Originally Posted by
burnthesheep
I used to disagree, but now agree.
The only person that truly knows if they're still doing the 150w on the ebike outside of a controlled study or experiment is the person riding the ebike.
It's 100% true it can benefit folks to do this. It's just the personal choice to follow through.
I know personally only the folks that chose to do the work on the e-bike. I only can view from a distance many people riding the greenway behind my house not pedalling whatsoever (it's pan flat) choosing to not do the work. I do not know any of those people personally.
I've definitely seen older people pedaling their ebikes with some effort, and had a conversation with a couple who definitely were doing so because it was more fun to cover the bigger distance for the same effort. I didn't know them, but don't think they were lying.
I don't want an ebike myself, but I don't see anything mysterious about why anyone else would want one regardless of how fit they are. It just means they don't ride for the same purposes I do or at least not the same way I serve that purpose.