28mph in Pedal Assist on EBike! Is It Actually Possible? Shocking Truth About E Bike Top Speed

Can you hit 20 miles an hour with a pedal assist on an e-bike?

Hey everyone, I'm Dustin. I have nearly 20 years of experience in the bike and e-bike industry and today we're going to answer the question, can you hit 28 miles an hour in pedal assist on an electric bike? All right, so right here I've got two sixthreezero e-bikes, I've got our simple step-thru 500 watts and our zip and fold 750 watts. Now, 28 miles an hour is the pedal assist level or top speed that most brands advertise as the top end of what's legal on an electric bike. Now, I say that because you're probably going to say, oh, you know, you can easily hit 20 miles an hour in pedal assist with this 1000-watt or 1500-watt e-bike. In California and many other states, 750 watts is the highest or biggest motor size that is technically street-legal and anything larger than that should not be on the streets. Now, there are lots of rule breakers that are riding much more powerful e-bikes going much, much faster, but most reputable e-bike brands for around-town riding are only advertising a max 28-mile-an-hour top speed with pedal assist.

Now, with that, the question is, can you hit 20 miles an hour with pedal assist? And I'm going to say from personal experience, I have never done it. Now, we advertise 28 miles an hour as well because that's the actual limit, but getting to 28 miles an hour in pedal assist on an e-bike is challenging. Now, again, both of these electric bikes have fatter tires. This is a 2.125-inch tire and this is a three-inch tire. So, you're going to have some resistance on the road with a thinner tire. There are road bikes out there that may have mid-drives and thinner tires and those are 750 watts. Now, those have a better chance of getting to 28 miles an hour. And I'm talking specifically about flat-ground riding. On that type of e-bike, getting to 28 and above is obtainable. Now, a lot of road cyclists can get to 28 miles an hour themselves under their leg power, but on most e-bikes that you see folks riding around town, it is going to be nearly impossible even with using the bike in level five, nearly impossible to get it up to 28 miles with pedal assist. Now, if you've done it on an electric bike, not a road electric bike, on flat ground, please comment below. I'd love to hear about it with a street-legal motor size, so 750 watts or less. Personally, on the simple step through, this is a 500-watt. I gave it everything I had in pedal assist and I could barely get to 23 miles an hour. We have that video on our website if you want to check it out.

And on the zip and fold, now it's a 750-watt, but I still capped out at about 22 miles an hour. With the fatter tires and the smaller wheels, it's harder to pedal as you get going faster. And again, I'm talking about flat ground. A lot of road cyclists or other e-bike riders may far eclipse 28 miles an hour going downhill, but flat ground is a different animal. So the other thing too, is if you've never ridden an e-bike or a bike, a lot of people aren't even familiar with what speed they're normally traveling at, right? So when you ride your bike around town and you're casually riding on bike paths, you're going less than 10 miles an hour. You're probably going five miles an hour, maybe eight miles an hour. Again, casual riding. So even going 20 miles an hour is a pretty good pace. And 20 miles an hour is fast. So I'm going to say that most riders out there don't even need to or want to go 28 miles an hour on an electric bike. Now, again, I know there are speed demons out there, but 28 miles an hour is really, really going fast. If you want to get an idea of that, you know, just check out a car going 25 miles an hour and pace yourself next to it. And just remember, the pedal assist isn't going to get you all the way. You're going to have to add, some juice. And these motors with a throttle, they're going to cut at 20 miles an hour.

So at 20 miles an hour, if you're pushing the throttle down and you hit 20, you're going to feel that motor throttle back because they're set to not allow the rider to go more than 20. My point is you think when you do pedal assist and you get to 20, you're not getting that much more assistance from the motor over 20 miles an hour. So at that point, you've got to put your work in and use your legs to get to that 28-mile-an-hour advertised top speed and pedal assist. Now, not to say it's not possible. The point is just that every e-bike manufacturer out there says 28 because that's the legal limit to have your e-bike classified into one of the three classes that are street-legal, particularly in California. And I think a lot of other states as well. And of course, as a manufacturer, you're not going to say, you know, pedal assist only can go 20 when everyone else is saying 28. So, the reality is, is most of these e-bikes out there are never going to see 28 miles an hour in pedal assist on flat ground. Now, if you've done it before, please comment below.

Electric Bike Experience At 28 MPH

This speed test has been run on 2 popular e-bike models that have 500 Watts and 750 Watts motors. Here is the overview and results of the test we conducted on 2 ebikes:

1. Simple Step-Thru E-Bike With A 500 Watts Motor – This electric bike has wide tires (2.125 inches), so there will be more resistance on the road. Even with full pedal-assist mode, you may reach the speed of 23 Miles Per Hour only on flat ground. Then, you will need to pedal the bike harder.
2. Zop And Fold Electric Bike With A 750 Watts Motor – This e-bike has even wider tires (3 inches) which makes pedaling harder at higher speeds. With pedal assist, you may reach about 22 Miles Per Hour. You may also reach a speed of 20 Miles Per Hour with the throttle. But with pedal assist, you may not be able to reach the speed of 28 Miles Per Hour.

Reaching the speed of 28 Miles Per Hour with Pedal-Assist mode only is pretty difficult if you are riding an electric bike unless you are riding a lightweight bike. Even then, it is more challenging than it seems.

Achieving 28MPH In E-Bike With Pedal Assist

Here is the thing: I have tried. I’ve got to be honest – I’ve never hit 28 MPH in pedal assist on any e-bike. On the Simple Step-Thru 500W, the fastest I could manage was about 23 MPH with everything I had. On the Zip n’ Fold 750W, I topped at 33 MPH. Even though it has a more powerful motor and bigger tires, hitting that magical 28 MPH just didn’t happen on flat ground. You might be thinking, but isn’t 28 MPH the max speed? Yes, it is. But it’s not that easy to get there, especially on a standard electric bike.

The Challenge Of Achieving The 28MPH Speed

There are several factors that might make it difficult for you to achieve a speed of 28 Miles Per Hour on an electric bike. So, here are some factors that slow down your e-bike.

1. Tires And Resistance – Wider tires create more resistance, further making it harder to go fast. That’s why road bikes with narrow tires can reach higher speeds more easily.
2. Pedal Power – To reach high speeds, you need to pedal harder. Pedal assist helps, but once you go over 20 miles per hour, your legs need to do most of the work.
3. Flat Ground Vs. Downhill – Going downhill, you can easily reach or exceed 28 miles per hour. But on flat ground, it is much harder to reach that speed.

Getting to a speed of 28 Miles Per Hour is tough because of many factors, such as road friction. These factors will further slow your electric bike down and make it harder for you to achieve the desired speed.

Did You Achieve The 28 MPH on the E-Bike?

If you have ever managed to hit 28 MPH speed on an E-bike using pedal assist mode, I’d love to hear about it! If you have any more questions about the pedal assist mode, any electric bike, or how to get the most out of it, don’t hesitate to reach out to us at theteam@sixthreezero.com or call 310-982-2877.

I'd love to hear it. If you have any other questions about pedal assist or e-bikes or how they perform, please reach out to us, theteam@sixthreezero.com, or call us at 310-982-2877. And don't forget, each of these is linked in the description below. Again, max speed of 28 in pedal assist. I'm just kidding, but zippy, the zip and fold 750 watts. It can hit 20 with just the throttle. You can get over 20 in pedal assist, simple step through, same thing. You've got the throttles of 500 watts, and 750 watts, both great e-bikes. Check them out on the website for more details. And we have a 30-day test ride on your e-bike policy. If you don't love it in the first 30 days, send it back. No questions asked, no money out of your pocket. In addition to that, we're going to warranty everything for the first year. If anything goes wrong in the first year, we'll take care of parts and labor to ensure you can keep riding. And lastly, join our Facebook group called sixthreezero Pedalers. Hop in there and ask existing sixthreezero riders any questions you may have before purchasing so you can get comfortable with your purchase. Then when you have your e-bike, go ahead and post in the group, and make friends. It's tons of fun. And lastly, download our app so you can track your rides and compete on our leaderboard. It's so much fun. It's called the sixthreezero app. All right, thanks for sticking around, and don't forget, it's your journey, your experience. Enjoy the ride.