A 10,000-Mile Cyclist Meets His First E-Bike
I spend a lot of my days helping people figure out which bike fits their body and the way they ride. Some of my favorite conversations are with lifelong cyclists, the folks who have put serious miles on road bikes and mountain bikes and who look at an e-bike with equal parts curiosity and suspicion. So when our team at the sixthreezero store in San Clemente had the chance to take one of those riders out for his very first e-bike ride, I wanted to walk you through how it went, start to finish.
The rider is Jamie. He's 62, and he calls himself an avid cyclist. He's earned the title. By his own estimate he has somewhere around 10,000 miles on road bikes and mountain bikes. Jamie doesn't need anyone to convince him that riding is worth doing. He already knows. What he wanted to find out was simpler and more personal: would an electric bike feel like a real bike to him, or like something else entirely?
Diane from our team hosted the ride. She and Jamie had been talking about e-bikes for a while. He'd been considering one, she'd been test riding them for some time, and they both agreed on one thing going in. E-bikes are different from what most people imagine. This was the day he finally got to throw a leg over one and find out how.
Why experienced riders hold off
In my experience, the hesitation from experienced cyclists usually isn't about the technology. It's about identity. If you've spent years building the fitness to grind up hills under your own power, it's natural to wonder whether an e-bike is a shortcut, or whether it will dull the feel of riding. I get it. A lot of the riders I talk to worry the bike will feel vague or disconnected, like they're a passenger instead of a cyclist.
That's exactly why Jamie's ride is so useful. He's the skeptical audience. He has a baseline. He knows what his mountain bike feels like on a climb, what his road bike does to his back after a long day, and where the strain shows up in his body. When someone with that much saddle time says a bike feels right, it carries weight.
Two things that made this ride personal
Two details about Jamie shaped the whole test. The first is where he lives. His neighborhood is hilly. He told us about a climb near home that runs about a mile and a half, and it's steep. That's the kind of hill that defines your riding. You either plan your routes around it or you suffer through it every time.
The second is his back. Diane knew going in that Jamie had been struggling a bit with lower back pain. I hear this constantly from riders in their fifties, sixties, and beyond. Years spent folded over a road bike take a toll, and even on a mountain bike you spend a lot of time leaning into the bars. One of the questions Diane most wanted answered was whether a more upright position would change how his body felt on the bike.
Steep climbs and a sensitive lower back are precisely the situations where an electric bike can change things for a rider. Not because it takes the effort away entirely, but because it lets you decide how much effort to put in, moment by moment. Hold on to that idea. It comes up again and again in Jamie's feedback.
Who this story is for
If you're a longtime cyclist wondering whether an e-bike is cheating, this is for you. If you're past 60 and noticing that the hills near home are getting harder, or that your knees and back complain after a ride, this is for you too. And if you're shopping for someone else, maybe a spouse, a parent, or a friend who used to ride every weekend and doesn't anymore, Jamie's reaction will give you a good sense of what that first ride can feel like.
We carry a full range of electric bikes designed with older riders in mind, and I'll talk about how to narrow down your options near the end. First, though, let's get into the ride itself, because the details are where the story really is.
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Five levels of pedal assist
The bike Jamie rode has five levels of pedal assist, with one button to step the assist up and another to step it down. Pedal assist works alongside your pedaling. You turn the cranks, and the motor adds support. The higher the level, the more help you get. At the low end it feels close to riding a regular bike. At the high end, a climb that would normally have you standing on the pedals becomes something you can stay seated for.
What makes pedal assist so useful isn't only the power. It's the range. Five levels gives you room to match the bike to the terrain and to how you feel that day. As you'll see, Jamie moved up and down through the levels constantly: more on the climbs, less on the flats, almost none on the descents. That's how most experienced riders end up using it. It becomes another kind of shifting.
The thumb throttle
The bike also has a thumb throttle. Unlike pedal assist, the throttle moves the bike without any pedaling at all. You press it with your thumb and the motor engages. Jamie wanted to try it right away, and he had a specific reason in mind: starting on a hill.
Anyone who has ridden a lot knows the problem. Getting a bike moving from a dead stop on an incline is awkward. You have to push hard on that first pedal stroke, hold your balance at almost no speed, and get your feet sorted while gravity is working against you. On a road bike it's tough. On a mountain bike it's tough. A throttle solves that in the simplest possible way. It gets you rolling so your legs can take over.
Gears that work just like a regular bike
The bike has a standard set of gears, and when Diane went over the controls it was sitting in seventh gear. This is worth spelling out for traditional cyclists, because the gears and the motor are separate tools. The gears change how hard each pedal stroke feels. The pedal assist changes how much the motor contributes. Using the two together is where an e-bike gets really versatile, and with his background, Jamie picked that up almost instantly.
Cruiser-style handlebars and suspension
Diane mentioned that the bike reminded her a little of a cruiser because of the shape of the handlebars. They sit higher and sweep back toward the rider, which puts you in a more upright position. For Jamie's back, that was a big deal, and it's the same thinking behind our comfort electric bikes.
The bike also has suspension, which Diane compared to Jamie's mountain bike. The idea is straightforward. When you hit a big bump, the suspension soaks up part of the hit so your upper body doesn't take the brunt of the impact. For someone with back trouble, that's not a luxury. Every jolt that doesn't travel up through your arms and spine is one less thing your body has to recover from later.
The first start, and a safety feature in action
Jamie's first throttle start was uphill, straight into an immediate left turn. That's not the easiest way to begin on any bike. He got moving, drifted a little, and joked that he just needed to keep it going straight. Diane pointed out that the sharp left off the line was making it harder than it needed to be.
On another attempt the throttle didn't seem to respond at all. Jamie figured out why within seconds. He had the brake on. On this bike, the motor won't push you forward while the brake is engaged. Diane called it a great feature, and Jamie agreed. It's a safety feature, and a smart one.
I want to underline this, because it's the kind of detail that matters more than most spec sheets suggest. If you're new to a throttle, it's easy to imagine bumping it by accident while you're stopped at a corner or slowing down. A bike that won't drive forward against the brakes takes that worry off the table. The brakes and the motor aren't fighting each other. When you're stopping, you're stopping.
Once he let off the brake, Jamie was away. His first words as the bike pulled him up the hill were about as honest a review as you'll get: \"Oh, wow. Look at that.\"
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Early on, Jamie was in pedal assist two, hardly pedaling, and said it felt great. Diane asked whether it felt like his mountain bike. His answer was that it felt quite a bit like it, with one difference he noticed right away. The handlebars were higher, and that was a little nicer on his back.
Then the road tilted up.
\"Imagine doing this in manual mode\"
Diane asked Jamie to picture working his way up that same hill on a regular bike with no assist. Anyone who has climbed a steep grade on a traditional bike knows the scene. You're out of the saddle, rocking side to side, breathing hard, and the top of the hill doesn't seem to get any closer.
Jamie's reaction on the e-bike was short and repeated: easy. It was easy to pedal. Diane asked if it was awesome, and he said it was great. Keep in mind this is the same rider who told us his home climb runs about a mile and a half and is probably as steep as the one he was on.
He was in pedal assist three on that climb. Not five. Three. That detail matters, because it means he was still pedaling and still doing real work, just without the strain. That's the sweet spot a lot of riders are looking for. You keep the movement and the exercise, and you skip the part that punishes your joints.
Checking in on his back and knees
Then Diane asked the question that really mattered. Was he feeling any stress on his lower back or his knees? Jamie's answer: none whatsoever. And then, with a grin you could hear, he said he could do this for 50 miles easy.
That's first-ride excitement talking, and I wouldn't treat it as a range estimate. But the point underneath it is real. When the bike carries enough of the load on climbs, the parts of your body that usually cut your ride short stop being the limit. For Jamie, that's his back and his knees. For other riders it might be their lungs, their hips, or plain stamina. An e-bike raises that ceiling.
Diane also asked how his arms felt with the higher handlebars. He liked them. His upper body felt relaxed. And once again he came back to his knees without being asked. They didn't hurt at all.
Using pedal assist like a gear
As the road leveled out, Jamie did something that told me he was already comfortable. He dropped his pedal assist down. On nearly flat ground he didn't need as much help, so he took less. When the road started rising again, he pedaled a bit more on his own and said he felt good doing it. And when Diane snuck ahead of him, he bumped up to the next level of assist to go a little faster and close the gap.
This is the part I wish more first-time riders understood. Pedal assist isn't a switch you flip on and forget. You can change it as often as you like. Jamie went down when the terrain eased, up when he wanted speed, and he never had to think hard about it. Within a few minutes he was managing it the way he'd manage the gears on his mountain bike. Before long he'd pulled ahead and lost sight of Diane behind him, which he seemed to enjoy.
\"I'd be huffing and puffing by now\"
On a gentle uphill stretch, Jamie made the comparison that sums up the whole climb. He said he was hardly feeling it, and that on his mountain bike or road bike he'd be huffing and puffing by that point. A little later, on another incline, he put it even more bluntly: without pedal assist and a throttle, he'd seriously be sucking air trying to get up it.
Diane added something I think is especially relevant for riders over 60. With the assist, you don't have to stand up and put all that strain on your quads and your back. And you don't have to do it while leaning over the bars at the same time. Jamie agreed immediately. That combination of standing, pushing, and hunching is exactly what wears your body down on steep climbs, and it's exactly what the e-bike let him leave behind.
If hills are what's been holding you back, the place to start is a bike that actually fits you. Our bike fitting page is a good first step for matching a frame and setup to your body and the kind of riding you do.
","id":"ede6f20a-2e37-4460-94ee-f89bbe95a33e"},{"layoutId":"full-width-image-with-out-bleed","variants":{},"image":{"assetId":"2MKuOac2bw5WAW3pP7GtWX","options":{"backgroundSize":"cover"},"mobileAssetId":"","mobileOptions":{"backgroundSize":"cover"}},"id":"0b7faf20-2c67-44d5-8d01-bb80f19e8a34"},{"layoutId":"paragraph-section","variants":{},"heading":"Comfort, Posture, and Riding Strong After 60","body":"Jamie's climbing feedback was impressive. As a fit specialist, though, the comfort feedback is the part I keep coming back to. Power gets a rider up a hill once. Comfort is what keeps them riding for years.
Upright versus leaned over
Partway through the ride, Diane asked Jamie whether he could imagine going back to the road bike or the mountain bike after this, back to being leaned over. She spelled out what that posture does over time: strain on the neck, the shoulders, and the back. And for a lot of riders, that one little spot in the middle of the knee that starts to ache on longer rides. Jamie's answer was one word. Exactly.
Here's why posture matters so much. On a road bike you're folded forward, with a good share of your weight on your hands and your neck tilted up so you can see the road. Your lower back holds that bend for the entire ride. On a mountain bike it's less extreme, but you're still reaching forward and bracing through your arms. Over a few miles, that's fine. Over decades, it adds up.
A more upright position changes where the load goes. More of your weight settles onto the saddle, your hands rest on the grips instead of holding you up, and your spine sits closer to neutral. You can look around without cranking your neck back. That's the posture Jamie felt the moment he got on, and it's why he kept mentioning that the higher handlebars were nicer on his back.
He noticed the seat, too. At the end of the ride he said it was a little more comfortable than his mountain bike's. Small things like that don't show up as headline features, but they decide whether you want to get back on tomorrow.
The freedom to adjust mid-ride
Near the end, Diane made a point that I think is the most underrated benefit of an e-bike. You can make a split-second decision. If your back starts to hurt, or your knee starts talking to you, you just increase the pedal assist. Jamie added the other half: and if you get into trouble, there's always the throttle.
On a traditional bike, your ride is set the moment you leave the driveway. If you pick a route with a big climb and your knee flares up halfway, you still have to get home on your own legs. That reality makes a lot of riders play it safe. They choose shorter loops, avoid the hills, or skip the ride entirely on days they aren't feeling a hundred percent.
An e-bike changes that calculation. Your effort becomes adjustable at any point, so the question stops being \"Can I handle this route?\" and becomes \"How much do I want to work today?\" For someone managing back pain or sore knees, that's the difference between riding and not riding.
Diane's take on riding hills past 60
While she rode behind Jamie, Diane shared her own perspective. She lives in a hilly area too, and she said plainly that once you get past 60, those hills get to be too much. She knew about Jamie's back and called the ride a real treat for him. Watching him pull away up the road, her verdict was that he was in heaven.
I want to be careful with how that lands. Nobody is saying riders over 60 can't ride. Plenty do, and plenty ride strong. What Diane is describing is something I hear all the time: the routes you loved slowly get harder, and eventually you stop riding the ones with the big climbs. An e-bike gives those routes back.
Fatter tires and room to explore
Diane pointed out the bike's fatter tires and how many different adventures they open up in a neighborhood like Jamie's. You could take it on trails if you wanted to, and he agreed right away. For a mountain biker, that matters. A bike that only works on smooth pavement would feel limiting to someone with his history. If that kind of versatility appeals to you, take a look at our fat tire electric bikes.
At the same time, Diane said that on flat ground the bike reminded her of riding a beach cruiser at the beach, and Jamie later said it felt very much like a regular mountain bike or a beach cruiser. That pairing of trail-ready tires with a relaxed, cruiser-like feel on the flats is a big part of why riders like our electric beach cruisers. And if getting on and off the bike is a concern, an electric step-thru bike lowers the frame so you don't have to swing your leg high over the back.
One more moment stuck with me. At the top of the climb, Diane remarked on how pretty it was up there, and Jamie agreed it was beautiful. When you aren't gasping for breath, you actually look around. That's a small thing to put in a review, but anyone who has spent a climb staring at their front wheel knows it isn't small at all.
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Coasting with the assist turned down
Heading back, Diane asked Jamie to describe what he was doing as he switched pedal assist levels. He explained that because they were going downhill, he was dropping to pedal assist zero or one. He didn't have the throttle on, and he could coast just like he would on a normal bike. His summary was simple. This is nice.
A moment later he added that he felt like he was on a regular mountain bike. For a skeptic, that's the key result. The motor isn't something forced on you. When you don't need it, you turn it down and the bike rolls and handles the way a bike should. Jamie didn't feel like he was fighting the electronics or giving up the experience he knows. He was just riding.
How Diane managed her own descent
Diane narrated her own setup on the way down, and it's a nice example of how riders combine the two systems. She had clicked up to sixth gear and was in pedal assist four, then stepped down to pedal assist three as the road started to descend.
Notice what's happening there. She's using the gears to set how hard each pedal stroke feels and the assist to set how much the motor adds, and she's adjusting both as the terrain changes. That's the same instinct you build on a traditional bike with gears. The e-bike just gives you one more dial to work with. After a ride or two, most people stop thinking about it and simply do it.
Mechanical brakes that felt right
Jamie made a point of mentioning the brakes. He noted that this bike uses manual, or mechanical, brakes rather than hydraulic brakes, but he said they felt really nice. Diane agreed. They really do.
That's worth highlighting, because a lot of experienced riders assume a bike has to have hydraulic brakes to feel good. Jamie has spent years on road bikes and mountain bikes, and he came away happy with the stopping feel on a mechanical setup. Combine that with the safety feature he discovered at the start of the ride, where the motor won't push you forward while you're on the brakes, and you get a bike that slows down predictably and doesn't surprise you.
Brakes are one of those areas where your own hands should have the final say. When you test ride, pay attention to how the levers feel, how much pull it takes to slow down, and whether you feel in control on the steepest part of your route. Jamie's opinion is a good sign. Yours is the one that counts.
Staying aware on the road
A couple of times on the way back, a car came up behind the group and they called it out to each other. It's an ordinary moment, but it's a good reminder. An e-bike doesn't change the basics of riding on the road. You still keep your head up, communicate with the people you're riding with, and give traffic room. Because climbing takes less out of you, it's honestly easier to stay alert, since you aren't buried in effort with your head down.
Why \"familiar\" is a feature
Earlier in the ride, when Diane asked if Jamie was feeling comfortable, he said yes, and added that it reminded him of his mountain bike, so that helped. I think that line is one of the most important in the whole ride.
For experienced riders, familiarity is what builds confidence. If an e-bike felt completely foreign, Jamie would have spent the ride relearning everything instead of enjoying it. Instead, the handling, the gears, the coasting, and the braking all felt like something he already knew. The new parts, the pedal assist and the throttle, layered on top without getting in the way. That's what made it possible for a first-time e-bike rider to feel at home within minutes.
","id":"83bc4dd1-70db-459e-9cd8-31201cb23b2f"},{"layoutId":"full-width-image-with-out-bleed","variants":{},"image":{"assetId":"4Q9hfai4H9PiDJg36aCw8h","options":{"backgroundSize":"cover"},"mobileAssetId":"","mobileOptions":{"backgroundSize":"cover"}},"id":"8380e469-4c0b-4ec0-afa3-99b705fc8721"},{"layoutId":"paragraph-section","variants":{},"heading":"Jamie's Verdict and How to Plan Your Own Test Ride","body":"When they wrapped up, Diane asked Jamie the big question. He'd wanted to ride an e-bike for a long time. So what did he think?
His answer covered a lot of ground. He said it was really great and that it felt very much like his mountain bike. The seat was a little more comfortable. Being able to hit the throttle to get going uphill was super nice, because starting out on a hill is tough on both a mountain bike and a road bike. He found the throttle handy for climbing in general. He called the pedal assist great, and pointed to one stretch where he was going up a decent incline in pedal assist two or three, barely pedaling, and still moving along nicely. He finished with the basics: a nice, stable bike with great tires, and he loved that.
Diane asked whether it was easier or harder than he expected. He said it was easier in some ways. It's very similar to his mountain bike, but all the little things help him out. The throttle and the pedal assist mean he doesn't have to strain his knees, strain his back, or strain himself when he's riding. Diane summed it up for him: living in a hilly area, an e-bike opens up a whole new world.
What I take away from Jamie's ride
First, an e-bike doesn't have to feel like a different sport. Jamie's background is about as traditional as it gets, and the comparison he kept reaching for was his own mountain bike. The motor added options without taking away the feel.
Second, the real benefit is control over your effort. He climbed a hill like the one at home in pedal assist three and felt no stress in his back or knees. He turned the assist down on the flats and nearly off on the descents. He used the throttle exactly where it helps most, getting started on a hill. None of that is about doing less. It's about choosing where your energy goes.
Third, posture matters as much as power. The higher handlebars, the upright position, the suspension, and the more comfortable seat all showed up in his feedback before anyone asked. For riders dealing with back pain, those details decide whether riding is something you look forward to or something you put off.
Planning your own test ride
Diane closed with an invitation I'd echo. Come out to our store, test ride a couple of different options, and think about how you'd actually use each one in your daily life. That might be an e-bike like Jamie's, one of our electric tricycles, or a four-wheel e-bike. You can find details on visiting our store before you head over.
If you do come in, borrow a few pages from Jamie's playbook. Ride a hill that looks like the hardest one near your home. Try a throttle start on an incline. Work your way through every pedal assist level instead of parking in one, and try a descent with the assist turned down so you know what the bike feels like on its own. Check in with your body the way Diane checked in with Jamie: how do your back, knees, arms, and neck feel? And spend a little time on the brakes.
Come with your own list of pain points, too. If it's your lower back, pay attention to how upright you're sitting. If it's your knees, notice how much you're pushing on the climbs at each assist level. If you're shopping the same way Jamie was, our men's electric bicycles are a good place to start comparing frames and features.
Not near San Clemente? Our test ride program is worth reading through so you know how trying a bike at home works before you commit.
Jamie came into this ride with 10,000 miles behind him and a healthy dose of curiosity. He left talking about the hill near his house like it was something to look forward to instead of something to survive. That's what a good e-bike should do. It shouldn't replace the rider you are. It should give you more of the riding you love.
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