Originally Posted by
InTheRain
Exactly. I commute by bicycle to get to work. It's not a fitness thing for me. I like to ride for fitness also, but that's a different bike, different route, different time commitment, different clothing, and I don't carry a ton of gear. I get a lot of grief from folks in the forum about an ebike... like it's not really riding a bike or commuting by bike. The motor makes the ride much more comfortable, easier to carry whatever gear I want, gets me to my destination faster... all with the benefits of cycling except for the same fitness level that I would get if I were riding a fixed gear bike (yet everyone rides a geared bike for similar benefits that I get from an ebike.)
It's probably not cool to ride an ebike, either. However, I don't really look cool on my carbon fiber road bike either. I'm not going to impress anyone on a bike of any kind. But... I don't have a problem at all with any of the hills on my commute.
I rode a CF non ebike to commute for years. The past two years my commute has included one hill that is a mile at 12 degrees, with a short break in the middle and on the way home a half mile hill with the same elevation gain, almost, as the hill on the way to work. So, I had to HTFU to do this. And, it still sucked! After 32 years of martial arts, my knees are not so great, to the point that I could not do this commute any three days in a row.
So, I got an ebike. The exercise is much better than I expected, given I get to pick the assist level. So, just enough assist to keep my knees safe.
I don't see commuting as some challenge the OP should face. If needed, put MTB gearing on your bike and it will no longer be an issue at 26 X 42 (even 50 if you want to go crazy). Or, get an Ebike and just use the minimum assist. Screw cool, get good exercise and call it a day.