A Guide to the Pros and Cons of Electric Bikes

The Electric Mountain Bike Debate: Pros and Cons

Electric mountain bikes popularly known as e-MTB are battery-powered “pedal assist” bikes. They are machines integrated within the bike to give your pedaling. As our lives get busier and busier, we are increasingly struggling to juggle between work and family pressures. The electric mountain bike is an excellent solution for helping us in our daily lives.

However, the rise of the electric mountain bikes has spiked a debate in the cycling world. Specifically of how the pedal-assisted bikes are making the world a lazier place. To balance this discussion, we have to take a look at the benefits and detriments of the electric mountain bikes. For more info, read this review.

Pros of Electric Mountain Bikes

Let’s start with the pros of electric mountain bikes:

• Fast and Flexible

Electric mountain bikes have a higher speed than normal mountain bikes. The centre drive motor performs best on trails and is great for climbing hills or rocks. This makes it easier for a beginner or an out of shape rider to get some mileage. In just a few hours you can ride the same route that used to take you all day.

• Great for Commuting

An electric mountain bike requires little to no effort to ride. The rider does not need to break a sweat riding while on their way to work or school. Another advantage is the ability to evade the traffic on the road. You can do this as you can ride an electric bike beside motor vehicles or on sidewalks, where allowed. You can even ride through local parks to work areas, schools or home.

• Travel Further

The assistance provided by the electric motor enables riders to go further than they might otherwise have if they had normal mountain bikes. It also allows riders who are physically less capable or out of shape to keep up with younger and more in shape individuals. Many senior citizens can now partake exercise activities with their grandchildren. Electric mountain bikes also allow for long comfortable bike rides. This allows the rider to focus on enjoying the ride rather than feeling tired or being in pain.

• Strengthening Bones, Muscles and Joints

An electric mountain bike is heavier than a standard mountain bike. This is because of the motor and its mechanisms accounting for that added weight. With that extra weight, an electric mountain bike hence has the added benefit of improving your strength throughout your body brought by manoeuvring the bike.

Bonus Pro: Wide Variety of Designs

With technology, everything is almost possible. The marketability of electric mountain bikes, for example those offered by Bikester, keeps increasing. This ensures that there is a large variety of designs available to accommodate everybody’s needs. Be ready to answer questions from the many curious onlookers as your ride your bike. Lots of people will have an interest in how cool your bike looks and works.

Cons of Electric Mountain Bikes

Regardless of which side of the fence you are on, the one thing we can all agree on is that electric mountain bikes are a hotbed of technological development. However, the bikes are do have some cons which you can read about below.

• A Bit on the Pricey Side

Using an electric mountain bike requires a significant upfront investment. However, the good news is that once you have spent the money to purchase a high-quality electric bike, there are relatively few expenses for operating it.

• Complexity of the Electric Mountain Bike

The electric mountain bikes have more parts than normal mountain bike meaning a higher chance of something going wrong. Most bike shops can easily fix normal bikes as it is easy to swap out whatever component is faulty with a brand new one to get the bike running again but an electric one can put a challenge.

• Heavy Weight

Electric mountain bike adds an electric motor, battery and controller among other things and this doubles the weight of the bike. This is not a problem when the battery is charged and the rider is using the electric motor but it can make it harder to pedal when the battery is out of charge.

• Constant Battery Maintenance

The battery needs to be charged after each ride. It is also important not to let your electric bike sit unused for a long period of time because there is the chance of the battery dying. It is best practice to use your electric bike at least once a month to keep the battery in good shape.

Summary: Pros & Cons of Electric Mountain Bikes

Pros of Electric Mountain Bikes	Cons of Electric Mountain Bikes
Fast and Flexible	A Bit on the Pricey Side
Great for Commuting	Complexity of the Electric Mountain Bike
Travel Further	Heavy Weight
Strengthening Bones, Muscles and Joints	Constant Battery Maintenance
Wide Variety of Designs

Collaboration – Guest Article.