Do Electric Bikes Have Gears? | E-Bike Questions

Hey guys, Dustin here, CEO of sixthreezero. Today, we're going to answer the question, do electric bikes have gears? Stick with us.

All right. So today we're going to answer the question, do electric bikes have gears? But before we jump in, don't forget, hit that subscribe button below, stay in the know about all the videos we're putting out. And also, the weekly contests we do for giveaways of bikes, e-bikes, and accessories. So hit subscribe and stay in touch with us.

All right. So let's answer the question, do electric bikes have gears? Now, this is an interesting question because there are two ways to look at it. One is to look at it like, does the motor that the electric bikes come with have gears? Or also, does the bicycle itself have gears?

Now I'll answer it. Typically speaking, electric bikes, the motors don't typically have gears in the sense that you would shift the gears. The motor just runs itself. Doesn't require any shifting. There are no gears or anything you would engage in. It's all automatic. Runs itself. Now, the bicycle portion of electric bikes can but don't have to have gears. There are electric bikes out there that are single speeds, meaning you wouldn't have the ability to shift into a different gear, whether it be for hills or whatever else. So electric bikes, the bike portion of electric bikes can be available in really any speed configuration. A one-speed, three-speed, seven-speed, or a 21 speed.

The way that you would shift an electric bike with gears on the bicycle portion is just like a normal bicycle. The one thing you don't want to do is you don't want to shift the gears on an electric bike if you're either not riding it like a normal bike or in pedal assist. If you're doing full throttle mode, you would not want to shift the bicycle portion of the bike unless you're pedaling. Now, that could be different for a three-speed. Three speeds can be shifted if you're not pedaling. But seven speeds, 21 speeds, or really, any gear configuration above seven speeds cannot be shifted if you're not pedaling. And I should say, actually, it's more about if it's internal or external derailleur. The internal derailleurs like three speeds and there are five-speed or seven-speed options out there, you don't have to be pedaling to shift those. On the external derailleur, you do have to be pedaling.

Now, the benefit to having an electric bicycle that has gears is if you so choose to ride it as a normal bike, it's going to give you the ability to ride up hills, go longer distances, go faster, and have that gear variance that can make it easier or harder to pedal, which will be helpful. And even if you're also doing pedal assist, it's helpful to have the gear variants. Because as you choose to engage the motor for more assistance or less assistance, you can match the gears of the bike to move in good cadence with the motor speed. If you have a single speed bike and you're trying to do pedal assist, you may out pedal or pedal faster than the motor's actually moving you. So being able to shift to a higher gear can be helpful where you can still get torque on those pedals while the motor's assisting you.

So simply to answer this question, electric bikes can have gears, but it's just the bicycle portion. The motor itself will not have shiftable gears that you will need to shift while riding the bike.

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