Expanding horizons: to e-bike, or not to e-bike?
“People absolutely love e-bikes!” Our guides Susan and David are adamant that it’s a case of “once bitten, forever smitten” when it comes to choosing pedal assisted e-bikes. So let’s delve into the topic in a bit more detail to help you decide whether an e-bike is for you (or not yet, or not ever!)
To begin at the beginning, when it comes to choosing a cycling tour, the first thought in everyone’s mind is capability: “Am I up to the riding, or not?”
These are the questions we are most often asked:
- How hard are the hill climbs?
- Am I fit/experienced enough to cope with daily riding?
- Will I hold back the rest of the group?
- What happens if I get too tired and can’t finish the ride?
The answer is, if you are feeling anxious about these questions, or holding back on committing to a cycle tour, then an e-bike could make all the difference to your enjoyment by smoothing over any niggles (whether that’s confidence, health or fitness) and allow you to fully enjoy your days on the bike, rather than feel overly challenged.
If your objective is the challenge, then perhaps you would prefer to stick to a human-powered bike, but if you feel like you're nearly up for a bike tour, but not quite - do consider an e-bike.
“Everyone can ride together”
According to Susan, from our guests' perspective, e-bikes are overwhelmingly positive: "A huge plus is for couples or groups within a mixed tour who are worried about keeping the same pace. You should never feel pressure about “keeping up” on your cycling holiday, but e-bikes completely remove that anxiety. Everyone can ride together, enjoy the scenery, and relax.”
Susan goes on to tell the story of a couple who had been travelling with French Cycling Holidays for several years, but – as age crept up on them – mentioned that they were probably on their final tour, the wife having gradually fallen out of love with riding.
“We arranged an e-bike for her that same year, and the change was incredible. She enjoyed the holiday again, and he enjoyed seeing her happy. And five years later, he made the switch too. The truth is that e-bikes extend the cycling timeline for so many people. Guests who’ve had injuries, hip or knee replacements, have mobility issues, or simply fatigue earlier as they age, find themselves able to enjoy riding again.”
Australian cycle tour adventurer Steve Ryan, from Tour de Mature, agrees, and shares his experience:
“My wife Mary and I had been travelling to Europe for cycle tours from 2014 till 2019 when it became clear to us that whilst we were enjoying the tours we joined, we were struggling to keep up with our fellow riders who were either much younger and/or much fitter. It was as we climbed into a sag wagon on a big climb in Italy that we decided that the tour had morphed from an enjoyable ride to a physical challenge and there had to be a better way.”
Expanding horizons: e-bikes can help you explore further afield
Steve continues: “As we have gotten older, we recognised that riding regular bikes would mean we either join beginner tours or accept that most days we will finish well behind the rest of the group. E-bikes have meant that we have been able to select tours that we would otherwise have had to ignore. Riding e-bikes, we were able to ascend the 1325m Le Grand Ballon, something we would never have done otherwise. Likewise we have ridden rented e-road bikes up challenging climbs such as Monte Baldi near Lake Garda in Italy and up various climbs on the Italian Island of Elba. And the sights have been amazing!”
Clearly, the opportunity to conquer climbs that were previously not on your radar are a huge bonus of pedal assist biking.
E-bike uptake has been exponential in recent years and it is a joy to see people who you perhaps wouldn’t have seen out on a bike, enjoying the sunshine and getting fresh air and exercise, even on some of the challenging mountain roads of the Alps.
And you shouldn’t think of e-biking as “giving up” on your old bike. Susan explains, “The two are definitely not mutually exclusive, it’s just a different tool for a different job. If you love road biking at home but fancy exploring some hillier terrain whilst on holiday, renting an e-bike for a tour gives you a perfect opportunity to try it out and see how you get on.”
With an e-bike, mountain landscapes such as Lake Annecy become more accessible to more riders
But which e-bike do I choose?
Let’s get technical. Not all e-bikes are the same, and with ‘e’ versions of road bikes, hybrids, mountain bikes and city riders, there are loads of options and styles from the major bike producers as well as specialist e-bike brands. So much so, it could be a bit overwhelming! In which case, ask an expert.
If you’re signing up for a cycling tour and want to explore e-bike rental, then the first stop is to ask the operator which they’d recommend for the terrain, and often they will already be in contact with rental stockists near to the starting point of your tour.
Steve has delved into testing bikes and e-bikes (more on his website here) and has ridden on numerous cycle tours, and explains how the process began for his and Mary’s switch:
“We were both Specialized road bike riders at home, then I received an email from Specialized telling us about the new Creo e-road bike they were about to release. And that’s when we decided to check out e-bike possibilities to see what it would mean for us and others joining tours. In 2020 just before COVID struck we had the good fortune to join a Creo test ride in Adelaide as part of the Tour Down Under promotions. We were instantly hooked."
Is it better to rent a bike abroad or travel with your own e-bike?
Since beginning their e-bike journey, Steve and Mary haven’t looked back: “We’ve only ridden e-bikes since, both here in Australia and in Europe. The challenge has been that it’s immensely difficult and expensive to get our bikes from Canberra to Europe, so we look at e-bike options offered by providers. Initially that meant e-city bikes for our tour of the Netherlands and Belgium. And then Susan contacted me to advise that the company’s bike supplier could provide Mary and I with e-bikes, similar to our own back home. We are wedded to riding on e-bikes now, and our first preference each time will be to select a company that can provide e-road bikes.”
Most guests on a French Cycling Holidays tour don't travel with their own bikes as the cost and logistics of packing and transporting your bike usually outweigh the benefit. All our tours include our hybrid Trek bikes as standard, but we can also source e-bikes to suit your needs, and find something suitable for the terrain, whether that's a road, hybrid, or mountain bike. Ask us via the contact form or send us an email to find out more: fch@frenchcyclingholidays.com
Choosing an e-road bike makes France's cols slightly less daunting!
Bike sorted – but what about the group dynamic?
Some cycle tour operators offer ‘e-bike only’ holidays, and others allow mixed, which are ideal for couples or families at different fitness levels.
When you book your guided cycle tour, your guides should be extremely experienced in managing groups. That’s why at French Cycling Holidays we generally run mixed tours with e-bikes and our Trek bikes.
Susan and David say, “We’re very used to mixed groups, we have years of experience in managing different levels and styles of riders, so e-bikes are just another of these factors. Keeping mixed groups together is something our guests really appreciate, especially as it means friends/partners can stay together on a ride, where perhaps they wouldn’t usually manage to ride alongside one another.”
The group dynamic on a guided tour is key to everyone’s enjoyment, something Steve also recognises.
“In the early days of touring Europe we often had about a third of riders on bike and the rest of us on hybrid flat bar bikes. Each day the group would tend to split into those with and without e-bikes and at that time the latter riders tended to be quite slow, such that those on regular bikes would often ride ahead. This started to change as we headed towards 2020 with more e-bikes appearing and the group starting to ride as a single entity, although big climbs spread the field with e-bikes taking the lead. In 2023 we joined a French Cycling Holidays tour in the Alsace region. From memory, besides Mary and I on e-road bikes, three or four riders were on regular road bikes and the rest on hybrid e-bikes. This was a great tour and the riders each had bikes that suited their riding aspirations, and everyone seemed to enjoy the bikes they were on."
Susan acknowledges that everyone will have their own preference about mixed -vs- separate bike tours: “Some guests prefer tours that are entirely e-bike groups; others prefer tours of all regular bikes; and many are happy mixing.” Evidently, it’s a personal choice. “At French Cycling Holidays, because we are a small company, we can respond to each enquiry and fit them with a suitable group, so rather than saying it’s an either/or situation, we prefer to just chat with people and understand what their requirements are. We also run private tours for groups of 6-8+, so in this case, they decide between themselves what will work best for them.”
Which tours are best for e-bikes?
Susan explains that there are some stunning rides that less confident cyclists don’t need to miss out on, if they choose an e-bike: “Our Luberon tour is a gorgeous route but it’s definitely a hilly one – in fact, many other companies run it exclusively as an e-bike tour. An e-bike completely changes the accessibility of terrain like that.”
Likewise, our Cévennes tour is marked as an 8/10 in difficulty for non e-bikers. This remote but dramatic region is suitable testing ground for anyone wanting a step up towards our Alpine or Pyrénées climbs, but for an e-biker, we rate it as a 4/10 which opens up this beautiful and un-touristy area to a much wider audience.
The stunning hilltop village of Gordes in the Luberon
Is it “cheating” to use an e-bike?
There is unfortunately some stigma still attached to e-bikes within the cycling community! E-bikes are easier to ride, that’s for sure, so many toughened road cyclists will decide it’s simply not for them. And that’s totally fine, of course! But in terms of allowing people to access new landscapes, whilst staying active longer, we’ll say it loud and proud: “E-biking is not cheating”!
So stop apologising for your battery and simply enjoy the ride (like Steve and Mary!)
Get in touch with your questions about e-bikes on our cycle tours
- fch@frenchcyclingholidays.com
- +44(0) 1923 894305
- 020 8357 8934
With many thanks to Steve Ryan for his input.