Things You Could Never Do Before E-bikes

E-bikes have changed everything, and we’re still trying to wrap our heads around it.

Ten years ago, who’d have thought we’d be able to enjoy the same geometry, components, feel, and capabilities of our road and mountain bikes while getting tons of miles and smart power supplementation out of an on-board battery? And all for not that much extra weight. 

If you’re still not convinced what a dream-come-true this is, consider these things that were just not possible before e-bikes.

Shuttle Your Own Downhill Runs

For starters, you can now do lap after lap on your local DH trails without a chairlift. 

Bikes like the Specialized S-Works Turbo Levo and the Santa Cruz Heckler are aggressive enduro/downhill machines. S-Works’ tunable SL 1.1 motor doubles your pedaling power while giving you 150mm of plush cush front and rear — all at under 40 lbs. The Heckler boasts 140mm on the front and 150mm on the rear, with a Shimano Drive Unit DU-EP800 motor lovingly pushing you uphill.

The translation? Thousands of feet of vertical climbing in which you can still chat with your friends. As many runs as your hands and legs can handle. All while manual pedalers might only get two or three runs. 

Charge up That Hill Without Spinning Out

One of the biggest mind-blowers is readjusting your expectations to what’s now possible on your e-bike. There are simply far fewer limits to what you can do.

Cruise to work or around town on the Gazelle Medeo T10+, and you’ll see what we mean. With a 504Wh battery and pedaling assistance up to an eye-blurring 28 mph, you can tackle the steepest streets of San Francisco with a smile on your face and a briefcase on your rear rack.

On a mountain bike like the BMC Speedfox Amp AL Three, the craziness goes even further. Aim those luscious 29ers at the gnarliest little uphill you were never able to climb before. Stomp down on those pedals and let the 250W, 70Nm motor carry you to the top. With responsive power transfer and BMC’s famous geometry, your tires will grip all but the steepest slopes.

Make Your Commute Faster with Less Sweat

Getting to work on your bike is healthy, fun, and energizing. With an e-bike, it’s also a whole lot faster with a whole lot less sweat. Your coworkers will thank you. 

Let’s crunch some numbers here. You’ve got a 10-mile commute on hilly terrain. Say you’re rolling to the office on the über-enviable Specialized Turbo Vado SL 5.0. With its Specialized SL1-320, fully integrated, 320Wh battery, you’ll have enough juice to bang it out in turbo mode the entire time.

Making a few assumptions as far as average speed, here’s the breakdown:

	Average speed	Commute time	Sweat level	Coworkers’ vibe
Regular bike	8mph	1h 25m	Copious	Avoidant
Turbo Vado	16mph	37m	A tasteful glisten	Admiring

 

What can we say? It’s just science. 

Pack 80 to 120 miles into a Single Ride

For the road warriors and fitness buffs among you, remember that an e-bike doesn’t do the work for you — it does exactly what you tell it to do. That means the motor can take a nap, give you a bit of help, or match your pedaling power with a bit more juice.

A bike like the Specialized Turbo Creo weighs about 10 lbs. more than an average road bike and gives you 80 miles of pedal assistance, with an optional range extender bumping that up another 50%. That’s with a FACT 11r carbon frame, bump-hungry Future Shock 2.0 fork, and other top-of-the-line components making it the lightest e-bike in its class. 

This means you can get all the burn you crave while covering twice as much ground as before. That’s what we call a win-win.

About Mike’s Bikes: Mike’s Bikes is a growing family of local bike shops, all with a singular purpose - to get as many people on bikes as possible. We locally own and operate twelve wildly successful stores in Northern California. In addition to our brick-and-mortar shops, mikesbikes.com is one of the top online bicycle retail sites in the country.