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What pedal assist on an e-bike is not good for? Stick around to find out.
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 talk about what pedal assist on an e-bike is not good for. But before we get into it, hit the subscribe button below, and stay in touch with us here at Sixthreezero. Be the first to know about all the new content we're putting out, giveaways we do, and of course, new product releases.
All right, one more thing before I get into it. This is the Sixthreezero simple step-through, an easy mounting 500-watt e-bike, that makes getting on and off a cinch, and this thing is a lot of fun to ride. You can find it linked in the description below if you want to check it out on our website, sixthreezero.com.
All right, pedal assist is a great option on e-bikes. In fact, in a lot of countries, pedal assist is the only option when you talk about e-bikes. In America, we do offer the throttle option, but in a lot of Europe, and Australia, it's only going to be a pedal assist option.
Now, pedal assist is great when you're on long rides and you're hitting that stride and you want a little assistance to either make you go faster or keep up a faster cadence and also rest your legs a little bit, pedal assist is great. It's also great obviously if you're going up hills. You have big hills and big terrain, you don't want to exert all your energy just to get up that hill. Turning the pedal assist on makes it much easier so you can save your legs for a longer ride, flat terrain, or whatever it is.
Now, there are things though that pedal assist is not good for, and I'm going to start with the first one. Pedal assist is not good for navigating in tight spaces. Now, there are two types of sensors when it comes to pedal assist, a cadence sensor and a torque sensor. The Cadence sensor senses when the pedals turn, the motor kicks on and starts to give you assistance. A torque motor, the assistance starts to turn on gradually based on how much torque you're putting on the crank.
Now, cadence sensors are going to be a little less expensive. You're going to see that on most e-bikes under $2,000 I would say most, not all, and torque sensors are going to be on most e-bikes $2,000 and up. They're a little more expensive.
Now, the reality though is no pedal assist is going to give you perfect gradual assistance, right? Once the pedal assist kicks on, the reality is it gives you a thrust. You can adjust your levels one, two, three, four, and five obviously, and you can keep it in level one, which will give you the least amount of assistance. But if you are trying to navigate in very tight spaces, let's say you're coming in to stop or you're trying to park a bike in a bike rack, or you're trying to make some very tight turns somewhere, the pedal assistance is not going to be good for that.
In fact, I tell people in a lot of the videos I make, that when you're coming to a stop, just kill the motor, or put it down to level zero so you can navigate through wherever you're going, and then you can put it into level one as you need it. Because even having it in level one, as soon as you start pedaling and that motor kicks in, it's going to give you a push, and it's going to be harder if you're trying to just go very smooth and very clean.
In tight spaces, if your e-bike does have a throttle, that's going to be even easier to use in tighter, closer quarters than it is going to be able to even use the pedal assist. So I always recommend, if you're coming and slowing down, trying to come to a stop somewhere, kill the motor, 'cause I also see people forget they have the pedal assistance on when they pull in somewhere, and then they accidentally want to do a quick pedal, and then boom, the bike shoots out on them. So as you start to slow down, turn the motor off, get prepared, you can park, do things like that.
Now, the other one is starting. Now, I do love the pedal assist for getting a bike ride going, because you start to make a rotation, the bike kicks in, and it makes it easier for you to get moving. Now, the caveat for that is it can be a little more dangerous. As you grow accustomed to what that assistance is going to feel like when it kicks in, I think the risk will start to decrease.
But the reality is, if you're getting going and you're not perfectly situated or you don't have your hands or control right, and you make that first pedal rotation and the motor kicks in and pushes you, it may send you off balance, it may shoot you off the bike. I mean, anything's possible. Quite honestly, I've seen it before. Most times people recover from it okay and they don't end up crashing or falling, but I do see it jostling people.
So, my one thought is to get used to the pedal assist before you use it to start. Whenever I'm teaching someone to ride an e-bike or they're experiencing an e-bike for the very first time, I'm always encouraging them to just ride the bike normally, and get used to it. Or in fact, I like using the throttle to start rides better than the pedal assist, because you can manage the output of the motor a little better by just how much you push the throttle in and out with your thumb.
Then once you get up to speed, you can start pedaling and then you can let the pedal assist kick in, or just start pedaling without the pedal assist or the throttle, get moving a little bit, then kick your motor on and then let the pedal assist come in.
Pedal assist is great when you're up to speed and you're cruising, and then it's making that ride just feel so much effortless and so much more enjoyable, but you just have to be careful with how you're using it during starts and stops, how you're managing and regulating the on-off of it, and how you're aware of pedaling or not pedaling when the motor is on or off.
So it does take a little bit of getting used to, and once you do, it is so much fun and it makes bike riding just that much more enjoyable and people just start to ride so much further than they've ever ridden before. So all in all, pedal assist is a great option. Just keep these things in mind as you get out there and use the pedal assist on your e-bike.
So if you have any comments, questions or thoughts on the topic, please pop them below or email us, at theteam@sixthreezero.com, or call us at (310) 982-2877. In addition to that, you can find this e-bike linked in the description below to our website, sixthreezero.com. If you're in the market for an e-bike and don't know what you're looking for, take our proprietary body fit quiz on our website. 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 30-day test ride with 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. Lastly, we're going to warranty all of our e-bikes for a year. If anything goes wrong in the first year, we'll make sure to reimburse you for the parts and the labor to keep you up and riding.
Lastly, we have a Facebook pedalers group and an app where we have thousands of happy Sixthreezero riders. Pop in there and ask them about their experience with our e-bikes before you purchase. See how they like it, and ask them questions. Then once you have your e-bike, post in the group, make friends and of course, track your rides on the app, it's so much fun. So thanks for sticking around, and don't forget, it's your journey, your experience, enjoy the ride.