Is a 20" Electric Bike Right for You? The Truth About 20 Inch EBikes & Who Should Buy Them

Is a 20-inch e-bike right for you? Hey everyone, I'm Dustin. I have nearly 20 years of experience in the bike and e-bike industry. Today we're gonna answer the question, is a 20-inch e-bike right for you? All right, I've got two of Sixthreezero 20 inch e-bikes, the Simple step-through 20 inch and the Relaxed body 20 inch with the office chair style seat, both brand new for 20, at the end of 2024 here. This one's coming out in early 25. There are a lot of 20-inch e-bikes out there, specifically in the age range of 9 to 16, the 18-year-old demographic. And, you know, a lot of kids are zipping around on them. Many with this size tire, like on the Relaxed body here, are 20 inches by 3 inches. But is a 20-inch e-bike right for you? Well, depends on what you want to do with your e-bike and what you want to get out of it. I think a lot of teenagers are enjoying these because the 20-inch e-bikes that they're buying feel more like a moped than they do an actual bicycle.

Their usage is not using it as a bike. It's to use it as a mode of transportation, which, don't get me wrong, is perfectly great. But oftentimes they're not pedaling, they have passengers, and they're zipping around on them. So, if you are somebody who truly just wants to zip around and you want to pedal to have the motor engage, then that type of e-bike is right for you. You know, 20-inch e-bikes like these two, specifically, pedaling them without assistance, can be challenging at times. Especially when you have a wider tire, like a three-inch tire on it. Now, if you're going to always run some level of assistance, whether it's one or two, then you'll be fine the majority of the time. The benefit of a smaller e-bike is lighter, typically speaking, not always, and much more nimble and easier to maneuver. Like our Simple step through here, many people prefer this because of how lightweight it is, which is about 50 pounds.

Doesn't seem all that light, but pretty light in this realm of e-bikes and also very easy to maneuver. You're sitting right here. The handlebars are right here. They're not it's not big, bulky bikes, so you don't have to worry about controlling something again, big and clunky. So, lightweight is another factor. Now, a lot of these 20-inch e-bikes that are out there they're not very lightweight because they have a very big, bulky frame. The Relaxed body is not designed; it's one right here that is not designed to be entirely lightweight. You can see we've got the battery up here, a 14-amp-hour battery. We've got this seat here, and it's a very thick frame, right? So that's going to add to the weight. But if you're somebody who's hoping to possibly ride without using the assistance.

I wouldn't recommend either of these two models. Now the 20-inch one, you can pedal obviously without the motor, but it's gonna be more challenging to do it on a 20-inch versus a 26-inch, and we have a 26-inch version of this with a low step-through as well. These are great when you wanna use the throttle only, I will say. So if you wanna zip around, put your feet up, and not pedal at all. The beauty of these is that, like this one, it's very lightweight. You can zip around very quickly, and they're easy to maneuver. Not big wheels, not a big frame. You can take it in tight spaces. You can turn very easily and get around very quickly. So I love 20-inch e-bikes, but I also love my full-size tire e-bikes. A different point of purpose. When I'm going on longer trails out for a ride with my wife or my kids, I like my 26-inch e-bike because I like to be constantly pedaling and feel my legs work a little bit, and run a lower level of assistance.

When I'm going on shorter rides, one, two, three miles, four miles, and I want to zip around, get quick, get there quick, maybe just use my legs a little bit, but I'm not in it for the exercise, then I like my 20-inch versions. You can see I did a very long ride on this, and I did pedal. I used the pedal assist. I used the throttle only. It's very comfortable. And again, this one has a forward-pedaling design. So even if you do run it in level one, it's nice because it's recumbent pedaling, and you can pedal out in front of your body. So you can still get a workout while you're pedaling out in front of your body. But I'm just saying, generally speaking, that's how I feel about 20-inch bikes compared to a bigger size tire bike. I will say if you get on to either of these and you pedal them compared to a 26-inch version, you'll see that these two are just more challenging.

Now, we left a thinner tire on this one because we wanted to make it more conducive to pedaling, especially if you didn't want to use the motor. After all, when you beef up the tire to three inches, it gets more difficult because of the drag that's on the cement and the thickness of the tire. So I hope that helps. I know you're probably seeing a lot of 20-inch e-bikes out there. It's not necessarily right for you. Think about your use case. Think about what you want to get out of it. And if you are still struggling, reach out to us at theteam@sixthreezero.com or call us at 310-982-2877, and we'll try to help you find the right e-bike for you. We also offer a 30-day test ride of your e-bike policy. 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. In addition to that, we warranty everything for one year. If anything goes wrong in the first year, we take care of it, parts, and labor. And lastly, join our community. We have a Facebook group called Sixthreezero peddlers, there are thousands of members in the group. Join before you purchase to ensure you're making the right choice. Then when you have yours, post in the group, make friends. And finally, download our app to track your rides and compete on the leaderboard. So thanks for sticking around and don't forget, it's your journey or experience. Enjoy the ride.