I personally love hiking. I love going into nature, seeing new places, and being away from people. But there are times where I go for a slightly easier course instead of the one I actually want to do, because that few extra hours would absolutely wreck my body, especially since I'm often hiking in different places for several days. A little boost would be nice.
And with e-bikes, they're great for commuters and people just riding around their neighborhood. Lots of people ride them in my town for doing shopping trips. More affordable than a car, better for the environment, better for your health, and people who otherwise would take a car because they can't deal with pedaling uphill or long distances have a great alternative. I imagine powered shoes will be the same. People who feel like they're too old/out of shape to walk long distances often opt for cars, but if powered shoes give them the confidence to walk, it's far better to take an electronically assisted walk than to sit in a vehicle.
> * If you have a body, you are an athlete.
I have degenerative disc disease that's severe enough to prevent me from running without causing neurological problems or pain. I miss being able to run (I'm in my early 40s), I haven't done it in 8 years. If something like this could lead to treating my problem, it would open up new worlds for me.
Electric pedal assist bikes are best suited for commuting and running errands, i.e. using the bike as a transportation tool, not a recreation tool.
As other commenters posted, it gets even more people out on the paths who wouldn’t normally be able to keep up or might feel self-conscious, and I think that’s a really positive thing.
Less gatekeeping, more celebration: imagine being Pogi and being able to crank 300 watts for hours on end. It would make touring the countryside a joy!
It's true that the moment-to-moment intensity is lower, but lowering intensity is some of the most common advice given to people struggling to get into a sport without their body rebelling, and the challenge as often as not is that they're bored at the beginner's pace and want to push more.
It's the same concept as assisted pull ups or knee pushups. Sure, you can build up from scratch by just doing a fraction of the duration, but that's boring and frustrating. Being able to actually move your body the full distance with less effort is a much more engaging way to build up the physical capacity you need to do it without the assist.
Also, making educated guesses, it may be a non-issue. Most of the e-cyclists in my area seem to be divided into two categories: 1) What I would call adult beginners, who had bikes but didn't ride them much before they got e-bikes. 2) Practical uses such as commuting, transporting kids, etc. And recreational use of e-bikes seems to have peaked while basic transportation use continues to grow.
The commuters pass me at a high speed, but they're also in good control, and polite. The beginners tend to ride at the same speed as conventional bikes, or even slower.
The real problem that e-bikes solve is not faster horses, but whether someone wants to get around on a bike at all.
I don't own one but there have been plenty of times in my life where I go somewhere ina car that's in biking distance but don't because maybe there's a decent hill on the way and I don't want to arrive sweaty.
The easy ride an ebike offers opens up more opportunities to ride.
More rides, for more distance. The integrated effect is more energy expended.
Perhaps more interesting, a lot of people I know do train but don't push themselves to the limit. There is always something left in the tank. If their goal is to train to improve it's very [lets say] expensive. They invest a lot for small returns.
Now what if you could keep going if you would otherwise feel the need to quit?
I cycle for a good while then have to guess if ill still be able make it back home. Usually I bet on the safe side. When I bet to low I could add a few laps around the block but this requires an odd kind of discipline that I seem to lack.
Rather than grow it turns into a maintenance routine. If I wanted to do maintenance I would do much less and less frequent.
I don't know if we are talking about the same thing. I am taking the argument from OP about "people recovering from surgery might need electric assist to keep up with the A-group", and I'm questioning this need.
If someone wants to have some assistance, then by all means go ahead and use it. I'm just not seeing why someone would need to have this sort of assistance, unless they are just doing some poor post-hoc rationalization for their wants.
I was paraphrashing. OP's original comment said "For some guys a high-end electric assist bike is how they stay riding with the A-group while they're recovering."
What I question here is, simply put, why "stay riding with the A-group" is in any way important? While one is recovering from surgery, what is so bad about riding with a B-group? Or why not ride with that A-group, but for a shorter distance?
I've got a 12 mile bike commute with a big ass hill at the end. If I do 0 miles a day/week/ever without an electric bike to get me up that hill, or I do 8 miles 2x a week with the electric, am I not more athletic? Are firemen who use a hose that is powered by a pump less athletic than those who carry water in buckets?
If I'm normally sitting stationary and I do anything movement at all am I not, in fact, pushing the limits of my body?
My mom was 80, and had a stroke. She couldn't lift her toes on the right side, making it hard to walk without tripping. These shoes are for "everyday athletes". Does this make her completely unathletic, or do they, in fact, allow her to become more athletic than she could be otherwise?
And a lot of being aerodynamic on a bike is athleticism: you need to be flexible enough and appropriately trained to be in the right posture. The bike frames, skinsuits, etc, are all in the "marginal gains" territory.
I still think OP's take is wrong though.
Are you saying they are not athletic because they didn’t do all their training on a push bike?