Pedaling an EBike Without the Electric Motor On, How HARD Is it? Revealing the Shocking Truth!

How hard is it to pedal an electric bike without the electric motor on?

Hey everyone, I'm Dustin. I have nearly 20 years of experience in the bike and e-bike industry, and today I'm going to demonstrate to you how difficult it is to pedal an electric bike without the motor on. All right, I've got three different types of e-bikes right here. This is the sixthreezero Zip and Fold. This is a 20-inch fat tire, foldable e-bike. I've got the simple step-through cruiser hybrid with the low step-thru. This has a 2.125-inch tire by 26 inches. This is the Ride in the Park City e-bike here, and I just want to make sure I get the tire size exactly right. And this is a 700 by 38 C. So I've got the e-bikes arranged here from thinnest to fattest tire. The reason for that is that when we talk about how difficult it is to pedal an electric bike without electric, there are a few different elements that are going to play into that. So number one is if the bike is a geared bike or a non-geared bike. When you talk about gears, we're talking about gears that are only pertaining to the standard bicycle element of an e-bike. So all three of these e-bikes here have seven-speed external derailleurs that are shifted up here on the handlebars.

These two e-bikes are twist throttles This one is a trigger shift. Trigger shift just means you push a trigger to go up, a trigger to go down. This is a twist throttle. You twist up to shift up, twist down to shift down. Now, not all electric bikes have gears. A lot of them are single speeds. There are a couple of popular brands out there that on some of their most popular models are single-speed bikes, meaning you only have one gear on that bike. Again, that gear or the gears are not linked to the electric motor in any way. When you're shifting, you're shifting the gears on the bicycle element in itself. However, the gears are important because if you're going to pedal without the electric or even in pedal assist, having the range of gears makes it easier to align the gear to your pedal assist level.

Now, what do I mean by that? I mean, if you are in level one on your pedal assist, it's good to be in a lower gear, meaning like one, two, or three, because it'll be easier to pedal in those gears and you have it in the lowest amount of assistance. As you increase the assistance, you want to increase the resistance on the bike because you're going to go faster. You want to have more resistance. If you had less resistance, you'd be pedaling faster than the motor is moving you. And so in essence, your pedaling would do almost Nothing. Now, when you talk about riding your electric bike without the assist, having gears, especially on hills, is going to make it so much easier.

And even on flat ground, having that range of gears is just gonna allow you to find the right gear at the right moment. It's just like a bicycle, right? If you have a small hill to climb, you could go into gear two, gear three. If you have a big hill to climb, then you wanna be in gear one. If you're going max speed and you want to go as fast as possible, go to your top gear. In this case, it would be seventh. If you just have one gear, you have no range. You have that one gear for your flat-ground riding and hill riding. So when you talk about riding your e-bike without assistance, if you have an e-bike or you're looking at an e-bike that has one speed, just know that e-bike is going to be relatively difficult to pedal on flat ground without any assistance at all. Now, coupled with that, if you have something like this with fat tires, whether it's a 26 or a 20-inch, it's going to be even more difficult to pedal if you only have one gear. The reason is that, now this is a 20-inch fat tire. If you have a 26-inch fat tire, that's going to be even more challenging to pedal without the assistance of the motor. Now, On flat ground, you're not going to feel it as much. If you're just cruising around at three to five miles an hour, the tire size won't impact you that much and you'll be able to ride flat ground at a casual pace, no problem. But as you'd want to try to pick up the pace, you're going to feel the resistance with those big tires because there's a lot of rubber contacting the road and it's gripping, they're heavier, and you're going to have to put in more effort.

Now, if you also have a fat tire that's 26 inches, and you only have one speed, that is going to be very challenging to pedal without assistance. A lot of e-bikes or a lot of e-bike brands, there are a few different philosophies I see with the design. And a lot of them design their e-bikes with the assumption that most people will always be running some level of pedal assist. And I think that's true in particular for a lot of fat tire e-bikes. Mainly because if you're going to pedal without assistance, it's going to be challenging. More challenging than something like this on the left-hand side with a very thin tire, the least amount of resistance, and a much lighter tire, gonna be very easy to pedal comparatively to a big fat tire.

So you are seeing a lot of fat tires out there on e-bikes. But again, if you have any desire to use your e-bike in combination with no power and a little bit of power, just know, that it will be more challenging or almost impossible in some circumstances that I'm going to demonstrate as well, to not use the assistance. So, when we talk about hills in particular, with a fat tire e-bike, even like this 20-inch, getting up hills is going to be very challenging without assistance. Now, when you move into these two tires, we get a 2.125, which is about halfway between a four-inch tire. Now these are three-inch fat tires. You're commonly seeing a lot of four-inch fat tires out there as well, which again will be even more challenging.

The other thing to look at is this is a slick tread. There's more knobby tires out there that will be even more difficult to pedal because the tread is bigger and bulkier. So it's important that when you choose your e-bike, you think about how you're going to use it if you are going to want to use it without assistance because if you do have the vision or desire to ride your electric bike without assistance, it's something you want to consider in terms of the specs. So this is a 2.125-inch tire. It's going to be a little bit easier or pretty significantly easier to pedal than this 20-inch. The other thing, too, is this is a 20-inch tire, so you're going to have to make more rotation on the pedals to make as much of a rotation with this tire as you would with this one. So it's not going to be a two-to-one pedal ratio, but about one and a half pedal strokes are going to get you the distance of turning this tire once. So you're going to more easily cover ground manually on a 2.125-inch tire than you are on a 20-inch tire. Now, in addition to that, or lastly, you've got the 700 by 38c tire. This one's thin and also feels zippy with or without the electric and you can feel the difference in pedaling it. There's just very little resistance, very little rubber contacting the road, and pedaling this feels quite a bit easier than either of these two bikes, e-bikes.

So your tire size, your tire tread is going to dictate how difficult or hard and how many gears you have. Now the other piece of that is also how are your gears, the ratio of your gears, meaning how big is your front chainring, which is up here, this large circle chainring in the front, and your sprocket sizes in the rear. If you have a very large front sprocket and a very small rear sprocket, it's going to be very difficult to pedal. These types of e-bikes, and I see a lot of them that are 20-inch-fat tires, have very large front sprockets and smaller rear sprockets in their single speeds. Those are geared for the top-end speed, meaning they're trying to make it more difficult to pedal so you can have a good cadence between your pedaling and level assist five.

So again, with a single speed with a huge front sprocket and a small rear sprocket, it's gonna be more difficult to pedal without any assistance, but it may feel better when you have it in the highest level of assistance because you're going to be matching. So they're geared more for the top-end speed than they are for the low-end speed. It seems contradictory to say that you would want to gear an electric bike for slow conditions or a slow pace, but some riders like to cruise without assistance and take a more easy pace. A lot of riders are also going to take on hills or smaller hills and may want to put that effort in themselves. and keep it in gear like an easier to pedal one uh you know, first gear if it has multiple gears like a one through seven.

They want to keep it in first gear and make it easier to get up hills. Those types of e-bikes that are geared with one speed and a huge front chain ring without assistance will make it nearly impossible to get up hills. The other thing is, you know, when you talk about these e-bikes that are geared for, or not geared great for riding without the assistance on, you're going to drain the battery on these faster because you're going to want to always have your e-bike in some level of assistance. Even like the zip and fold here, I would say most people are going to want to leave this in a pedal-assist one or two for the majority of your riding.

You can turn it off completely and I will show you, you can ride without it. Hills will just be more challenging. So as a result, if you're running that battery more, you're going to drain the battery quicker. Something like these two e-bikes with a little bit of a thinner tire. Again, the battery's not going to drain as easily and you'd be, you know, more comfortable riding longer distances without the motor on an e-bike like this versus something like this. All right, now we'll do a quick demonstration. I'm just going to do a ride in our parking lot right here on some flat ground. and kind of talk you through just how difficult or easy it is. So gonna start here with the zip and fold.

I'm gonna wheel it up here and just show you up close some of the elements. So Zip and Fold is geared mostly to be an electric bike. And as a result, you can see we've put a bigger chainring on the front here, which again is generally going to make most of the gears harder to pedal. The idea here is that we can pedal or have more resistance, get the bike up to faster speeds and have a nice pedaling cadence around 20 miles an hour where our pedaling is matching the assistance we're getting from the motor. Now, if you come up here as well, as I was talking about our trigger shifter. So we have seven speeds here. And so you can find the perfect gear.

But with the bigger chainring on the front, first gear is going to be more difficult to pedal on this e-bike than it would be on an e-bike with a smaller chain ring which you'll find on our simple step-through and our ride in the park. So, just things to think about if you are going to plan to ride without the motor pretty frequently. Okay, so let me go ahead and get on here. Now, I have the battery and everything on. In terms of flat ground, I mean, sorry, I have the battery installed. In terms of flat ground, you're not gonna notice a ton of difference between an e-bike and a regular bike unless you're trying to go faster. So if you're keeping your e-bike, if you're pedaling on your e-bike without assistance, like under five miles an hour, you won't find the difference.

On something like this 20-inch fat tire, as you start to try to go faster without the assistance, you're gonna start to notice, wow, this is more difficult. I feel the weight. and the heaviness of the tires and also the battery. You can always remove the battery if you plan to use it on a ride without assistance, the electric assistance. But again, as I'm going slower, you'll notice less difference. As you try to go faster or climb hills, that's when you'll notice the difference. Okay, so I'm in gear one. I'm just going to go ahead and pedal. And let me raise the seat. Okay, got the seat adjusted. You can see, honestly, it doesn't feel difficult to me. Now I do a fair amount of riding and I've built my leg strength up.

Now I do, you know, it does feel like I have to make a lot of rotations because I have the smaller wheels, so I'm moving my feet a lot. And I'm in the first gear here. So this is the easiest gear to pedal. And I still definitely feel resistance. Meaning it's still not super easy to pedal. Now, if I were to shift this all the way up like that's gets a little bit harder to pedal. And this is where you would want the pedal assist. Now, once I kind of get it up to pace, it gets a little bit easier. All right, so you can see, all in all, not too bad. Would I want to do this for five miles?

Probably not. Could I do it for a mile or two? Yeah, definitely. Okay, now let's move on to our 2.125-inch tire. I'll go ahead and show you this one. so you can see here, if you want to come take a look at the chain ring down here, you can see it's, pretty significantly smaller than the chain ring that was on the simple step through. So this one's going to be easier to pedal in all gears, including first gear. And we have a twist throttle up here. So it still has the same seven gears, just a different shifting mechanism. Now again, I'm only talking about e-bikes with gears. So I don't have an e-bike with just a single speed to demonstrate, but I would say typically if it's a single speed, it's probably going to feel pretty similar to fifth, sixth, or seventh gear on the zip and fold because the way they gear those single speeds like I said, is it's to be harder to pedal so you can have a good cadence when you have the motor fully engaged. So they will be fairly difficult to pedal. All right. So, simple step through. You can see this bike feels like a normal bike. Again, we have the battery on the back and I'm in fifth gear right now. So it's a little bit more challenging but significantly easier to pedal. And I can go ahead and shift this down into first. and yeah, so I don't have to turn my feet quite as much to get the tires rotating. And in first gear on this bike, it's much much easier and the nice thing is, you still have the cushy tires.

You know, they're not as wide. So again, not too bad at all. Pretty easy. and it maneuvers just like a normal bike. Okay. All right, now moving on to the third and final one, the ride in the park. So this one is geared the same way as the simple step-through. So the feel of how it pedals will be the same in that regard. but the thinner tires will be much easier to turn over. Same thing with a twist shifter up here. So let me go ahead, and get on it. And I'm in first gear right now. Here we go. And so I would say slightly easier to pedal than the simple step through. Not a drastic difference because the gear ratio is the same, but I will say the tires do turn a little bit easier just because of how thin they are and also the riding position, it's a little bit zippier.

Okay, so we're gonna go ahead and take these e-bikes now to a hill and we're gonna demonstrate if I can ride them up a hill without having the assistance on. OK, we're going to start on the zip and fold our 20-inch fat tire. We're going to go up this hill right here. You'll see as we round the corner what it looks like. A lot of I've ridden this hill before in videos. A lot of people like to say it's not a real hill, but it's a pretty challenging hill. You know, are there more challenging hills? Sure, of course, there are, but it's pretty long. It's got a decent grade to it. And you know, with the power on, we can zip it up.

The other thing I'll say is I'm a bigger guy. I'm 220 pounds, but I do cycle quite a bit. I'm on the Peloton five, six days a week. So I feel fairly confident in my leg strength where I can, you know, I can get a bike up a hill. So we'll see what I can do with zero assist up this hill right here. And you can see my screen right here. It's off, no power on. I've got it in first gear. So let's give it a rip.

All right, so straight away, definitely challenging. Not going to lie. I'll see how long I can go without getting out of the pedals. But it is not easy. Got our camera person there. Pedal assist. Oh, God, I'm going to stand up. Okay. All right, let's see. A little bit challenging to stand up on this one. I just realized I have to do this three times. Oh boy. Oh boy. Keep trucking. Okay. Yeah, first gear. It's not easy on this bike. Oh gosh. Okay. All right. Yeah. See, with that big chain ring, it feels like I want more. Okay. I'm putting the pedal assist on. with that big chain ring, it feels like there should be a lower gear, or it should be easier to pedal, but it's not. Because like I said, it's geared for the top-end speed. Oh, I'm winded. Okay. Oh. All right, now let's go back down and I'll give it a shot with the thinner tires. Okay, so definitely a challenge on the 20-inch zip and fold with the three-inch wide tires.

I had to work pretty hard there, not gonna lie. And I was excited to get that pedal-assist turned on. So we're gonna move to a simple step through with the 26-inch by 2.125. So we're knocking about an inch off the width. I think it's going to help significantly. Also, the first gear on this is going to be easier to pedal. We got a little smaller chainring on the front here, so let's go ahead and give this a rip. Oh yeah, I can tell you already, just much easier on this initial incline. Now, not easy by any means, but easier. Oh, my legs are burning from the last ride. All right, here we go. All right, might have to stand up here any second.

Let's see. So much easier though. Oh, can I do it? I'm gonna stand a little bit. Okay. Way easier, but still hard. Okay. All right, did it. Let's get a little juice here. Still winded, but much much easier to back down for the third and final bike it's quite the workout okay all right we got our third and final bike here the ride in the park with our 700 by 38c so 700 centimeters by 38 centimeters, which is the diameter. So I'm going to go and stretch my quads here a little bit in preparation. Okay. We are in first. Hoping this is significantly thinner.

So shaving off probably another half inch on the tire. All right. Here we go. All right, all right, it feels okay. I mean, I'm so tired, but it feels like way less resistance. I feel like I'm covering this first half of the hill much quicker. Oh, I'm getting gassed. I'm tired. Way lighter, and way easier though. I gotta stand. Couldn't do it. Now obviously. All right, easier. I'm just tired, but much easier in the first half of the hill. We'll head back to the office and recap. All right, well, I just took on that hill without the power on, on these three different e-bikes, the 20-inch, by three inches, 26-inch by 22.125 inch, and the 30 HC by 700. I'm tired. And I will say, though, and I'm not just saying this, I thought or felt it got progressively easier with the thinner tire. And I was just gassed out by the time I took the ride in the park here. But that first stretch of incline, it just felt so, so much easier. Without a doubt, the fatter tire is more challenging. And you feel that burn and that drag, especially going up a hill. Now, like I said, flat ground and slower speeds, you're not going to feel it as much. If you start to try to go faster without the pedal assist going in this direction, you'll feel it a little bit more. So, you know, just think about your riding, how much you're going to use the power without pedal assist and what's conducive to, you know, your lifestyle, and your bike rides.

Challenges of Riding a Throttle E Bike Without Electric Mode

Riding a throttle E Bike without electric mode presents several challenges that can impact your riding experience. While these bikes are designed to offer convenience and ease, using them manually reveals their inherent difficulties.

1. More Pedaling Needed. Without the electric help, you will have to pedal harder. This makes going uphill and riding long distances much more tiring. This is true especially since you are not used to biking a lot.
2. Slower and Less Efficient. Normally, the electric mode helps you to ride the bike at a steady speed with less effort. Without it, you will need to pedal more often and for longer to keep up with a good speed.
3. Limited Speed and Efficiency. It’s tougher to go fast or keep a steady speed, especially in rough spaces. As a result, it can make the ride less smooth.
4. Getting Tired Quickly. Riding the bike manually for a long time can make you tired faster. This is especially hard on longer trips or difficult areas. Hence, it can make the ride less comfortable.
5. More Wear and Tear. Without electric mode, the bike’s parts work harder and can wear out faster. This might mean you will need more maintenance and repairs of your electric bike over time.

Riding a throttle E Bike without electric mode can increase the physical demands and maintenance requirements. As a result, it can impact the performance as well as the comfort of the rider.

Benefits of Riding an Ebike in Pedal Assist Mode

Riding an electric bike in pedal assist mode is greatly because it makes biking easier and even helps the environment. This mode further adds support to your biking experience for a better ride.

1. Helps In Losing Weight. The pedal-assist mode in the electric bikes will make your workout harder, helping you burn more calories and lose weight. As a result, it will allow you to burn even more calories.
2. Strengthens Your Legs. Pedaling using this mode at regular intervals will strengthen your leg muscles. Not only this, it will also improve your endurance and make your legs stronger.
3. Lowers the Cholesterol. Biking often in pedal assist mode is good for your heart as well. The core reason is that it can help lower bad cholesterol and raise good cholesterol. Hence, it is good for your heart health.
4. Improves Brain Power. Riding an e-bike at regular intervals also improves brain function and mental health. Not only this, but it also increases blood flow, reduces stress, and makes feel clearer and more focused.
5. Reduces Air Pollution. Riding an e-bike in pedal assist mode reduces air pollution by lowering reliance on fossil fuel vehicles. The reason is that the electric mode helps pedaling, decreasing vehicle emissions and promoting cleaner, more sustainable transportation.

Choosing pedal assist mode on an electric bike makes your ride more enjoyable and is better for the planet. Thus, it’s a smart move for your physical health, mental health, as well as for the environment.

How to Pedal an EBike Without the Electric Motor On?

Pedaling an ebike without is easier with the motor’s electrical help. By turning off the electric bike motor, you can ride it like any other regular bike. Here is how you can do it:

1. The majority of ebikes have a power button on the display. You must turn off the motor by pressing that button. If your bike has a pedal assist, set it to the west level, and completely turn it off.
2. When the motor is off, you can pedal it using your legs. You should adjust the gears based on the terrain: use low gears for uphill and high gears for flat grounds and downhill. 
3. On flat ground, you may feel pedaling like a regular bike but also be a bit heavier. When climbing on the hills, pedaling will become harder for you if not using the help of an electric bike motor.

Pedaling without the motor will turn your ebike into a regular pedal bike. Hence, you must turn off the motor and adjust the gears.

Different Ebike Motor Size In Our Electric Bikes

Explore the different motor sizes in our electric bikes. Whether you are riding on flat roads or hilly areas, we have the right motor to make your ride smooth and enjoyable.

1. 250 Watts Motor – This electric bike motor size is great for city commuters and recreational rides. It further helps the rider to cover longer distances (30 to 50 miles) while using minimal power.
2. 500 Watts Motor – It’s a stronger motor that works better on hills or for heavier riders. You can expect to ride between 30 – 50 miles of distance, depending on the type of terrain and battery capabilities.
3. 750 Watts Motor – This 750W motor is perfect for riding through rough areas, such as off-roading or steep hills. But the distance may get shorter (Mostly Between 20 To 40 Miles).

Find the best motor size for your electric bike and enjoy a comfortable ride. Our bikes will give you the right power, performance, and comfort for every journey.

Top 2 Ebikes You Can Pedal Without Electric Motor

Are you looking for electric bikes that you can pedal without using the motor? Here are 2 ebikes that will let you pedal without electrical help.

All-Terrain Zip N' Fold 750W

1. With 20-inch * 3-inch tires, this bike can handle various types of geographical areas, such as sand, dirt, and snow. Moreover, you will also feel steady while riding it.
2. Back and front disc brakes further give reliable stopping power and control, ensuring you are safe on any type of terrain.
3. The responsive suspension forms in this bike absorb shocks and bumps. Its 17-inch aluminum frame is strong as well as lightweight.

Simple Step-Thru 500W

1. We have designed this hybrid ebike with a low step-thru height to make it safer and easier to get on and off the bike.
2. This bike has both rear and front disc brakes that riders can use for quick as well as safe stopping.
3. The pedals are further positioned about 4 inches forward to keep the seat low for easy riding.

These 2 ebikes offer great flexibility and allow the rider to switch between electrical power and regular pedaling.