E-Bikes For Heavy Riders - What You Need to Know | Electric Bikes Questions

Today we're going to talk about E-bikes for heavy riders, what you need to know. All right, today we're going to talk about E-bikes for heavy riders, what you need to know. But before we do, hit that subscribe button below. Stay in touch with everything we're doing here at sixthreezero including our weekly, monthly giveaways, and also all the content we're putting out. So hit subscribe.

All right, so let's talk about E-bikes for heavy riders what you need to know. Now, I see a lot of inquiries about heavy riders, or, "I'm a heavier rider, what should I know?" Now, putting a number on what does that mean? What quantifies being a heavy rider? I'll leave that up to you. I'll try to talk about some weights and things like that. I don't want to get too specific, because again, it's very hard to label what actually quantifies a heavy rider.

But one thing I can say, is most bike companies I know out there have limits around either 250 pounds or 300 pounds. And so let's talk about how does that translate to E-bikes, and if you're a heavier rider, what to need to know? So a couple of things with E-bikes if you're a heavier rider, you want to think about definitely the motor size and also whether it's a mid-drive or a rear-drive. Now, if you are a heavier rider and you plan to be doing a lot of hills, I would definitely suggest getting a mid-drive motor. Mid-drive is going to give you more torque. So if you encounter some very big hills and you are a heavier rider, if you're using a rear hub, you may not be able to get the torque to get you up that hill without either having to peddle pretty aggressively, but definitely, you definitely wouldn't be able to do it with just the throttle if you're a heavier rider going up against big Hills consistently.

The mid-drive is going to definitely give you that torque, it's going to help get you up the hill. That's my suggestion on that. And my other thought, again, if you're a heavier rider and doing lots of Hills, you're probably going to want to look at at least a 750-watt motor. The 500 watts in theory could be enough, but if you want to make sure that you're easily going up and down the hills, 750 watt is a 'much, much safer bet. Even for me, I'm about 215 pounds and I have a 500 watt rear-drive.

And sometimes going up very large hills can be a challenge, especially if I'm not peddling. Now, the full-throttle, sometimes it's impossible, but if I'm peddling I can do it. But if you really want to make sure the bikes doing all the work, look at at least 500 watts, mid-drive, or 750-watt mid-drive. You could also entertain a 750 watt rear-drive. But I would say if you're going to spend the money and you don't have a very tight budget, the mid drives better if you're a header heavier rider, doing a lot of Hills.

Now for flat ground, if you're not going to be doing many Hills and you're a heavier rider, you probably don't need the mid-drive, because the torque isn't going to be as necessary if you're not going up and down hills. But if you want the ability to get going from a standstill faster, so let's say you want to use the full throttle. You're a heavier rider and you want the bike to take off, the mid-drive's still going to be a good option because it's going to give you the torque to get going faster. But if you're okay with doing a little bit of peddling yourself, the rear-drive should be absolutely fine.

But I would say if you are a heavier rider, definitely look at nothing less than 500 watts, and 750 watts's a good option. But again, if you're just using it to cruise around, you don't care about how fast your takeoff is, a 500-watt rear-drive will suit you just fine. It's going to give you ample power, especially once you get the bike going a little bit. And if you plan to do pedal assist, the 500 watts are going to be great. Now, if you plan to just do throttle a lot, and you're a heavier rider, I would strongly suggest either 500 wide at mid-drive and above or 750-watt rear-drive. Again, the mid-drive's going to give you that torque, it's going to work a lot better for heavier riders. Not to say rear-drives wouldn't work, but again, a better option is going to be the mid-drive, it's just going to keep the pace going.

But again, pedal-assist, 500-watt rear-drive okay, 750-watt rear-drive, okay. 500-watt mid-drive, better 750-watt mid-drive, even better. Now, if you're a heavier rider seven and you're doing mostly flat ground, the 750-watt mid-drive could be overkill in some situations, you may or may not need it. If you have an opportunity to test ride, you can feel the difference, feel what it looks like.

Now, the other thing to consider is the actual weight capacity of the bike itself. The benefit to most E-bikes is the wheels generally use a thicker gauge spoke, so they're going to be a little bit better. I'd also suggest looking at a thicker rim and a thicker tire. With a lot of these fat-tire bikes, you're seeing, like a three-inch or four-inch tire, the benefit is you're getting a fatter rim. So that's really a benefit to a heavier rider is everything's going to be more industrial, it's not going to break as easily. It won't bend as easily.

So depending on where you're at, again, anything 300 and below, 300 pounds and below, I'm pretty confident you can take a look at any bikes that exist out there and they'll suit you just fine. That's the weight limit that we advertise for our E-bikes, and we have 500 watts and 2.1, two five-inch tires. And I feel confident that they can sustain any rider below 300 pounds. Now, if you're still a little bit concerned, look for the thicker gauge spoked or go with a fat tire bike, the three-inch or four-inch tires because they're going to have thicker rims which are going to hold up and be a little bit better.

The only other thing you may have a concern about is the seat. The springs on the seat breaking, or the seat hardware not holding, things like that. There are options out there where you could replace or upgrade, or change things like that to modify it so it'll last longer. The last thing just to consider as you're a heavier rider, how able are you to mount and dismount the bike? Is step-through important to you so you can get on and off easier? Is a 20 inch better for you, because it'll be lower to the ground, easier to get on and off? That's really up to you, but I can tell you, the 20 inches will be easier to mount and dismount, but you obviously wouldn't get as good a leg extension while riding, because it's going to be a much smaller frame.

And so I have done another video about choosing different tire sizes, things like that. You just have to decide what you're comfortable with, where you're going to be going and what type of riding you want going to be doing. So I hope that helps. If you have any other questions and you're a heavier rider, I'm happy to answer them. Or if you have concerns about how you personally will fit on a bike, please, you can email us or call us. If you feel comfortable commenting below, do that as well. But we'd love to help you out. Our email, theteam@sixthreezero.com or call us at (310) 982-2877. Also, browse our E-bikes on our website. Go to the top and go to electric bikes. As I said, our weight limits are up to 300 pounds right now, but we also may be able to accommodate heavier than that. If you reach out, we can help discuss options with you.

Also, take our body fit quiz on our website. You're going to answer some specific questions about your body and your life, and our proprietary algorithm will fit you perfectly to a bike. So if you're curious about getting fitted to your size or height, enter the dimensions and we'll let you know what bikes can fit your body. In addition, 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.

And lastly, download the sixthreezero pedaling apps, whether you own a sixthreezero or not, we'd love to have you join our community. It's lots of fun. We do weekly, monthly leaderboard giveaways, and it's super super fun, and engaging to be a part of. All right, so thanks for sticking around, and don't forget, it's your journey, your experience, enjoy the ride.

DISCLAIMER: The 365-day return policy mentioned in the video above is no longer valid. Please refer to www.sixthreezero.com/pages/30-day-test-ride for the updated policy.