Originally Posted by
merlinextraligh
Simple logic tells you that the ebike rider is getting less of a workout than on a non assisted bike. Otherwise, there would be no reason for the electrical assist.
If you go to bentrider.com and do a search in the recumbent trike forum postings you will see that actual experience with an e-assisted trike beats your "logic." I rode non e-assisted trikes for years. My average speed over the mildly rolling terrain where I live never exceeded 10mph. Some of the hills slowed me down to 3mph in a 15" gear. I wear a heart monitor to satisfy my curiosity as to how hard I'm working. I got a torque sensing $10,000 ICE trike with the Shimano Sprint motor and aerobically speaking my workouts are more intense because I can keep a steady higher cadence and I'm just more motivated to work harder because of the speed. So now my average speed is 15mph. (I'm 81 with dual knee replacements.)