Dustin Gyger
April 25, 2022
Hey guys, Dustin here, CEO of Sixthreezero, and today, I'm going to tell you about what level of pedal-assist you should use in your e-bike. Stick around.
So today, I'm going to tell you what level of pedal-assist you should use on your e-bike but before I do, hit the subscribe button below, stay in touch with us here at Sixthreezero and be the first to know about all the new content we're putting out, including for new products, new giveaways, and those giveaways include bikes, e-bikes, and accessories, so hit subscribe.
Okay, so pedal assist is one of the features on most e-bikes. Most e-bikes come with either pedal assist and a full-throttle or just pedal assist. Now what that means is when you pedal, the motor of the electric bike is going to kick in and aid you or assist you and on most pedal-assist bikes, I find that there are five levels, one, two, three, four, five. And as you increase the number, the output of the motor will increase. So you'll be able to go faster as you move up into level five, you'll get less assistance in level one.
Now the question is what's the ideal pedal assist level and what's the benefit of each one of them? So the reality is whatever pedal assist level you want to use is up to you, but I'll give you a couple of thoughts, ideas, tricks, and secrets. So number one, if you're looking to preserve your battery and get the most range out of your battery, then definitely stick to a lower range of assistance. Now sometimes in level one, over the long haul, you're not going to feel that much assistance from the motor, especially if you're going up hills, and then if you also have a geared bike like our bikes behind us, the Sixthreezero bikes, once you get up to 10, 15 miles an hour and you're pedaling and you have it in gear seven for the bike, level one pedal assistance isn't going to feel like much. It's not going to actually give you much assistance.
So from my experience, my riding habits, and what I've seen with others, staying in the two to three range for the level of pedal assistance is best, especially over longer rides. It's going to give you a substantial amount of assistance, you're going to be able to feel the assistance, it's going to help you, but it's also going to preserve the battery over time. So you could achieve those ranges of 20, 30, and 40 miles if you stick in the two to three levels. Now for some bigger hills or accelerations of power, you may want to kick it into level four and level five, I totally get it. Just know as you move into assistance levels four and five, the battery will drain more.
Now let's say you do encounter a huge hill, what level of assistance should you use for that? So weight plays a big factor in what level of assistance you're going to need, especially on hills, because the assistance levels are going to tell you how much output that battery or that motor is giving. So I'm a guy who's 220 pounds. When I encounter really large hills, I need to put it into level five. Depending on the incline of the hill. I can also get away with sometimes three, four, but a lot of times I'd go to level five on big hills because I don't want to overwork my body, especially if I'm on my e-bike. I'm trying to preserve my body for longer rides and of course, I'm wanting the bike to do a lot of the work, so I like level five. So as a rough estimate, I'm just thinking anybody 200 pounds and over is probably going to want to be in level four or level five for some of the bigger hills. But once you get out there on your e-bike, you can obviously decide and figure out what's best for you. I've seen with other riders that are closer to 100 pounds, 110 pounds, they can sometimes be in level assist one or level to assist two even up hills because the motor is just not having to work as hard because it's a lighter load. So you can feel it out.
Now if you're willing to let your body work harder, I do recommend trying on those big hills to keep the assistance level down because when you go up a large hill at level five, it's really going to put a strain on the battery, meaning you're going to kill a lot of the power of the battery quickly on big hills in level assist five. So just know that. But again, it also depends on how far you plan on riding. If you're doing a quick five-mile ride, like me as an example, I will pick my daughter up from school sometimes, it's only two miles roundtrip, so I know when I get back to my house I have to climb a very large hill, I'm not scared to just go straight to level five and get up that hill as quick as possible, because even if I lose one bar on the battery, I'm almost home anyways, not a big deal.
So when determining what level of pedal-assist you want to be in, think about the range of the ride, how far are you intending to go, and then also is it a large hill, is it a small hill, just remembering large hills, level four and level five is going to put a major drain on the battery. In addition to that, thinking about the speed that you want to go, what you want to cruise at, things of that nature. Level one, level two, you're going to be able to easily cruise at 10 to 15 miles an hour. Level three, even then, 15 to 17 miles an hour, and four and five, when I'm in pedal-assist five, I can easily go 20 miles an hour and I say easily, I'm barely working, I will shift the bike on the Sixthreezero like these behind, I will shift them into the seventh speed, but in level five, you barely have to work to achieve 20 miles an hour. So level four, you're going to be somewhere in the 17 to 20 miles an hour, 17 miles, 18 miles an hour in level four would be no problem. Level three, again, probably hovering around 15 miles an hour with barely exerting any effort.
So find the range of speed. It's going to depend on your location, if you're in crowded areas, you obviously want to be in like a level one. If you've got open space, open pathways, open road and you can open it up, then you may want to live on level five for a little bit. Keep in mind obviously pedal-assist five is going to drain the battery quicker than level one. So again, as you start to get comfortable with your bike, you can start to understand, "Oh, if I do this in level two, I can go this far. If I do this in level five, I can only go this far."
I've read a lot of the forums and groups on Facebook and I see a lot of people's feedback. If you're looking to do 20 to 30-mile range rides, I see a lot of people who say they stay in pedal assist level two and level three for the majority of the ride, and I think that's definitely the best-case scenario. It's a good balance between speed and also maximization of range and of course you can use some little surges of power here or there to hit some higher top speeds or tackle some hills, but I would say my best bet on the pedal assist level is live in the two to three, you'll get the most out of the battery. You'll also take a lot of the load off your legs and you'll have a lot of fun while doing it.
So I hope that helps in finding the right pedal assist level on your e-bike. If you have any other questions, please comment them or reach out to us, the team at Sixthreezero.com. You can also call us, at 310-982-2877, and if you are in the market for an e-bike, go to our website, Sixthreezero.com, and take our proprietary body fit algorithm quiz. You're going to answer some questions about your body and your life and our proprietary algorithm will recommend the perfect e-bike for you, your body, and your life. In addition to that, we have a 90-day test drive for your e-bike policy. If you don't love your bike within 90 days, send it back, no questions asked, no money out of your pocket, and after that 90 days, we have a 365-day warranty, so we'll always take care of your bike and send you the parts necessary or pay for the repairs for 365 days.
Lastly, download our app, Sixthreezero pedaling app on the app stores. Be a part of our community, including the app and our Facebook group. You can talk to other riders, see how other riders are riding our e-bikes, ask them questions about what pedal assist level they use, and also on our app, track your rides, make friends, post your rides, and be a part of our competitions or leaderboard challenges we have every week, where you can win bikes, accessories, and apparel. It's a ton of fun, and it's not about how far you ride, it's about how many times you log a ride. So download the app and join.
All right, thank you for sticking around, and don't forget, it's your journey, your experience. Enjoy the ride.