What is The Best Handlebar for Your EBike? How to Choose the Right Handlebar for Your Electric Bike

What type of handlebar is best for your 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 talk about what type of handlebar is best for your e-bike. All right, I've got three e-bikes here from sixthreezero, all with different handlebars and a little bit different setup. 26-inch, Simple Step-Thru 500 watts, 20-inch Simple Step-Thru 500 watts, Zip and fold 750 watts 20-inch. All three of them also have different handlebars. The Zip and fold have a straight bar handlebar, and the simple step through 20 inches has a mini ape hanger. I'm gonna use my tape measure as my pointer here. And the simple step through 26 inches has more of a cruiser-style handlebar. Now, each of them provides a different type of ride. Let's start over here with the Zip and fold. Now, if you opt for a straight bar handlebar, typically, you're going to have some amount of lean forward to reach the handlebars because the bars are not coming into your body. Unless you've got long arms and you can reach the bars here, you can get to them. Otherwise, you're most likely going to have to lean forward unless it's a very, very compact frame where you're very close to the handlebars. Now, the benefit of a straight bar like this is your hands are right out in front of you like so.

So you have good control, and you're leaning into the handlebars, which again makes you feel kind of like you're in the pocket, and you're controlled here. But the downside again, is you're going to be leaning forward. And, you know, if you're somebody that has back issues or you don't want to have that tension on your lower back during rides, then, you know, a straight bar is probably not the best option for you. As you move along here, you'll see on the simple step through 20 inches, we have a mini ape hanger handlebar. Now, the benefit of a handlebar like this is they're still straight out in front of you, but because you have this little bit of rise to them, they can actually come in and out of your body. So you can see, I don't have to extend forward. They come right here, and I can grip them and my hands are still out in front of me. So, it creates a nice, comfy, upright ride. Now, on something a little faster and zippier, like the Zip and Fold, the straight bar is nice because you have really good control with them and you can really zip around. On the simple step through, again, you have good control, but they're also really comfortable. You can see my back is completely upright. And my body is relaxed. My elbows are bent. There's no tension on my back. And again, if you do have longer arms, you can still fold these out away from your body. With shorter arms, you can fold them in. And this little bit of rise gives you that play to bring them in and out of your body. Okay, now moving on lastly to the cruiser handlebar. These are a little bit wider. So instead of the bars being out in front of your body here, they're off to the side here.

The benefit is they curve into your body, towards your body, so you still can have that upright riding position. Now, this is not the ideal setup for performance, right? Because it's a wider, more relaxed steering setup. But again, elbows are relaxed, back is relaxed, very comfortable, and easy to steer. It's a great cruising recreational setup. You still can go fast, 15, 20 miles an hour on this bike, but you don't have to be, you know, in this pocket. So if you're taking short, sharp, crisp turns, really wanting to zig and zag, maybe not the best setup for you. Something like the Zip and fold or even the simple step-through 20-inch would be a better option. Now, the question we get is, can you change the handlebars on any of your e-bikes? The answer is yes. You can change handlebars on e-bikes. The one thing you have to be mindful of is the cord length because a lot of the cord lengths are cut to match the handlebar, so there's not a ton of excess. You can see on the simple step through here, the 26-inch, we've got a fair amount of excess here for us to play around with the handlebars. But on this 20-inch, I don't think we'd have enough cord length to switch to the cruiser-style handlebar. Taking everything off isn't that big of a deal. I mean, it's a little tedious and time-consuming, but you loosen some bolts and you can slide everything off. To get the grips off, you can either shoot some compressed air in there. If you have a compressor, you shoot air, they literally slide right off. It's fairly easy. And then you can slide everything back on. So, it's not difficult, but a little time-consuming and tedious. A bike mechanic could do it, or a bike shop can do it.

It can be done if you want to switch handlebars between either these e-bikes or any other e-bike brand that is out there. You should be able to change the handlebars. So, if you have any other questions about handlebars on e-bikes, please reach out to us at theteam@sixthreezero.com or call us at 310-982-2877. Don't forget, all three of these e-bikes. In addition to that, we offer a 30-day test ride on your e-bike policy. If you don't love it 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 warranty everything for one year. If anything goes wrong in the first year, we take care of its parts and labor. Lastly, join our community. We have a Facebook group called sixthreezero Pedalers. There are thousands of members there. Join the group before you purchase. And ask questions to ensure you're making the right choice, then when you have yours, post in the group, and make friends. And finally, download our app to track your rides and compete on the leaderboard. It's a lot of fun. So thanks for sticking around and don't forget, it's your journey or experience. Enjoy the ride.