SENIORS! Discover Why Step Over Height on an EBike is the Most Important Part! Electric Bike Info

Why is the step-over height of an e-bike the most important thing for senior riders? Stick around and 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 discuss why the step over height on an e-bike is the number one most important thing for seniors. Before we get into it though, hit subscribe, 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're doing, and of course new product releases. All right. We have done, me personally, hundreds of test rides with senior riders. You can check them out on our YouTube channel. Lots of demos and different 20-mile rides, and 10-mile rides. And I've started to notice the features and elements that are best for senior riders. And I'm talking about over 55, over 60, over 70, the features that make e-bike riding safer, and more comfortable for that demographic of riders.

I believe the step over height is the number one most important thing on an e-bike for a senior rider, and I'll explain why. Now, there are other elements of an e-bike like the motor size and the battery size, and I think all of those are important as well, but I think the step over height is the most important because I've seen the most struggle with senior riders in the mounting and dismounting of their e-bike, and I've seen the most fear and instability in that part of the e-bike experience. When most riders are up and moving, senior riders are happy and fine and the bike is moving and easy. Stopping is when things get finicky and getting on and off is when there's also a lot of fear and a lot of struggle sometimes with lifting of the leg and just the overall mounting and dismounting.

Now this is the simple step-through e-bike from sixthreezero, which has the lowest step-through possible on the market because of the swooping-down frame here. This is a mere 10 inches. You just have to lift your foot to get on and off of this e-bike. Now there are a lot of different e-bikes out there. Some even have 20-inch wheels, but even with those 20-inch wheels, the step-over height could still be all the way up here. Now if you have that, that means you're going to be mounting by bringing your leg over like this. And even for any aged rider, that is not an ideal circumstance to have to whip your leg around the back. Now I know a lot of people on standard bikes, that's the process when you're younger, if you walk up, you whip your leg over. I've seen it firsthand. E-bikes are heavier, there's a motor and a battery.

So when you start whipping your leg, if you catch your clothes or you hit this, your bike falls over. And at that point, I've seen riders go over with the bike. Either they get their momentum going or the bike falls on its own and now you've potentially damaged your e-bike as well. So again, senior riders that I've had experience with, the athleticism and physical ability are all across the map. So I'm not speaking to every senior rider over the age of 55. But what I also see is arthritis is an inevitability for that demographic, whether it's a little bit or a lot and it's just the movement becomes more limited in the hips and the knees. So this movement becomes a little more difficult as we get older. And if you're going to have your e-bike for a long time, over time you may be able to do the leg swing in the beginning, but later on you maybe cannot do it.

So the safest possible way to mount and dismount an e-bike is something where you can step on like this and slide onto your seat. I see a lot of riders that really struggle to get their foot even over right here and it honestly takes more effort to just get their foot over and get onto it. And I think over time that could become disheartening and number one, it's not safe. If your foot gets caught, again, you can kick the frame over. The other benefit is that if you want to get off this bike very quickly, you can hit your brakes and just pull your foot out just like that. So you don't want the mounting and the dismounting of your e-bike to be something that discourages you from getting on your e-bike to take rides. Because again, while you're up and riding, you may be having so much fun, but then you're thinking, gosh, when I have to stop, this is going to be such a pain to get off or I'm scared, or my balance issue.

The other thing too is maybe you do struggle with some balance issues, but maybe once you're up on two wheels and moving, it's no big deal. So if you have a little bit of a balance issue, you want to make sure that this whole process of getting on and off is very simple, very easy, and not scary. And I think that's something I see a lot in all the test rides we do the minute the fear creeps in, people want to walk away from trying e-bikes. So if we can make it as simple as possible for you or for others to get on, to get off, to try to reduce the amount of fear initially, then we can at least get them onto e-bikes and hopefully they can enjoy the riding experience.

Now, a little bit of fear is good because it's going to make sure you move slowly, you're cautious, and you do the right things for your body and what you feel is safest for you. But we don't want to make it so fearful that it becomes paralyzing and that you just decide to give up on it. So I think number one, just know there are options out there, like the simple step through, that have a very low, easy on and off. And this is why I feel like that feature of a low step-through is most important to every senior rider because let's face it, the mounting and the dismounting is how you start and finish every e-bike ride. There's the in-between as well. But you want to make sure that once you enjoy that ride, again, you're not dreading the getting off point once the ride is over.

Now, I want to say one caveat. I also think the motor size is very, very important for senior riders. I think too much power is a mistake. For a senior rider, I wouldn't go more than 500 watts. Again, I've done countless test rides and I see the response and the reaction of senior riders when they feel the initial pedal assist, when they try the throttle for the first time and nine times out of 10, actually no, 99 times out of 100, they are okay with the power settings in three or below. And they all have up to five settings. And this is a 500-watt, and 99 out of 100 think it's more than enough power. So I think it's important for a senior rider to not go too powerful because that's when e-bikes can accelerate too fast, there's lots of other dangerous things that can happen if you lose control by a curb, et cetera, et cetera. So I think the frame and the mounting and the dismounting and the low step through is absolutely number one, followed by number two, the correct motor size.

So if you have any thoughts, questions, or comments on the topic, please put them below or reach out to us, the team at sixthreezero.com or call us at (310) 982-2877 and you can find the simple step through at the lowest step-through height of any e-bike on the market on our website, sixthreezero.com. If you don't know what you're looking for in the e-bike space, take our proprietary body fit quiz, answer a few questions about your body and your life, and we'll recommend the perfect e-bike for you. Also, we have a 30-day test ride on your e-bike policy. If you don't love it in 30 days, send it back, no questions asked, no money out of your pocket. In addition to that, we'll warranty everything for one year. If anything goes wrong in a year, send it back. No questions asked ... Sorry. If anything goes wrong in a year, we'll take care of it, warranty, and send you the parts to make sure you can be up and running.

Lastly, we have a Facebook pedalers group with thousands of sixthreezero members and an app as well. Before you purchase, go and join the group, ask questions, and see how others like their e-bikes. And then once you have your e-bike, post photos in the group, make friends, and track your rides on the app, it's tons of fun. So thanks for sticking around. And don't forget, it's your journey, your experience, enjoy the ride.