I am getting an ebike this weekend to use for some of my commuting (and because it is fun).

My commute will be a little under two hours total, out and back, with one significant hill each way. And, my bike will be pedal assist and I do not plan on using the highest level.

So, those experienced with ebike commuting, how much exercise should I expect to get out of this? Would it be fair to say 2 hours on the ebike would equal 1 hour of non-ebike riding?

Depends on how much assistance you actually get/use... I know that on my set up on a 40Km ride if I am on level 1 all the time, about 14Km/35% of the ride the motor was doing basically all the work... I would have used 2 bars out of 8 of battery power. If I used level 4 for the whole ride I would have about 1 bar left out of 8 after 40Km about 30Km/75% of the ride the motor was basically doing all the work... Using throttle only, I wouldn't even make 40Km, about 30Km would be the limit with the motor doing all the work...

My question is specifically whether or not you get a workout, especially if you are using the motor on a moderate setting. So, would a two hour while commute under these conditions be similar to one hour of biking?

i need to get to wok without too much sweat, but want some exercise.

The major factors that you can control are speed, your effort, motor assist and for me with a cargo bike the amount of weight I haul. Riding an e bike is about adjusting these factors while always keeping in mind the limits of your battery. It takes a lot of self control to keep the assist low if you really want a workout. I would guess you will end up keeping the boost higher to cut your commute time while hopefully still pedaling hard and getting a workout.

But the answer is, it depends on how much you use the assist... That is why I gave the distance numbers. Level 1 assist works out at 26km of pedaling effort for every 40Km traveled, level 4 assist works out at 10Km of pedaling effort for every 40Km traveled... So, if it took me 2Hrs to ride 80 Km 1Hr on level 1 and 1Hr on level 4, I would have only pedaled 36 Km out of the 80 Km I actually went... That's 45% my pedaling effort and 55% motor effort, If I wanted more exercise I would just use less assist, as pointed out by Metal Man that's hard to do, people tend to use more and more assist as time goes by so it's up to you how much control you have on that tendency...


EDIT; Oh, and I suspect that most people with a throttle get less exercise than they think, even if they are pedaling and thinking it's still a workout...

Yep, depends on the power of your motor and the power used by your legs.

I use about 250-300 watts each (motor and legs), but that is rather unusual. The real question is, are you pedaling as hard as you do when you are not on an ebike? If so, you will get the same amount of exercise, if not you will get less. Its up to you.

I could pedal a good 300 watts on a 1000+ watt ebike. It wouldn't make much of a difference to the bike, but I would be getting a workout.

Thanks for the replies. I do think we are still on slightly different train tracks, luckily no train in sight.

So, are you saying that there is still a decent amount of exercise at the lower and medium assist levels?

I am trying to balance, on the way into work, getting some exercise but not sweating much. On the way home, I will go for more exercise.

And, my bike will be a Stromer ST2.

Seems like it... But sticking with my example from before, I would get 55% less exercise riding the 80Km assisted then I would have if I rode the 80 Km without any assist... So, you want to make sure you get exercise? You are going to have to pedal more and use less assist. It's just the way it is... I would feel like I rode 36 Km without assist, if I did what the example shows riding the 80 Km.

Kslow, I think you have the right idea. Pedal relatively easy going to work in order to avoid sweating, then kill it on the way home.

Seems like we are making this more difficult than it really is. Kinkdslow just use as much of your own energy as you wish. To make up for the rest use the electric assist.

Although I do not like high tech stuff, it sounds like level 2 on this bike can be customized. So, I guess I will just need to experiment to find that balance between exercise and sweat for the ride to work, and go Eco for the ride home. Hopefully next week I will be able to get a couple of rides in and figure some of this out.

I find that I get a very good workout, staying with no assist in flat areas, and mostly first, and occasional second or third levels in hillier or off-road areas. Consider that with any electric, you are pushing a significantly heavier bike; so, even on flat ground, sans assist, you are using at least twice as much effort as on a regular bike. Depending on your terrain, and other variables (including standard gearing), you can easily get an even tougher workout pushing a 50-pound-and-beyond machine.

It is being a bit over thought.

I can get as much work out with my e-bike as with my pedal bike because I can pedal at 250 watts on either bike. Its all in the effort I put into it.

The difference the e-bike
- I don't have to pedal if I don't want to (which means you will probably take it easy)
- the motor helps a lot with accelerating from a stop
- the commute time is shorter on the-bike.

I work up just as much sweat commuting with the ebike, because I put the same amount of power into it through my legs.

I find in order to get a workout you need to keep it in close to the highest mode and pedal fast and travel at 20 plus miles per hour. Lots of long hills as well. I wore my Garmin GPS fitness watch and my polar watch with HR monitor on a ride today of 16 miles and 1000 feet elevation gain. Polar said I burned 580 calories and my Garmin that thinks I am riding a regular bike said 1195 calories. Hills and speed are important. If you keep it in the lowest mode you will find it undesirable to pedal fast as there is little to no assist past 10 miles an hour and they are heavy bikes. I found that to be the case on the Bosch and rear drive systems.

That's funny, I find it better for more exercise it's the exact opposite... Keeping it in the lowest assist and pedaling harder to keep it at 20 MPH...

Here is the simple answer. If you sweat, you're getting some exercise. If you don't sweat, you're not getting exercise.