Why We Sent Deb Into Town on the Relaxed Body E-Bike
I spend most of my working days fitting riders to bikes. People call or write in, tell me about their height, their knees, their back, how long it's been since they rode, and I try to match them with something they'll actually use. The question I hear more than almost any other is some version of this: \"Okay, but what's it like in real life?\" Not on a spec sheet. Not in a showroom. On an actual street, with a stop at the bottom of a hill and a parking spot outside the post office.
So we tried something simple. Deb, from our team here at sixthreezero, took the Relaxed Body e-bike out to run an errand. She rode from our place into town, stopped at the post office, went inside, came back out, and rode home, climbing part of the way. She talked through the whole thing on camera. I've watched that footage more than once now, and I want to walk you through it, because without really trying she covered nearly everything I'd want a new rider to understand about this bike.
A little context on Deb, because it matters. She isn't a racer, and she isn't someone who knocks out fifty-mile rides on the weekend. She spent a stretch of time waiting for surgery, couldn't exercise much while she waited, and put on weight she's now working to lose. She's rebuilding strength and balance. In other words, she rides for the same reasons a lot of the people I talk to every week ride. That makes her opinion of this bike more useful to me than any lab test could be.
Why an errand is the right test
I'll be honest: I like this format better than a lot of the bike reviews you'll find online. A loop around an empty parking lot tells you almost nothing about whether you'll keep riding a bike six months from now. What decides that is friction. How much effort does it take to get on? How does it handle the hill at the end of your street? Can you park it, walk away, come back, and do it all again in reverse without it feeling like a project? If any one of those steps is a hassle, the bike ends up leaning against the garage wall while you drive to the post office like always.
Deb's route packed a lot into a short trip. There was a downhill right out of the gate, a right turn at the bottom, a bit more downhill, a flat stretch, the stop at the post office, and then a climb on the way home with a left turn thrown in. That's the kind of route most of us actually live on. Not a dedicated bike path, not a beach boardwalk. Just ordinary roads.
The first thing she noticed: her feet reach the ground
Deb hadn't gone far before she had to stop. That's normal. Every real ride involves stopping, whether it's for an intersection, a car backing out of a driveway, or someone crossing with a dog. That very first stop was where she pointed out what she called the big advantage of the Relaxed Body. It sits low to the ground. When she came to a halt, she simply put her feet down. Flat. No reaching, no balancing on tiptoes, no sliding forward off the saddle to find the pavement.
If you've never had trouble with this, it may sound like a minor detail. It isn't. On a traditional bike the seat is set high for pedaling efficiency, so when you stop you either lean the whole bike over to get one foot down or hop forward off the seat. For a confident rider that's second nature. For someone with a sore knee, a recent surgery, a balance concern, or just a few years away from cycling, that's the moment a ride can go wrong. The little wobble at zero miles an hour is where a lot of tip-overs happen.
Deb put it plainly: she felt stable, and she wasn't going to wobble and tip over. That sense of security comes from two design choices working together. The seat sits low, and the pedals are set forward of her rather than directly underneath her. So when she stopped, her legs dropped naturally down in front of her to the road instead of having to stretch straight down past the pedals.
When riders ask me which bikes are the easiest to get on, off, and stopped, this is the conversation I end up having. It's the same reason so many people gravitate toward our step-thru electric bikes: anything that takes the hesitation out of starting and stopping gets ridden more often.
How she got going again
Starting from a stop is the other half of that equation, and Deb has a habit I really like. She uses pedal assist to get the bike rolling, and only then brings her feet up onto the pedals. The motor handles the hardest part of the job, which is getting a stationary bike moving and upright, and she settles in once she already has some momentum.
I recommend a version of this to a lot of new e-bike riders. The first two or three pedal strokes from a dead stop are the least stable part of riding any two-wheeler. You're slow, you're a bit wobbly, and you're pushing against the full weight of the bike. Letting the assist carry you through that phase means less time spent in the awkward zone. It also takes some load off your knees at the moment they'd otherwise be working hardest, which matters if, like Deb, part of the reason you ride is to get your legs strong again.
About a minute into the ride she remarked that it felt nice and smooth, and that she was just getting warmed up. That's the tone of the whole outing. Unhurried. This wasn't a speed test. It was what an ordinary weekday errand looks like when you choose the bike over the car.
","id":"cb77cae1-cdc7-477b-b527-4aba357280fe"},{"layoutId":"bike-listing","variants":{},"bikes":[{"id":"79bfddc9-247e-4bc5-92f1-ca23619b49d8","value":{"entry":{"entryId":"5W6fsDqyEsa7jeWu9ugNFd"}}}],"id":"4ee04d12-bbbd-4800-848e-a98ddb394574"},{"layoutId":"paragraph-section","variants":{},"heading":"The Riding Position: Forward Pedals and an Upright Back","body":"A couple of minutes into the ride, on a quiet stretch, Deb took a moment to explain the feature that makes the Relaxed Body different from most bikes you've ridden. The pedals sit slightly farther forward than they would on a regular bike. It sounds like a small adjustment. In practice it reshapes the entire riding position, and it's the main reason I bring this bike up with certain riders during fittings.
Here's how I usually explain it. On a conventional bike, the pedals sit more or less under your hips. To reach them with a comfortable leg extension, the seat has to go up high. And to reach the handlebars from that high seat, your upper body tips forward. That geometry is very good at turning leg strength into speed, which is why road bikes look the way they do. But it asks a lot of your body in return.
Move the pedals forward and that whole chain of compromises changes. Your legs extend out ahead of you instead of straight down. The seat can sit lower, because you're no longer reaching downward for the pedals. And since you aren't stretching toward a distant handlebar, your back comes upright. Deb described the leg position as more relaxed and more natural, and that lines up with what riders tell me after their first time on a forward-pedal design.
Hips, knees, and ankles
Deb said the position is great ergonomically because it puts less strain on the hips, the knees, and the ankles. I want to be careful here, because I'm a fit specialist, not a doctor, and a bike isn't a medical treatment. But I can tell you what I see when I fit people, and her description matches it.
When you lean forward on a bike, the angle between your torso and your thigh closes up at the top of every pedal stroke. Your hip is folding tightly, over and over, hundreds of times a mile. Sit upright and that angle opens. The motion becomes closer to how your legs move when you walk or climb a low step. With the legs reaching forward instead of plunging straight down, a lot of riders also find they aren't pointing their toes or bracing their ankles to finish each stroke. Everything just moves in a more relaxed arc.
For someone whose joints are already talking to them, that difference can decide whether a ride feels good or feels like something to get through. And for someone who's recovering, it can decide whether they ride again tomorrow.
The back, the neck, and the shoulders
Deb went on to compare the Relaxed Body with a regular bike, where, as she put it, you're leaning forward and causing strain on the hips and the back, especially the lower back, and on the neck too. On camera she even acted out that hunched-over posture to make the point. She called the upright position phenomenal, and she wasn't exaggerating for the camera. You can see how loose her shoulders are in the footage.
The neck is the part people tend to underestimate. When your torso tips forward, you have to tilt your head back to see the road ahead. Hold that for twenty minutes and you feel it at the base of your skull. Sitting upright, your head stays stacked over your shoulders and your eyes look straight ahead without any effort. Nothing has to hold itself up at an awkward angle.
Later in the ride, heading home, she came back to this point on her own. She said the bike was very comfortable on her back, her shoulders, her arms, her wrists. Then she just added \"everything.\" That's the kind of offhand comment I trust more than a polished testimonial. The wrists in particular deserve a mention. On a forward-leaning bike, a good share of your upper-body weight rests on your hands. In an upright position, your weight sits on the saddle, and your hands are mostly there to steer.
A better view of the road
Deb mentioned one more benefit of the upright position: you're sitting higher, so you can see better. It's easy to skip past that, but it matters on a ride like hers, with turns, cars, and a busy post office parking lot. When your head is up rather than tucked down, you take in more of what's happening around you. You can glance over a shoulder before a turn without twisting your whole spine, and drivers get a clearer look at you too.
This is also why the Relaxed Body tends to come up when I'm talking with riders who want comfort first and speed second. If that sounds like you, our full lineup of comfort-focused e-bikes is a good place to see how different designs handle the upright position. And if you're on the shorter side and worried about reach, it's worth browsing our e-bikes for shorter riders too, because a low seat and forward pedals often solve the exact problem that's kept you off bikes in the past.
If you only take one idea away from this section, make it this one. Comfort on a bike isn't mainly about a softer seat or squishier grips. It's about geometry. Where the pedals are, where the seat is, and where the handlebars are relative to both decide how your body feels at the end of a ride. Deb felt good at the end of hers because of where the pedals are.
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Heading downhill: brakes on, assist low
Her route started with a downhill. Right away she was on the brakes, applying them gently because she didn't want to pick up too much speed, and then slowing further because a right turn was coming up at the bottom. After the turn there was a bit more downhill, and she handled it the same way.
That's exactly the right instinct. On any bike, the time to control your speed is before the corner, not in the middle of it. Braking steadily as you go down a hill keeps the speed manageable, so when the turn comes you're already at a pace where you can steer comfortably. New riders often wait too long and then grab a handful of brake mid-turn. Deb did the opposite: early, gentle, controlled.
While going downhill, she kept the pedal assist in its lowest setting, level one. Her reasoning was simple. Gravity was doing the work, and she didn't need help from the motor right then. This is something people get wrong about e-bikes all the time. They think of the assist as an on-off switch and leave it cranked up for the whole ride. It works far better as a dial. Use more when the riding is hard, less when it's easy, and almost none when the road is pointed downhill.
On the flat: shifting gears to get some exercise
When the road leveled out, Deb changed gears. She explained that it gave her the chance to actually exercise rather than just glide along on the bike. This is the heart of how she rides, and it ties directly into her bigger goals, which I'll get to later.
It's worth separating two tools here, because new riders often blur them together. Pedal assist decides how much help the motor gives you. Gears decide how hard each turn of the pedals feels. You can use them independently. Deb kept the assist low on the flat and chose a gear that gave her legs something to push against. The result is a real workout, but one she controls completely. If she gets tired, she can shift to an easier gear or bump up the assist. If she wants more effort, she does the opposite.
Later on the ride home, you can hear her fine-tuning. She shifted into third gear, decided it was still too high, and shifted again until it felt right. That kind of trial and error is completely normal. There's no correct gear for a given road. There's only the gear that feels right for your legs on that day. If you're pushing so hard that your cadence bogs down, go easier. If your legs are spinning without resistance, go harder.
Speed: comfortable, not frantic
At one point on the way back Deb checked her speed. She mentioned she thought bikes like this could go up to about 20 miles an hour, and that she was doing 15. Then she slowed down, because she had a right turn coming up followed by a hill.
I want to point out how sensible that is. Fifteen miles an hour on an upright bike, on a nice day, is a very pleasant pace. It's fast enough to cover ground and feel the breeze, but slow enough that you have time to react to whatever comes next. A bike that can go faster than you need gives you a cushion. It doesn't mean you have to use it.
She also noted something I hear from almost every new e-bike owner: the more she rides, the faster she tends to go, because her confidence grows with time in the saddle. That's a healthy progression. Start slow, learn how the bike handles, and let your speed follow your comfort rather than the other way around.
Climbing: assist up, legs still working
The ride home included a climb. Here Deb used the power assist to help her up the hill while still pedaling herself, which she said gave her the exercise she needed. Partway up, she was in second gear, an easier gear for an uphill push, with the motor helping out.
This is the scenario where e-bikes earn their keep. Hills are what stop a lot of people from riding at all. Either they can't make it up, or they can, but they arrive drenched and miserable. With assist, the hill becomes an effort you choose rather than a wall you face. Deb still worked on that climb. She just didn't have to suffer on it.
She also restarted on that climb after a stop, and she did it the same way she did at the beginning. She let the assist get her rolling, then put her feet on the pedals and started pedaling uphill. Starting on a slope is hard on any bike. Using assist for those first few feet takes most of the difficulty out of it.
Reading the road
A small moment near the end stuck with me. As she rode, Deb mentioned she'd need to move over because she was about to turn left. That's just good road sense: position yourself early, signal your intention, and don't make sudden moves. Being upright and relaxed on the bike makes this easier. When you aren't fighting to stay balanced or craning your neck to see ahead, you've got more attention left over for traffic. A comfortable bike makes you a more aware rider, and that helps everyone on the road around you.
","id":"a0098f6d-1a4b-4528-aabb-66249451e8ae"},{"layoutId":"full-width-image-with-out-bleed","variants":{},"image":{"assetId":"5whnMQaczCbfEY1DQee85Z","options":{"backgroundSize":"cover"},"mobileAssetId":"","mobileOptions":{"backgroundSize":"cover"}},"id":"7a8f8947-706a-4568-894a-c96b37ec1a7e"},{"layoutId":"paragraph-section","variants":{},"heading":"The Post Office Run: Errands Without the Car","body":"About four minutes into the video, Deb pulled up to the post office. Her first reaction was that this is a great way to run errands, especially when you don't want to get in the car and you'd like to get some fresh air. I couldn't agree more. A huge share of the car trips most of us make are short ones: a few miles to the post office, the pharmacy, the coffee shop, or the grocery store for a couple of things. Those are exactly the trips where a bike like this shines.
Parking and stepping off
Watch what happens when she arrives. She rolls to a stop, puts her feet down, and stands there comfortably. Her words were essentially: simple, feet down, and here I am, standing freely. No dismount drama. No hopping off while the bike keeps rolling. No awkward leg swing over a high frame while she's balancing on one foot.
This matters more than people expect. When you're running errands, you're getting on and off the bike several times in one outing. If every one of those transitions feels unsteady, it wears on you, and before long you stop choosing the bike for errands at all. When getting on and off is effortless, a three-stop trip feels as easy as a one-stop trip.
Then she said she'd be right back and went inside. When she came out, she laughed and noted the bike was still there. It's a funny moment, but it's worth a serious note too: if you're leaving your bike outside a shop, even briefly, lock it up. A decent lock is one of the best accessories you can own, and it's part of making the bike a real substitute for the car.
Helmet back on, every time
Errand done, Deb put her helmet back on before riding off and said it plainly: always wear a helmet. I'll back her up on that one without any qualification. Short trips feel low-risk, and that's exactly when people skip the helmet. But most of your riding time on an errand bike happens on regular roads near traffic. If you need one, we carry sixthreezero helmets designed with casual and commuter riders in mind.
Easy step-through, easy mounting
As she got back on, Deb described it as an easy step-through, with easy mounting and, obviously, easy dismounting. That low, open frame is a big part of why this bike suits so many riders. You don't have to lift your leg up and over a bar. You step through the middle of the frame, sit down, and you're on.
At the very end of the ride, back home and a little tired, she came back to this. She said the step-through is easy and low, and you don't have to lift your foot over a high bar. You can hear in the footage that she was ready to be off the bike by then, encouraging herself with a laugh. I actually appreciate that moment, because it's honest. The end of a ride, when your legs are a bit spent, is exactly when a high frame becomes a problem. A low step-through means the last thing you do on a ride is as easy as the first.
Carrying what you need
Once a bike becomes your errand vehicle, sooner or later you'll want to bring something home with you. Before buying anything, check the Relaxed Body's product page to see which accessories fit your specific setup. In general, a bike basket is great for quick grab-and-go items, and bags and panniers keep the load low and balanced, which helps a bike feel steady even with a few pounds of groceries on board. Either option beats riding with a heavy backpack, which pulls your upright posture backward and undoes some of the comfort we talked about earlier.
If most of your rides look like Deb's, short practical trips around town, it's also worth looking through our electric commuter bikes to see which features matter most for everyday transportation.
The part you can't put on a spec sheet
On the way home, Deb said something I keep coming back to. She said it's so much better than getting in a car, and that it gives her a feeling of freedom. A little later she mentioned it was a beautiful day, enjoying the air, not too hot. In fact it was lovely and cool.
That's the real case for a bike like this. Yes, it saves a short drive. Yes, it gets you moving. But the bigger thing is how the trip feels. In a car, the post office run is a chore squeezed between other chores. On a bike, the same trip becomes part of your day that you actually enjoy. You notice the weather. You wave at a neighbor. You arrive a little more awake than when you left.
When the outing ended, Deb said she didn't even break a sweat. She'd climbed a hill, pedaled under her own power on the flat, and still arrived home feeling fresh. That balance, real effort with no misery, is what makes it possible to choose the bike again tomorrow.
","id":"bdd2e94e-c91c-49d2-8fd2-57fe53c14afe"},{"layoutId":"full-width-image-with-out-bleed","variants":{},"image":{"assetId":"3MpV4yma9i8NVvDZ1ZH8bt","options":{"backgroundSize":"cover"},"mobileAssetId":"","mobileOptions":{"backgroundSize":"cover"}},"id":"e4026d94-8340-4485-a895-ebaf66e099d5"},{"layoutId":"paragraph-section","variants":{},"heading":"Riding for Recovery, Weight Loss, and Feeling Young Again","body":"Partway through the ride home, Deb shared something more personal, and I think it's the most important part of the whole video. While she was waiting for her surgery, she wasn't able to exercise much, and she gained a lot of weight. Now she's on a weight loss journey. That's why, she explained, she makes a point of getting real exercise on the bike instead of leaning on the power assist the whole way.
I talk with riders in this exact situation all the time. Someone has been through a surgery, an injury, or just a long, inactive stretch, and they want to move again. But the options feel bad. A gym can be intimidating. Walking may hurt, or feel slow and repetitive. A regular bike feels risky. An e-bike can sit in a useful middle ground: you get real movement and fresh air, and the assist is always there as a safety net when your legs or your lungs need a break.
Building strength back, one side at a time
Deb went further. She said that after a knee or hip replacement, you have to get blood flowing to the muscles to start rebuilding strength. She'd found that she was noticeably weaker on the side she'd been having trouble with. So she's working to build that strength back up and improve her balance.
I want to be very clear here, because this is health territory and I'm not a medical professional. If you're recovering from surgery or managing a joint condition, talk with your surgeon or physical therapist before you start riding, and follow their timeline. What I can say is that Deb's experience is a common one among the riders I speak with, and the features she keeps mentioning are the ones that make a bike usable during that kind of rebuilding phase: a low seat, flat feet at every stop, a step-through frame, an upright position, and assist you can turn down when you want to work harder or up when your body says enough.
She also made an observation I found striking. The fact that she's riding a two-wheeler at all, she said, is pretty good, because she feels stable on it. For someone working on balance after surgery, that's a meaningful statement. Stability on this bike comes from its geometry: the low center of gravity, the low seat, and the ability to put both feet down at any moment.
When a trike might be the better fit
That said, I'll be straight with you, the way I would be on the phone. The Relaxed Body is still a two-wheeled bike, and it still asks you to balance once you're moving. Deb felt stable on it, and plenty of riders do. But if balance is your main concern, or if your doctor has told you to avoid any risk of tipping, a three-wheeled design may be the safer starting point. Our electric tricycles are built for exactly that situation. There's no shame in starting on three wheels. The goal is to ride, and to keep riding.
If you're shopping for an older family member, or for yourself and you're thinking about the years ahead, our collection of electric bikes for seniors brings together the designs that put easy mounting and stable handling first.
\"This makes me feel young again\"
Heading up the hill toward home, Deb said something that I think sums up why we do what we do. She said she didn't quite know why, but riding this bike makes her feel young again. Then she answered her own question: it's because she's mobile again.
That one line says more than any spec ever could. After a long period of being stuck, unable to exercise, waiting on surgery, watching her fitness slip, she's out on a sunny, cool day, riding into town under her own steam, climbing hills, and getting home without breaking a sweat. That's not about speed or wattage. It's about getting a piece of your independence back.
At the end of the ride she called it an incredible ride, and said the Relaxed Body is one of her favorites out of all the bikes in our collection. Deb rides a lot of our bikes, so that isn't a casual compliment.
Is the Relaxed Body right for you?
Based on Deb's ride and what I see in fittings, this bike makes the most sense for riders who want comfort first, who have struggled with stopping and starting on a traditional bike, who deal with stiffness or soreness in the hips, knees, back, neck, or wrists, or who are easing back into regular exercise and want to control exactly how hard they work. It's built for errands, neighborhood rides, and relaxed miles, not for chasing a personal best.
The best way to know for sure is to get properly fitted. You can start with our fitting tool, or reach out and talk it through with me directly. I'm happy to go over your height, your inseam, any joint concerns, and how you plan to ride. If you'd like to compare the Relaxed Body with everything else we make, browse our complete e-bike lineup.
And if you decide to go for it, remember that sixthreezero offers a 30-day test ride. Do what Deb did. Take it to the post office. Ride it up the hill on your street. Stop at a few intersections and see how it feels to put your feet down. You'll learn more in the first week of real errands than you ever could from a product page, and if it makes you feel the way it made Deb feel, mobile and a little younger, you'll know you found the right bike.
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