What is a Step Through EBike? How Low is Frame on a Step Through Electric Bike?

What is a step-through e-bike? Hey everyone, I'm Dustin. I have nearly 20 years of experience in the bike and e-bike industry. Today, we're gonna tell you what a step-through e-bike is. All right, let's say you're in the market for an electric bike and you want something easy to get on and off, and maybe you are Googling or searching for a low step-through electric bike or step-through electric bike, and you're finding some variation of a frame that has a dipping top tube. Now, typically, there's a top tube right here that connects the front and the rear, the seat tube with the headset here. But in the case of step-throughs, they are going to swoop down. A lot of times, they will still connect to the seat tube here. In this case, you can see it swoop down, so you have a full step-through. Now, when I see a lot of e-bike companies talking about step-throughs, the definition and what kind of product is an example of a step-through electric bike can vary. So what technically qualifies as a step-through, I mean, there's no like, okay, this many inches makes it a step-through.

I would say, typically, when a frame dips below a straight bar position, many companies will take the liberty of calling it a step-through frame. Now, in my opinion, what constitutes a true step-through frame is something that you can step through, right? So you can put your foot through, step through almost like a normal footstep or stride that you would take while walking. Now, the truth about that is, is that there are very few e-bikes on the market that would even have a true step-through walk-through frame. Now, these two e-bikes, right here, the Simple step through 26-inch and the Simple step through 20-inch from Sixthreezero have the lowest step-through frame of any electric bike I've seen. But the reason is because if you look here, you'll see that the crank is what connects the pedals to your front chain wheel, and this is what turns your chain when you pedal. You can see that is elevated higher than the step through of the frame.

Typically, the lowest part of a frame is going to be equal to where the crank bolts onto the chain wheel. In this case, because of the design of Sixthreezero, the frame dips lower, which creates this 11-inch step-through height on the 26-inch version, and on the 20-inch version, it is nine inches to step through. So, I will say we also have had riders where even nine inches is too high for them to get their foot through the frame. So now the other issue is that you do have to have clearance for your pedals. Let me go ahead and move. So I keep doing the same thing. So you do have to have clearance for your pedals. So you can see right here in the lowest position, our pedal is only about three or four inches off the ground. So if you're making steep turns, now you couldn't turn this steep, but about here.

So you can see the only way to lower this step is to dip the frame even lower here because you cannot lower this crank any lower to bring the frame down. You could get a shorter crank arm, which could allow you to lower everything even more. But you have to have the appropriate clearance. The other thing, too, is that you still do need the appropriate clearance under the bike as well. So seven and a half inches under the frame here. Now, again, if you're taking on curbs or anything like that, you do need some sort of clearance. But the point of that is, is that there's not much lower your frame can go, if at all, with the nine-inch step over. Now, on the 26-inch with the 11-inch step over, it's a little bit bigger of a bike, a little bit bigger of a tire, which is why the frame is up a little bit higher. So, if you're looking for something with the absolute lowest step-through, the 20-inch would be that with the smaller wheels and the smaller frame.

The 26-inch has an 11-inch step-through, so two inches higher than the 20-inch version. Another thing I want to point out is that there are a lot of 20-inch e-bikes out there where the companies are touting a step-through frame. What I find interesting about that is many of them still have the bar connecting to the down tube here, right? So while it is sloping down, and in their minds they are labeling it a step-through because the frame, as opposed to coming straight across, angles down. It still leaves the step over heights of many of those north of 15 inches. So this is why I say it's a very loose term when you talk about what a step-through e-bike is, what constitutes a step-through e-bike. My suggestion is if you need a step-through frame for your electric bike, and this may sound a little goofy, but see how far you can easily get your foot off the ground to step through the frame, and find what's comfortable for you, and of course, if you need to test ride some e-bikes to try them out and see what works and doesn't work, you can do that as well.

But I guarantee you these two step-throughs from Sixthreezero are going to be two of the lowest out there now. And I just want to point out before we call quits on this video, these are both 500-watt e-bikes with batteries that have a range of up to 50 miles. reach out to us at theteam@sixthreezero.com or call us, 310-982-2877. In addition to that, we 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're going to warrant 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 with thousands of members. Join the group and talk to existing riders before you purchase to make sure you're making the right choice. Then, when you have your posting in the group, make friends. It's a lot of fun. And lastly, download our app to track your rides and compete on our leaderboard. So thank you for sticking around, and don't forget, it's your journey, your experience. Enjoy the ride.