With an ageing population, we are increasingly concerned about the physical and mental health of older people. In recent years, we have found that many people have raised questions about the suitability of e-bikes for older people. In fact the answer is quite obvious, the e-bike is a suitable mode of transport for every age group and for older people it offers the advantages of helping older people to get daily exercise, maintain physical fitness and improve cognitive function.
Increasingly, older people are even being encouraged to ride e-bikes more than regular bikes because they are less strenuous, help them ride better and don’t burn out as quickly. However, there are some disadvantages to riding an e-bike for older people and we will help you make your choice by presenting the pros and cons of riding an e-bike for older people.

Benefits of riding an e-bike for seniors

1. Electric bicycles are safer and more environmentally friendly than cars
   Many older people’s eyesight decreases considerably as they get older, driving a car is sometimes not very safe for them and cars are generally faster and as one gets older one’s reflexes decrease as it can lead to certain dangers. E-bikes on the other hand are a great alternative, they are easier to manage than a car but faster than a regular bike.
   Many e-bikes can even reach 28 mph, such as those from GreenPedel, and you can tailor it to suit your needs, but that doesn’t mean you need to ride at a constant high speed all the time, you can do it at a lower speed that you find comfortable for yourself. Although the e-bike may take you longer on the road, you don’t have to worry about riding fast enough to keep up with your reactions, which ensures a certain level of safety.
   In addition to this, e-bikes are an environmentally friendly form of transport as there are no gases or fumes emitted from them, so it is a very low carbon and environmentally friendly way of doing things.
2. Riding an e-bike can help prevent disease
   Riding an e-bike as an aerobic exercise helps to improve cardiovascular health (heart, lungs, blood flow, etc.). Because of this, riding an e-bike can help prevent heart disease, type II diabetes, cancer and other diseases in older people.
   Because many older people have difficulty finding an exercise that is gentle enough for their bodies and does not exacerbate existing illnesses, many older people tend to lead sedentary lifestyles, which can lead to additional health problems.
   Riding an e-bike provides a good balance for older people as riders can use a high level of pedal assistance to ensure that they are getting exercise without adding extra strain to their bodies. And e-bikes can also be customised accordingly to the rider’s needs, for example GreenPedel can offer different products tailored to the needs of different groups of people. Similarly, older people can customise their products to suit their needs in a way that is not possible with conventional e-bikes. Regular aerobic exercise is also the type of exercise that helps people lose weight, which means that weight-related problems such as obesity-related diseases can be prevented by riding an e-bike. Regular e-bike riding can help improve lung capacity, blood pressure, metabolism and more. Not only that, but many e-bike riders have noticed that this form of exercise has helped them to improve their overall fitness on a large scale.
3. Improving cognitive function
   Studies have shown that riding an e-bike can help improve cognitive function in older people. Cognitive function is the process of performing the mental task of processing information, meaning it is related to memory, and maintaining good cognitive function is important for the health of older people, ensuring that their brain is healthy can help prevent and manage degenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.
   Aerobic exercise has been shown to be closely linked to improved cognitive function, mainly because aerobic exercise promotes healthy blood flow and can increase blood flow to the brain, and it is this process that promotes the regeneration of cells in the hippocampus, the part of the brain associated with memory, while riding an electric bike is an aerobic issue, meaning that if an older person rides an electric bike regularly it can help him maintain a healthy mental cognition.
4. Improving psychological stability
   During the Covid-19 blockade, many older people were trapped in their houses and they lost their long-established ties and communication with the outside world. Younger people can use social media platforms to quickly establish a coping mechanism, but these can be a major challenge for older people who are not skilled in the use of social media. As a result, isolation and loneliness have a negative impact on their mental health.
   Now that the effects of the Covid-19 blockade have gradually subsided, the right way to address mental instability is to create an opportunity for older people to connect with people. An example of this is riding an electric bicycle, during which their mind leaves its sad state and they may also make more diverse friends along the way. We therefore feel that seniors need to buy an e-bike and seniors can even form riding partners who can meet up to ride to a picnic or ride to relax.
5. Relieves joint problems in the elderly
   For the time being, e-biking is a low-impact exercise and e-bike riding is a much lower impact exercise option. Whether it is age related or not, it is very encouraging that some older people suffering from problems such as arthritis have found a new way of life in e-biking, which further demonstrates how reliable e-bike riding can be for older riders.
   Because e-bike riding puts so little strain on the knees and hips, and even less on the feet, it is always a great aerobic exercise for the joints. Compared to walking, which also puts a lot of stress on the knees, feet and hips when a person is walking on the road, e-biking provides a beneficial exercise for older people while ensuring that the impact on the joints is minimal.
   Also, the e-bike’s electric assist is particularly beneficial for riding uphill and uneven terrain, as these areas can cause higher resistance and are sure to cause damage to your joints if you choose to ride a regular bike, whereas the e-bike’s pedal assist provides riders with the extra power they need to cope with these riding obstacles, thus making the e-bike overall a great exercise for older riders provide a smoother ride.
6. Can improve the overall quality of life
   E-bikes have been proven to be able to be used more fully whether it is for work, grocery shopping, running errands or visiting friends and family, or going out with a riding partner, etc.
   Many also noted that riding an e-bike helped open up their perception of their surroundings, and even themselves, as opposed to driving a car in an enclosed space. The bottom line is that having some form of exercise is extremely important for one’s mental and physical health. As e-bike riding is a form of exercise that is accessible to people of all ages, it actually caters to those who may face physical barriers, it is a form of exercise that inherently promotes independence.
   E-bike riding gives the rider the opportunity to explore the natural environment and engage in more social interaction that other forms of exercise may struggle to do, but this can help a person improve their quality of life, especially if you are an older person, then you need this form of exercise and life that would otherwise be confined to your house or retired home.

While there are many advantages to riding an e-bike for seniors, there are a few disadvantages you need to be aware of, which can provide you with a reference.

The disadvantages of riding an electric bicycle for seniors

1. Electric bikes are more expensive than traditional bikes
   Electric bikes can be more expensive. Most e-bikes with quality components start at $1,000 and the most expensive can be as much as $8,000, so this can be a burden for more elderly people.
   Even though there are more and more manufacturers of e-bikes and they are increasingly being made at a lower cost, the quality of the components on e-bikes in the under $1000 range may be more questionable, but of course it all depends on what type of e-bike you choose and different types of e-bikes come at different prices, so we can’t just stick a stick in the sand and kill the many good value products that are out there. GreenPedel, for example, covers a wide range of e-bikes, and prices vary from one type to another.
2. E-bikes are bulky and heavy
   E-bikes are much bulkier than standard bikes, and even bulkier if they have large tyres. In fact, e-bikes can be up to 50% heavier than conventional bikes, weighing almost 45-75 pounds depending on the model, due to the battery and motor of the e-bike adding to the weight of the bike.
   And, because e-bikes are heavy, they may require more physical effort to move and lift, which can be more difficult for you if you have knee or back problems. Due to their weight and size, older people may prefer to have someone to help them when moving around. In addition, e-bikes can take up more space than standard e-bikes, which may also pose a problem if you don’t have enough living space to store them.
   But it’s worth stating that due to the popularity of e-bikes, more and more manufacturers are now working on lighter weight batteries and integrated e-bikes or folding bikes to save space, so I’m sure these issues won’t be a problem in the near future.
3.  Potential for injury
   It is well known that there is no difference between the way an e-bike rides and a normal bicycle, but as e-bikes have pedal assist or throttle assist, there are some older people who need to be particularly careful when riding an e-bike as they are bigger and more powerful than a standard bicycle and it is easy to get carried away when riding and then suddenly brake when you find yourself going too fast can lead to danger. This is why it is so important to wear a helmet specific to e-bikes when riding.
   It is also worth pointing out that if you are going on a long distance journey, it is important to estimate whether your battery will be able to sustain you to your destination and if not, then you will need to find a charging station along the road to recharge it in time.

Are e-bikes necessary for seniors?

E-bikes cover the full spectrum of bicycle antitheses, from high performance bikes designed for speed and efficiency to trikes designed to eliminate balancing act in cycling, and just like cars, the speed and power of e-bikes can vary depending on the model and purpose.
Before you spend money on an e-bike, you need to assess your goals and needs.
Think about what you want to do with an e-bike. Is your goal to use an e-bike for physical exercise? Getting around town or between family and friends? Commuting to and from work? You can make thoughts about these questions.
Ideally, around 250w of power is appropriate for older people, it helps the rider to climb on and off the e-bike quickly. In addition to this, a quality handlebar is also very important for older people, who need this, especially as they need to support their weight on the handlebar when climbing on and off, so if older people want to get the most out of their e-bike advantage, it is important to use a product from a reputable brand.
If you don’t like to ride and don’t want to exercise, it’s totally unnecessary to follow the trend and buy a bike that will cost you a fortune and end up sitting at home in a pile of scrap metal. So you need to think carefully and make your choice.

A few final words

One of the most daunting drawbacks of ageing boils down to a decline in freedom and mobility, and an increase in vulnerability in a variety of ways. Many older people struggle to maintain a consistent exercise routine. The older a person gets, the harder it is to stick to an exercise routine. With e-bikes, exercise becomes easier for older people. They become mentally and physically fit and their performance levels improve. Older people are part of society and should not be isolated from the benefits that everyone enjoys.
While riding an e-bike has many benefits for older people, its disadvantages are also worth noting. E-bikes are relatively expensive, heavier, require extra care and can cause injury.