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Anyone who’s sweated their way up a hill on a traditional bicycle can understand the appeal of an electric bike, or e-bike. Who wouldn’t want a boost to get to the top?

This probably explains why hundreds of thousands of e-bikes are now sold in the U.S. every year.

“They basically feel like you have a tailwind the entire time,” said Dr. James Peterman, a researcher and data analyst in Boulder, Colorado. He’s also a cycling coach and a former semi-professional cyclist who has done research on e-bikes. In general, he said, an e-bike “makes everything a little bit easier while keeping a lot of the joy associated with cycling.”

And while they might require less muscle power than traditional bikes, Peterman and others say e-bikes could be a good way for many people to add healthy physical activity to their lives.

What kinds of e-bikes are there?

E-bikes come in an almost bewildering number of forms. Some resemble overgrown scooters. Others look more like pumped-up mountain bikes.

Officially, there are three classes of e-bike, distinguished by top assisted speed (20 or 28 mph) and whether the throttle works when the pedals aren’t used. E-bikes with throttles do make it easier to pull away from a stop sign, Peterman said. But they still require effort to pedal.

E-bikes aren’t the same as electric motorcycles, or e-motos, which can reach high speeds without pedaling.

Is traditional bicycling – the kind without motors – healthy?

Yes, said Dr. Kelley Pettee Gabriel, associate dean for research at the University of Alabama at Birmingham’s School of Public Health. And many of those benefits overlap with e-bikes.

One of the best things about cycling is that it can be done throughout someone’s life, said Gabriel, a professor of epidemiology who is on the ·¬ÇÑÊÓƵ’s Council on Lifestyle and Cardiometabolic Health and the Physical Activity Committee.

Like walking, swimming or tennis, cycling is something you can pick up as a kid and continue to do “well into your 80s or 90s.”

Unlike running, cycling doesn’t require pounding the pavement, making it comfortable for people with joint injuries or arthritis, she said.

Other pros for cycling include the variety of types, such as mountain biking, road cycling or track cycling. “You can find a cycling activity that meets your strengths,” she said.

Cycling of any kind can have benefits beyond physical activity, she said.

• If you do it outdoors, there are mental health benefits of being in green spaces.
• If you ride in a group, cycling can provide healthy social engagement.

Are e-bikes healthy, too? Or are they cheating?

A few studies have looked at the exercise benefits of e-bikes. One, published in the European Journal of Applied Physiology in 2016, was led by Peterman.

His study used the type of e-bike that offered pedal assist but did not have an independent throttle. The results suggested that people choose to ride “at what would be considered a moderate intensity, which then would help them meet physical activity recommendations,” he said. And after four weeks, riders saw measurable improvements to their blood sugar levels.

Other work has also found that even with the electric boost, an e-bike rider is still working hard enough for the activity to count as moderate intensity and that riders don’t seem to be using e-bikes to replace other forms of exercise.

That’s important. The ·¬ÇÑÊÓƵ recommends adults get at least 150 minutes a week of moderate-intensity aerobic activity or 75 minutes a week of vigorous aerobic activity, or a combination of both. (It also recommends adding moderate- to high-intensity muscle-strengthening activity at least two days a week.)

Additional research, and Peterman’s experiences, suggest e-bikes might have broader benefits.

A traditional bike might provide a more intense workout, but e-bikes can encourage people to ride longer – or maybe open possibilities for people who would never mount an unpowered bike.

“If a traditional bike is not feasible or possible for someone to use, then the e-bike gets you more activity,” Peterman said, “because they’re not going to ride a traditional bike to begin with.”

He gave the example of a person who was interested in helping with his study but lived in a city 20 miles away and said, “there’s just no way I can ride that far.”

Peterman encouraged them to try an e-bike for a day. By the end of the study, he recalled, the person had started commuting back and forth the entire distance.

He can point to himself as an example, too. Even for a cyclist of his level, riding to the grocery store a mile away didn’t sound like fun. But when he had access to an e-bike, “that mile to the grocery store all of a sudden felt like no big deal anymore.”

Are there any downsides to e-bikes?

“There’s really not a lot of cons to cycling,” Gabriel said. But there are some things to consider:

• Bikes and e-bikes do require some skill to ride.
• They’re expensive. E-bikes can cost several hundred to many thousands of dollars.
• There are safety matters. “You could get injured, and somebody can run into you, and things like that,” Gabriel said.

Even on bikes with moderate power, getting used to the electric boost can take time, Peterman said. When he first rode an e-bike, he made the mistake of resting his feet on the pedals at stop signs, as with a normal bike. “You can’t do that with some e-bikes, because the motors are going to kick in.”

Also, he said, drivers in areas without much e-bike traffic might be caught off guard by how quickly they move.

Is getting an e-bike a healthy idea?

“I think it depends on the person,” Gabriel said. “If this is truly the way that they believe that they’re going to become more active, then I’d be supportive of it.”

Someone might not work as hard as they would on a traditional bike, she said, “but it’s better than sitting indoors and doing nothing.”

Peterman’s advice for potential e-bike riders is to head to a bike shop and try a few different kinds. “There are bikes more designed for commuting, bikes for mountain biking, bikes that are more road bike style.” If possible, try different shops and brands to find your best e-bike fit.

“I think they’re great, because they get people out on bikes more,” he said.

Whether it’s on a traditional bike or an e-bike, staying active can make a difference for heart health. For more guidance on fitness and healthy living, visit heart.org. And for those looking to turn their ride into impact,  offers a way to move your body while helping fund lifesaving heart research.