Electric bikes can be a great form of exercise and fun for RVers. Many of them fold up small, so they can fit in your RV’s storage or undercarriage, and those with tired knees and joints won’t have to pedal as much, or as hard.
Carrying a bike with you on your travels allows you to see the campground, or area, in a whole new light. Cover twice the amount of territory, explore new trails, and even meet new friends.
Read this article by one of our writers, Silvana Clark, and see what kind of electric bike she and her husband use.
Actually went down this road a few years ago with 2 electrified trikes, then to 2 electric scooter trikes and now 2 EW 36 electric mobility scooters that will go 21 mph. I would’ve been a whole lot wealthier and my wife a lot healthier if we’d never heard of bikes, trikes, scooters and battery power. My wife was injured pretty bad last week when she started to get on and inadvertently twisted the throttle and it took off with her in tow, but she doesn’t want to get rid of it. God bless her 81 year old spirit.
I hope I’m still that adventurous when I get to 81. It will keep me young.
Sorry to hear about your wife’s injury. That’s been holding me back too. I love biking. Always have. In our mid-60s though and my wife likes riding a bike, but has always been a bit wobbly. Never really has developed the confidence you need. Concerned that adding a motor would just make things worse for her or result in an injury.
Yes I know the feeling. We bought a pair of ebikes years ago. They had twist handles too and you had to be careful not to twist too early. We now have two ebikes with thumb throttles. Now, with your hand on the handle, it takes an intentional reach of the thumb to activate the electric drive. We love ours too. At 70, they allow us to travel 30 miles if we choose, at any level of assist we choose as well. They are a tool for keeping young.
I turned my newer Trek into an e-bike with a kit. I love it and wish I’d done it sooner.
We have 2 recumbent bike we have ridden for 10+ years. If you’ve never ridden one DO NOT! You will never go back to a regular bike. As they don’t make an electric one (that I can find that is not a 3 wheeler) I put electric kits on ours. Great improvement. Pedaling is the same but if wanted a little boost from the electric motor is wonderful!
We ride a tandem recumbent. It might be nice to have a little electric boost when starting from a dead stop.
I seriously was going to purchase two ebikes until there were 4 stolen where we were staying….cut the chains and off they went. Police told owners ebikes are the hottest black market item out there…at least in Florida
Isn’t the reason for a bicycle …..the exercise????
There is some proof out there that people who switch from standard bikes to electric pedal assist (known as ‘pedelec’, no throttle,) burn more calories and enjoy their excursions much more. I am one of those people and am proud of my weight loss and gain in stamina.
Partly. There is a photo of a car and a bike. Under the car it says “this costs you money and makes you fat.” Under the bike, “this saves you money and makes you fit.” Also the elation of sweeping down a mountain road or along an ocean coast. Or having experiences you never would if you toured in a car.
Never not a tree hugger. Seems everyone is go green only to leave our kids, grand kids and beyond on what to do with more junk to recycle and disposal batteries leaking God only knows what in the ground at some storage facility or in the ground. And all this electric power junk we don’t have a grid for those with Elon Musk crap to recharge across the U.S.. Think fuel (fossil) shortage that includes electric because they can produce this junk long before they can build a grid to handle the charging station then wait for the price hike. 15-30 bucks per kilo watt hour. Wal-Mart employees will have to make 20-30 bucks And hour so your bottle of OJ will be 10-15 bucks. So peddle your butt when can and push up hill when can’t or just walk
Whew! Feel better now?
Jeb, LOL
Waiting to settle in to new home (moved out of CA) before ordering two electric bikes. Hoping wife and I will get more outdoor exercise, we need it.
Truthfully, I need it more than wife.
No, I’ve thought about buying a golf cart, though.
I want an ebike and am saving to get two and pay under $1k each.
An electric bike is a great example of why Americans are FAT AND LAZY!
No, not because of electric bikes, because of sitting at a computer reading stupid comments.
I double your thoughts!
And add all those snacks and beer to the stupid computer comments being read.
No, its because a burger and fries is cheaper than a salad. Americans would eat healthier if it was more cost effective.
We saw Europeans riding them when we were on bike tour, starting in 2014.
Both my wife and I are approaching the big 70 and I myself have had knee and hip replacements. We got two Lectric Bikes and absolutely LOVE them and collectively have over 1500 miles with nary a problem.
“If” we would not have had the battery help we most likely would have had 15 miles on them and they would have already been sold!
I was getting serious about losing some weight so i started shopping for a new bike… and i’m a nerd engineer so immediately looked at electric bikes… and that explains why i need to lose weight! 🙂
(Actually bought a very good pedal bike…no cheating!)
I am a big guy so I need one with a high weight rating. They generally range from 180-225 lbs. but I have found some as high as 350. I know people who put on saddle bags. That means the weight of them plus what ever is in them adds to the weight the bike is carrying.
I have a great $1000- full suspension mountain bike, but my knees can’t handle it anymore. So, thinking about selling it and turning the proceeds into a nice e-bike. I can easily lift the 60-70 pound frame and battery, so the easy pedaling is a good trade off.
Not for me. Nope
I ride the Harley, but DW doesn’t. I want to get an ebike we can both use, but mostly for her around the campgrounds.
I have a Liberty Trike that I use for running between the campground and barn when we travel to draft horse shows. So we aren’t camping in the true sense of the word. But the electric trike is so handy for quick trips to check on the dog or to tote things back and forth.
We have two 20″ folding Ecotric bikes. We store them in 40 gallon totes when we travel. The totes ride in our Dodge Caliber, towed behind the RV.
I’m 72 and have two knee replacements but after a lifetime of endurance physical activity (cycling, running, hiking, walking) I’m still able to ride my lightweight cyclocross bike, which is a cross between a road and mountain bike that can be ridden on various types of terrain.
Wife and I both had e-bikes for 8 years. LOVED them. We don’t tow a car behind our class A. Went all over with the bikes. Had to get rid of them because of balance issues. Sure do miss them. Now we have a mobility scooter for two. It’s like a small golf cart. Carry it on a lift behind our MH. It’s a little slower but we still go all over.