E-biking, lower heart rate & zone 2 questions

[cammas]

As some of you may have seen I am starting to sell off my bikes due to health reasons, I suffer from a few different issues and injuries basically while I maybe fit (even got some doctors tests to prove it) I do suffer from chronic pain with some breathing issues which I am still getting tested for. I have succumbed to the realisation that I will be buying an e-bike sooner rather then later but I need to be able to keep my heart rate down especially in the warmer weather as that’s when things are the worst. plus it looks like I have tachycardia so my rate is higher than normal so I want to be able to keep it down.

I don’t want to be hitting full turbo all the time, I just want to be able to ride with my mate without feeling like an alien is going to pop out of my chest. But before I spend my hard earned, I have a couple of questions for those who already ride an e-bike:

What I’m looking to see is if any other people who have switched over to an ebike, have you noticed a drop in your heart rate compared to riding your meat powered bike?

I want to be able to sit in zone 2 when riding, which is where I need to keep myself. then use boost to keep my heart rate down when it gets steep etc, does anyone find they are in sitting zone 2?

 

[Minlak]

Easy answer no! Not really as it’s still pedal assist the amount of benefit you get is directly related to your input.

Hard answer - it’s possible by learning how your bike decides when to give power and when not to - on the Yamaha motor if I am going up a hill if you can manage to hit the magic cadence (which is actually fairly low) the bike gives more assistance than it actually should and you can take the hill way easier then putting in actual effort- I liken it to a computer game where you have to hit certain parameters to achieve what the game wants from you if that makes sense. So you could certainly reduce your max heart rate at any given time and with monitoring your heart rate learn where you need to slow your toll.
You won’t be able to just ride and expect your heart rate to drop as you are getting assisted

 

[cammas]

Easy answer no! Not really as it’s still pedal assist the amount of benefit you get is directly related to your input.

Hard answer - it’s possible by learning how your bike decides when to give power and when not to - on the Yamaha motor if I am going up a hill if you can manage to hit the magic cadence (which is actually fairly low) the bike gives more assistance than it actually should and you can take the hill way easier then putting in actual effort- I liken it to a computer game where you have to hit certain parameters to achieve what the game wants from you if that makes sense. So you could certainly reduce your max heart rate at any given time and with monitoring your heart rate learn where you need to slow your toll.
You won’t be able to just ride and expect your heart rate to drop as you are getting assisted

Thanks Minlak, I am looking at a Giant Trance as I am more of trail rider to XC, so it ticks a lot of the boxes for me.

My thoughts were it would lower the stress on my body with the assistance of the motor, hip replacement and other numerous issues, but currently when riding my heart rate is sitting at 180bpm with some peaks around 200bpm (no I’m not 20), so would like to get it down to around 150bpm.

I know it’s not a magic pill but hoping it would help.

 

[Mattyp]

I don't ride an ebike, but everyone I see riding one is barely breaking a sweat, which makes me think they aren't working very hard, which would assumingly mean a lower heart rate.

 

[Minlak]

It’s super hard to compare heart rates from one person to an ect so many factors - but - on the autistic bike my peak would be 180 ish and the average was around 145 - on the e-bike peak is around 165 ish and average around 135bpm - but that is still riding the bike at a pace where the motor is cutting out at 25km/hr - I did a night ride the other night at a more leisurely tourist pace on forestry roads and the average over 90 mins was 111 bpm - so it is possible as long as you are watching yourself.

TLDR - if you still want to ride with your current issues an EBike is certainly the go to

 

[Minlak]

I hope this helps more

January non e-bike

October similar terrain on E-Bike

Forestry other night E-Bike

 

[cammas]

Thanks @Minlak thats the sort of info I was after, here’s my last ride of single track over a 3 hour ride with only about 450 meters of climbing, so no massive hills.

 

[ozzybmx]

Thanks @Minlak thats the sort of info I was after, here’s my last ride of single track over a 3 hour ride with only about 450 meters of climbing, so no massive hills.

Faark, you have the HR of a hamster

If you were previously fit, the eeb will certainly lower your HR.

In EMTB mode (Bosch) which is the mode below Turbo, the effort required is way below what is required on a normal bike at the same speed. The effort I would use to climb a hill at 7-8kph on my Deviate, is now getting me up that hill bouncing off the 25kph limiter. This is their progressive mode so it gives you varying power depending on what you put down so it feels more natural.

There has been hot days and I haven't felt like riding but you know its not going to be a sweat fest, next thing I've done 20-30km in 35°C.

My max HR according to Zwift is 191 at 50yrs old (this year), my resting HR used to be in the 40's, no idea what it is now.

I can tell you 100% that the HR required to ride my ebike, the effort required, the sweating is far less than riding a normal bike.

Rides where I would have been hitting 170+bpm on a regular bike, I reckon I would go faster in a non turbo mode on an eeb and not get the HR much over 120bpm.

 

[rowdyflat]

Huge difference in HR ,breathing and sweating as you would logically expect.
Not nearly as hot going uphill which is faster.
3 levels of assist , in turbo it goes up anything without too much effort.
in my case I ride an non ebike alt days to maintain fitness.

 

[cammas]

Huge difference in HR ,breathing and sweating as you would logically expect.
Not nearly as hot going uphill which is faster.
3 levels of assist , in turbo it goes up anything without too much effort.
in my case I ride an non ebike alt days to maintain fitness.

My plan is to get an e-bike for the weekend rides i.e. riding with mates, then try to keep commuting on a regular bike (lower risk of theft from crackheads on the train parts) which is mainly flat also lower chance of trying to keep up someone, then eventually build another hard tail from all the crap in my garage to ride with the grand kids

 

[Stredda]

I know with the Specialized bikes you can pair your heart rate monitor with the bike and once paired, you’ll be able to see your current heart rate, and you’ll be able to select your ‘Target Heart Rate Value’. As you begin riding, the motor will vary its output in order to keep you within your ideal heart rate zone. So, if your heart rate drops below the target value, the motor will reduce its support to make you work harder and bring your heart rate back up. If your heart rate goes over the threshold though, the motor support will increase its support to allow you to recover and bring your heart rate back down.
I've never used it, but it sounds like it would be useful in your case.

 

[cammas]

I know with the Specialized bikes you can pair your heart rate monitor with the bike and once paired, you’ll be able to see your current heart rate, and you’ll be able to select your ‘Target Heart Rate Value’. As you begin riding, the motor will vary its output in order to keep you within your ideal heart rate zone. So, if your heart rate drops below the target value, the motor will reduce its support to make you work harder and bring your heart rate back up. If your heart rate goes over the threshold though, the motor support will increase its support to allow you to recover and bring your heart rate back down.
I've never used it, but it sounds like it would be useful in your case.

thanks I will look into that

 

[kten]

Pretty much all my e-bikes rides are zone 2. The effort required is much less than my non assisted bike on the same route and my heart rate is much much lower.

 

[Calvin27]

Depends on a number of things, but generally, yes an ebike will drop the average heart rate considerably.

As for sittign in zone 2, that's more to do with the type of terrain your ride. I have ridden ebikes on terrains where I am attacking hard or it's just simply steep. heart rate can go up to near peak, the difference is I can sustaina that for longer on an ebike with assist. On a non ebike I'd have given up earlier and walked.

 

[ozzybmx]

My plan is to get an e-bike for the weekend rides

 

[Flow-Rider]

You have to train yourself to stay in zone 2, and don't use the pre settings on strava that are set on age. Probably not going to happen riding with other people either as it's painful slow and boring. The best way to find zone 2 is to actually test the blood lactate levels.

I would expect an e-bike would lower HR on hills because that is where you usually blow out. If you stay in a higher HR threshold too long on climbs your body won't return to zone 2. Once you enter the high lactic acid zone you're pretty done with getting your HR down for the rest of the ride.

The best way to do it I've found, is to do splits on a trainer in zone 2 for 1hr as you don't have massive ambient temperature changes and you don't have to deal with traffic and hills that also raise your HR. Then you can transfer it to riding, you can also slightly control HR with breathing techniques.


These are my zones on a bike trainer, it has lowered my HR considerably on the road also. Going into the hills is most likely always going to screw you on an MTB because you'll end holding a higher HR for too long. Your zone 2 also changes with your fitness level.


Had to get off the trainer in the middle to adjust it.

 

[cammas]

You have to train yourself to stay in zone 2, and don't use the pre settings on strava that are set on age.

Strava is way off due to my tachycardia, before loading in my own HR max rate i was in the red on the Wahoo within 5 minutes of riding and the red bar of LEDs along the top was very off putting especially when I raced, during a 3 or 6 hour race i could easily sit at an average for the race with some maximums of 200-210bpm especially hitting a hill on the single speed.

Had some friends raise some concerns about which is where I discovered my heart is a little different when I went to the heart specialist

Probably not going to happen riding with other people either as it's painful slow and boring.

currently not keeping up and have to keep stopping, he will do hill repeats while waiting, he's training for the Tour Divide so he's smashing me all the time.

 

[Flow-Rider]

Strava is way off due to my tachycardia, before loading in my own HR max rate i was in the red on the Wahoo within 5 minutes of riding and the red bar of LEDs along the top was very off putting especially when I raced, during a 3 or 6 hour race i could easily sit at an average for the race with some maximums of 200-210bpm especially hitting a hill on the single speed.

Had some friends raise some concerns about which is where I discovered my heart is a little different when I went to the heart specialist


currently not keeping up and have to keep stopping, he will do hill repeats while waiting, he's training for the Tour Divide so he's smashing me all the time.

Yeah, heart rates are very different from person to person, genetic makeup, illnesses, stress and fitness levels all affect HR.

Zone 2 is a very easy riding, the old saying is you should be able to sing and ride the whole time. I noticed a bit of a difference in lower HRs after about 2 months of riding in zone 2, your recovery times between rides seem to shorten somewhat as well. It's the most effective zone for fat burning also.

 

[beeb]

It's the most effective zone for fat burning also.

Subscribed.

 

[ozzybmx]

Subscribed.

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