Buying an Electric Bike | E-Bike Questions

Hey guys, Dustin here, CEO of sixthreezero. Today, we're going to answer the question, what do you need to know before purchasing any e-bike? Stay with us.

All right. So today we're going to answer the question, what do you need to know before purchasing an e-bike? But before we jump in, hit that subscribe button below, stay in touch with us at sixthreezero. Also most importantly, subscribe and stay in the know about our weekly, monthly giveaways. We're doing them for accessories, bikes, and e-bikes, so stay in touch with us. Hit subscribe.

All right, so let's jump in and answer the question. What do you need to know before purchasing an e-bike? It's a great question. I know e-bikes can be overwhelming. Anytime you purchase anything new that you don't know much about, it can be overwhelming. And electric bikes are a fairly new product in the marketplace. So let's see.

Tip number one, or what do you need to know first thing? The first thing you need to know is that electric bikes come in many different sizes, motor sizes, and also many different battery sizes. So I would say the first thing you need to know is really zero in on what you're going to be doing with your bike, and where are you going to ride it? Because you don't want to overspend for what you're going to need. Generally speaking, there are three different motor sizes that I see on electric bikes. Actually, I take that back. There are about four different commonly used motor sizes, 250 watts, 350 watts, 500 watts, and 750 watts. That's generally all the motor sizes you're going to see for bikes that are street legal, or to be ridden among cars, on the bike lanes, things of that. A thousand watt and above are typically going to be reserved for off-roading bikes. In California in particular, you're not allowed to have an e-bike for the road that's above 750 watts. So, that's one thing you need to know.

All right, the second thing you need to know is there are different battery sizes. So think a lot about how far are you going to ride, and also, are you going to want to use full throttle, or are you going to want to use the pedal assist? I think really determining if you think you're going to want to do the throttle without pedaling, if you do, you're going to want to opt for something with a bigger battery. If you think you're going to do more pedal assist, the battery isn't going to be as important because you're going to get more distance out of the bike since you're pedaling and using the motor. But again, it's something you should know or think about so you don't overspend on a battery that is too much for what you need. Because the battery and the motor are going to drive the majority of the cost of an e-bike.

So, one thing I'll say is I'd say most common what I see out there today on e-bikes is around 500 Watts. I see a lot of 750 watts. I don't see as many, 250 watts. I see some 350 watts, but on average is somewhere in the middle of that 500 watts. That's going to give you enough power to do what you want. Go up hills, do things like that. Now, if you think you're going to be towing your kids or going up a lot of hills, I would definitely consider a 750 watt. Or if you're going to be riding a bike made for two, sometimes you can put kids on the back of the back rear rack, 750 watt is a good option for that as well. So my thought is single passenger 500 watt is really good. 750 watt is good, if you want to bring people with you, or you're a heavier rider, the more power is going to be better in those circumstances.

What else you should know before buying an e-bike? The average price range of an e-bike is about $2,000. There's a lot above that. And there's some below that, but the average price is right around $2,000. I can't speak to whether that's a good thing or a bad thing, but just know if you see a bike that's a thousand dollars, it's below the average. If you see a bike that's $5,000, it's above the average. So you really have to think about what you're going to use it for and what you want to get out of buying this e-bike. If you're looking for something high performance, just know if it's more than $2,000, it's probably in the more high-performance range, or if it's less than $1,000, just know it's going to be less than the average performance bike, generally speaking. Now, I can't say that with 100% certainty, but just know the average price of an electric bike is about $2,000.

What you should also know is electric bikes come in three different modes, generally speaking. Not all of them. Most of them come with two, but some come with three. The modes are these, one is standard bicycle mode, meaning you ride it without the motor engaged at all. Two is you do pedal assist, meaning the motor assists you while you pedal, or three, full-throttle where you just push the throttle and you don't have to pedal at all. Those are the three modes generally available with electric bikes. But again, not all of them will come with the full throttle, and also not in every state is full throttle even legal for electric bikes. That's very important to know.

Okay. Two other things I want to just touch on before you buy an e-bike, what do you need to know? How fast do they go? Now all e-bikes can vary in speed. So this depends on how fast do you want to go. In California, if you want a street-legal e-bike, the fastest it can go with pedal assist, by law, is 28, and the fastest it can go with the full-throttle is 20. Now, if you want to go off-road, that's a different story. So you want to think about how fast do you want to go? But you can go probably up to 30, 40 miles an hour with certain electric bikes off-road. So it's just important to know that that option is available to you. But what you should know and think about is how fast do you want to go? And how fast are you comfortable going? And you can even get electric bikes that don't go 20 miles an hour, 28 miles an hour. So if you think you want lesser speed and you want less assistance, but you still want electricity, that's important for you to think about.

The other thing I'll say is how far can they go? Now, this is another thing. Before you purchase, think about how far do you want to go on an e-bike? And do you want to go using your own pedaling or with the throttle? Generally speaking, e-bikes are going to go about 30 to 70 miles with pedal assist, and about 20 to 40 miles with full throttle. Now this varies depending on the motor size and the battery size, the conditions. I've actually made another video about how far do e-bikes go. You can watch that video if you want to know more about the subject, but it's important for you to think about how far do you want to go on the e-bike? Because the e-bike you choose is going to dictate that based on the motor size, the battery size, things of that nature.

So I hope that helps. That's kind of a brief overview of what you need to know before purchasing a e-bike. Check out our other videos on e-bikes. We've answered a lot of questions that I think would be helpful. And if I left anything out today, please comment below. Let me know. I'm happy to answer or email us at the team@sixthreezero.com or call us at (310) 982-2877. And if you're in the market for an e-bike, browse our selection at the top of our website and take our proprietary body fit questionnaire. You'll answer some questions about your lifestyle and your body. And our proprietary algorithm will suggest the perfect bike for your needs. And the bonus, we have a 365-day return policy. If you don't love your bike within 365 days, send it back no questions asked, no money out of your pocket.

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