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1/10/2025
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Lugano
CH
Edited Date/Time
10/30/2025 11:36am
The assertion that e-bikes decrease fitness is widespread. On the surface, the reasoning appears sound: riders often feel like they have expended more energy after a normal ride compared to an e-bike ride. Therefore, normal bikes must provide superior fitness benefits, right? Not quite.
This surface-level analysis misses several crucial insights about how fitness actually works. Let's start with a simple fact: work done is work done, regardless of the bicycle beneath you. If you maintain the same effort level on an e-bike as you would on a traditional bike, you'll simply travel farther in the same time. In this instance, the motor doesn't replace your effort, it amplifies it.
But perhaps critics have a point. Maybe e-bike riders naturally slack off, coasting on electric power rather than pushing themselves. Even if we grant this assumption, it reveals a fundamental misunderstanding about effective training. If maximum effort always equaled maximum benefit, every ride would be a race, and every cyclist would be perpetually injured, overtrained, or burned out.
The reality is more nuanced. Optimal training effort varies daily, influenced by countless factors: your fitness goals, current conditioning, injury history, stress levels, sleep quality, and nutritional status, to name a few. Yesterday's optimum workout intensity might be today's recipe for disaster. This variability isn't a bug in the system, but a reflection of our biological limitations and a feature that makes e-bikes helpful training tools. They offer something that is hard to replicate in traditional bikes: precise, real-time control over your effort level, regardless of terrain.
Methodology
To test whether e-bikes allow for better control of effort, I conducted a simple experiment where I completed identical rides on both an e-bike and a traditional bike while aiming for a specific training intensity.
The goal was to keep my heart rate below 70% of maximum (Zone 2 training) during climbs, roughly 130 beats per minute in my case. This zone was chosen as, generally speaking, most cyclists should spend a significant portion of their training time here for both health and performance benefits. The nuance of how much time is beyond the scope of this article. A Polar H9 heart rate strap tracked my effort throughout both rides.
The 8 km (4.87 miles) test route embodied a typical mountain bike loop: a long, undulating climb mixing tarmac, fire roads, and technical singletrack, followed by a three-minute rest, then a steep technical descent, finishing with a short climb back to the start. By controlling for distance rather than time, I could directly compare my effort over identical terrain.
The bikes used were a Crestline LS160 (e-bike) in Turbo mode and a Raaw Madonna V3 (normal bike). Both bikes were size large and used a control set of tires and wheels: We Are One Triad 30’s laced to DT Swiss 350 hubs with a Maxxis High Roller MaxxGrip up front at 25 psi in DH casing, and a DHR II MaxxTerra out back at 28 psi in DH casing.
Both rides were completed on the same day, with the Raaw taking 57 minutes to complete on a mid-morning ride, and the Crestline taking 35 minutes to complete the same afternoon after a long break and refuelling.
Results
The data revealed a noticeable contrast in effort management between the two bikes.
On the e-bike, I successfully maintained my goal of staying below the target Zone 2 heart rate throughout the climb sections, only exceeding it during the descent where higher intensity was both expected and desired. The heart rate graph showed consistent control, staying below the 130 BPM threshold whenever intended:
The traditional bike told a different story. Despite my best efforts to moderate intensity, my heart rate repeatedly spiked above the Zone 2 threshold during climbs. Only during a brief section around the 2-kilometer mark and during easier terrain could I maintain the desired training zone:
When overlaid, both heart rate profiles followed similar patterns, rising and falling with the terrain, but consistently straddled opposite sides of the threshold line:
The numbers paint a clear picture: on the traditional bike, I stayed within my target zone only 41% of the time, compared to the e-bike's superior zone management which was over double that:
Discussion
The results illuminate why e-bikes can be effective training tools for specific fitness goals. Compared to those punchy technical climbs that forced my heart rate to spike on the traditional bike, on the e-bike, I could modulate power with motor assistance, maintaining consistent effort even when the terrain demanded more.
For some people, riding an e-bike can be a smart training choice. When your goal is Zone 2 endurance building, being forced into Zone 4 by a steep climb can be counterproductive. Using an e-bike can allow you to maintain the intended training stimulus regardless of gradient or technical difficulty.
Since incorporating e-bikes into my training, I've noticed fitness improvements. I can accumulate more miles at my target training intensity while preserving energy for high-intensity intervals on descents and strength training in the gym. This doesn't mean I've abandoned my traditional bike, far from it. Each bike serves a purpose. Like different tools in a workshop, sometimes you need a hammer; sometimes you need a scalpel.
The insight here isn't that e-bikes are "better" or "worse" for fitness, it's that they can offer enhanced control over training variables. Want to maintain perfect Zone 2 for hours on end regardless of terrain? E-bike. Need to push your VO2 max with repeated hill climbs? Maybe grab the traditional bike, or dial down the e-assist.
Summary
The debate over e-bikes and fitness often misses the point. E-bikes don't make you less or more fit, they make you exactly as fit as you choose to become. The difference lies in the precision with which you can execute your training plan. Think of an e-bike as a volume knob for your effort level. On a traditional bike, the terrain exerts a larger influence on your intensity. On an e-bike, you do. This control can enable more effective training sessions and better recovery management, but only if you use it intentionally.
The power to transform your fitness doesn't just lie in the motor. It lies in understanding how to wield that power effectively. In the end, both bikes are simply tools. The question isn't which one is better, but rather which tool helps you achieve today's training goal? And if you don’t care for training goals, just ride the bike that you find most fun. I wouldn’t be too worried about losing fitness on the e-bike. In fact for many it could actually be a good choice.
Enjoyed this analysis? For more original, data-driven MTB insights, check out www.betweenthetape.com
Interesting. I have a Shimano motor in my Tazer, I don't have any issues with super steep climbs. Just requires a very different style - I liken it to how I would go easy throttle on a 4x4, just let the bike crawl up the trail. If you go into it full boost, sitting down, trying to blast up, then yeah, it will just spin out.
I also don't find too many issues with the weight, old freeride bikes I used to pedal around were close to 50 lbs, so no big deal. I can still bunnyhop/jump mine.
All that said - they seem fragile, they chew through mtb parts like crazy, they are ridiculously expensive. I bought mine used dirt cheap and will run it until it dies. I use it here in AZ during the summer months when I want to go for a quick spin, but its 110 degrees out, but rarely ride it outside of that.
The whole "I still get a workout" thing is kind of lame in my opinion - when I rode mine a bunch, I definitely lost a lot of power in my legs and it made me then want to ride the ebike more since I didn't have the endurance anymore. Kind of a vicious cycle.
My Shimano motor has 3000 miles on it, still going strong somehow.
I think for people that can’t stand the indoor trainer, road biking or gravel riding, the e-bike is a great alternative for getting that zone 2 training volume in. The added benefit is keeping your mtb skills sharp at the same time.
I’m not sure what LePigPen is talking about with regards to most of that post. Spinning out is almost always a rider issue, or you need a new tire. Bottoming out more, take the weight of the bike into account for your suspension settings seems fairly obvious. We get it, you are too badass for us mere mortals. Go hang out with the singlespeed marathon xc people and you’ll realize there’s always another level.
Bikes are good. If I hadn’t had two knee surgery’s in 12 months I wouldn’t have a e-bike. But I do. And it’s allowing me to keep out there with a level of aggression I wasn’t expecting. Hell of a lot better than riding on a trainer…
Was it fun though? Thats all that matters.
"The whole "I still get a workout" thing is kind of lame in my opinion - when I rode mine a bunch, I definitely lost a lot of power in my legs and it made me then want to ride the ebike more since I didn't have the endurance anymore."
The nuance is how you use the e-bike and how it fits in with all your other training. If you are only e-biking and not intentional about how you use it, then sure you could loose power and fitness. But it doesn't detract that they can be a great compliment to your workout in other situations.
A lot of words for some flawed study.
Optimal zone 2 is between 60% and 70%. How much of your ebike time was below 60%? Does your HR not have an upper and lower alarm setting? Were you just riding be "feel" then looking at the data after? Could you not have backed off or clicked into an easier gear in the spots where you were well above Zone 2?
Mtb on varied terrain is just crappy for steady state zone 2 and this is well know. Flat road is going to going to be better as it's much easier to hold a steady state in Z2.
You had it right in saying "work done is work done". Your body doesn't care if it's zwift, ebike, mtb, road bike or a recumbent. All that matters is that you actually the work in the target zone for the prescribed time.
Is this just a low key flex that you own two of the coolest bikes on the market?? 😂😂
Fair enough.
I'm sure if someone is dedicated and using it as a recovery tool, sure - but they are probably already fit. Or as someone else mentioned, if you are injured and rehabbing - then yeah, its probably better than nothing. Anecdotally, the riders I know who now ride their ebikes almost exclusively have definitely lost fitness.
Those same riders also now blast around everywhere in full boost mode the entire time. So...yeah. I like my ebike and its a fun toy, that's about it.
(I also do not "train" or race, so this is all from someone who just likes pedaling bikes, I don't take any of it that seriously)
I think just from the people I know that ride an ebike the majority of the time, when they get back on a regular bike they say that its like riding on flat tires. Or riding through sand. And they forgot how much more effort it takes on a regular bike. Not sure how that equates to fitness but it seems to have an effect on strength. No doubt its still gotta keep you stronger and more fit than just sitting on the couch though. I think Its like what you were saying about how it depends on the way you ride the ebike. It is totally possible to ride an ebike with the strength you would use on a normal bike. But most people I think dont have that sort of discipline. It is far more convenient to let the bike do most the work. Does that matter though? I think it just depends who you ask. Bein outside riding beats being stuck sittin inside any day of the week, no matter what kind of bike you are on.
Well said!
https://youtu.be/NewEhpBgY20?si=s7-UNBf9ehpC6W-5
Horses for courses. I ride pretty much only ebikes now for a variety of reasons. I'm 58 and grew up when my xc bike was a bullit with super t's on dh tires and tubes, so the weight doesnt really matter to me. I really only ride 2 places, out my garage and at a pedal up bike park (Sky Tavern). The trails I ride out my garage are a blend of multi use (moto and mtb) trails climbing up with techy, off the menu trails coming down, they're really only climable (for me) on an ebike. I usually ride in trail mode (shimano motor) and I do average around 140bpm with peaks of 165 (over my theoretical max) on the upper part (steep) and keep it in eco on the mellower climbs lower down. I would say that yes, I get an overall similar workout to my pedal bikes but get a better workout going down. the other trail system in Sky Tavern which is a pedal up bike park, i typically ride it twice a week during summer and do 8 laps at ~5k' climbing in 21.5 miles and try to keep a good cadence at 135bpm for climbing with peaks of 165 on an optional steeper section of climb. All the while, throwing the ebike around technical DH trails is a killer total body workout, my shoulders and arms are jacked afterwards. I would not call it a recovery ride, just a ride that would take me 5 hours and leave me exhausted instead of 2.5 hours and get a great nights sleep. So, I guess the point is that it's hard to definitively say which is the better tool, for me it's evolved into the ebike and you'll take it from my cold, dead hands. I was a D1 wrestler so pain isnt something I'm scared of, I seek it out, and I do it on an ebike.
Good read.
I ride for fun now, all rides lead to the pub so regardless I'm having 5 schooners after the ride, any fitness aspects are moot.
If I ride my "meat powered" hardtail there is a sense of acheivment, my legs are sore, my ass is sore. The beers are delicious
If I ride my 170mm eeb, my upper body muscles are sore, my ass is sore, the beers are still delicious
You just choose the right tool for the job that day. If I have nothing on all day I'll ride the hardtail at a leisurely pace and enjoy the simplicity of it all. If I have 1.5 hours I'll take the big eeb and smash out 25km without stopping for a sip of water pretty much.
TLDR; Bikes are sick no matter what, beer is delicious. Combined it cant be beat.
Personally, I would just rather ride 2-3 times a week on my e-bike, doing multiple laps on my favorite trails. Versus one or maybe two rides a week on non-e-bike, doing 1 lap and being smoked.
This was e-bike ride this morning 15miles, 3,500ft elevation gain.
This seems like a strong attempt to rationalize an e-bike for an excuse to use an e-bike. You could just as easily tailor your effort or course on a standard bike to hit values that were the same. And as someone pointed out, highly variable mountain bike trails probably aren’t where you should be doing your low intensity/high volume work anyway.
The real justification for an e-bike would be recovery days. Days you should be keeping effort very low but you still want to get outside and on trail a bit. An e-bike would let you ride actual trails on these days without negatively impacting recovery.
Reminds me of the Orwell quote...some ideas are so stupid only intellectuals believe them.
This feels like an advertisement for a pseudo science blog.
Loved this quick clip. The man knows what he's talking about.
Obviously, as others have pointed out, there's an ocean of difference between a casual rider who gets on an ebike and unconsciously drops their intensity level to something comfortable vs. a professional athlete who's tearing their heart out in high-intensity training blocks and using an ebike for structured low-intensity recovery rides. But for the professional athlete, I imagine an ebike is a godsend for spicing up the zone 2 training and recovery.
Good write up for sure.
Kinda reminds me of my golf game. I keep score by "did I have fun?" Birdies, pars, bogeys, lost balls. I don't really care.
I love riding bikes. That's what makes me happy.
At least me and my bros are out there. That's what matters.
And that's all I need.
Whole bunch of my friends got e-bikes because they are true die hards that just want to ride more all the time. It will be fairly obvious if they're actually fitter in a couple of years on the regular bikes because they did a ton more zone 2 mileage than me. I am positive none of them will be doing true structured riding.
If nothing else it will be fun bro-science to follow along to. I'm not planning on buying one.
Where i live its either up or down. Mostly steep. It is pretty much a hard job to even stay in z3.
The e bike therefore helps a lot. Ride the same trails, stay in Z2. Builds base, needs less recovery. go full blast with the spaghetti powered bike, build strength and explosivity, needs more recovery. Yes you could also go full ham on the ebike and train anaerobic and sprints. Even Threshold would also be easly possible (probably the hardest on the e-bike i guess..) so you could argue you don't need the spaghetti bike for training reasons.
A couple of friends of mine are professionel skiiers (alpine and freestyle) the national federation told them to get an e-Bike for training reasons. Efficency.
If you're not into zones and training. Does it even matter? Ride whatever feels better for you.
"Optimal zone 2 is between 60% and 70%. How much of your ebike time was below 60%? Does your HR not have an upper and lower alarm setting?"
The write up states "the goal was to keep my heart rate below 70% of maximum (Zone 2 training) during climbs", the emphasis here being on below. Admittedly, the use of "training" in parentheses in this sentence is confusing and could have been better.
"Could you not have backed off or clicked into an easier gear in the spots where you were well above Zone 2?"
On the hard parts of the climbs on the Raaw, I was in my easiest gear, trying as hard as I could to keep my heart rate as low as possible while still maintaining enough traction to be able to ride. I just simply was not able to keep my heart rate below the upper Zone 2 threshold due to the nature of some of the climbs.
"Mtb on varied terrain is just crappy for steady state zone 2 and this is well know."
I agree. Which is why I believe e-bikes can be useful training tools because they can allow you to modulate your effort on varied terrain.
A lot of words posted already, I'll try to add my experience in short form:
Got my first ebike in 2018, until 2020 I only rode in eco mode and was 50-50 between the ebike and my enduro bike. During this period I don't think I lost too much power or endurance, I was still racing enduro, although I was starting to get less hours on the bike overall vs before.
During the lockdown 2020, I lost a lot of power and fitness and bought myself a second battery for my ebike, started riding in trail and eventually turbo modes. From there on, I almost never took the enduro bike out again.
Another factor is having kids, but basically went from 2010-2020 most weeks getting 4-8hours on the saddle + an all day epic on the weekend. From 2020 onward that becomes more like 2-4hours during the week and occasionally a big morning ride on the weekend.
As you can guess, I am in the worst shape of my life right now, but still not dadbod mode. I am also regularly doing my "best ride ever" thanks to the powerful motor and giant batteries.
So while yes, if you have the discipline to stay in lower assist modes, and don't get bored of riding your local trails 2-3x more, the ebike can be a great tool, but in my riding circle most people either lost fitness over the long run or sold the ebike.
Except Orwell never actually said that at all, so get back on your Google machine and do some research because you are actually talking about yourself & your ideas, not Orwell or this article... did you even read it?
What Orwell was talking about at the time was some intellectuals who supported totalitarianism – and obviously this article is about Ebikes - with data - and making strong point about training zones, so your quote & logic here is about as relevant and sharp as a spent chainring
First of all, this is an exceptional article that is well done, is not even biased towards e-bikes and it puts some facts and data to the comparison between the two
I was on team anti-E bike for years thinking how core I was & that E's were for newbs and lazy people. But after a catastrophic knee injury & multiple surgeries, an E was the only thing that kept me moving outdoors in my beautiful mountains (gravel roads) vs sitting on a fan bike in my house... my sense of gratefulness to even be out on simple zero-gnar gravel roads skyrocketed
Once I recovered and started jumping, hitting features harder, tricks, etc. the downhill and the enduro bikes began to feel like toys...total score and entirely unexpected bonus
More so, the idea that you have workout every time you ride or only when you're riding, or that only riding a regular bike "makes you strong" is complete and total junk. I now work out more times a week off the bike (and enjoy it) than I could when I was only regular biking and I'm stronger, a better rider & have more fun. I work out off the bike and focus on total fun on the Ebike. I wish I could say I enjoyed riding my 39 pound Capra as much now but it gets pinged around and is completely unstable compared to the E - even the downhill bike feels like I could add another 3 to 5 pounds
A few young bucks (or even old buck) bros are always gonna feed their egos & swear how core, ripped & thus better they are because they ride a regular bike and if so - wonderful. Enjoy. But to spew a bunch of nonsense about E's & E-riders – many of us who have been riding longer than many riders have been alive - and earned our fuckin lunch - it is just pure junk.
Face it - literally every DH pro & even the Enduro riders are training on them because they can get in these zone 2 trainings way easier (and rode on their days off). Last week Connor Fearon regaled his new E and how he wished he had gotten on it earlier so he can do more laps, train more, and how much more like a downhill bike it is. Danny, Akrigg & Kyle absolutely love the Bikes and have taken them to all new level levels - so put that in your pipe.
The fact that anyone even have to justify riding an e-bike with data based articles like this (versus people that have zero data & just want to boast & badmouth) shows the level of maturity we are at, when in the end ...
... it's just about riding bikes and having fun. Do that on whatever fuckin bike(s) ya like and if ya don't like certain bikes - gripe to yourself, because no one gives a shit
Unless you’re doing 20 hours a week specific zone 2 training is for people who listen to too many podcasts
It's called paraphrasing and he did say it.
Intellectuals come up with graphs that are rationalizations for the conclusions they predetermined. See above.
Choose your toy and be a dick about it.
You didn't even paraphrase it - you entirely took it out of context from someone else "quoting it" out of context. More so you're applying confusing your idea of an "intellectual" with actual scientific method / data analysis which is like saying all plants must be trees.
Are there some intellectuals who have nothing but ideas and no actual experience? Sure. How many of those are scientists? Who knows! But the scientific method is the exact opposite of what you're saying - and clearly you don't have any actual experience with it because the point isn't to align data or findings with your thesis but to ask a question and see if the current body of information supports it or not - and even then best scientists (vs hacks) literally attempt to disprove themselves to find what is true and fully thresh out the junk - which is the exact opposite of the nonsense you are saying
That you are even lumping "intellectuals" with science shows that you are confused about these two (of 1000's of fields of study and any form of higher learning (and obviously science) or what it even means to pose a question and then gather information to support or disprove the idea - which is the basis of science but not at all "intellectualism". There are literally 1000's if not infinite avenues where "intellectuals" are involved from political think tanks to math to bikes & mechanical engineering / science, computer science, sociology, ecology - even religion. All of these horrible humans you dislike for their minds is why you're even typing on a computer, have electricity, food, cars, or medicine, roads, tires on your bike, and didn't already die of measels at age 2+.
Seriously - if you're just slamming "intellectuals" but you can't even separate or see the difference them and scientists or data analysts, and can't cut through that simple mashed potato concept - the problem is yours, not ours or intellectuals or science of the sci-method. And if you despise the works of intellect, science, etc - then stop using all the products of it which means you just live in the dirt in a cave
I can tell you didn't even read the article, but even if you did, you've narrowed your mind so much, you couldn't even discuss it without bias
Is the science in the room with us right now?
No but the imaginary room you're in doesn't seem to have lights, running water, heat or AC, but does have a lifetime supply of hyperbole and cliches😆
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