What Riding an E-Bike Can Do for Your Health
Convalescing in his East London home following his second serious cycling accident in the space of two years, the TV music mogul Simon Cowell may well be reconsidering the wisdom of the phrase “get back on your bike.” Especially if the vehicle in question is powered by an electric motor.
The 62-year-old’s latest accident (in which he suffered a broken arm, suspected concussion, and facial cuts) reportedly occurred when he was riding an £8,000 Das Spitzing Evolution S-Pedelec bike in the streets near his home without wearing a helmet at speeds of around 20mph.
Cowell, who previously sustained a broken back after crashing another e-bike (albeit an extremely souped-up Swind EB-01 capable of speeds of 60mph and more akin to a motorcycle) in Malibu in August 2020, may need to find himself a more agreeable form of exercise. But with up to 60,000 electric bikes sold in Britain each year, a figure that is increasing all the time, what of the rest of us?
High-Profile E-Bike Accidents and Public Concerns
High-profile e-bike crashes such as those of Cowell and 72-year-old Apprentice star Claude Littner, who feared he might lose a leg after an innocuous fall near his north London home last summer, have left some wondering whether the potential—and literal—pitfalls may outweigh the e-bike health benefits.
Department for Transport figures for deaths and injuries of cyclists on UK roads do not distinguish between e-bikes and traditional models. But last year, 141 people were killed and 16,000 hurt—a toll that has remained broadly the same over the past two decades or so even as the overall number of cyclists has rocketed.
Are E-Bikes Riskier Than Regular Bicycles?
Various studies elsewhere have highlighted the high proportion of e-bike casualties among the fallen. In 2019, the German insurer Allianz released figures that suggested the five-year average risk of fatality on a bicycle is three times higher if you are riding an e-bike.
The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) has compiled several studies that suggest this is also a risk that increases with age. One study conducted in the Netherlands, where over 420,000 e-bikes a year are now being sold, found that for cyclists over 75, the injury risk on electric bikes was twice that of conventional models.
Speed and Weight Concerns of E-Bikes
Speed is less of a concern than you might imagine. In the UK, all e-bikes are capped at a maximum speed of 15.5mph by law; any higher, and the motor cuts out. Average cruising speeds are broadly similar to those pedaling under their own steam.
Cycling proficiency instructors say what is more of an issue is the increased weight and acceleration of e-bikes, which particularly older and inexperienced riders can find difficult to manage. “They are bloody heavy,” says 54-year-old Dave Burns, who runs a Harrogate-based cycling instructor business called I Want to Ride My Bike. “If people are older and a little bit more frail, that weight could take them over.”
Burns has taught many cyclists, middle-aged and upwards, how to ride e-bikes and says the initial burst of acceleration can cause a few wobbles. “They set off quite quickly, so if you are a bit anxious, it can feel as if you are out of control.”
Proven Health Benefits of Riding E-Bikes
However, it appears to be a risk worth taking to keep fit later in life. Numerous studies have demonstrated the overall e-bike health benefits, even if riders pedal-less hard. In one recent paper, Bristol University researchers compiled 17 different studies involving a range of groups that concluded that cycling provides physical activity of at least moderate intensity.
“There is this underlying perception that e-bikes are cheating,” says Jessica Bourne, a research associate involved in the study. “But there is a plethora of research that shows if you exercise at moderate intensity, you will get health benefits.”
Meanwhile, other studies have also shown that the reduced effort required by e-bikes means people tend to ride them for longer and more regularly. One recent German study, which supplied 101 healthy men and women in Hamburg with e-bikes and standard bicycles, found participants completed five rides a week on the former, compared to three times a week for the latter.
E-Bikes: Making Cycling Accessible to Everyone
But above all, proponents say, e-bikes’ health benefits draw people out onto roads who otherwise would not be seen dead among the serried ranks of Middle-Aged Men in Lycra (MAMILs).
Better yet, they sometimes even overtake them on the hills. Two years ago, Chris Lee was one such Mamil—riding up to 300 miles a week on his road bike. But in 2019, Lee, a cycling proficiency instructor with the training organization Outspoken and married father-of-three, suffered a cardiac arrest while out on his road bike.
The then-49-year-old was lucky to survive and was told by doctors he would never cycle again. Instead, he has gradually returned to fitness via the aid of a Brompton electronic bicycle. “I was panicked if my heart would be able to take it, but the e-bike helped me and gave me the confidence to ride again,” he says. “They keep the world open to people of all ages.”
Maybe, then, it will be a third time lucky for calamity Cowell?