How to Choose the Type of Electric Bike - 20, Fat Tire, Beach Cruiser Ebikes, Which is Best

Hey guys, I'm Dustin. I have nearly 20 years of experience in the bike and E-bike industry, and today I'm going to answer the question, what style of an e-bike is right for you? Stick around.

All right, so today we're going to talk about what style of E-bike is right for you. But before I do hit that subscribes button below. Stay in touch with us here at sixthreezero. Be the first to know about all the new content we're putting out, including giveaways for bikes, E-bikes, and accessories, and of course new product releases. So hit subscribe.

All right, so behind me, I have some leading E-bike companies, Rad bower bikes, Sondors, electric, and sixthreezero. And you can see by looking at all these bikes, they're different styles. We have a 20-inch fat tire commuter round town type E-bike. We have the Sondors, a little beefier tire, more of an off-road, could be an on-road, E-bike. We have the electric folding fat tire E-bike. Then we have the Sixthreezero simple step-through cruiser hybrid E-bike. This kind of epitomizes what's going on in the E-bike industry right now. There are so many different styles, wheel sizes, and tire sizes, all of different makes and models. And of course, I didn't even mention the battery sizes and motor sizes, so it is hard to determine what E-bike is right for you. So I'm going to walk through all four of these models and explain what I think each one is good for in its way.

So let's start over here with the Sixthreezero. So if you're the type of rider that likes to do around-town riding, you've got moderate hills and two of the most important things on your list are comfort and simplicity, and also ease and safety. A simple step-through is a great option for you. The other thing I love about this is if you may want to do more pedaling, well if you want to do pedaling or even take it without the electric, something like this is great. You can see, I would say the Sixthreezero and the Sondors most replicate what a traditional bike frame would look like in the sense of the geometry, the location of the handlebars, the seat, and tire sizes.

In terms of the electric and the Rad power, outside of electric bikes, you don't typically see this style of bike for adults. Now E-bikes are a whole different category. That's why you're seeing these different styles, seeing these different designs. But if you are a rider that thinks you want to do a lot of pedal assist or you may even want to ride without the power, this is a great option because this is set up like a normal bicycle. You can also take the battery off easily and again, you're going to be able to feel like you're on a normal bike. You have 26-inch tires and wheels, which will roll super easily. When you get into a smaller fatter tire, if you start to think about not riding with the motor, it's going to have a lot of resistance. So you can see with any tire that gets fatter, if you're not using the electricity at all, again, it's just going to be harder to pedal, especially with the 20-inch wheel.

Now in all fairness to these, they're designed to use the electricity, but there are a lot of riders out there that may want to turn it off here and there and only use the electricity as you need it. In that case, I think something like the simple step-through's a great option. I know it's a great option because again, designed like a standard bike. You can also easily remove the battery, and this is going to feel like you're riding a normal bicycle. You've got 500 watts of power here, a 10.4 amp hour battery, which is going to be sufficient for around-town rides. Your range is going to be anywhere from 20 to 50 miles depending on how much throttle you use, and how much pedal assist you to use. In the case of this E-bike, you have pedal assist levels one through five. You have a throttle on your thumb here that you can use, so you can pedal or not pedal. It's totally up to you.

But the huge benefit of this E-bike is also mounting. Now, this has the lowest step-through height I've seen of any E-bike out there. So you can see that's only 10 and a half inch step-through height that you can put your foot through and easily get on and off. Let me just go ahead and show you. So there you have it, 10 and a half inches. And what's crazy is that's a 26-inch wheel. So if you are looking, you have trouble, physical limitations, something that prevents you from lifting your leg high and getting on and off is something that is a priority to you, the simple step through will be a great option. The electricity is about 25 inches step over height.

The Sondors is 21 and a half inches, and the Rad Power is 17 and a half inches. So it's a big difference. The seven-inch difference in how much a rider needs to lift their leg to mountain dismount this bike, and I've seen it a lot. Hip surgeries, knee surgeries, just different limitations, arthritis. This 10-and-a-half-inch makes it so much easier and safer to get on and off where you can just slide onto the seat and then easily mount and dismount. So huge bonus of the simple step through. So if you're looking for something that resembles a normal bicycle the most, you want comfort, you want ease, you want safety, simple step through from Sixthreezero.

Now the electric bike is great. What's great about this is it's a folding E-bike and you still have 500 watts of power. Now it comes standard in this model with a little bit smaller battery, eight amp hour, but they do have other options that are available with some bigger sizes. You can check that out on their website. And this is also great if you plan to take your bike places; so RVs, camping, and things like that. You can unfold it, fold it up, put it in your car, and go. Or if you're transporting it on a camper, you can put it in a little bucket, put it in your car, and grate and go. You see a lot of these in those circumstances. You also have a fat tire. So if you're going to go off-road, do outside terrain, do things like that, truly, this is a great option.

The other benefit of this is really, I mean not benefit, but, is the simplicity of the design. The battery's inside here so you're not going to see the battery at all. Now one thing, again, they do have a step-over version. You're going to have to swing your leg over on this one and you can see you're leaning a little bit forward and down to the handlebars. Now you can adjust these handlebars up a little bit, I believe. Let's try that. Okay, there we go. So that does help. So that prevents the leaning forward a little bit. You can see through on the Sixthreezero they come into your body a little bit more. And actually, this is higher than the recommended, so we'd have to bring these down a little bit more. So if you're a little bit taller, there's going to be a little bit leaner forward. I'm 5'10", so it is comfortable in this position.

Now the other thing I didn't point out, the Sixthreezero has seven gears. Now, these gears, when you're riding a bike, you can shift them and when you're in the pedal assist you to get that ratio. So if you're doing hills, you can shift into first gear. The electric bike is just a single-speed. You have a big... Oh no, this is a seven-speed too. I correct myself. This is a seven-speed as well. You got the seven-speed up here. I'm thinking of Rad Power, my apologies.

Okay, so you do have the seven-speed, but you can see one thing here, it has a really big front wheel. It's going to be a little bit harder with that size cog to pedal in first gear versus the Sixthreezero. But for top-end speed, that's going to be a little bit more helpful. So again, great e-bike for transporting. If you do some off-road riding, if you put it in your car, you're traveling, camping, or going places, truly a great option. Also, if you like the simplicity of the frame design, does have a little bit of a smaller battery on this one, which is the VP, but they have other versions. You can check those out as well.

But if you are going to ride this as a normal bike, just keep in mind you have a very small wheel and a fat tire. There's going to be a lot more drag and you're going to have to pedal more turns to get the bike moving as you would on a 26-inch. Every time you turn that crank, you're spinning a bigger wheel, it's going to roll easier with the 20-inch wheel. It's just going to take more effort on the pedaling. If you're going to use pedal assist all the time, it may not affect you at all.

Okay, moving on to the Sondors E-bike here. Now, this is a great E-bike if you're going to be doing some trail riding or pavement riding. You can see this is a... Let me just confirm here. I got to make sure I get my specs straight. So this is a three-inch wheel, so not as fat as the four-inch. So it'll still be good for pavement, but also great for hard-pack trails. So honestly, if you're going to do a lot of trail riding or forest preserves or even parks, I was just thinking of national parks if they allow it, this is good because not super fat. So if you decide to use the pedal assist, there's not going to be as much drag and you're still going to be able to roll on the pavement but also go off-road. You can see these got the knobbies on them, so they'll dig in. And we've tested on the trails, it's great for that.

And actually, this is also a folding bike, so you can transport this E-bike. Now, it's not going to fold down as small as the electric because you've got 26 inches these are 76, and these are 27-and-a-half-inch tires. So these are bigger than the Sixthreezero tires. So these are going to roll well because of the size. But again, from the folding position, it's not going to fold up as small because you still have to keep the tires on and do things like that. So if you're looking for transportability, this is a great option for something if you want something with bigger tires, but it's not going to fold up super small. So again, it's hard with all these different E-bikes, you can't necessarily get everything in one. That's why you have to think about what type of riding are you going to do.

All right, moving on to the Rad Power. Now, this is a great little around town E-bike that a lot of people have in their garage to zip around, take kids to school, and do some basic transportation. I would say this E-bike is not the best for riding like a bike. So if you prefer to pedal or like to pedal, again, this is going to be a 26 or 20-inch wheel, so it's going to require you to put more effort in to get the fat tires spinning. But you do have different levels of pedal assist, four levels, and you have a throttle as well. Now the difference is, this is a single-speed bike, so you only have one gear. So if you have major hills to go up, you're not going to have that gear ratio of one to seven, but you're going to have the throttle and you're going to have the pedal assist. But just know if you like to shift gears downshift, go uphills, or again, if you're going to ride this as a bike, you're only going to have one speed. So this is a one-speed bicycle.

But the place for this again really is taking kids to school, and zipping around on errands. It's truly like an E-transportation vehicle. It is an E-bike because you can pedal it, but I see this being used for just all types of commuting or groceries. And it's great because it's small, it's compact, and the fatter tires are great for balance. Now, this is not a folding version, so it's going to store just like this. It also has a pretty comfortable riding position. You can see here, whoop, you can see here it's got the handlebars. Now again, the other thing to point out with all these 26 or these 20-inch bikes, is they're not necessarily going to get you into the best pedal position because they are littler. But they're compact, they're easy to get around on, and they are a lot of fun, to be honest.

So four E-bikes, four different use cases for all four of them. I would say this Rad runner, Rad Power Bike, is great for zipping through neighborhoods, going to the park, taking kids' places, and using it more as an e-product versus a bicycle. A great option here. Again, only one speed.

Sondors is a great e-bike. You can pedal it, go off-road, you got the three-inch tires, you can go on paths or pavement, beefier if you need something that can take you through those paths, through the parks, things like that, but still be good on pavement. Great option.

Electric, great for transportation. Also great for around town. Little a smaller battery, but it's a lot of fun. Folds up easily, and you can take it with you. And again, it's compact, but I wouldn't say the best option if you want it for actual bicycling and pedaling.

Then you've got the Sixthreezero simple step through; safe, comfortable, most resembles a normal bicycle, and easy to get on and off. The best case is if you want to do a lot of pedaling, even if you want to use the assistance because it's going to give you the leg extension you need like a regular bicycle, and you have the seven speeds to give you that range to ride.

So I hope this will help in your E-bike selection process. If you have any other questions at all, please comment below, or reach out to us via email, at theteam@sixthreezero.com. Or you can call us, at 310-982-2877. Also, if you're in the market for an E-bike, go over to our website, and take our proprietary body fit quiz; takes a few minutes, answer a few questions about your body and your life, and we'll recommend the perfect E-bike for you.

In addition to that, we have a test-ride your e-bike policy for 30 days. If you don't love your E-bike in the first 30 days, send it back, no questions asked, no money out of your pocket. And lastly, join our Facebook pedalers group or download our app. Before you purchase, you can talk to other riders, make friends, and see how people are logging miles on the app. Then once you have your bike, track your miles on the app, make friends in the pedaler's group, and post photos. It's a ton of fun.

So thank you for sticking around. And don't forget, it's your journey, your experience. Enjoy the ride.