you. If you'd like to find out, you have two choices:

Get a power meter. I would love to see your data if you do.

Log meticulously, and compare your rate of weight loss against what the numbers predict.

Machka9

MeanderingMammal wrote: »

Machka9 wrote: »

MeanderingMammal wrote: »

Machka9 wrote: »

KeshNZ wrote: »

Machka9 wrote: »

So to sum up ... you're using the motor the whole time. Right?

Then ... you wouldn't log it, would you? Would you log a motorcycle ride? No, of course not.

It's a pedelec bike, I'm still working quite hard to keep the bike moving on the lowest setting, plus I'm usually riding in the higher gears for extra resistance. Why would I not log 2 hours of riding like that a day as exercise?

1) Have you tried doing your 2 hours of riding with no motor? You might discover a different definition of "working quite hard" ... for comparison.

That's really quite harsh.

Whilst e-bikes aren't as much work as proper bikes, they're not effortless.

Not harsh ... I just wanted to know if there was an effort difference between no motor and motor.

I read over it a few times thinking about whether to comment or not. The first time I read it I winced.

I'd liken it to someone saying they'd had a tough time at a 5K then suggesting that they should run a Half and then see whether that 5K was tough or not.

Completely different events.

Pedalling an e-bike means you're pushing a lot of dead weight around. You could reasonably all whether riding a carbon TT bike for two hours is more work than a CX or MTB for two hours.

Well, actually ...

I ran a 5K event just the other weekend, and part of my prep was reminding myself that I successfully did a 10K in January.

And ...

Once, some time ago, someone asked me how to make cycling a century (100 miles) easier. My response was, "Cycle a double century". Once you've cycled double the distance, half the distance isn't so bad. I've used that example several time since.

And ...

I have done comparisons between my 40 lb mtn bike with knobby tyres and my lightweight sport touring bicycle over a century distance and a 200 km distance to see the difference. Incidentally, cycling 200 km with that mtn bike is actually slightly more difficult than cycling 300 km with the lightweight bicycle over similar terrain and similar weather. But then, I did have a torn rotator cuff when I rode the 200 km with the mtn bike, so that might have been a factor too.

I've also done comparisons between two different forks on the same bicycle. I cycled a century with the carbon fork one weekend, then cycled a century with the steel fork the next weekend. There wasn't much difference at all, so I kept the steel fork.

And ...

After I ran the 5K event, one of my coworkers, who is also a cyclist, asked me a question I had asked myself because it is a question which cyclists do ask: "What would a 5K equate to in cycling?" I thought about it a moment and said, "Probably about 25-30 km." 25-30 km on a bicycle is longer, but just considering perceived effort, and how I feel after each, that would be the comparison for me at this point.

There's another runner + cyclist at work who would give a different answer ... for him, 5 km running would probably be more like 15 km on the bicycle. It is different for different people.


So .... that's just how my mind works.

Machka9

NorthCascades wrote: »

KeshNZ wrote: »

NorthCascades wrote: »

You're sitting down and you have a motor doing most of the work for you. It's fewer calories than walking (where you support your own weight).

If you really want to know, attach a power meter, probably a pedal based one.

I wouldn't say that the motor is doing most of the work at all. I still break a sweat and my heart rate goes up. I don't break a sweat walking unless I'm powerwalking or it's a half hour uphill hike or it's a hot day.

This is my bike: https://www.reidcycles.com.au/reid-pulse-matte-black.html

I'm starting to get the feeling that some people think that using pedal assistant ebikes (read not throttle driven) is "cheating" and really easy? It's not if you don't use the mid-high motor settings like I do.

I really don't understand how anyone could think it doesn't count as exercise and doesn't burn any calories when I'm riding for 2 hours a day, 5 days a week, breaking a sweat, feeling my muscles aching, feeling myself getting stronger each day and getting my heart rate up (especially on the mostly uphill ride home).

Anyway I didn't come here to justify my choice of exercise. I came to ask what I should log the exercise as in my app and I now know that I can customise an exercise myself. Thanks to those that helped me with this 🙂

You don't have to justify your choice of exercise to anybody. The fact that you're doing any exercise at all puts you in a better place than most people.

This is a weight loss forum. People have a natural tendency to overestimate the number of calories they burn through exercise, and underestimate what they eat.

I'm sorry if my post came off as harsh. I don't believe you're burning many calories, but that shouldn't matter to you. If you'd like to find out, you have two choices:

Get a power meter. I would love to see your data if you do.

Log meticulously, and compare your rate of weight loss against what the numbers predict.

Yes!! It would be interesting!!

KeshNZ

Yeah sorry don't wanna fork out hundred for a power meter sorry! I'll just go with my gut feeling, log ~200 calories an hour and worry if I start gaining weight :-)