I will just recommend to reserve your final judgment until you spend some time on one.

You can work as hard as you want on one, but as a long-time cyclist, I'm sure you would put in enough work to keep your fitness if you were to get one. The difference is that not every ride has to be for fitness. It can be just a way to stay active for local trips and shopping. Or just "going for a bike ride" like we did as kids, not "going cycling".

BUT, if they want to continue to ride with their friends, wouldn’t you agree that an e-bike is a good way to keep those connections rather than slowly riding solo? Connections to others are one of the most important aspects of life, especially as we age.

Yep, we have a couple club members between age 75-85 who still ride with us, who wouldn't otherwise be able to without an eBike.
One of them hosts about 15 members in her basement for Zwift riding each winter when they "go underground".
Not only that, but the eBike gives them options of rides to join.

The Backstory:
I have infrequent AFIB, maybe once every two or three months for a couple/few hours. It first started back in 2017 after major back surgery. Prior to the surgery I had become worn down from the pain then got my surgery. Not long after the surgery I got a bad chest infection that was going around, then AFIB hit out nowhere. Quite a shocker since I'd been an athlete my whole life.

My cardio guy, I call him my "Electrician" did an ablation procedure and that "fixed" it, sort of. It was the right thing to do FOR ME. I have on-demand meds to take if I go into AFIB, but, to answer your question.....ask your doctor.

Once I stabilized after the ablation MY doctor told me that yes, I can ride, and hard too. He just told me to be careful and mindful of my heartbeat and if it starts coming on, take the meds. So, for the past 8 years I've been living with infrequent AFIB and it hasn't slowed me down at all.

drlogik-
Excellent advice! An MD might actually know more about a complex medical condition than a bunch of random bike riders, but where's the fun in that?

Heresy!!! Says a randumb biker.

I just listened to episode 87 of Inside Exercise. Glenn interviews Paul Thompson, former chief of cardiology at Hartford Hospital and a professor with expertise in the effects of exercise on the heart and treatment options. Fascinating discussion of how having a larger heart increases the risk of AFIB. They discuss the pluses and minuses of exercising intensely vs moderately and several related topics. If this topic interests you, I recommend a listen. It’s on YouTube and other streaming platforms.

Otto

I'm not knocking those that ride ebikes, to each their own. Variety is the spice of life.
Who knows having afib now I may have one some day if I could ever afford one.
I always thought that e-bikes would have more Friction to overcome on flat terrain when you'd want to peddle.

There are lots of reasons to ride "e" beyond the obvious, including, but not limited to going further on a ride than you could without assistance, riding something that your built, diversity, injury and help while healing, keeping up with faster riders or a partner or them keeping up with you, cargo including taking kids to school, etc (I could go on and on). A kit could be as inexpensive as $600 including a safe battery. The DIY kit on my daughter's bike is close to 11 years old and still functioning well (it was at Burning Man last week, but I don't know how much riding she was able to do).

Last summer (2024) in Canada, I saw a fair number of ebikes being ridden by people even I would call elderly, they were invariably being shadowed by another bike, e or not e, ridden by someone apparently 20-30 years younger than the egeezer. My impression was that it was an adult child of an elderly parent, out for a pleasant ride with the parent. It seemed a nice way to get them both out for some exercise and a change of scenery.

Hey, this free advice is worth every penny!

All we can do is share our anecdotes.
Believe it or not, that can be helpful. It can bring up questions for the MD that may not have been considered. Maybe they WERE considered but discounted, if so, the patient would still be glad to know that.

Re. affordability, decent ones start at $800, and like regular bikes, you can spend as much as you want, to get "nicer" ones. An $800 one is a single speed folder, pretty heavy. Reasonable quality, direct-to-consumer.
Bike shop grade ones start closer to $1800. (Electra, Trek)

Provided you get one with smooth-rolling tires, even just 27.5 x 2.5", you mostly just notice the extra weight when accelerating from a stop or climbing. (where electric kicks in to counteract the weight) Pedaling unpowered on the flat is fine.

A-Fib, A-Flutter can get ya no matter what you are doing. On the bike, walking, sitting, veging, sleeping. So don't think ya gotta give up your bike for it.

It is a real process though. Normaly it goes like this, after multiple attempts of Cardioversion ya go to Ablation. Then after multiple ablations ya go to a Pacer Maker.

Now is not the time to skimp on your medical insurance. If its limited then first order is to upgrade it ASAP.

Its really quite simple,,,

FWIW, there's a new arrhythmia treatment called "pulsed field ablation (PFA)", recently approved by the FDA.

According to the Mayo Clinic, the procedure causes less collateral damage. It's also a faster procedure that reduces anesthesia time and "removes some of the risks of traditional AFib ablation".

Mayo Clinic offers new innovative therapy to treat atrial fibrillation

I've been doing lots of research. There is a very good book on the subject by Antonio Fusco titled:
Atrial Fibrillation a Revolutionary Breakthrough.
Been reading his book, he explains how afib is caused and how to prevent and manage it through diet change.
Basically by eliminating sugars and starchy carbs.

Taking Flecainide and Metoprolol for it, as much as I hate to. At 68 I was drug free until 3 weeks ago.
Anything else, I would try treating by natural means, but the heart well that's different.

Note that my wife started having A-fib in her 50s. Back in those days it was precipitated by large doses of Monosodium Glutinate, MSGs. She was able to control it by taking 400mg of Magnesium Gluconate on a regular basis. That worked for about 8 years then the ablations started. Things we did to control it other then medications were diet, C-Pap, Hydration, treating anemia. And again note that when in A-fib you should be on Eloquis, it is the Gold Standard. In some states a PPO doctor will prescribe it for you only is asked because its expensive.

Xarelto is favored by some docs.

Xarelto, BTW, has a program whereby each prescription fill is $10 co-pay, the cost to the user depends on the insurance, from $3.33/month to $500/month or more. The maker charges our fed and state governments $500/month, IIRC. Without any insurance, it would be $200/month.

I imagine Eliquis has a similar program. If you're paying retail, I recommend doing some research.

Thats a BIG YEP!

Ya gotta do it. And do note that open season for insurance changes in in October and Formularies that list what meds the insurance pays for is not published till January three months latter! SUBTERFUGE!

We gotta do our research. In our office we have three providers and two girls up front trying to keep up with prescriptions and insurance and WE CAN'T FIGURE IT OUT WITH CERTAINTY. More often it is, submit it and see if its payed. I freely admit this to our patients and it is appreciated, but still I should know. Now I am on a rant, sorry.

Do note that at 200 USD a month that is about 7 bucks a day. That is less then what some people spend on coffee, Ha...

Saturday was cold and wet, so I decided to try out my new Bowflex C6. Rode easy just trying to keep my HR between 100-110. After 24 minutes in I felt my heart flutter and noticed the HR climbing fast to 144.
I immediately got off, did some deep breathing and the pulse started coming down. Felt terrible the rest of the day.
I don't know what to do anymore. In my area we dont have many good doctors. They just put you on medication.
They don't want to talk ablation until meds stop working, but by then it's too late.
I'm afraid to exercise at all now for fear of another attack.

Having been through this problem and living in the sticks I suggest it's time to stop messing around and get some decent diagnostics and medical care. At this point you don't even know what the root cause of the AFib is. This does not include bicycle message boards

According to Google and the location you show you are 2 hours from Nashville and Vanderbilt medical school/hospital. IT'S TIME TO TRAVEL!

where I live people don't want to travel 2 or 3 hours for good medical care but happily do it for football games or shopping..it's crazy

Well, ablation is not risk free, so it's reasonable to try other interventions first.

But you want to be seen by a sports cardiologist. Ask for a referral to a sports cardiologist, or search within a medical center's directory for a sports cardiologist.

Another resource may be Erlanger Sports Medicine. They might be able to direct you to a cardiologist who treats athletes.

@Johnny H. - sorry to hear you're going through this. It's a rough patch when you want to exercise but can't.

I use to work in medicine. Here's what I've found.

Much will depend on insurance coverage, but one of the options available today is telemedicine.

This allows physicians from just about anywhere to consult on your case. Then it's just a matter of getting the right referral.

Sometimes with physicians, one must be incredibly proactive and clear on what you want and why you want it.

If you go to your regular physician and say, "Experiencing A-fib symptoms and don't want medication treatment. The meds can be toxic and don't want to go down that road. I want ablation options. If you can't provide them, please refer me to someone who can."

You'll have to travel for electrophysiology studies first and then an ablation, but it'll be worth the reduction in symptoms without the need for ongoing meds.

Good luck!

After I posted this I got a call from my doctors office
And they set me up for an appointment with a Dr. that does PF ablations.
I realize that I probably shouldn't have posted this on the bike forum.

Like Big John, I've have AFIB for many, many decades... took some years (way back) to ID it...
Back then ablation wasn't widely (or possibly not even) available.
I still have and del with it. Identified as happening when I take the heart rate over a certain limit pf bpm...
Over the years I've been able to identify the early phase of onset, and when I experience them, I just back off... and almost never get to a danger point.
of course the onset of AFIB can be very various, so0 not everyone can 'adapt' to it's presence...
Ablation seems to be a very strong consideration for those who could have a good resolution...
In my case, if I stay out of the 'onset zone' of heart rate, then I don;t really experience it... at this time... at this age of 76...
...but aging is always new territory, with new surprises...
Ride On
Yurti