Its an interesting idea and the engineer in my agrees with you. Then the product skeptic says that anyone who wants to ride a bike as a form of exercise and get around using a bike, would probably just ride a normal bike.
1. I'd like to ride somewhere and get a workout but I might go farther than I can go normally and rely on ebike assist when I go back home.
2. there are rides I do where I am going for the exercise. There are potential rides I want to do that I can't because I can't afford to be covered in sweat when I arrive. I dont' necessarily want to have TWO bikes or maybe I dont' mind getting a workout on the way home where I can promptly take a shower.
I think it's an incredibly common use case in places where biking is the default transit mode. I like biking for exercise, but I don't necessarily want to be a sweaty mess after my commute for work, or when lugging my kids around, or when getting groceries.
Yup the venn diagram of people who buy an electric bike (ie don't want to work hard to push pedals) and people who want an exercise bike (where the only thing going on is pedal pushing, no moving) has exactly one person in the center piece: op.
I own both! I use my ebike for shopping and visiting my parents who live on a steep hill near the base of a mountain range. And I have an exercise bike in my office to stretch my legs in the winter.
