How to Safely Operate & Ride an EBike - The sixthreezero Electric Bike Safety Guide for Adults

Hey everyone, I'm Dustin, the CEO of sixthreezero, and today, I'm going to take you through the sixthreezero e-bike safety guide before you start riding. Stick around. All right, everyone, so I'm Dustin, the CEO of sixthreezero, and you may or may not have purchased an e-bike from us already. If you have. Thank you. Today, we are going to go through a sixthreezero e-bike operational safety guide. Some tips and tricks to make sure that you are out there riding an e-bike as safely as possible, not only for yourself but for others around you as well. Now, at this point, I would assume you'd have your bike ready, and you're out... you're ready to get out and ride and enjoy the weather.

Now, there are a few things I want to review about the assembly before we get into some safety tips for the overall riding. Okay. Number one, there are five majorly important elements to safe riding on an e-bike, and it has to do with keeping them tight and maintained. Number one is your pedals. If you've assembled it yourself, ensure that the pedals are tight. Both pedals tighten forward. So the left pedal is a reverse thread, which means you tighten it forward to tighten it. The reason for that is because you pedal forward, so in essence, the pedals are going to self-tighten themselves as you continue to pedal. So this is something I would also recommend checking every 50 miles or so. Stick your wrench inside here. Make sure the pedals are still tight.

Now, while it's very unlikely the pedals would ever come loose, it's just one of those things to ensure it's always tight. So, every 50 miles or so, stick your wrench in both sides, push it down as much as you can, and ensure that the threads in there are nice and tight. Now, moving up to your handlebars. These are two of the most important bolts on the bike. The handlebar bolt right here, which allows the handlebars to be raised and lowered, and also, the bolt right here underneath, which is adjusting for... which can be loosened to adjust the tilt. If you've done the assembly yourself, ensure that these bolts are tight. I also recommend checking them every 50 miles because these are something that can come loose over time.

Especially if you're putting a lot of downward pressure on your handlebars while riding, you need to come in here with your Allen Key and just crank that down to make sure it's tight. So get it as tight as you can. Human strength is just fine if you can't budget. It should be good. Now on the top here, right here, same thing. Now this bolt is going to control your steering. If this bolt goes loose, your handlebars will become loose, and you will not have any ability to steer. So again, make sure you can get that as tight as possible. If you don't have a great set of Allen Keys at home, I would recommend going on Amazon. There's a great company called Park Tools. They sell Allen Keys specific to bikes. They have handles on them, which allow for more torque and easy tightening.

One of the run-of-the-mill small Allen Keys you get is not ideal to get these bolts as tight as they need to be. So if you plan on maintaining a lot of these things yourself, it could be costly to bring an e-bike in every 50 miles. That's why I recommend going out and investing in a nice set of tools that you can use on your e-bike so you can ensure you can properly make these adjustments over time. Okay, now, moving up to your front axle bolt here. This is another key bolt on your e-bike. Most of our e-bikes now will have a front axle bolt that is tightened with a wrench. Now, if you still have an existing quick release, you need to ensure that that wheel is seated properly, and if you've ridden a lot of miles, make sure that that skewer is tight and your clamp is tight.

If you have the axle bolt, same thing. As you log miles, it's not impossible that that bolt comes loose, very unlikely, but I still recommend just coming in there and cranking down. Make sure that the bolt will not get any tighter. And again, this is a bolt where it should more than likely stay there over time, but if you're logging a lot of miles, if you're going on gravel trails or bumpy trails, again, that's the kind of vibration that can jostle things loose. So it's just best to check those things. Okay, now, moving on to your brakes. If you've done the brakes yourself or if you've taken it to a professional, the brakes are still something you are going to want to be able to check yourself. Checking them doesn't require anything too crazy. So, on the disc brakes, you have pads inside the caliber that sit on the rotor here.

You can do a visual check and just look in there and see if you still have pads inside that are giving you enough brake pads to stop the bike. Just like a car, cars have pads. Over time, as you apply the brakes, the pads actually will wear down, the same thing on bikes. So the more you ride, the more you use the brakes, the faster those pads wear out. Up here on your hand brakes, generally, you want these calipers to go about halfway. You want them to be soft enough to pull, but also you want them to grip quickly, right? If this caliper starts to get closer and closer to your grip here, that may mean that your pads are wearing down. Now, at that point, you have two options. If you look inside your wheel and see that you still have some pads left, then you can adjust your brakes, and we have other videos detailing how to do that.

You can bring the pads closer to the rotor with an adjustment so you can salvage some of the pads. Now, if you look in there and the pad is almost worn completely down, at that point, you'll need to replace the brake pads. We will also have other videos for that, or you can take it to a professional. Replacing the brake pads is pretty inexpensive. It's going to be less than $10 for a huge pack. Sixthreezero, later, we'll offer those. At this point, you can honestly go on amazon.com, find the replacement brake pads, and insert those into the calipers to ensure you're going to have ample braking power. And again, if you feel your brakes start to get soft, that's when you know it's time to adjust. You can also check, right, and pull your front brake. Will the wheel stop? Okay, will the back brake?

Can I pull the bike up like this? Can I pull the front brake up? Yep. So there's certain... Just make sure that they're gripping before you get out and ride, and especially if you're logging lots of miles, like I said, every 50 miles, check those because you want to make sure you have ample stopping power. Okay. Now, moving on to the tires. The tires are going to naturally deflate over time if they sit around. Even as you ride they're going to lose air. It's inevitable. So if you're logging lots of miles, make sure you're checking your tire pressure or just check them every ride. You can do a little hand test. If they feel a little soft, use a pump. You can go out and buy an electronic pump. There are good ones out there, ones that are sufficient enough now for less than $10. They'll have a digital gauge on it.

You can hook it up. It'll tell you the tire pressure currently in the tire, and your recommended PSI is always going to be on the side of your tire here. I don't recommend running the PSI lower than the recommended. Usually, there's going to be a range like this one. Well, this one says 40 PSI so you could run 37, 36. But the lower you go, you don't want them to be too soft because then the bike is going to be going over bumps or curbs, which is going to hit the rim. Also, the steering is going to get a little finicky as you have less tire pressure. The more tire pressure, the more reactive, the easier it's going to be to turn and maneuver your e-bike. So just ensure that your tires are inflated up to the correct PSI. Okay. Now, moving on to basic operational safety tips.

I have a lot of other videos that you guys can check out on YouTube regarding riding an e-bike, but some basic operational tips. Number one, do not turn the e-bike on until you are mounted on the bike, so there's no point in turning it on before you get on. If you have to turn it on before you get on, one thing that I would most definitely do is just put the pedal assist level to zero. If you put the pedal assist level into zero, the motor will not engage, not even the throttle. Okay. So basically, it means it is completely off, but my recommendation is to leave it off till you're mounted onto the bike. Then, at this point, at least you are in a seated riding position, and you have it on. You are fully prepared. Now, from here, I recommend starting at a low pedal assist level, especially before you get comfortable with the amount of assistance that it's going to provide.

A lot of people feel that level one is enough for them, so you want to get used to the jolt of the assistance, how that feels, and how you adapt to it. There are also settings in your display where you can minimize the reaction of the assistance. What I mean by that is there's a display setting you can make that will slow down how much the assistance kicks in when it does kick in. If you're interested in that setting, you can reach out to us at the team at sixthreezero.com. We're also going to put out some additional videos detailing more about the display. Unfortunately, the way it comes from the factory, you can't dictate the power output. That's a presetting that we set with the factory, but you can make assist adjustments on, like when you pedal, how much of a thrust it initially gets... it gets you.

So that's another safety option you can have access to if you should desire. Now, a couple of things with the pedal assist to ride safely. I don't recommend if you're coming into the park pulling in somewhere or coming to a stop turn your assistance off. It's very difficult to maneuver in tight spaces while you have the assistance on because, as you pedal, the motor kicks in, so it's hard to gauge that assistance in very tight small spaces. Once you get used to the thumb throttle, it's much easier to navigate in tighter spaces with that, or I recommend cutting the motor off as you come in for parking and just using your manual power. It's a much safer proposition, and it'll allow you to have more control over your bike. I've seen circumstances where people get jostled by the pedal assist, so it's best to just leave it off and again, maneuver with manual power.

In addition to that, always be aware of your throttle. This is why I don't want the motor on while you mount. If the motor is on you have it in an assistance level higher than zero, and you hit the throttle, the bike will move. So please mount the bicycle first, turn it on, and get your hands in the correct position so you don't accidentally hit the throttle. The other thing, as you're putting your e-bike on a bike rack or putting it in your car or pushing it in any way, shape, or form, keep your clothes, your body parts, and everything clear of the throttle. Better yet, make sure everything is turned off. Number one, when you come to a complete stop on your e-bike, turn everything off, and turn the display off. That way, once you mount, even if you hit this, no big deal. Nothing is going to happen. I've seen situations where people accidentally hit their thumb or they forget the motor is off, and the bike will jump a little bit.

That's why, always when you stop before you dismount, turn the bike off. Once... When you're mounting the bike, get on first, and turn the bike on. Now, a couple of other things just to talk about safety-wise. Always obey the speed limits. Always obey the rules of the road. Always wear a helmet. Do not go faster than designated street signs. Just because you're on a bike or an e-bike doesn't mean that you can go faster than cars. If you're in a parking lot and there's a speed sign posted 15 miles an hour, as a bike rider, you can't go 20 miles an hour. It's important to just make sure that you obey the rules of the road. Okay, talking a little bit about the battery. So batteries are important to maintain them. If your battery is sitting for a long time and you don't charge it, the battery could die.

So it's important. Keep your battery charged every 30 days. If it's in the wintertime and you're not using it, charge it up a little bit, then you can let it sit again. If you let it sit all through the winter, the battery can die. Now, in addition to that, do not charge your battery or leave your battery, even uncharging, in extreme temperature conditions, whether too hot or too cold. So, if you live somewhere in the winter where it gets extremely cold, do not leave your battery in that garage during the wintertime. You don't want to create any contraction or expansion with the battery while it's sitting. The lithium will tend to heat up when you're charging it or when you use it, so it's just important that you keep it in a good, controlled temperature environment. Okay, the other thing with charging your battery is once the battery is completed charging, do not leave it on the charger for excessive periods.

A lot of the chargers or our chargers will have once it's plugged... when it's not plugged in, it'll be green. When it's plugged in and charging, that light will turn red, and when it's done, it will turn green. Now, ideally, get it off the charger as soon as possible. Generally, you can leave it on there for a little bit extra. A full charge is going to be anywhere around four hours. Just make sure you monitor it and you get it off the charger as close to the charging completion as possible. Again, the longer you leave it on the charger, it's going to keep that battery warm, so we just want to get it off the charger, get it back onto the bike, or if it's on the bike, that's great too. Just get the charger out so it can sit there. Now, the other thing is in your charging port on this side, do not stick anything into that port other than the charger itself.

That is a conductive environment that is meant to be pulling electricity into this battery. Do not stick any metal objects in there, a fork, or the key. Don't accidentally put a key in there. Keep the key in the key spot. Only plug the charger in here, and there's a plastic cap. Keep that plaque... that cap inside the charging port at all times when that is not being used. That is very, very important to know. You can charge your battery on or off the bike. It's totally up to you. Obviously, in the winter, again, if your garage or wherever you're storing your e-bike is susceptible to extreme conditions, I would bring the battery inside, or you could also create a temperature-controlled environment. I've seen other people. There are boxes or other mechanisms to store batteries in that can keep them safe over time.

Now the last thing I just want to touch on is to know your limitations. E-bikes have a motor. E-bikes produce a lot of power, up to 20 miles an hour with a lot of the sixthreezero e-bikes like this one here, and it's important that you know your limitations. Don't go uphill that you're physically not capable. Don't go downhill when you're physically not capable. Make sure you're riding within your limitations. Also, practice on your e-bike in a parking lot or controlled environment before you go out onto bike paths before you go out onto busy areas where other pedestrians are. It is important. Another thing I just want to throw out there, depending on the bike model you have, is never put passengers on your e-bike sitting on this rack back here.

Now, you can hook up trailers and child seats if they're conducive to the e-bike model you have, but never let a rider sit on the back of the rack here. There are other bikes that advocate for that, that are built for that. Sixthreezero racks and batteries should never have riders on here in any way, shape, or form. Again, you can hook trailers up to the rear axle, and you can hook child seats up if they will work with your e-bike, but never sit directly on this rack, never putting any sort of child or adult on there at all, and that applies to most sixthreezero e-bikes. If we have a model at any point that comes out, we will indicate that it is safe to put people on there, but as of today, there are no sixthreezero e-bike models where you'll be putting passengers on the rear rack at all.

So yes, back to knowing your limitations, and riding safe. The last two suggestions I'm going to make if you want to make your e-bike riding experience as safe as possible, are a couple of recommended accessories. Number one, have a bell, have a horn, something where you can indicate to other riders that you're coming, especially if you plan on traveling at high speeds, The bell and the horn are going to be great to notify pedestrians or other riders that you're coming up behind them or on the side of them. Always have a front reflector and a rear reflector. But also, if you're riding at night, front and rear lights are essential. Also, reflective wear is great. If you're going to be in bike lanes, reflective material, and bright material is great. Cars can see you, people can see you. You want as many people to see you as possible. So the reflective gear is great.

Can also buy reflective bags, reflective tape, or whatever you think is necessary to keep you as safe as possible. Also, mirrors are a great addition to an e-bike. Putting mirrors on here so you can see behind you at all times. Again, if you're going to change lanes on your e-bike and you're going 20 miles an hour, just like a car, you want to check your mirror and make sure no one's coming up beside you. Having mirrors is truly a great option. In addition to that, there are cameras now you can put on the back of your e-bike, so you can put a camera back there and have a screen here, at which point you can see behind you. So if you want to do all things, have mirrors, have a camera back there as well, so you can see again, cars behind you, riders coming up.

And then the last thing is if you're going to ride in pairs, which is always a great idea because you could have one person watching somewhere and you're watching another place, headsets are a great option. You can communicate with one another, and warn each other. Let people know, "Hey, there's a bump coming up. There's a pothole coming up." Again, if you're traveling at faster speeds than you typically did on a standard bike, having that ability to communicate and point out what's going on on the road if you're riding in pairs is also a great option. So before you get out and ride, make sure you check all the things I discussed. Make sure you're always obeying the rules of the road and just have fun. Be safe. And don't forget, it's your journey, your experience. Enjoy the ride.