65 Year Old Senior Test Rides & Reviews EBikes: Which Does He Choose as His Favorite Electric Bike?

Our over-60 senior, Howard, is gonna test ride and find his favorite e-bike. Hey everyone, I'm Dustin. I have nearly 20 years of experience in the bike and e-bike industry and today I'm joined by Howard, who's 63 years old. He's never ridden an electric bike before. Today he's gonna take his first test ride on all these e-bikes back here. And then he's going to choose his favorite.

Dustin: All right, Howard, so thanks for joining us today.

Howard: Absolutely.

Dustin: I was talking to you a little bit off-camera. When was the last time you rode a regular bike?

Howard: Dustin, I probably rode a regular bike two years ago.

Dustin: Two years ago, okay.

Howard: Absolutely.

Dustin: And never been on an electric bike before?

Howard: Never been on them. I see them going up and down the street in Santa Monica. They look fascinating, so I'm excited.

Dustin: Okay, cool. And you said you're six feet tall?

Howard: Six feet tall, yep.

Dustin: And have you ever ridden a motorcycle?

Howard: Yeah, I've ridden a motorcycle. I've owned a couple of mopeds living in Europe.

Dustin: Okay.

Howard: I'm good on two wheels, and I'm a skater and rollerblader, and I like to be active.

Dustin: Cool. All right, cool. So Howard's... Athletic, likes to be active. So we'll see which e-bike he likes best. So let's start down here. All right, so let's bring this one up here. And I'll walk you through the controls. I mean, if you've been on a motorcycle, it should be no problem. But I'll walk you through everything. So this is our EvryJourney. This is a 500-watt e-bike, so it's got a rear hub here, 500 watts. You got your battery here. So this can go up to about 20 miles an hour. There's a throttle here. So there's a thumb throttle, that works just like a gas pedal on a car. The harder or softer you push it, the faster or harder it goes. Here's your power button right here. And there's a switch on the battery. Let me turn that on. Okay. All right, so now everything's on there, you can see. And when you pedal, so right here it's gonna show you, this is the indication of how much power the motor's giving you. There are five levels, five being the most. You can also put it into zero. So the throttle, if this is in one, the throttle will be able to give you full power. But this is the level of assistance you're gonna get when you pedal. So when you pedal, you're gonna feel the motor kick in. You can turn this up or down while you ride.

Howard: And it kicks in more.

Dustin: Correct. Yep. Totally up to you. So this is like an e-bike geared more for comfort. Nice upright riding position, but you still have a lot of power. So you can hop on. I can also adjust it as you see fit. So the seat can go up or down. We can adjust the handlebars.

Howard: Cool. That's good. Yeah. So start riding and then give it a little throttle.

Dustin: Yeah, or you don't have to, or as you pedal you'll feel a kick in, you can stop pedaling, you can use the throttle, any combination you want. You can go all the way down there. You can make a full loop if you want, like around the building, just to test it out, test the speeds.

Howard: So would you start pedaling first and then hit this?

Dustin: Or you can do that. Any combination of what you want to do.

Howard: Do this first. I guess just do this now. Lovely. This is great.

Dustin: What do you think?

Howard: Lovely. That's great. It's more like a, it's like a Vespa. It's a motorcycle, you know.

Dustin: Yeah. Did you pedal? Did you do both?

Howard: I did both. Yeah, it's wonderful.

Dustin: How about the power? Do you feel powerful?

Howard: Well, I was only at one. I can't even imagine. Is five more speed?

Dustin: Not with the throttle, because the throttle is going to give it to you, but as you pedal, yeah.

Howard: Okay. No, the power is amazing. No, it's really fast.

Dustin: How about the comfort riding position?

Howard: Beautiful. It's a blast.

Dustin: Okay. Yeah. All right. Well, that's the e-bike one, so let's turn it off.

Howard: Okay.

Dustin: All right. And let's move on to your next choice. So these two are just the same. But those are more, a little feminine color with the Camel one here. The Navy's more neutral. That's the step-through frame, but the actual bike is the same. So let's move on to now our Around-the-Block, which is more of a traditional sort of classic-looking cruiser frame. Everything is the same on this one. So I'll let you do it all. If you can try it out yourself so you can hop on.

Howard: All right, I'm gonna hop on and fire it up.

Dustin: And you just hold the power button down for a second. There you go.

Howard: Okay.

Dustin: And you're ready to rock.

Howard: So we're ready to go. And can I straighten the... That off-angle?

Dustin: I think it's the Fender.

Howard: Oh, okay. Yeah. All right. All right. Here we go again. All right. All right, now the throttle's not kicking.

Dustin: Let's see. Okay, let me see something here. Could be your battery. Hang tight.

Howard: Yep.

Dustin: Good thing changing batteries is easy and quick.

Howard: Yep. And on that note, does the bike come with a plug-in, with a charger thing?

Dustin: Yes.

Howard: Oh, great. So I can plug that thing in at night and put it on in the morning.

Dustin: That's right.

Howard: Okay.

Dustin: There we go.

Howard: We're back. This is a blast. Lovely. Nice.

Dustin: Any difference between these two? Anything you might like more or less about either?

Howard: Yeah, I would like that one more, just for the, it was bigger, higher up.

Dustin: Higher up, okay.

Howard: Yeah, and it seemed to be, this seemed to be a little, I don't want to, you know, it's not negative, more clunky.

Dustin: Hmm, clunky.

Howard: More ish, clunky-ish.

Dustin: Okay. Like the brakes or what was it?

Howard: The general feel of the bike. It felt more, yeah, I don't know what word to use.

Dustin: Okay, okay. Yeah. Fair enough, fair enough. All right, let's pull that one back in.

Howard: And tons of fun. I mean, tons of fun. Tons of fun.

Dustin: Okay, so right now, the first one is your favorite. The first one's a favorite. The EvryJourney.

Howard: Maybe the bigger, you know, the tires, the bigger, you know, I'm looking at the tires now. You know, these are like beach cruiser tires.

Dustin: Yep. Yeah.

Howard: Versus that was more like speed.

Dustin: Yep. Yep. Okay.

Howard: I did ride a Cinelli bike around Como, Lake Como once years ago, so.

Dustin: Okay.

Howard: When you get on a nice bike and-

Dustin: That's a high standard. 

Howard: Yes, it is yes it is.

Dustin: Okay, so this one is cool because it's got a really easy step-through frame, got a 500-watt motor as well, the same brakes, same battery size, see what you think about the riding position on this one.

Howard: Great. Okay. Oh, yeah, yeah. You know, I think I like this one even. This one's very unique. Yeah, because, yeah because I could you know, it's nice to use your legs a little bit and because I want to pump my heart. So I could use the pedals and then the speed combo was just perfect.

Dustin: Felt smooth.

Howard: Oh, amazing. And I could get up a little. The other ones took off so fast that I wouldn't even ever think of using the pedals. But this, I could use the pedals with the assistance of the engine.

Dustin: Yeah.

Howard: And... even get a little workout while making the whole biking experience easier and smoother.

Dustin: Cool.

Howard: Yeah, this one's wonderful.

Dustin: So this is a Simple Step-Thru. So this thing is moved into position number one for you right now, you think?

Howard: Love it.

Dustin: Okay.

Howard: Yep.

Dustin: All right.

Howard: I get it.

Dustin: Okay.

Howard: So it's neck and neck. I think I'd have to give this one, we'd put this one ahead.

Dustin: Okay. All right.

Howard: Yep.

Dustin: All right. All right. Now moving on to this one. Now this one is more of a compact.

Howard: And one more question, do you have other colors for me if I want to get that in not black?

Dustin: Teal and cream. Teal, cream, navy. So just like that navy right there. All right, so this one is a good little e-bike for zipping around. So it's a smaller frame. We can... These are 20-inch wheels, but they still have a 500-watt motor. So this one's not as, well, actually let me, you ride and give me your opinion. So same thing, just turn the motor on. Now, if you're going to do the throttle to start, just really ease into it.

Howard: Okay. So there's the start. There's the power.

Dustin: Hold that down.

Howard: Great.

Dustin: Here you go.

Howard: Beautiful. And that's my, it's given me my speed and everything there.

Dustin: Yep.

Howard: Wonderful. Oh, I like this. This is a unique... So be careful on the throttle on this one.

Dustin: Just ease into it, yeah.

Howard: Okay.

Dustin: Oh, wait. You know what? You're in zero. That's why. See it right here?

Howard: Yep.

Dustin: There you go. Now you're good.

Howard: Great. And it has to be on one for it to even kick in.

Dustin: You're probably better to pedal first on this one.

Howard: Okay. Oh, yeah. Okay.

Dustin: What do you think?

Howard: Love it. Here's one question for you. How do you make it so it's harder to pedal?

Dustin: Harder to pedal? Oh, you can shift the gears up. So I didn't tell you, there are seven speeds on here.

Howard: Okay.

Dustin: So when you get into, start going faster, you want to shift this up.

Howard: So pedaling is more difficult.

Dustin: Correct, yeah, to try to match the cadence.

Howard: Exactly.

Dustin: Yeah.

Howard: Cool. Can I try it one more time on this one?

Dustin: Yeah, sure. So it's a twist shifter. So you put your hand like here.

Howard: Okay, yep.

Dustin: Don't shift it right now, but you'd shift it up, twist up to go up.

Howard: Okay, great. Okay. Oh, it doesn't do it. Does the body. You gotta be careful. Be careful, everyone. Oh, that's nice. That's fun, I like it, thank you for telling me about the shifting. Because then I could get a little, then I could work my legs a little bit.

Dustin: And it matches up the power of the, yeah. So what did you think of this one? It's kind of zippy, right?

Howard: It's zippy and I could see using this, like within a quarter mile somewhere, you go somewhere to the market real quick, to you know, do errands or, you know, wonderful. Very zippy.

Dustin: What's your favorite still? Still this one?

Howard: I'm going to put that one and then this is in second place.

Dustin: Okay.

Howard: And this is one you get for the wife.

Dustin: Okay.

Howard: You know, as well. You could have, you know, given this to her and great. Love it.

Dustin: Cool.

Howard: Yep.

Dustin: All right. Moving on. Okay. We got, oh, sorry. All right.

Howard: I like that it's smaller, too.

Dustin: Yeah.

Howard: And the handlebars come up high. Yeah.

Dustin: Yeah, you can find a nice comfortable position with those. All right, so this one. The handlebar is just a little loose right here, but don't let that bother you. So we have an aftermarket seat on here, our Supermax Cush seat. So you can see how you like that as well. But you're six feet tall, so we need to get this up higher for you. There we go. Okay, try that. That might not be high enough. So this is the relaxed body. This is more of an extended frame. So it's got a unique riding position.

Howard: So same deal. I'll turn it on. One, two.

Dustin: I want to make sure the battery's... Okay, there you go.

Howard: Put it in one. 

Dustin: Yep.

Howard: And do you recommend I pedal first and then…

Dustin: Anything you want on this one?

Howard: On this one? Okay.

Dustin: All right.

Howard: Nice. Smooth. I like the seat.

Dustin: Yeah?

Howard: Yeah.

Dustin: All right.

Howard: Oh, this could be number one now. And that's nice. You lean back. It's like a lowrider. This is neck and neck now. This went up with the black one.

Dustin: Comfortable, isn't it?

Howard: Wonderful. And a good feel. I like the handlebar leaning back like this. Sends me back. And then I put it up in fifth. And I could ride and do it. This is comfortable, very comfortable.

Dustin: Yeah, yeah, yeah. And you got the, so the pedals are moved forward. So it's got like this, it's got a recumbent feel. We call a semi-recumbent. So you're pedaling out in front of your body versus like right below your body.

Howard: Oh, interesting. Maybe that's what I like. I like that. Yeah.

Dustin: Cool.

Howard: Yeah.

Dustin: All right.

Howard: Very good. This one jumped up into the neck and neck in the first place.

Dustin: Okay. We'll have to get your official. Yeah. I think you're going to like this last one too.

Howard: Yeah.

Dustin: Okay, now this is our Zip and Fold, and this is a 750-watt, so this is more powerful than anything you've ridden thus far. So, this one is actually a folding e-bike, so it folds here, it's good to be transported.

Howard: Great.

Dustin: And everything's basically the same, but you've got more power, so just be aware of that with the, you know.

Howard: With the assist coming off the throttle.

Dustin: The throttle and the pedal assist too. You can keep it in one, but go ahead and…

Howard: Okay. Beautiful. Looks like a '70s bike.

Dustin: And this one's a twist throttle. So just like a motorcycle.

Howard: Okay. And from one to five or whatever?

Dustin: Well, this is the throttle. Okay. Yeah.

Dustin:Howard: Oh, that's the throttle. Okay, cool.

 Yeah. And then you shift the bike gears by pressing here or here.

Howard: Here or here?

Dustin: Yeah, so this moves the gears up. This moves the gears down.

Howard: Okay. Up and down.

Dustin: No, reverse. Down and up. Up and down.

Howard: Down, yeah.

 And then this is your throttle.

Howard: So what was over here, this is the throttle. Back towards me or?

Dustin: Yeah, so back towards you is go, and then yeah.

Howard: Okay, great.

Dustin: You're in zero right now, so you have to put it into one.

Howard: Mm-hmm. Let me figure that out. One, boom, one. Yep. Great. I like it. It's very, you know, you got it well designed. All right. So there's the throttle. Ha-ha. This one's more complicated.

Dustin: Ha-ha-ha-ha.

Howard: Nice. Yeah. All right. Great feel. More like a motorcycle.

Dustin: Yes, exactly.

Howard: Yeah, like a little more complicated.

Dustin: Okay.

Howard: For me.

Dustin: Okay.

Howard: Just for me. You know, in the sense of, you know, throttled, up-down, and then it's all right here on that right-hand side. So it was a little more complicated.

Dustin: Fair enough.

Howard: Wonderful feel.

Dustin: So, okay. So what do you think about power? Did it feel like more power?

Howard: Power's great. More power, and I had to, I put the gears up so that I could keep up, so that word was used, balanced.

Dustin: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay. Did it feel more powerful than those to you?

Howard: I would say yes. Yes, absolutely.

Dustin: Okay, cool. All right, so now that you've ridden all of them, what's your final decision? And tell me why you like the one that you like the most.

Howard: I would go with the... I'd go with the black one that I liked with the step-through. The seat is just... It's not a beach cruiser, but it's big and the seat was comfortable and it's easy and I could... When you're riding the bike, I don't want to be too focused on the bike. I want it to free me up so I can look around.

Dustin: And this one felt the easiest where you could do that.

Howard: Exactly.

Dustin: Followed by number two, the relaxed body.

Howard: Followed by this one, absolutely, the same thing. And then this, I'd have to say, I'd have to focus on it too much in shifting for me. And I want to not space out, but I want to enjoy the scenery.

Dustin: So these felt a little simpler in terms of the operation.

Howard: Yes.

Dustin: Cool. Yeah. That's fair enough.

Howard: Yeah.

Dustin: Perfect.

Howard: Yeah. And this one was very good too. I mean, this, this is a wonderful bike.

Dustin: Yeah.

Howard: It's a very good bike.

Dustin: Did you find, do you like the, well, the mounting and dismounting didn't seem to be an issue for you.

Howard: No.

Dustin: But the low step-through also is nice for getting on and off as well.

Howard: The low step-through is great. And, uh, and it's sturdy and fast and it was, you know, and, I'd buy that in teal. Yeah.

Dustin: Yeah?

Howard: Yeah, absolutely. I would. I'm not, no BS.

Dustin: Cool.

Howard: No BS.

Dustin: All right well there's Howard. That's his first time on e-bikes. He chose the Simple Step-Thru 26 inches. And don't forget, we have a 30-day test ride 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 offer a one-year warranty where we'll take care of everything in the first year, parts and labor if anything goes wrong. Lastly, be a part of our communities our Facebook group called sixthreezero Pedalers, and download our app to connect with existing riders before you purchase then when you have your e-bike posted in the group make friends and of course track your rides on the app and compete on the leaderboard. So, thanks for sticking around, and don't forget it's your journey or experience enjoy the ride.