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news
Bradley Wiggins (via Eurosport)E-bikes aren't cheating, says Sir Bradley Wiggins
Sir Bradley Wiggins says that e-bikes are “brilliant” because they allow people to cycle who otherwise wouldn’t. “It has its place in society and I don’t think it’s cheating at all,” he told the Pocket Lint podcast.
"I think it's brilliant because a lot people enjoy the benefits of cycling, and the outdoors and freedom it gives them, but they just aren't able to do it for heath reason sometimes,” he said.
"It's a shame if someone’s got heart problems or are obese through illness and they simply can't get up a hill or anything. For those people, they still enjoy the outdoors and the freedom and the sense of freedom that a bike gives you without the health risks.”
According to Wiggins: “Half the reason a lot of people maybe won’t go on a bike – you know, ‘I can’t stand going up hills, bloody size of me’ and all that – with these e-bikes it starts you off and you can get into it.
“You’re still active by riding an e-bike. It's not like you’re sat on a moped. You can choose when you use the power.
“Rather than having to walk up a hill and feel terrible because you can't get up a hill, there is still a sense of achievement for someone who can’t get out of the house maybe."
As far as accusations that e-bike riders are somehow ‘cheating’, he said: "If you want to go out and beat blokes round Richmond Park and that, then fair enough, yeah, but not everyone wants to do that. Some people just want to get out of the house and feel active."
Comedy Central commissions "non-scripted entertainment series" hosted by Bradley Wiggins
Elsewhere in the podcast, Wiggins talks about the need to expand London’s cycle infrastructure – "If every one of these people on bikes got in cars then no-one would be moving anywhere" – and also about his own cycling habits since retirement.
He says he runs more than cycles these days. “I just go out on my bike when I want to go out on my bike really,” he said. “For the pleasure.”
Despite riding much less frequently – or quite possibly because of this – he feels that he has recently rediscovered his love for cycling.
“It became such a chore towards the end of my career and I’ve rekindled my love of it, so I just enjoy going out on my bike.
“I don’t want to be raced by anyone. I don’t want to go out in a group and have someone getting a kick out of beating me up a hill now. I’ve just got no ego as a cyclist any more. I’m not competitive on a bike, but I just love riding my bike and I reconnected with that sense of freedom it gave me.”
It doesn’t sound like he’s become totally laid-back however, admitting that he still pays close attention to his bike computer.
“I’m a bit institutionalised with technology because it was my training tool daily. I’ve always not been able to fly blind, as it were. I’ve always needed a guide in front of me.
“So even on my road bike, I’ll have a little Garmin or something. Things like, if I go out for two hours, I do two hours. You know, I don’t just say, ‘What time did I leave? Oh five, I’ve done about two hours’
“I have to do two hours. I can’t do 1h55. I’m quite… Two hours is two hours, you know?”
Alex has written for more cricket publications than the rest of the road.cc team combined. Despite the apparent evidence of this picture, he doesn't especially like cake.
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28 comments
For once, I agree with Brad! If an e-bike means somebody gets out & about without a car then I'm all for it
Paul J, bloke on an electric scooter passed me the other day, he had a helmet on and a weak little rear light right near the ground. Yesterday I saw what I assumed to be a delivery rider, huge rucksack/box thing on his back, he had a petrol motor in the front triangle of his crappy bike. You know what, these blokes aren't going to hurt me, they have as much skin in the game as I do. They were aware of their surroundings.
It's the arseholes in their cars, speeding while they text that really cause me concern. Drunk and on drugs too, or just not bothering to look too much. Take your pick, the motorists breaking the law, not taking their responsibilities in any way seriously, they are the ones who kill. Killing many, many people.
Not the guys on overpowered ebikes.
Don't know about cheating, but a good number of eBike riders I see commuting are definitely breaking the law. I.e., going along at 30, even 45 km/h barely pedalling - or even not pedalling at all.
Human nature being what it is, some people will behave as badly as they can get away with, and the almost complete absence of traffic policing in many areas means that high powered illegal e-bikes are a real problem, especially if taken on cycle paths and shared use paths. Speed pedelecs, which are legally mopeds, are being sold in the UK, but it's far too easy for them to have number plates removed making them indistinguable from a legal e-bike. I don't know what the answer to this is, though Bosch are now making their systems incapable of being hacked which is a start of sorts.
Would you care to put a fiver on that?
Well, if anonye should know all about the fine line between cheating and not cheating, it would be Wiggins.
I was wondering how long it would be before the first snidey comment.
Longer than I expected. Well done.
If Sean Yates has an e-bike that's good enough for me. I'll get one soon enough.
Having been overtaken and dropped on the Tourmalet by a big French lass on a fat tyred ebike this year was enough to convince me. You don't need to use it until you're at your limit or knackered. Some assist can be set to a specific heart rate on some machines. Rather than stare at your stem, because you're in the red, you'd be able to admire the view for a change. You still have to work, just not as hard. Plenty of wives were accompanying their kids and husband's on e-bikes in the Pyrenees this year, more cyclists is a good thing in my view
One huge advantage of e-bikes is their ability to carry (or haul in a trailer) large amounts of stuff without greatly being slowed down, though range will be reduced. E-cargo bikes are replacing vans for last mile deliveries (where "last mile may be anything up to 20 miles) with great success in some urban areas.
Good to hear this from Bradley Wiggins. We need more high-profile cyclists like him and Chris Boardman to speak some sense about everyday cycling . It all adds to the debate and hopefully will influence those with the power to facilitate cycling.
The change to the guidance removing the £1000 limit on cycle-to-work is 'on hold' according to cyclescheme...
I know what he means about the two hours thing. The other day my Wahoo was showing 39.95 miles as I approached home, so I rode past my house and did a U turn so it went to 40.05. 40.05 miles somehow seems so much better than 39.95 miles.
I have to finish a non-utility ride with a prime number of km having been ridden. If I've done 20km, I have to do an extra 3. 32km - another 5. I also have to have the TV volume on a prime number. I have absolutely no idea why.
And I thought I was weird.
Just perfectly normal OCD.
With me its about elevation gain. Dont care about distance, but anything less than 1000m "isn't a proper ride". Several times I have returned home with 950 on the computer and had to go out and do a short hill near home. Maybe a touch of ocd going on!
A few years back, one of the Profs at work insisted I have a go on his ebike, tourer/shopper, first pedal stroke scared the poop out of me, I had to get off and walk it back to him. Too much disconnect from what I was doing. Maybe when I need one. Getting off and pushing up a hill is still getting up the hill.
In terms of incentives, the government has recently effectively removed the £1,000 spend limit on cycle to work schemes, mainly to facilitate people buying e-bikes on the scheme in a tax efficient way. Perhaps not as inclusive as the subsidies available for electric cars (because your employer needs to be signed up to a scheme), but the savings can be up to 42%.
“I don’t want to be raced by anyone. I don’t want to go out in a group and have someone getting a kick out of beating me up a hill now. I’ve just got no ego as a cyclist any more. I’m not competitive on a bike, but I just love riding my bike and I reconnected with that sense of freedom it gave me.”
wow, Brad Wiggins has discovered what I’ve known all along! Of course I could never do what he’s done, but I can now justify my lack of ability
ebikes, pedelecs are going to take over. They’re the not so secret weapon against cars. And car manufacturers know it. VW are bringing a tilting cargo trike. GM have the ARĪV brand of electric folding commuters coming. BMW, Ford, you name it. Even motorcycle brands like H-D and Buell are in on the act. It’s like the hundred year lie of car mobility is coming to an end. I can’t wait! The more people we get onto bikes, the better the conditions for cycling will get. You don’t have to ride a pedelec to benefit from what they can bring.
Whilst admirable, I think you are a bit mistaken about the revolution! Cars are dry when it is training, and safe. Pedelecs are not. It is basically the same argument about why motorcycles are not more popular.
I do think pedelecs may take some motorbike market though. No need for helmet, additional licence,
insurance, parking costs (in London anyway). I've been thinking about replacing my motorbike and electric motorbike vs pedelec for a 5 mile commute is interesting. My main concern is avoiding getting sweaty when it is hot or raining. I'm not sure if a pedelec would be below the sweat effort threshold! A 16mph limited ebike (throttle control) would be perfect for that use.
It depends on how much assistance you select, and how lumpy your route is. Even on the steep hills my wife (who is really, really not fit) doesn't get out of breath. She is doing a couple of journeys to work and back each week (around 6 miles each way) and doesn't have to worry about arriving in need of a shower and change of clothes.
You need to try a pedelec, the sweat thing is a fear not borne out in reality from personal experience. I’m in Australia, your recent heatwave is normal summer here. Our winter is your normal summer! And 5 miles is nothing. I’m riding a Tern GSD, my commute into the city centre is 12km, I average 22kmh and the first thing I look for when I arrive is a coffee not a shower. The Bosch performance line is ideal. The acceleration surprises motorists.
As for the revolution it’s already happening - urban planning is moving away from being car-centric in order to address problems of infrastructure spending, congestion and pollution. The bicycle isn’t driving the change, it just presents a solution for certain circumstances. Electric bicycles just extends those. There’s a lot of buzzwords being thrown about, like “liveable cities”, but mostly it comes down to space efficiency and how we allocate that space. A 3.5m road lane carries 2000 people per hour at typical occupancy levels in cars, or 14,000 on bikes. 22,000 by rapid bus transit, but the infrastructure costs are greater. Planners will look at the numbers, the infrastructure costs and choose the most appropriate solution for the circumstances. Commuters will choose what is most cost effective, convenient and time efficient. It’s not specifically about bicycles, but with car use being actively discouraged, and public transit on fixed routes and schedules, the bicycle becomes a logical choice for flexible personal transport.
It’s a shame the gov electric vehicle subsidies don’t extend to ebikes. Not only do they reduce emissions, they reduce congestion and improve health. A triple whammy compared with an electric car.
As someone who has just done their first ebike ride, into Lydney and back, Brad is right. I had a lot of shopping to bring back up some fearsome hills, and the alternative was drive.
What I don't understand is why the government isn't pushing them more, much, much more. All we hear is ecar this and ecar that, but ecars don't solve most of the problems of profligate use of cars; ebikes do.
This. I've bought my wife an e-bike as she loves the idea of using the car less, especially for short local trips, but isn't fit enough to get up any of the hills nearby (we live at the top of a hill so it's uphill coming home whatever direction). It remains to be seen how she copes with the cold/dark/wet months, but so far it has been a huge transformation - she genuinely loves riding it.
One of the (tongue in cheek) conditions when I bought it, was that she has to let friends, co-workers, etc. have a go on it to see how easy it is to ride with a bit of assistance, and how much fun it is.
I have co-workers for whom an e-bike makes so much sense - they live a few miles out from the town centre so currently either use buses, or have to drive. For a lot of people, the initial cost is a big blocker - they'll spends several thousand pounds on a car, but a grand on a bicycle isn't an easy sell to most non-cyclists.
Good for you, encouraging others to take them up, but as you say, the cost is still a significant factor. The government offer financial packages to help people buy ecars, so why aren't they offering the same or better packages for ebikes? Given that the social, environmental and other benefits are so much greater than ecars, the government could subsidise them 90% for the same as the ecar schemes.
That's what the motor's for.
I'll get my coat.
My wife was forced off bikes rides of anything more than a few miles due to hip problems. Now with an ebike I converted for her she is able to go 20 miles, enjoy the ride and not stress her hip issues