Weight gain from EMTB

[Twindaddy]

I did a quick search on this and didnt find much. Be honest, how many of you have gained a decent amount of weight going from an analog to an eeb? Ive been riding regularly (analog) for a little over two years. In the last year, Ive really stepped it up to averaging 4x a week, about 50ish miles, and 6000 ft +. This is a mix of enduro/dh, xc, and a little gravel mixed in. I also hit the gym about 3x a week. In pretty good shape and fairly strong for my age. Rides usually end with a big meal (bar food) and occasionally a few IPAs. With all the riding I did, it was easy to burn off the calories and then some.

I picked up an emtb this past november. I still get out about 4x a week, but most of my rides are on the emtb. The bad part is, Im still eating/drinking the same post ride. In 3 months, Ive gained 10 lbs!

Yes, the emtb does provide a decent workout, but no where near an analog, especially on the tough climbs which my local trails are full of. I’m talking climbs where your lungs are exploding and you curse the day you ever stepped foot on a bike. I miss the feeling of coming back from a ride completely drained. I love the hell out of the ebike, as nothing comes close in producing the smiles per hour (sph) for me. However, I think Im going to have to suck it up (literally) and take out the old pedal bikes a couple times per week.

How many of you have gained a sizable amount of weight? How much? Are you adding the analog back in the mix? Do you not care? Is a hotdog a sandwich?

 

[ilostmypassword]

I've lost weight but I do ride lots of technical trails that need a lot of body movement and I find its like a full body workout. truth be known that weight loss and balance should always start with diet. Exercise is not a sustainable way to manage weight. That's my opinion anyway.

 

[rod9301]

I got my ebike 4 years ago and i lost weight. Primarily because i ride 12h a week instead of 8.

 

[Twindaddy]

I've lost weight but I do ride lots of technical trails that need a lot of body movement and I find its like a full body workout. truth be known that weight loss and balance should always start with diet. Exercise is not a sustainable way to manage weight. That's my opinion anyway.

Appreciate the input. I know my diet can use a bit of improvement, but weight loss is essentially calories in vs calories out. Keeping everything constant as before (including diet) except the addition of the ebike would point to the ebike. Seems that when I was on an analog I was burning much more than what I am burning now.

 

[Bman]

You need to ride at high intensity as you did before on your regular bike, whether on your e-bike or pedal bike. The high intensity is what revs your metabolism and burns calories like a furnace, lasting for several hours after the ride. The lower intensity is great for mitochondria building and decent for burning fat, but more calories are burned and for longer with higher intensity.

BTW, I'm a twin daddy too.

 

[Armor11]

I would say I am maintaining my weight. This is my first EMTB and I tend to get the same workout as before. I only use the assist to the level required to get me where I want to go, mostly higher elevation to do more exploring of trails I have never been on before. I force myself to still peddle my ass off, just like before. That being said, at 55yrs old I am pretty fussy with my diet and continuing other forms of exercise (resistance training) because I have seen the results that can happen when I get older. Have seen to many friends go down the weight gain road to know I don't want to go there!

I will still ride the analog bike (set-up for bike packing), but my Levo Comp is a game changer that I should of bought long before I did.

 

[Twindaddy]

You need to ride at high intensity as you did before on your regular bike, whether on your e-bike or pedal bike. The high intensity is what revs your metabolism and burns calories like a furnace, lasting for several hours after the ride. The lower intensity is great for mitochondria building and decent for burning fat, but more calories are burned and for longer with higher intensity.

BTW, I'm a twin daddy too.

True. Before I got emtb, I assumed I would br riding on either eco or trail. That lasted for about 2 rides. Im slightly disappointed to report I on boost more often than I should be, albeit my rides are much longer than before.

A fellow twin daddy! Mine are teens now so the challenges lay ahead!

 

[Bongles Grandad]

i've lost weight, a big chunk... but i didn't ride mtb before so I'm getting tons more exercise than i did before i got the emtb

 

[Bman]

True. Before I got emtb, I assumed I would br riding on either eco or trail. That lasted for about 2 rides. Im slightly disappointed to report I on boost more often than I should be, albeit my rides are much longer than before.

A fellow twin daddy! Mine are teens now so the challenges lay ahead!

Mine are just 9, boy and girl. I've got 3 older girls as well (I'm 63).

I rode my e-bike a ton last summer when I was in the mountains for a month or so and mostly rode in Trail to keep my effort down as we were riding every day. I lost a lot of top-end fitness and gained a tiny bit of weight but was able to ride almost every day due to the much lower effort. Was awesome!

 

[steve_sordy]

I have maintained my weight but gained fitness. Because of arthritis in my knees, before emtb my riding was limited to 10 miles every 3 days or so. Not any more!

 

[Yoak]

I think lower assist level dosent help much. With higher assist level (emts/trail) you just have to ride faster. It's easy to get comfortable (specially in a group), but I usually just try to go really fast when I'm on my ebike, and that gives me a great workout.

 

[apac]

I'm so fat I've had to tape two seats together.

 

[Rando_12345]

Not really gained any weight (other than outside factors), but for sure you need to cut down on the food during/after the ride. I still pack as many cereal bars as I used to, on a normal bike I would probably eat 2-4 bars over a 2-3 hour ride. On the Ebike I usually get back to the car with 2-3 unopened bars.
I think part of it is just a habit, having moved over the riding 100% ebikes, I just don't feel so hungry or tired at the end of a ride, so I don't need to refuel as much.

Also some motivation: lower rider weight means more ebike range

 

[Stihldog]

When I first saw the title of this post I thought “great”, I’m not the only one who wants to reduce the weight of their eMTB with unnecessary upgrades. Almost everything possible on my bike is carbon except the cranks…so I’m waiting for the Race Face Era 160mm cranks for my Rail 9.7.

As I read on I realized this is for body weight gain and not bike weight. I’m not a huge guy and my issues are the opposite of most. I need to exercise to gain weight.

Skip this part if you’re not a Twin Daddy; I was pushing the tandem stroller through a busy shopping mall with the boys, identical 3 year olds, while navigating thru busy shoppers. My wife was elsewhere shopping for shoes or something.

A tandem stroller attracts a bit of attention from other parents and especially mothers. No problem. If I’m just burning-off time I din’t mind stopping for a moment. A mom and her two children made some squeaking noises as they approached and that was a cue for me to stop. The mother did the usual tickling and asked a few questions. Niceties were exchanged and the mother and her children began to walk away. As they left I overheard her say to her children, in a heavy Canadian accent …”Those twins are brothers you know”. I contained my laughter but my blink factor raised beyond normal. (BPM, Blinks Per Minute).

The boys (my youngest) are 31 now.



Anyways. My weight goes up the harder I ride. This was also typical when I was working a physical job. I don’t know what my perfect weight is but more is better apparently.

 

[Bman]

When I first saw the title of this post I thought “great”, I’m not the only one who wants to reduce the weight of their eMTB with unnecessary upgrades. Almost everything possible on my bike is carbon except the cranks…so I’m waiting for the Race Face Era 160mm cranks for my Rail 9.7.

As I read on I realized this is for body weight gain and not bike weight. I’m not a huge guy and my issues are the opposite of most. I need to exercise to gain weight.

Skip this part if you’re not a Twin Daddy; I was pushing the tandem stroller through a busy shopping mall with the boys, identical 3 year olds, while navigating thru busy shoppers. My wife was elsewhere shopping for shoes or something.

A tandem stroller attracts a bit of attention from other parents and especially mothers. No problem. If I’m just burning-off time I din’t mind stopping for a moment. A mom and her two children made some squeaking noises as they approached and that was a cue for me to stop. The mother did the usual tickling and asked a few questions. Niceties were exchanged and the mother and her children began to walk away. As they left I overheard her say to her children, in a heavy Canadian accent …”Those twins are brothers you know”. I contained my laughter but my blink factor raised beyond normal. (BPM, Blinks Per Minute).

The boys (my youngest) are 31 now.



Anyways. My weight goes up the harder I ride. This was also typical when I was working a physical job. I don’t know what my perfect weight is but more is better apparently.

That's funny. In my case, with boy/girl twins, several people have asked if they're identical twins. I look at them with this incredulous look and then they get it. To some I've had to respond, "no, one has a d!ck and the other one doesn't". We all get a good chuckle.

 

[Formulasuper]

You need to ride at high intensity as you did before on your regular bike, whether on your e-bike or pedal bike. The high intensity is what revs your metabolism and burns calories like a furnace, lasting for several hours after the ride. The lower intensity is great for mitochondria building and decent for burning fat, but more calories are burned and for longer with higher intensity.

BTW, I'm a twin daddy too.

Exactly correct, if you pedal as hard and fast as you can it doesn’t matter what kind of bike you’re on.

 

[DogRanger]

Definitely lost weight and become fitter since getting an ebike. And I know exactly why: I'm spending a lot more time riding!
I don't use my ebike like a motorcycle. (I like my motorcycle for being a motorcycle.) I just use pedal assist to help me ride like I could when I was younger and fitter. I can go on long rides and enjoy myself and want to do it again. If the ride is shorter or flatter I'm still happy on my analog bikes but there are very few level road and trails where I live.

 

[Formulasuper]

Definitely lost weight and become fitter since getting an ebike. And I know exactly why: I'm spending a lot more time riding!
I don't use my ebike like a motorcycle. (I like my motorcycle for being a motorcycle.) I just use pedal assist to help me ride like I could when I was younger and fitter. I can go on long rides and enjoy myself and want to do it again. If the ride is shorter or flatter I'm still happy on my analog bikes but there are very few level road and trails where I live.

Definitely lost weight and become fitter since getting an ebike. And I know exactly why: I'm spending a lot more time riding!
I don't use my ebike like a motorcycle. (I like my motorcycle for being a motorcycle.) I just use pedal assist to help me ride like I could when I was younger and fitter. I can go on long rides and enjoy myself and want to do it again. If the ride is shorter or flatter I'm still happy on my analog bikes but there are very few level road and trails where I live.

Ya, I’m now riding twice as many hours on the emtb because it’s so much more fun, averaging 25 miles/day, weather permitting. (We’re not allowed on trails for 24 hours after rain around here in Atlanta.)

 

[Luke___]

As a professional nutritionist (consultant, main lector for my country for the biggest weight loss programe here, coowner of suplementation manufacture, lector at own courses for new nutritionist) I can say, that this is mainly food issue. The main energy expenditure is your basal metabolic rate. Add some thermic effect of food and non-excercise energy expenditure and you are at least at 90% of your total energy. Sport factor is pretty minimal (like many studies comfirmed, counted for normal people, not proffesional athletes) as well as weight loss through excess physical activity (compensatory effect). So check your food, avoid high processed food and probably lower carbs for some time (thats not 0 carbs, but range between 100-200g per day). There is a lot of proofs around even much lower energy intake programs, but that require health check (m8 even doctor checks, and this is not possible through one post at this forum). Sport is excelent at maintaining weight and condition.

 

[Canyon Shawn]

You don’t gain weight from riding an ebike. You don’t even gain weight from eating to much. You gain weight from eating incorrectly. If you want to loose weigh easily, follow and do what what Mark Sisson does. I’ve always been very fit. But, over Covid I put on what I call a mountain bike tire around my waist. About, 7 pounds of fat, which for me, was embarrassing, because I’ve always had visible abs. I wear athletic fitting clothes, and I could see that little muffing top around my waist. I realized that I was carb dependent. So, I started following Marks advice. I even started having a cup of coffee in the morning. That’s something I’ve never done before, and I didn’t even want to start drinking coffee. I really started doing it only because it works for Mark. And now, I really enjoy it. So, I don’t eat till 1:00pm. Then, I have a small lunch. Usually two servings of protein powder mixed with milk, a cup of cottage cheese, with blueberries and some piece of fruit, like an apple, orange or a banana. This worked so good for me, that I lost the mountain bike tire in three weeks. It worked so good that I had to up my calorie intake at dinner, because I was losing too much weight. Which was fine for me, because my girlfriend is a top gourmet chef. My body seemed to transition from burning carbs to burning fat, pretty easily. This diet works because, we are genetically cave people. And, cave people didn’t have carb garbage to snack on all day long. They typically went long periods of time without eating. After I had Covid, I started having some joint pain. During this diet, my joint pain went away. Because, when your body is burning fat, your fat cells, release stuff that heals your body. Also, this diet is easier and cheaper compared to how I used to eat. And, I’m not snacking on carb garbage throughout the day. I won’t go back to the way I used to eat. I’ll eat this way till I die.

 

[dobbyhasfriends]

lift weights, finish a workout by doing 20 mins in the fat burning zone on treadmill / cross trainer / staic bike / rowing machine etc.
dont drink, dont eat shitty food, give up the snacks and crap.
also helps if you have an active job etc but age will always make all of this harder.
above all, discipline but allow yourself a cheat day. eventually even the cheat day will become less appealing.

 

[Zimmerframe]

scipline but allow yourself a cheat day. eventually even the cheat day will become less appealing.

Especially if the other half finds out ...

 

[Twindaddy]

I appreciate everyones input. However, with everything else being the same, i.e, diet, time in the saddle, etc, my anecdotal experience is the ebike simply cannot burn the calories that pedaling an anolog would. I think we can all agree that calories burned per hour on a ebike cannot match that of an anlaog. I would have to change one of the existing factors like more time in the saddle, improving my diet, and/or decreasing the assist. . I was just surprised how much of a difference it made in a relatively short time. Im just as surprised that no one else gained weight switching to an eeb.

Additional time in the saddle isnt an option as Im maxed out on time available to ride (about 8 hrs a week). So, the diet definitely needs to change along with decreasing the assist. I also plan to take the analog out more often.

The rain here in socal isnt helping anything! Enjoy your weekend all!

 

[DogRanger]

my anecdotal experience is the ebike simply cannot burn the calories that pedaling an anolog would. I think we can all agree that calories burned per hour on a ebike cannot match that of an anlaog.

I absolutely disagree. Turn off your assist and you’ll burn more calories per mile on your heavier e-bike. You can get less exercise on it but you most certainly don’t have to. I pedal just as hard on all my bikes and just go faster and attempt steeper climbs when using the motor.

 

[RebornRider]

It is so annoying that riders want to blame their ebike for their lack of effort when riding. Get some discipline! IMO, if you gain weight after switching from acoustic to ebike, you probably have a bit of laziness to deal with.

I ride my emtb as much for fitness as for fun, and I try to keep my heart rate in the aerobic band. As DogRanger said above, I go faster and steeper on the ebike because I'm putting the same amount of power into the pedals as I would on an acoustic bike. It's *your* choice. Don't blame the bike.

 

[Dax]

I've definitely chubbed up since getting an ebike.

 

[Bman]

I appreciate everyones input. However, with everything else being the same, i.e, diet, time in the saddle, etc, my anecdotal experience is the ebike simply cannot burn the calories that pedaling an anolog would. I think we can all agree that calories burned per hour on a ebike cannot match that of an anlaog. I would have to change one of the existing factors like more time in the saddle, improving my diet, and/or decreasing the assist. . I was just surprised how much of a difference it made in a relatively short time. Im just as surprised that no one else gained weight switching to an eeb.

Additional time in the saddle isnt an option as Im maxed out on time available to ride (about 8 hrs a week). So, the diet definitely needs to change along with decreasing the assist. I also plan to take the analog out more often.

The rain here in socal isnt helping anything! Enjoy your weekend all!

Yeah, uh, no. If your trails or skill don’t allow you to go faster than you do on a pedal bike, maybe. But if you pedal at the same intensity, it’s gonna be the same calories burned, and more distance travelled. It’s simple physics. But if you just pedal your e-bike easier and go the same speed as your regular bike, then yeah, get ready to get bigger.

 

[Twindaddy]

It is so annoying that riders want to blame their ebike for their lack of effort when riding. Get some discipline! IMO, if you gain weight after switching from acoustic to ebike, you probably have a bit of laziness to deal with.

I ride my emtb as much for fitness as for fun, and I try to keep my heart rate in the aerobic band. As DogRanger said above, I go faster and steeper on the ebike because I'm putting the same amount of power into the pedals as I would on an acoustic bike. It's *your* choice. Don't blame the bike.

What? You dont even know me buddy so please dont talk to me about laziness. I logged 3k miles last year on various pedal bikes. I ride 4x a week, work out 3x a week, and commute 3 hrs each day to work, then come home and raise a family.

Seems Ive hit a nerve here. I keep hearing how ebikes give you just as much of a workout as a regular bike. Im here to say that for ME, it doesnt and wanted to see If others experienced the same. I said my anecdotal experience. If you notice I said “if all else being the same, diet etc”. Whats the point of riding an ebike if you leave the motor off like someone above suggested? If you lost weight with an ebike, good for you, but dont judge me because I didnt experience the same.

The mob mentality here is no different than MTBR. What a shame. Must have the same opinions as everyone else or the pitchforks come out.

 

[Canyon Shawn]

I appreciate everyones input. However, with everything else being the same, i.e, diet, time in the saddle, etc, my anecdotal experience is the ebike simply cannot burn the calories that pedaling an anolog would. I think we can all agree that calories burned per hour on a ebike cannot match that of an anlaog. I would have to change one of the existing factors like more time in the saddle, improving my diet, and/or decreasing the assist. . I was just surprised how much of a difference it made in a relatively short time. Im just as surprised that no one else gained weight switching to an eeb.

Additional time in the saddle isnt an option as Im maxed out on time available to ride (about 8 hrs a week). So, the diet definitely needs to change along with decreasing the assist. I also plan to take the analog out more often.

The rain here in socal isnt helping anything! Enjoy your weekend all!

You are definitely wrong. You can even burn more calories riding in E bike. Because if you ride at the same intensity as your analog bike, you’re burning more calories in your upper body to handle the extra speeds. First thing I noticed riding an ebike is, that I had to completely rethink my braking points. With the increased speed I was coming into the corners too hot. And, I’m also able to carry more speed through the corners. But, life is all about choices. If you want to lose weight, you have to make the right choices. If you don’t make the right choices, you have nothing or no one to blame but yourself for gaining weight. There are many other choices you have to consider when it comes to losing weight. Riding an analog bike or an E bike is at the very bottom of that list of choices. If you have to rely on which bike you ride to lose weight, you are really screwed.

 

[Twindaddy]

I've definitely chubbed up since getting an ebike.

So I guess Im not the only one.