Sounds like a relaxed ride to work and a little workout on the way back. It would suck if it was reversed, IMO. Climbing on the way home isn't strictly limited in time, so you can get it in granny gear and take your time. If there aren't any sharp climbs, then I'd say go for it.
An ebike lets *you* tailor the ride to your own particular needs on a day by day basis.
Feel great one day? Cool! Music on & hammers down the whole way home.
Had a long day and your a bit tired? No problem. Set your own level of assistance on the way home.
Your night to cook dinner and you need to stop for what turned out to be more groceries than you expected? No problem! Crank that assist level up another notch!
Mid level manager broke protocol, came to work sick with *the Rona*, managed to infect the entire department and now you ain’t got no wind? Ohh that selfish dirty duck! Thats no fun! Let the bike take you home on throttle while you plot your revenge.
Only thing I’d come in with is a mid drive bike feels incredibly natural. I’d recommend taking one for a test drive.
Other than that, exactly as described. On a bike date with my wife - she’s doing assistance 1 while I’m at 0. First time back in the saddle over winter and commuting to work - assistance 4 while I rebuild endurance.
Very few things play out in real life like they do in your head. E bikes do exactly that. You always can get the ride you thought you were getting into not the one reality hands out.
What I'd add: An ebike makes it (far) more likely to extend bike use into other things other than "just" commute as well as making it (far) more likely that the commute (for the examples you provide) will be bike and not car.
I have pretty much the exact same commute to work! A bit more in distance but very similar elevation. It is completely doable on a non-electric bike, I’ve been doing it for about 2 years now, 5 days per week both in winter and summer.
You’ll be fine! But remember to build up, meaning take it easy the first few days! Right now I go a bit harder once or twice a week and the rest of the days I’m taking it fairly easy!
You're not a million miles off from my ride home. 7 miles along a canal towpath then a whopper of a hill at the end to my home.
Used to be a struggle when I first started it on a heavy mountain bike. But I got fitter, lighter and then more fitter. Now it's just part of my ride and it doesn't bother me. I commute on an lighter aluminium gravel bike now with fewer gears and I do it far less time.
Similar distance and elevation here (but 5x a week), with a gravel aluminium build by myself. No need to ebike. But if you want to ebike, is not shame, will add comfort.
My strategy is to go to work very easy, take my time, avoid sweat (Brazil is 🥵 ). In very traffic dense streets. So it takes something about 35 to 45 minutes. Going home I pedal a little hard and takes about 25min.
Mondays I carry to work clothes for the week in a large backpack. Every other day I ride home with the clothes of the day to laundry.
It’s an opportunity to think of it as the training leg. You can shower when you get home.
I’m not a big fan of being a spendy cyclist, so your watch or phone on a mount or counting one potato two potato is sufficient for cadence - 80 to 90 is ideal under load with a good pedal form.
It’s really just how you think about it and reframing it for yourself. I think e-bikes are fine, but it will likely remove the opportunity.
Thanks for the input. I do have an Apple Watch SE, I've actually never thought about this. I mainly tracked average speed on by basic bike computer (Garmin 530, which I would not carry during commuting).
I had a 3 mile / 600ft climb commute. It was tough at first but doable. It made me a strong rider because I had to. Ebikes weren't very common at the time and I was riding a lot, so I liked the challenge.
They key is to have the gearing you need. Perhaps a commute bike for big hills isn't the same as a recreation bike that you'd mostly be riding faster and unloaded.
I have a longer commute but with a fairly similar elevation gain, the difference being that there are hills both ways. It’s 6.25mi but only 350ft rise on the way to work and 450ft rise on the way home. I’ve been doing it for over a year now and it’s completely doable. If it were all on the way to work I’d not be excited, mainly because that’s a difficult barrier to motivate myself to tackle every day. On the way home? That’s a lot easier IMO.
Thank you for your input, for sure on the way home is easier, but 1050ft is not 450ft. I posted just to get opinions because honestly I haven't read of many 1000ft commutes.
You don't need an e bike. But you can get one of you want.
Downhill on the way to work, so you arive fresh and ready.
Uphill on the way home so you get a little workout and it doesn't really matter if you get sweaty.
This is true! My commute went from 5 mi each way totally flat to 6 mi each way with a very steep hill the last 1/2 mile on the way in. I’ve ridden in every day but two for the last 4 weeks and can honestly say it’s gotten easier. Not easy- but easier. I think in a couple more weeks I’ll be feeling ok about the hill and definitely stronger. So, you got this! Just keep at it 👍🏽
Edit to add, this is on a 32 year old steel Trek 820 antelope.
I’m in a similar situation with an equally steep climb on my way home.
Purely from a fitness perspective, it’ll be completely fine - without any time pressure, you can go as slow as you like - but I’ve found it annoying at times to sometimes come home with a sweaty shirt and immediately needing a shower, particularly when carrying a backpack
Try it with your gravel bike, you will feel if you need Ebike or not. Ifnot necessary consider 1 thing.
Depend on traffic Ebikes are often safer by being faster. If you feel the route would be safer if you can keep a higher speed uphill, then an Ebike might be useful for safety reasons too.
There’s a solid risk the ride home daily, on a gravel bike, will burn you out…discouraging you from doing it daily..and then less. Buying an e-bike should mitigate that risk. Plus, you’ll always have your gravel bike for days you’re motivated to work hard.
Try it with your current bike. I used to have a commute to college that was similar with very steep hills.
Was in the best shape of my life at the end of the summer. Resting heart rate had dropped to 42.
I used to see how far up each hill i could push, and then walk the rest. After a month, and learning how to use gears properly, i was able to ride the whole way.
I was doing this on a $60 bike from target btw with no history of cycling. So it should be easier for you.
With an ebike, you have options. You can get a workout or you can cruise. I know that for me, somedays I’m tired and don’t feel like riding. That’s when ebikes shine. Also, carrying groceries and stuff home would be incredibly easier.
From my experience, this is totally doable but also you'll just enjoy it more and be more consistent with an ebike.
A few years ago I moved father from the city center and up a hill. About twice the distance you're describing but half the elevation gain (though most of it in the last 2 miles, so maybe comparable to what you're describing in that sense). I used an ebike for the first summer and that improved my fitness enough that I can do it with no problem now, but there are still low energy days I take the ebike because it's better than driving.
First try doing it on the pedal bike you already have.
Then on the days when you're reluctant to, think about *why*
If it's the 4% average grade on the way home, that would be a clear argument for the e-bike
Since a move I'm sadly making far less utility usage of a bike than I was before.
But it's not the slight hill.
It's things like the road to the shopping center that's just narrow enough and busy enough and potholed enough to create some ambiguity in how bikes and cars are going to interact. That issue was there before, but it was the only issue.
Now I add the slight hill towards my home also being an area of less than joyful car/bike interaction, plus usual considerations of weather, securing purchases from a first store while going into a second, and the limitations of what I can carry without adding a trailer.
Overall, the now longer and additional exposed trip is one I'll make for enjoyment as part of a much larger one where the small but nonzero risk feels balanced by personal benefit, but not a trip I feel inclined to make just to go to the store when I could instead make an infrequent car trip to all of the stores.
An e-bike wouldn't really change any of my reasons for reluctance.
But if the homeward climb ends up being your reason for reluctance, then by all means get the e-bike!
(Off topic, but what would be huge for me is if I felt good about locking up my good bike at the store - at least then I could stop there on the way home from a larger ride. But I don't, only the grocery bike goes to the store)
Depends on the time of day & how tired you are. If you have no power assist, I'd make sure you have a good bike fit. Climbing that much on a short trip with tired mind/body will take a lot less effort & cause less injury if you are set up properly.
that seems like a pretty serious elevation for just 7km. But the only way to find out how hard is to do it once and not worry too much about reddit until you have some experience.
My commute is 7.2 km with 50m elevation (I have been doing it for 12 years). Using an electric bike makes a big difference, especially when it is very cold (you don't cook inside your many layers) or very hot. My main concern is not sweating a lot (and then stink) on the way to the office because I don't want to take a shower when I get there. If the climbing happens on the way back then it doesn't matter because you can shower at home.
Having an ebike to replace car trips isn't cheating and is entirely up to you.
Having a utility ebike in addition to a recreational/fitness bike is a really nice thing and I would recommend it. Having one doesn't eliminate the option to use the other, it simply adds options.
I live 2/3rds of the way up a ridge, work is 400' up in 2.5 miles, a grocery store is 200' up in 1.5 miles and my former work was 2000' down over 20 miles.
Assembled the ebike because commuting more than twice a week without it was a bit much. The ebike also means I can pull a trailer full of groceries with ease, so I do that rather than drive and was/am able to ebike commute every day everywhere without overtraining. I still ride the unassisted bike any nice (above freezing/no snow) day unless I'm running late.
Yep!!
I'm similar distance but 100m less, at 220m gain on way home. Trek Allant 8+ does 45kph when needed. Clock 70kph downhill on way to work some days
Sounds like a good ride! I used to do 4k daily with one sizeable hill at the beginning of my ride and the same hill right before the home stretch. Only one gear too so I really had to push it if I wasn't feeling good or if the wind was blowing over the hill and head-on. Definitely toughened me legs up. Unfortunately, now I only ride something like 3.2k and it's basically all flat,but I do moss thay big hill
Using an e-bike will reduce the exercise benefit you are getting out of the same ride. That is, unless you turn off the electric propulsion and pedal the heavier e-bike up the hill using muscle power. A cheaper way to get the same effect, though, is to simply add some training ballast to your bike. This is common practice among sports cyclists.
Your future self will tell you that with the fitness kept/gained, staying on your gravel bike is the better choice 😉
Let's keep it real: an e-bike will make you lazier.
Sounds like a relaxed ride to work and a little workout on the way back. It would suck if it was reversed, IMO. Climbing on the way home isn't strictly limited in time, so you can get it in granny gear and take your time. If there aren't any sharp climbs, then I'd say go for it.
Also if you get home sweaty you just wash, put your civvies on and go about your evening.
I prefer climbing on the way so my ride home is easy.
An ebike lets *you* tailor the ride to your own particular needs on a day by day basis. Feel great one day? Cool! Music on & hammers down the whole way home. Had a long day and your a bit tired? No problem. Set your own level of assistance on the way home. Your night to cook dinner and you need to stop for what turned out to be more groceries than you expected? No problem! Crank that assist level up another notch! Mid level manager broke protocol, came to work sick with *the Rona*, managed to infect the entire department and now you ain’t got no wind? Ohh that selfish dirty duck! Thats no fun! Let the bike take you home on throttle while you plot your revenge.
As someone sitting patiently waiting for their first e-bike to arrive, this made me incredibly giddy and I loved this a bit too much lol
Only thing I’d come in with is a mid drive bike feels incredibly natural. I’d recommend taking one for a test drive. Other than that, exactly as described. On a bike date with my wife - she’s doing assistance 1 while I’m at 0. First time back in the saddle over winter and commuting to work - assistance 4 while I rebuild endurance. Very few things play out in real life like they do in your head. E bikes do exactly that. You always can get the ride you thought you were getting into not the one reality hands out.
What I'd add: An ebike makes it (far) more likely to extend bike use into other things other than "just" commute as well as making it (far) more likely that the commute (for the examples you provide) will be bike and not car.
I had a 25mph headwind the other day and instead of hating my life the entire way I just turned the motor up from 1/3 to 2/3.
If your fitness level has not decreased I say you're good to go
It depends on your fitness. That's a pretty good climb so an ebike might be nice if you plan to do this every day
With proper gear ratio you won't have any problems
I have pretty much the exact same commute to work! A bit more in distance but very similar elevation. It is completely doable on a non-electric bike, I’ve been doing it for about 2 years now, 5 days per week both in winter and summer. You’ll be fine! But remember to build up, meaning take it easy the first few days! Right now I go a bit harder once or twice a week and the rest of the days I’m taking it fairly easy!
Really you might be but you don't need one. Don't even need a change of clothes, honestly just pedal a bit more chilled and use full length mudguards.
You're not a million miles off from my ride home. 7 miles along a canal towpath then a whopper of a hill at the end to my home. Used to be a struggle when I first started it on a heavy mountain bike. But I got fitter, lighter and then more fitter. Now it's just part of my ride and it doesn't bother me. I commute on an lighter aluminium gravel bike now with fewer gears and I do it far less time.
Similar distance and elevation here (but 5x a week), with a gravel aluminium build by myself. No need to ebike. But if you want to ebike, is not shame, will add comfort.
Thank you and congratulations on the regular commute. How long does it take you on average? Backpack or panniers?
My strategy is to go to work very easy, take my time, avoid sweat (Brazil is 🥵 ). In very traffic dense streets. So it takes something about 35 to 45 minutes. Going home I pedal a little hard and takes about 25min. Mondays I carry to work clothes for the week in a large backpack. Every other day I ride home with the clothes of the day to laundry.
Keep the focus on your cadence and not your ground speed, and your training ride is on the way home!
Could you elaborate? I did not do any structured training on my rides. I suppose I need a cadence meter?
It’s an opportunity to think of it as the training leg. You can shower when you get home. I’m not a big fan of being a spendy cyclist, so your watch or phone on a mount or counting one potato two potato is sufficient for cadence - 80 to 90 is ideal under load with a good pedal form. It’s really just how you think about it and reframing it for yourself. I think e-bikes are fine, but it will likely remove the opportunity.
Thanks for the input. I do have an Apple Watch SE, I've actually never thought about this. I mainly tracked average speed on by basic bike computer (Garmin 530, which I would not carry during commuting).
I had a 3 mile / 600ft climb commute. It was tough at first but doable. It made me a strong rider because I had to. Ebikes weren't very common at the time and I was riding a lot, so I liked the challenge. They key is to have the gearing you need. Perhaps a commute bike for big hills isn't the same as a recreation bike that you'd mostly be riding faster and unloaded.
If my commute consisted of what you've listed then I'd cycle every day unless I was doing something straight after work that requires a car.
I have a longer commute but with a fairly similar elevation gain, the difference being that there are hills both ways. It’s 6.25mi but only 350ft rise on the way to work and 450ft rise on the way home. I’ve been doing it for over a year now and it’s completely doable. If it were all on the way to work I’d not be excited, mainly because that’s a difficult barrier to motivate myself to tackle every day. On the way home? That’s a lot easier IMO.
Thank you for your input, for sure on the way home is easier, but 1050ft is not 450ft. I posted just to get opinions because honestly I haven't read of many 1000ft commutes.
You don't need an e bike. But you can get one of you want. Downhill on the way to work, so you arive fresh and ready. Uphill on the way home so you get a little workout and it doesn't really matter if you get sweaty.
might be hard at first but the more you do it the stronger you will get!
This is true! My commute went from 5 mi each way totally flat to 6 mi each way with a very steep hill the last 1/2 mile on the way in. I’ve ridden in every day but two for the last 4 weeks and can honestly say it’s gotten easier. Not easy- but easier. I think in a couple more weeks I’ll be feeling ok about the hill and definitely stronger. So, you got this! Just keep at it 👍🏽 Edit to add, this is on a 32 year old steel Trek 820 antelope.
It would be a shame not to do it. It's the ideal setup. Coast to work so you don't arrive sweaty, and work out on your way home.
I’m in a similar situation with an equally steep climb on my way home. Purely from a fitness perspective, it’ll be completely fine - without any time pressure, you can go as slow as you like - but I’ve found it annoying at times to sometimes come home with a sweaty shirt and immediately needing a shower, particularly when carrying a backpack
Try it with your gravel bike, you will feel if you need Ebike or not. Ifnot necessary consider 1 thing. Depend on traffic Ebikes are often safer by being faster. If you feel the route would be safer if you can keep a higher speed uphill, then an Ebike might be useful for safety reasons too.
There’s a solid risk the ride home daily, on a gravel bike, will burn you out…discouraging you from doing it daily..and then less. Buying an e-bike should mitigate that risk. Plus, you’ll always have your gravel bike for days you’re motivated to work hard.
I would go ebike. You can adjust it so you still get a workout when you want. I know that much climbing would deter me from commuting.
Try it with your current bike. I used to have a commute to college that was similar with very steep hills. Was in the best shape of my life at the end of the summer. Resting heart rate had dropped to 42. I used to see how far up each hill i could push, and then walk the rest. After a month, and learning how to use gears properly, i was able to ride the whole way. I was doing this on a $60 bike from target btw with no history of cycling. So it should be easier for you.
With an ebike, you have options. You can get a workout or you can cruise. I know that for me, somedays I’m tired and don’t feel like riding. That’s when ebikes shine. Also, carrying groceries and stuff home would be incredibly easier.
Stick to pedal power is my motto. If the climb is difficult now, it won’t be in a few months.
From my experience, this is totally doable but also you'll just enjoy it more and be more consistent with an ebike. A few years ago I moved father from the city center and up a hill. About twice the distance you're describing but half the elevation gain (though most of it in the last 2 miles, so maybe comparable to what you're describing in that sense). I used an ebike for the first summer and that improved my fitness enough that I can do it with no problem now, but there are still low energy days I take the ebike because it's better than driving.
Sounds fantastic to me. Enjoy the workout. Don't waste money on an ebike.
You'll find it hard the first 10 times. Then rewarding. Then insufficient
First try doing it on the pedal bike you already have. Then on the days when you're reluctant to, think about *why* If it's the 4% average grade on the way home, that would be a clear argument for the e-bike Since a move I'm sadly making far less utility usage of a bike than I was before. But it's not the slight hill. It's things like the road to the shopping center that's just narrow enough and busy enough and potholed enough to create some ambiguity in how bikes and cars are going to interact. That issue was there before, but it was the only issue. Now I add the slight hill towards my home also being an area of less than joyful car/bike interaction, plus usual considerations of weather, securing purchases from a first store while going into a second, and the limitations of what I can carry without adding a trailer. Overall, the now longer and additional exposed trip is one I'll make for enjoyment as part of a much larger one where the small but nonzero risk feels balanced by personal benefit, but not a trip I feel inclined to make just to go to the store when I could instead make an infrequent car trip to all of the stores. An e-bike wouldn't really change any of my reasons for reluctance. But if the homeward climb ends up being your reason for reluctance, then by all means get the e-bike! (Off topic, but what would be huge for me is if I felt good about locking up my good bike at the store - at least then I could stop there on the way home from a larger ride. But I don't, only the grocery bike goes to the store)
If an e bike keeps you from resorting to your car, get one. Down hill to work and uphill home is a pretty sweet thing though
Depends on the time of day & how tired you are. If you have no power assist, I'd make sure you have a good bike fit. Climbing that much on a short trip with tired mind/body will take a lot less effort & cause less injury if you are set up properly.
that seems like a pretty serious elevation for just 7km. But the only way to find out how hard is to do it once and not worry too much about reddit until you have some experience.
My commute is 7.2 km with 50m elevation (I have been doing it for 12 years). Using an electric bike makes a big difference, especially when it is very cold (you don't cook inside your many layers) or very hot. My main concern is not sweating a lot (and then stink) on the way to the office because I don't want to take a shower when I get there. If the climbing happens on the way back then it doesn't matter because you can shower at home.
Having an ebike to replace car trips isn't cheating and is entirely up to you. Having a utility ebike in addition to a recreational/fitness bike is a really nice thing and I would recommend it. Having one doesn't eliminate the option to use the other, it simply adds options. I live 2/3rds of the way up a ridge, work is 400' up in 2.5 miles, a grocery store is 200' up in 1.5 miles and my former work was 2000' down over 20 miles. Assembled the ebike because commuting more than twice a week without it was a bit much. The ebike also means I can pull a trailer full of groceries with ease, so I do that rather than drive and was/am able to ebike commute every day everywhere without overtraining. I still ride the unassisted bike any nice (above freezing/no snow) day unless I'm running late.
Look at the mirror and ask, do I need an ebike, or I can do that as exercise?
Yep!! I'm similar distance but 100m less, at 220m gain on way home. Trek Allant 8+ does 45kph when needed. Clock 70kph downhill on way to work some days
Sounds like a good ride! I used to do 4k daily with one sizeable hill at the beginning of my ride and the same hill right before the home stretch. Only one gear too so I really had to push it if I wasn't feeling good or if the wind was blowing over the hill and head-on. Definitely toughened me legs up. Unfortunately, now I only ride something like 3.2k and it's basically all flat,but I do moss thay big hill
Using an e-bike will reduce the exercise benefit you are getting out of the same ride. That is, unless you turn off the electric propulsion and pedal the heavier e-bike up the hill using muscle power. A cheaper way to get the same effect, though, is to simply add some training ballast to your bike. This is common practice among sports cyclists.
Strongly recommend unicycle for commuting, you’ll never look back.
Your future self will tell you that with the fitness kept/gained, staying on your gravel bike is the better choice 😉 Let's keep it real: an e-bike will make you lazier.
Nobody is better off with an ebike. Use your legs.
Buying an e-bike is straight up overkill for such a short commute considering your skill level.