A fantastic story from a newly-converted e-bike fan on how his electric bike has helped him lose 14kg and how he has had fun in the process of doing it.
"Thanks to a sedentary lifestyle and too many hours sitting at a desk I’d lost pretty much all of my fitness and the bike I had seemed too much like hard work. I needed to do something about my health. I saw a dietician who recommended an hour of exercise a day along with diet changes, and recommended I look at an electric bike to get me going.
He organised a SmartMotion Catalyst electric mountain bike and my first impression was
“whoa that’s a good looking piece of equipment!”
From that moment I was hooked.
I took the bike out for a ride around the block and was immediately impressed at how easy it was to use. The controls and interface are intuitive and even someone not tech-savvy could jump straight on.
Later that day I went for a longer ride, and I found that five minutes after getting home I wanted to go riding again. I’ve never felt a pull towards doing more exercise in my life, but later I went for a 5k ride.
The next day I woke up bright and early and went for a ride while it was still dark and rode through the sunrise. Up the street through the park, and back through the park. Before I knew it I had done 10k. That afternoon I went out again. Before I knew it I was up to 15km in the morning, and another 15km in the afternoon.
My Apple Watch told me I was burning over 5000kj (about 1250 calories) each day. Within a couple of days I was up to 15k in the morning and 25k in the afternoon. Old clothes started to fit again. I felt better and more comfortable than I had in ages. Now have a plan to ride to work.
"I have lost 14kg in about 6 weeks."
I have had the Catalyst for 4 weeks of that and since I have had it the weight loss has gained some serious pace. Would I have lost weight without it? Sure, but nowhere near as much.
Would I have had as much fun without it? Not a chance! I’d have given up on walking weeks ago whereas I can’t wait to get back on the bike.
You might be wondering how an electric bike that does all the work for you would help. Because it doesn’t do all the work for you!
You can adjust the settings to do more or less of the peddling and you only get out what you put in. Hill coming up? Increase the assist. Flat section of road coming up? Turn the assist down or off. Heading into a strong wind? Add a bar or two of assist. You change the bike to get the ride you want.
"100% fun, 100% solid, 0% gimmick. Do yourself a favour and get on an electric bicycle like I did."
Thanks to Wayne and to Ian at SmartMotion electric bikes for sharing this story.
See our great selection of E-Bikes under $3,000 if you are looking for a fast and economical way to kick start your hewalth program.