We Rode the E-Bike With an Office Chair Seat: Relaxed Body 20" First Ride Review

An E-Bike With an Office Chair Seat? We Had to Ride It

I've spent nearly 20 years in the bike and e-bike business, and I never expected to write the words "office chair" in a ride review. Then the Relaxed Body 20" rolled in. Instead of a saddle, it has a high-backed, office chair style seat with an extra-cushy pad, mounted on a forward-pedaling frame that keeps you low, upright, and leaning back.

A seat like that makes a big promise. It says you can ride longer, with less strain, and enjoy the ride instead of enduring it. Promises are easy to print on a product page. What I wanted to know was how it feels with a real person on a real loop, with hills, bumps, and a few stop signs thrown in.

So we handed it to Deb, one of our riders here at sixthreezero, and sent her out with a camera rolling. She talked through everything as it happened, which is exactly what I want from a first ride. No script. No rehearsed talking points. Just honest reactions in the moment. This article walks through that ride, what she loved, the one fit quirk she ran into, and what I'd tell you if you were standing next to this bike trying to decide whether it suits your body.

What the Relaxed Body 20" actually is

Before we get to the ride, a quick orientation, because this bike doesn't look like much else on the road. It's a two-wheel electric bike on 20" x 3" tires, built around a 17" aluminum step-through frame with a forward pedaling design. That last detail matters more than anything else on the spec sheet. The pedals sit out in front of your body instead of directly underneath the seat, which lets the seat drop much closer to the ground. When you stop, your feet go down to the pavement without a stretch or a hop.

Power comes from a 48V, 750-watt rear-mounted motor fed by a 48V 14Ah lithium battery that tucks inside the frame. You can pedal with the motor assisting you, or twist the throttle on the grip and let the motor carry you. The handlebars are a mini ape hanger style that rises up and sweeps back toward you, and they can be tilted, raised, and lowered. The bike is rated for riders up to 350 pounds. You'll find it among our unisex electric bikes, because the low frame and adjustable cockpit work for a wide range of body types.

Then there's the seat. It has a high backrest, a wide cushion packed with soft foam, and it slides forward and back so you can set your distance to the pedals. Hold onto that sliding detail. It turned out to be the key to Deb's whole ride.

Rolling out: first impressions

Deb settled in, rolled away from the shop, and the first thing she pointed out was the armrests. On a long ride, she said, you can relax and rest your arms on them. Within the first minute she had shifted into fifth gear with the motor helping, and her verdict on the seat came quickly: very comfortable.

Her second observation is one I'd expect from almost anyone who has spent years on a traditional bike. Her legs felt higher than she would like. Deb prefers a full extension through the pedal stroke, the way you get on a conventional upright bike, and the forward pedals put her knees up a bit more than she was used to. She also noticed the handlebars sat much closer to her body than she expected, which makes sense given how far those bars sweep back.

About a minute and a half into the ride, she figured something out. On this bike, you want to sit all the way at the back of the seat. Once she scooted back, the whole thing clicked. She called it very comfortable again, and she started pedaling up the first hill of the loop without any complaint.

That small discovery is worth slowing down for, and I'll dig into it properly in the fit section. The short version: this isn't a perch you balance on top of. It's a chair you sit back into. A rider who treats it like a saddle and hovers on the front edge will feel cramped, with knees too high and arms bunched up. A rider who slides back and lets the backrest take their weight gets the experience the bike was designed to deliver.

Once Deb found her spot at the back of the seat, the ride turned into something closer to a relaxed cruise than a workout. Her comments got shorter and happier as she went. The chair was definitely comfortable, she said, the kind of comfortable where you could head out on a long ride and not think twice about it.

No strain where riders usually feel it

The comment that stuck with me most came a few minutes in. Deb said she wasn't feeling any strain on her body, and she named the specific places: her wrists, her shoulders, her elbows. Those are exactly the spots that bother so many riders on traditional bikes. When your torso leans forward, your hands and arms end up holding a share of your body weight, and over a long ride that load settles into the joints. On the Relaxed Body 20", your back rests against the seat, so your arms are free to steer instead of propping you up.

Later in the ride she added two more details. The chair supports your lower back, she said, and the positioning of her hips felt great. That lines up with what the high backrest is built to do. Instead of all your weight pressing down through a narrow saddle, it's spread across a wide cushion and a backrest, which takes pressure off the hips and lower back. If you've been shopping comfort electric bikes because a standard saddle leaves you sore, this is about as far as the comfort idea can be taken on two wheels.

Deb kept coming back to how good it felt. At one point she admitted she was tempted to stop pedaling entirely because it felt so good to just sit and roll. Later, cruising along, she laughed that all she needed was a cup of coffee in her hand, then caught herself and said no coffee, she had to concentrate on the road. That's the right instinct, by the way. Comfortable enough to joke about a coffee break is a good sign. Actually riding one-handed with a hot drink is not.

The knee-height question

Here's the honest part of the review. At the end of the ride, Deb summed it up clearly: the bike is very comfortable, but her knee position sat a little higher than she prefers. Her words were that if you're okay with that, the bike would be incredible for you. I appreciate that kind of straight talk, because it's exactly the trade-off you should understand before you buy.

Forward pedaling changes the geometry of your leg stroke. On a conventional bike, your foot travels in a circle almost directly below your hips, and at the bottom of the stroke your leg is close to straight. On a forward-pedaling bike, the crank sits ahead of you, so your legs reach forward more than down. That's what allows the seat to be so low and what makes stopping so easy, but it also means your knees can come up higher at the top of the stroke.

The good news is that this bike gives you a few ways to tune it. In my experience fitting riders, these are the adjustments that make the biggest difference:

• Sit all the way back. This is Deb's discovery, and it's the first thing to try. Sitting back into the chair adds distance between your hips and the pedals, which opens up your knee angle.
• Slide the seat. The seat moves forward and back. If your knees still feel high when you're sitting fully back, slide the seat rearward and test again. Small changes are noticeable, so move it in steps.
• Adjust the handlebars to match. When the seat moves back, the bars may feel far away. The mini ape hangers tilt and move up and down, so bring them to where your arms rest naturally with a slight bend at the elbow.
• Give it a few rides. Forward pedaling uses your legs a little differently, and riders coming off upright bikes often need a ride or two before it feels natural.

If you're a rider who wants a fully extended leg on every stroke and nothing less will do, be honest with yourself about that. You may be happier on a more conventional upright frame. If you'd trade a little extra knee bend for a seat that holds your back and keeps your wrists free, you're the rider this bike was made for.

Getting on, getting off, and stopping

Toward the end of the ride, Deb rolled up, stopped, and put a foot down to show the camera. Easy, she said, just like that, no reaching. That's the forward pedaling design and the low seat working together. Combined with the low step-through frame, mounting and dismounting doesn't require swinging a leg high or tipping the bike to reach the ground. If you've looked at step-through electric bikes because getting on and off a bike has become a worry, this design takes that idea even further.

Then she parked it, flipped the kickstand down, and joked that this was your office chair now. Bring your computer and ride to the office. It got a laugh, but there's something to it. This is a bike you can climb onto and off of all day without effort.

Comfort gets all the attention on the Relaxed Body 20", but a comfortable seat doesn't help much if the bike struggles to get you where you're going. So let's talk about what's moving you down the road.

Motor, assist, and gears

The 750-watt rear-mounted motor gives you two ways to ride. In pedal assist, the motor adds power while you pedal, and you choose how much help you want using the assist levels. A full color display shows your speed, the assist level you're in, your battery meter, and a power meter. With the twist throttle, the motor does the work and you can sit back and cruise without pedaling at all.

Deb spent most of her ride pedaling with assist, and she climbed a hill early in the loop without strain. She also did something I always like to see from a new rider: she used the gears. Partway through, she noted she was in fifth gear and wanted to work her legs a little harder, so she shifted up to a higher gear to pedal harder alongside the assist. That combination is one of the most useful things about a geared e-bike. The motor flattens the hills, and the gears let you decide how much of a workout you want on top of that.

That matters for anyone buying an e-bike partly for exercise. The motor doesn't take your legs out of the equation unless you want it to. Shift into a higher gear and lower the assist, and you're doing real work. Drop the gear, turn the assist up, or use the throttle, and you're cruising. On this bike, you get to pick that mix ride by ride, even minute by minute.

Battery and range

The 48V 14Ah battery is rated for up to 50 miles on a single charge. As with every e-bike, real range depends on rider weight, terrain, and how much you lean on the motor. Heavy throttle use on hilly routes will bring that number down, while steady pedaling with moderate assist on flat ground stretches it out. The battery sits inside the frame for a clean look, and you can charge it on the bike or pop it out and charge it wherever is convenient, which helps if you store the bike in a garage without an outlet nearby. Recommended riding speed is in the 1 to 20 mph range, plenty for errands, paths, and neighborhood loops.

Tires and bumps

Deb was impressed by the tires. She pointed out the thicker wheels and said they cushion you over rocks and rough spots, and right as she said it she rolled over a bump and called it very, very comfortable. The 20" x 3" tires put a lot of air volume between you and the ground, and that extra width adds stability as well as cushioning. The small 20" wheel size also keeps the bike's center of gravity low, which makes it easier to balance at slow speeds.

One clarification so you set the right expectations. Deb mentioned taking it off the road into terrain, and the wide tires do handle rougher patches comfortably. These are slick-tread tires, though, so the bike is happiest on pavement, bike paths, and hard-packed trails rather than loose dirt or mud. If you want more tire for mixed surfaces, take a look at our fat tire electric bikes.

Brakes and lights

Stopping is handled by front and rear mechanical disc brakes, and there's an LED headlight and tail light for visibility. Neither came up in Deb's ride, which honestly is how it should be. Brakes you don't think about are brakes doing their job.

Who the Relaxed Body 20" makes sense for

After watching Deb's ride and looking at how this bike is built, here's who I'd point toward it:

• Riders with wrist, shoulder, elbow, or back discomfort. The backrest and swept-back bars take weight off your arms and support your lower back, which is exactly what Deb felt.
• Anyone who wants an easy, confident stop. The low seat and forward pedals let your feet reach the ground without stretching.
• Riders who want long, relaxed rides. Deb said more than once she could go a long way on it, and the up-to-50-mile battery rating gives you room to do that.
• Larger riders. The 350-pound weight capacity and powerful motor give you plenty of support.
• Older riders who want two wheels with a lower, steadier feel. Many riders browsing electric bikes for seniors are looking for exactly this kind of easy mount and supportive seat.

And here's who might want to look elsewhere. If you insist on full leg extension, the knee height Deb noticed may bother you. If your rides involve loose, technical trails, slick tires aren't the right tool. And if balance on two wheels is a real concern, a three-wheeled design is worth considering, which I'll cover next. If you want to see the full range first, you can browse all of our electric bikes side by side.

The Relaxed Body 20" with the office chair seat is one of several ways to ride in a laid-back, low-strain position. Depending on your body and your priorities, one of these may be a better match, so here's how I think about the options.

Same idea, more traditional seat

The Relaxed Body name also covers forward-pedaling e-bikes with a conventional seat instead of the office chair, including the Relaxed Body 500W Semi Recumbent E-Bike and the Relaxed Body E-Bike 26" 500W Deluxe 2026. You still get the forward pedals and the low seat that make stopping easy, but on larger 26" wheels and with a more familiar seat. If you like the forward-pedaling idea but don't need the full backrest, these are worth comparing.

Want three wheels instead of two?

If balance is the real concern, stepping up to a trike removes the need to hold the bike upright at a stop. The Relaxed Body 750 Watt Electric Tricycle brings the relaxed-position concept to three wheels. The Simple Glide 500W Recumbent E Trike puts you in a recumbent-style seat with a 48V 15Ah battery and a 500-watt front motor. You can compare these and more in our recumbent electric trikes collection, or see every three-wheel model on our electric tricycles page. For a narrower look at seated, laid-back trikes, there's also our recumbent position electric tricycles collection.

Happy with your current bike, unhappy with the seat?

Sometimes the frame is fine and the saddle is the problem. Before replacing a whole bike, it's worth browsing our replacement seats. A wider, better-padded seat won't give you a backrest or forward pedals, but for some riders it solves most of the discomfort.

How to make the right call

The biggest lesson from Deb's ride is that fit makes or breaks a bike like this. The same bike that felt cramped while she was perched on the front of the seat felt wonderful once she sat back. That's why I always recommend getting fitted before you buy. You can start with a personal fitting consultation, where I'll ask about your height, inseam, and any aches that have kept you off a bike, and point you toward the models that suit your body.

If you can, ride before you commit. You're welcome to visit our store to sit on the Relaxed Body 20" and feel the seat for yourself, and our test ride program lets you try a bike on your own routes. Whatever you choose, pair it with a good bike helmet. Comfortable riding and safe riding go together.

Final thoughts

When Deb pulled back in, she said it felt like she could have kept going for a long ride because it was just so comfortable. That's the whole point of this bike. The office chair seat supports your lower back and hips, the swept-back bars keep weight off your wrists, shoulders, and elbows, the wide tires soak up bumps, and the forward pedals let you put a foot down without reaching.

The trade-off is real but simple: your knees ride a little higher than on a traditional bike. Sit all the way back, slide the seat to suit your legs, and adjust the bars to match, and most riders will find a position that works. If that trade sounds worth it, this may be the most comfortable two-wheeler you'll ever sit in. Lean back and enjoy the ride.