Study: Cycling daily reduces obesity - unless it's an e-bike

Hughmac wrote:

Found the article quite demotivating if taken at face value. Just starting using an ebike at 72 and already seeing the difference in my weight, fitness level and normal every day energy levels.

I think personal experience is far more valuable than an internet article. If your e-bike is helping you be more active, as it is for an increasing number of people, then the benefits go well beyond just your weight or BMI.

News sites love 'bad news' stories. I'm not singling out road.cc, you can find conflicting evidence or opposing points of view about absolutely everything if you try. Last month The Independent printed an article about e-bikes which was almost entirely positive but the headline and intro in the print edition would have you believe that they far from a good thing as it was 2 days after an incident where a man riding one collided with a pedestrian.

It sounds like your e-bike is doing you a power of good so just carry on.

Boltsy wrote:

Certainly lost some lbs chasing an e biker into London this morning.

I have to admit that, even though I don't agree with derestricting them, the quick ones make excellent lead-out men for the silly commute sprint.

Yorkshire wallet wrote:

I reckon once you're into your 30s and onwards you're either fat and lazy or not. An E-bike won't encourage the fat and lazy to actually pedal because they are already fat and lazy and that mindset is predisposed to comfort, not 'fucking hell, the next hill is 16% and I'm going to really have to crank it....but I want to'. The fat bastard starts to fell the burn and hits the assist button. They'll never gradually fade its use out, they'll become reliant on it.

If I ever get an E-bike it'll be because of old age and the fact that physical deterioration will get me, no matter how well I keep in shape. Until then that next bit of fitness is a challenge.

People want to be 'in shape' but do nothing to get in shape. I get stupid comments at work like "it's alright for you, you can eat what you want". Yeah because I've done 100 miles in the last few days you lazy bastards.

Good article here from Psychology today on why acting superior may be a way of masking deep seated feelings of in adequacy.

  https://www.psychologytoday.com/gb/blog/insight/201011/are-people-who-ac...

Deeferdonk wrote:

 

Good article here from Psychology today on why acting superior may be a way of masking deep seated feelings of in adequacy.

  https://www.psychologytoday.com/gb/blog/insight/201011/are-people-who-ac...

Thanks goodness you said 'may'. That's me excused then!

Hopefully you didn't post that with a feeling of moral superiority over me. What are you hiding?

Everyone is insecure about something. That's life. Even successful, famous people still top themselves when all seems great to outsiders.

I was fat(ish) from about 11-16 and I've never being fat again. Insecure? Maybe but I'd rather by driven to exercise than not as the years roll by. I'd never be happy looking the mirror and seeing moobs and a gut so I do what I have to even if sometimes that means cutting out certain things and cranking up the exercise.

Yorkshire wallet wrote:

People want to be 'in shape' but do nothing to get in shape. I get stupid comments at work like "it's alright for you, you can eat what you want". Yeah because I've done 100 miles in the last few days you lazy bastards.

+1.  There are many people at work who delude themselves into thinking that I'm not fat, despite my large daily intake of food and the odd trip to the pub, because I have some sort of special power or have won the genetic lottery.  Nothing to do with doing an hour of decent exercise every day.  It means they don't have to take responsibility for their own lousy health - they simply aren't as lucky as me.

srchar wrote:

There are many people at work who delude themselves into thinking that I'm not fat, despite my large daily intake of food and the odd trip to the pub, because I have some sort of special power or have won the genetic lottery.  Nothing to do with doing an hour of decent exercise every day.  It means they don't have to take responsibility for their own lousy health - they simply aren't as lucky as me.

Just like all the people who moan about the traffic on their way to the office, unwilling to acknowledge that they themselves are part of the problem. It's always someone else's fault.

If challenged they just come up with excuses (some valid) and won't even dream of considering possible solutions.

CygnusX1 wrote:

My hypothesis* is that people with high BMI from sitting in cars stuck in traffic jams, who then choose to do something about it (whether for healh, or jam busting) may opt for ebikes over regular bikes since it is less strain on their bodies.

If my hypothesis is correct, then e-bikes have resulted in a slight improvement in BMI for these car -> ebike switchers, and may act as a gateway 'drug' to unassisted cycling.

* (actually HoarseMan and cyanideBun beat me to publication)

I was thinking a similar thing.

• If people are moving from cars to e-bikes then it is an improvement
• If people are moving from bicycles to e-bikes then it isn't and improvement

Also if e-bikes are a stepping stone from cars to bicycles then it's an even better thing, though I suspect it's going to be more like vaping where it is supposed to be a stepping stone from smoking to quiting but is more often just a permanant shift from smoking to vaping.

ClubSmed wrote:

CygnusX1 wrote:

My hypothesis* is that people with high BMI from sitting in cars stuck in traffic jams, who then choose to do something about it (whether for healh, or jam busting) may opt for ebikes over regular bikes since it is less strain on their bodies.

If my hypothesis is correct, then e-bikes have resulted in a slight improvement in BMI for these car -> ebike switchers, and may act as a gateway 'drug' to unassisted cycling.

* (actually HoarseMan and cyanideBun beat me to publication)

I was thinking a similar thing.

• If people are moving from cars to e-bikes then it is an improvement
• If people are moving from bicycles to e-bikes then it isn't and improvement

Also if e-bikes are a stepping stone from cars to bicycles then it's an even better thing, though I suspect it's going to be more like vaping where it is supposed to be a stepping stone from smoking to quiting but is more often just a permanant shift from smoking to vaping.

Agree absolutely that the "goodness" of e-biking depends on what it replaces. And the analogy with vaping is apt, but can be taken further; just as vaping tempts some people who have never smoked to start vaping (because it's perceived as not unhealthy, and it's addictive of course), so e-bikeing will tempt some people who won't use it as a replacement for either cycling or driving, but as an additional, leisure activity. And even if we restrict ourselves to e-bike commuters, there will be some who switch to e-bikes from walking or public transport. 

Simon E wrote:

"men switching from cars to bicycles for daily travel lost an average of 0.75 kilograms in weight,"

That doesn't sound very much. When I switched from car to cycling for my 5 mile journey across town I shed 4kg in 6 weeks without any other changes.

It's more than I've ever lost through cycling:( I seem to put more weight on in the summer when I'm cycling more often and riding more miles, and people usually claim it's because then your muscle weighs more than the fat you are replacing, so I'm always slightly cautious of claims cycling loses you great chunks of weight.

Awavey wrote:

It's more than I've ever lost through cycling:( I seem to put more weight on in the summer when I'm cycling more often and riding more miles, and people usually claim it's because then your muscle weighs more than the fat you are replacing, so I'm always slightly cautious of claims cycling loses you great chunks of weight.

Muscle is more dense than fat, but the only way to put on weight is to consume more calories than you expend. Simple mass-energy balance.

Awavey wrote:

I seem to put more weight on in the summer when I'm cycling more often and riding more miles, and people usually claim it's because then your muscle weighs more than the fat you are replacing, so I'm always slightly cautious of claims cycling loses you great chunks of weight.

You would have to do a huge amount of upper body gym work (i.e. weightlifting) and track sprinting type stuff for gain enough extra muscle for it to be significant. It's more likely that you are consuming more calories than you are expending.

Yorkshire wallet wrote:

Everyone is insecure about something. That's life. Even successful, famous people still top themselves when all seems great to outsiders.

Yes. It is interesting to see how many great athletes, entrepreneurs, celebrities etc are driven to a greater or lesser extent by insecurity or feelings of inadequacy. Their success rarely makes them happy; if anything it brings with it even greater problems. But it's not only the rich and/or famous, this kind of insecurity is the basis of all bullying behaviour, whether at school or later in life.

FluffyKittenofTindalos wrote:

I'm less interested in the ebike thing than in the comparison between cyclists and pedestrians.  Is it because the groups aren't exactly comparable, i.e that the cyclists are more active generally outside the commuting?  Is it that they commute a much longer distance?  Or is cycling somehow better than walking even on a per-mile or per-hour basis?  How do cyclists and peds compare if you control for length of commute, either by distance or time?

It's probably the HIIT effect; High Intensity Interval Training, where you go like stink for a limited time and then coast for a bit, then repeat.  This pretty much describes cycling, with hills and traffic starts for the high intensity stuff, followed by cruising on the flat or down hills.  HIIT has been shown to have an effect on the metabolism far in excess of the calories actually burnt.  For most people, walking just doesn't have the same high intensity bursts and periods of relative calm.

JF69 wrote:

 

In my case when I returned to cycling after a long absence I started with a pedelec/pedal-assisted bike (not an e-bike with a throttle), often & confusingly also referred to as an ebike. 

hi, I think as the study was in the UK, they mean pedal assist bikes. We aren’t allowed throttle bicycles here.

cyanideBun wrote:

Actually, the authors say 

"This would indicate the presence of self-selection. In the longitudinal analysis, we hypothesize that more frequent use of an e-bike leads to a higher BMI through less regular biking."

The alternative explanation is that if you have a higher BMI you aren't going to jump straight on a regular bike but try something less demanding to get you started. 

 

Yes this.  An e-bike might well be considered a gateway into cycling, for those who perhaps don't feel they have the fitness for unassisted riding (sweeping generalisation alert) but want to get started.  Its a bit like measuring the BMI of those starting a gym membership.