What difference does a lightweight E-bike make?

Possibly most important, affecting every ride, is the handling of the bike. A lightweight electric bike is easy to maneuver and feels lively and responsive—like a nice race bike, deftly darting into and out of corners. It floats lightly over bumps that a heavy e-bike slams into and doesn’t require a death-grip on the handlebar to keep it under control. I ride my lightweight e-bike in competitive weekly cyclocross group-training rides on rough, technical courses with steep ascents and descents, tight (often acute) turns, and barriers. Thanks to its motor and nimbleness over fast bumps, I easily keep up with the fastest riders on the open sections, and thanks to its lightweight, race-bike geometry, and maneuverability, I don’t lose any placings on the corners or over barriers (I do lose some ground on the obligatory run-ups—on foot, which has as much to do with my age and heart condition as with the bike’s weight.)

It’s a joy to ride a Class 3 (up-to-28mph-assist) lightweight electric bike on road rides in the mountains and plains (especially into the wind!) as well as on gravel rides on any terrain, whether solo or with groups. It feels like riding a nice race bike when you were 20 years old and fit (except without the heavy sweating and deep exhaustion, or the grim laboring against headwinds)! 

A heavy e-bike simply doesn’t give you that light feeling of freedom out on a ride. Sure, it can be practical for commuting, lumbering along on crowded streets, fending off puddles with big fenders while loaded with briefcases, clothes changes, and other luggage. But take that e-bike on a group ride and other riders will at least give you a wide berth and maybe completely eschew riding with you, fearful of being mowed down by that huge thing carrying so much momentum. And riding solo into the mountains or on windy, rolling roads on a behemoth like that does not impart a feeling of being one with the road and nature, especially on gravel roads and trails where every bump imparts a hard, loud, uncomfortable bang! through the bike and up into your spine, arms, and shoulders.

Off road, lightweight electric mountain bikes can get you to the tops of technical trails that you’ve always been forced to dab on when riding a standard mountain bike under human power only, imparting a wide grin and deep sense of satisfaction. And when you get to the top, coming down on one is easily controllable and relatively smooth. Compare that to the fearsome experience of having to come down a windy, rough trail on a heavy e-bike. You’d be hanging on for dear life, feeling each and every bump. Or, heaven forbid, should you find yourself atop a steep, off-camber slickrock sandstone ramp on such a bike, its unwieldy mass would be likely to take you clattering off the side of the mountain if you let its pedal clip the rock.

On snow, a lightweight e-fatbike is a much different experience of joy and technical prowess over the gleaming surface than wallowing around on a heavy e-bike, auguring into face plants on corners when the front end plows in, and laboriously hefting it back out of the snow. Simply trying to get started up again is an ordeal on a bike like that when the rear tire digs straight down into the snow when you start pedaling. And then you still must load that cumbersome thing back onto your rack to drive home afterward!

Riding a lightweight e-bike is a bit like finding the fountain of youth. Give yourself the gift of a nice titanium one here, here, here, or, specifically for small riders, here!