On this edition of the Ask Coach Parry Cycling podcast we chat about electric bikes that are taking South Africa by storm.  We find out if this is the way of the future in terms of our cycling training and racing?  Can it benefit the athlete in any way?  Our cycling coach Devlin Eyden gives us some perspective on this issue.

Transcript

David Katz:          Thanks for joining myself, Mr Active, David Katz and Devlin Eyden on the Ask Coach Parry Cycling podcast and we’re looking at a little bit of something different, we look at bikes on the show, we look at road, we look at mountain biking of course, but what about this mechanical doping and I’m not going to get into that in too much detail, but electric bikes are becoming very popular. They’re still quite expensive, but Devlin, basically looking at electric bikes, is this the way of the future?

Electric bikes - can they benefit the cyclist?

Devlin Eyden:      To be honest, I don’t think so from a racing point of view. If we start talking electric bikes, it’s motorised and as you know, that’s taking the whole athletic element out of racing. I wouldn’t necessarily say it’s the way of the future, however, they are becoming more and more popular, from my point of view as a coach, I can see huge benefit in it when working with some of my top end athletes, purely because it will give me some sort of aid in terms of pacing them on training rides, for instance, where I might not be able to keep up with the elite guys. From a coaching point of view, I think it’s got huge benefits.

We’re seeing them a lot from a commuting point of view and I think it’s something that’s slowly starting to trickle into South Africa a little bit more. Electric bikes are huge overseas, so I think it’s more trickling into our market slightly with commuting perhaps, but I wouldn’t necessarily say it’s the way of the future from a training point of view and from a racing point of view.

DK:         You make a good point there, generally people do see it as more of a recreational tool or device or vehicle, but you mentioned adding that in. Could it be something that’s adapted to helping guys in their training? We look at riding behind a car and being pulled along by a car, yes, you’re still doing the work, but it could become a training tool?

Cyclists need to do the work to improve performance

DE:         I think so, but again, I wouldn’t necessarily say more of a training tool for the athlete themselves purely because you’ve got the motorised systems, so you want that athlete to still be pushing as hard as possible. The only way I might see that there would be room for it is if an athlete is working hard on a hill repeat session and their interval might finish and there’s still a couple of hundred meters to get to the top of the climb, they might be able to engage and ride out easy using the assistance of the motor to get to the top of it, but at the end of the day, you still want that athlete putting power into the pedal strokes and making the most out of their training itself. I just don’t see that the electric bike giving them assistance is going to help them in any way.

DK:         Devlin, lastly, from a professional point of view, there’s been a lot of talk this past year about mechanical doping, the odd person getting caught, I know there was that female cyclo-cross rider, but do you think it’s rife or few and far between?

DE:         Look, they implemented mechanical dope testing now at the Tour de France for instance, which is brilliant and no one was caught there, so whether that’s just because they knew that they were going to be tested for it… I do think at the end of the day, doping whether it’s drugs or it’s mechanical doping, I think it’s always going to find its way in, unfortunately, as long as the testing agencies are all on top of it and hopefully not. I think it could be few and far between, but there’s always going to be someone that’s looking for some sort of edge. I’m really hoping that it is something that’s few and far between and we can rid the sport of it, but again, no one really knows.

DK:         Electric bikes, they really are wonderful things, but they don’t come with a very wonderful price tag. You can probably buy a small car for cheaper, but if it’s something you’re interested in, do look into that. Devlin Eyden, if you’d like to know more about his coaching or to find out how you can become one of this athletes, do log onto the website at coachparry.com and click through to the cycling section. From Devlin Eyden and myself, Mr Active, David Katz, we’ll catch up with you again next time.