FIRST EBIKE RIDE EVER! 55 Year Old Rides Electric Bike for the 1st Time...Watch to See His Reaction

Speaker 1: Okay, we're here with Johnny and this is going to be Johnny's first-ever experience riding an e-bike. He's getting his helmet on and we got the simple step through a 500-watt e-bike from sixthreezero. Great entry-level e-bike because of the low step-through. So Johnny, when's the last time you've been on a bike?

Johnny: It's been 40 years. Since I was 15.

Speaker 1: Since you were 15. So you're 55.

Johnny: 40 years.

Speaker 1: Crazy. And so no bikes at all in the last 40 years.

Johnny: Uh-huh. So this will pedal just like a regular bike, right? And then this is the brake, both brakes.

Speaker 1: Yep. So yeah, everything is the same as a regular bike. You've got your front and rear hand brakes. You've got seven speeds too, which are right here.

Johnny: But how does that kick on? Does it automatically kick on? So I pedal and then this kicks on? Or do I push something?

Speaker 1: So these gears are not related to the motor at all. These are seven speeds just for the bike. If you had a 21-speed speed and it's a twist shifter. Yep. This one you'll want to only shift while you're moving.

Johnny: Okay.

Speaker 1: And then when we come over here, this is your electric. You hold this down and it powers on. And the upper left-hand corner is your battery. This is your speed. And this number right here, this one, is the level of power you're going to get out of the motor. So I'm going to put this into zero. I always recommend keeping it at zero while you're figuring things out.

Johnny: But do I have to push a button or something to make it go?

Speaker 1: So you've got two options. This is a thumb throttle. You can push it right now because we have it on zero. Nothing will happen.

Johnny: Okay.

Speaker 1: And once that's in one, this will be engaged. And the power of the throttle is fully dictated by how hard or soft you press it just like a gas pedal on a car.

Johnny: So how do I get it to go to one? Do I have to push a button?

Speaker 1: You'll push this up to one, but don't push the throttle while you're standing here. So now when you start pedaling, these numbers are going to dictate how much power output you'll get from the pedal assist. So it goes up to level five. In level five, you can reach speeds of up to 28 miles an hour.

Johnny: Oh my God.

Speaker 1: And with the throttle only, you'll be able to reach speeds of up to 20 miles an hour, so it's pretty fast at full bore.

Johnny: I'm scared now. So when I start going to this one, do I go to one or do I have to start messing with it to push it up?

Speaker 1: So let's do this.

Johnny: Okay.

Speaker 1: Why don't you start just on zero since you haven't been on a bike in 40 years?

Johnny: Okay.

Speaker 1: My suggestion is just to keep it at zero once. Don't you make a lap around-

Johnny: All the way around that way?

Speaker 1: I think just make a small lap right here.

Johnny: And this is just pedaling like normal, right?

Speaker 1: Yeah.

Johnny: Okay.

Speaker 1: Get used to it, feel it out and then we can get you on the pedal assist.

All right.

Johnny: So this okay, I'm used to breaking-

Speaker 1: Backwards?

Johnny: Well, not with a hand thing. So you don't break here, these are the two brakes.

Speaker 1: Yeah, that's right. So on e-bikes, you've got front and rear disc brakes, which give a little, well not a little, a lot more stopping power with the front and the rear hand brakes.

Johnny: Okay.

Speaker 1: So do you want to turn the bike around and then you can go back in this direction? All right.

Johnny: So I did turn these a little bit.

Speaker 1: Yeah, that's cool.

Johnny: I'm familiar with those.

Speaker 1: Yeah. Okay. So go ahead and put this on one and just ride, make the same loop and if you want, at any point while you're riding, if you want more power, you can go ahead and just push that plus again. I don't recommend going above three just for right now, but you're going to feel it. After you make a full rotation on the pedals, the motor will kick in.

Johnny: Oh, I still have to use the pedals?

Speaker 1: And then do the pedal assist first. Then if you want to stop pedaling, use the throttle with your thumb.

Johnny: And then just push it down like that. Okay.

Speaker 1: Yep. Go for it. Feel it kick in?

Johnny: Yeah.

Speaker 1: Were you using the throttle right there?

Johnny: I was. There was only one and it was fast. I can't imagine even going faster than that.

Speaker 1: Well, the throttle is not dictated by these. If it's on one, it means the throttle is already ready for full power.

Johnny: Okay.

Speaker 1: So it's dictated by how hard or soft you push it. But the pedal assist is controlled by those levels. So level one, you were only getting the first level of pedal assist power.

Johnny: Okay.

Speaker 1: If you go up to 2, 3, 4, or 5, the assistance you get while you pedal gets more, the throttle will not change though. It's just the throttle's always based on how much, like a gas pedal in a car.

Johnny: Yeah, it was still pretty fast.

Speaker 1: Yeah.

Johnny: Still, I'm thinking two or three and it goes to five? Wow.

Speaker 1: It's fun though, isn't it?

Johnny: Well, yeah, I guess if you were say, on the bike lane, then that would be different because you have such a long straightaway.

Speaker 1: Exactly.

Johnny: I was getting a little nervous. I was like, oh my God, I don't know if I should be going that fast or not.

Speaker 1: Yeah, you got to get used to the kind of, if you're going to use the throttle, how you do it in and out, just like a gas pedal on a car. And the pedal assists on the tighter turns, you can sometimes just pedal coast, a little pedal coast a little. So you're not-

Johnny: I was using the brakes too to slow down to kind of control it because I was a little nervous. After all, it's doing it by itself. It's kind of like you're just kind of hanging on and it's like, I don't know. I don't know.

Speaker 1: It's different.

Johnny: I rode a scooter before, a long time ago, and I guess it's a little similar I would say.

Speaker 1: Do you want to take a full lap around the park and then you can kind of open it up a little bit and feel?

Johnny: Should I go to two now?

Speaker 1: Up to you. You can also do it while you're riding, so as you hit a straightaway.

Johnny: Okay.

Speaker 1: Or just go ahead. Yeah, go do two. That's cool.

Johnny: Okay, so that wasn't too bad. I went to two, then I went up to three and it wasn't like a big shocker. I thought it was going to be like a turbo or something.

Speaker 1: Oh no, no. Yeah.

Johnny: So yeah, it wasn't that bad so I could handle it. It wasn't bad at all. But around the turns, I use the brakes a little bit.

Speaker 1: And the minute you pull the brakes, the motor will cut too.

Johnny: Oh really?

Speaker 1: Yeah.

Johnny: Oh, okay.

Speaker 1: So you won't have to worry about if the motor's-

Johnny: I feel a little confused about using the spinning pedals.

Speaker 1: Well, the pedals, as soon as you pedal the motor goes.

Johnny: Right, but then you don't have to pedal. You can just use that. But then I seem like, well, maybe I still have to pedal a little bit.

Speaker 1: No.

Johnny: So I can just use this by itself?

Speaker 1: Yeah, just use that, but be careful pushing that too, while you're standing.

Johnny: Oh, good thing I have the brake on, huh?

Speaker 1: Yeah, exactly.

Johnny: Yeah.

Speaker 1: So if you have the brake, the motor won't go.

Johnny: Right. And so even though I'm doing 1, 2, 3 over here, do I still mess with this? I kind of shifted this a little bit.

Speaker 1: Yep. Both. They're independent of each other.

Johnny: It's a lot of options.

Speaker 1: Typically when you put the bike in a higher level of pedal assist, you're going to go faster.

Johnny: Right.

Speaker 1: You would want the gears to be in a higher gear to try to match the cadence of your pedaling with the output of the motor, or else you're going to be spinning your wheels and the motor will be powering you more.

Johnny: Right, I see. So you could even go up to five and jack this all the way up and then that full throttle.

Speaker 1: Yeah. So what are you in right now? You're in five.

Johnny: How do you know? Does it say?

Speaker 1: Oh, right here in the window.

Johnny: Oh, okay.

Speaker 1: So typically if you have that on a higher level of pedal assist, even three, you probably want to have it in seven.

Johnny: Oh really?

Speaker 1: Which will match the cadence of the pedaling a little better.

Johnny: Okay.

Speaker 1: Yeah, you want to try one more time?

Johnny: Okay. And then go up

Speaker 1: Well, don't shift it right now.

Johnny: Right. Just while-

Speaker 1: Shift it while you're moving. Yep.

Johnny: Okay.

Speaker 1: Ooh, coming to a fast stop. So what'd you think of that when you shifted? Did you shift it to seven?

Johnny: I was a little confused. It doesn't say. I guess I was going, okay, I have to go the other way. I think I was shifting it back down. I was thinking seven was this way, so I actually have to go again and go up this way. I thought turning it this way-

Speaker 1: So shift your wrist up to go up, down to go down.

Johnny: Right, but I have to physically turn this with my hand though, right?

Speaker 1: Wait, you could put you- That takes your hands off the brake.

Johnny: Oh, okay.

Speaker 1: Yeah. So it's a nice-

Johnny: Yeah, I thought it was weird. I didn't think I was in seventh because the pedals were too easy to turn.

Speaker 1: Got it.

Johnny: So I did it wrong.

Speaker 1: Yeah, give it one more try.

Johnny: But I did crank this up to five.

Speaker 1: Oh yeah? And how'd that feel?

Johnny: It felt like a little turbo kicked in a little bit. I was starting to think I got to get one of these because I've never rented one or I've always wanted to. All right, let's do it again.

Speaker 1: Cool.

Johnny: Okay, I get it now.

Speaker 1: Did it feel better going a little higher?

Johnny: Yeah. And then I could see, because then when I turned the pedals it was a little harder to turn, so I could see how you could get your exercise out of that.

Speaker 1: Exactly.

Johnny: And if you don't want to exercise, then you could just let it carry you. Now how long will the battery last? Will it cut out on me? Or is there an indicator? Oh, there it is, right there, huh?

Speaker 1: Yeah, it's going to be anywhere from about 15 to 50 miles, depending on how fast you go, how heavy the rider is, how much you use the pedal assist, and how much you use the throttle. The throttle will drain the battery quicker than the pedal assist.

Johnny: Okay.

Speaker 1: So it kind of just varies, but yeah, you'll have an indication when you're down to one bar and you'll start to get familiar with it.

Johnny: I only live seven blocks from the beach, but it's from the overlook to the beach to get down there. There's ways you can, I see people on bikes all the time, so I'll drive nearby and I'll get my roller skates and I'll go. But as I'm going, all these bikes are passing me. And I was like, huh?

Speaker 1: Well, this would be a good option for you to get down to the beach, probably.

Johnny: Yeah, it would.

Speaker 1: What did you think overall then? Did you like it? Is it cool? Would you want one?

Johnny: Yeah, definitely because there are so many things that it's like you get a new computer, a new phone, you sit there and play with it and just play with it. I mean, how long have I been doing this? Four minutes, five minutes. I'm kind of getting the hang of it already. There are bike lanes where I'm at and there's always bicyclists there. So I live on Seventh Street. Let's say I want to go to Brentwood. I mean, I could pretty much be there in no time because there's always traffic in LA, always traffic. I went somewhere yesterday, I should have been there in 25 minutes with no traffic. Two hours. I mean, you could just take a bike. I just needed to drop off a piece of paper. It was two hours. It was crazy.

Speaker 1: That is crazy.

Johnny: So if I had the bike, I could just, you could work- so if you get tired, it's not like you have to put the bike to rest. You could go ahead and let the electronics take over while you kick back and, okay, I'm rested now. You can go back and get your exercise, so I get it. Yeah.

Speaker 1: Totally.

Johnny: That would be good because that's the worst thing. When I was a kid, you're always pedaling. You're always pedaling. All right, so I had a few more questions about this. I noticed there's a place where you can put a key and I saw an on-off switch back here.

Speaker 1: Yep.

Johnny: That just preserves the battery as you turn it off.

Speaker 1: Correct, yep. So you can turn the battery on and off and then if that's off, the motor up here will not turn on.

Johnny: Okay.

Speaker 1: Yep. So you can see you killed the display now.

Johnny: So I have to push the middle button to get it back on again?

Speaker 1: Yeah. So long as the battery is switched on. Yep, there you go.

Johnny: And then what is this key thing for?

Speaker 1: That is to lock the battery on. The key we don't have here right now, but you put the key in. Let me

Johnny: No, no, I get it.

Speaker 1: Yeah.

Johnny: Okay. And then what's this QR code? So if you need help or something?

Speaker 1: Well, no. So here's the key then. This is the charging port right here.

Johnny: Oh, you have a separate thing that plugs in that pops in there?

Speaker 1: Yep. That charges it.

Johnny: And then how long does it take to charge?

Speaker 1: From fully empty? It's going to be about six hours.

Johnny: Oh wow. Okay.

Speaker 1: And then the QR code is just for an app that we at sixthreezero have. You can track your rides. This one here, same thing? That's for the battery manufacturer.

Johnny: Okay.

Speaker 1: Yep.

Johnny:  Oh really? So it's recording it and then you can go back and you can see how long you-

Speaker 1: If you download the app and put it on your phone.

Johnny: Okay.

Speaker 1: You'd have to start and stop your rides that way. Yeah. It's independent of the bike.

Johnny: But it's almost like a Fitbit kind of.

Speaker 1: Correct. Exactly.

Johnny: Yeah.

Speaker 1: Yeah.

Johnny: Yeah. So I'm going to be able to take this home, right?

Speaker 1: We'll see.

Johnny: That's nice.

Speaker 1: So there you have it. That's Johnny's first time on a bike in 40 years and his first time riding an e-bike, he picked it up with no problem. And you'd say all in all you like it?

Johnny: I do like it. It's a new experience. Plus I live by the beach and I never get on the bikes. I've been trying to roller skate, but that's very dangerous. I fell a few times and then my feet hurt. Then I have to take them off and watch. Yeah, the bike would be great. I can just go down there and then go do my beach step and get back on it. I don't know. I'm going to have to buy one now.

Speaker 1: Cool. Well if you want to take one last loop, go for it. If you want to check out the simple step-through on sixthreezero.com, you'll find it there. See you, Johnny.

Johnny: Okay. Bye-bye.