Hybrid E-Bike VS Cruiser E-bike | Electric Bike Differences

Hey everyone. Peter here, sixthreezero bikes. Today we're going to talk about the difference between a cruiser e-bike and a hybrid e-bike, stay tuned.

So if you're new to e-bikes, well, you're definitely wondering what style of bikes should I get? There are a lot of styles of bikes, so it's kind of a big decision. You'll get a great bike. I know that I'm sure of that. But you kind of want to decide what kind of riding style you want to do. I have two bikes here behind me. These are representatives of two main styles of bikes that you'll find or e-bikes. This one is a cruisers style. This is our every journey cruiser style with forward pedaling feature. And I'll tell you what that means. And then this is a hybrid-style bike. And there are a lot of differences between these two bikes that may not be readily apparent, but they will make a big difference in your riding and how you feel on the bike, okay?

So let me start with the cruiser here, okay. So the cruiser is going to have you lower to the ground and that's mostly because of the forward pedal feature. You can see how the pedals have been moved forward compared to the hybrid here, where the pedals would be considered the traditional or conventional location. That's why they are for road bikes and also mountain bikes. And then most hybrids will also have the pedals here in the same spot. A few people, sometimes we get some feedback that they feel the pedals are behind them with this configuration. So that's something you want to think about. And I'll talk about, why you may feel that way? And why you may want it? And why you may not want it? There are reasons for all these different configurations and geometries. But it doesn't have to get too complicated especially at the recreational rider level, especially with an e-bike where you have to assist.

So, concerns about your own athletic ability aren't as important. So let me just sit on this cruiser, okay. This cruiser has forward pedaling, okay. And the reason for that is, see here I can just sit on the seat, nice relaxed position. My feet are completely flat on the ground, but then when I go to pedal, I have basically the right leg extension. What you want for leg extension is not fully straight out at the farthest point, but bent a little bit, bent slightly. Okay. So I can still get the right leg extension or close to it. And then with my feet flat on the ground. A lot of people like this because it helps them feel secure and stable and balanced.

Sometimes as we age, we start to lose that sense of balance or maybe get more worried about falling and things like that. We get a lot of feedback about that. And so I know it's a concern out there. It's a big concern for a lot of folks. So the cruiser bike is great for you if you are not the most confident rider if you want something that's a little more relaxed, and then if you want that nice stability where your feet are nice and flat on the ground, and you're not too high up from the ground also, okay. Now you can also see when I'm positioned on the bike, my back is straight, okay. On a race bike. You're like this, okay. That's the race position. And you're putting a lot of strain on your lower back. Racers have really strong lower backs, and they're also usually very lean individuals. They're not holding as much weight, okay. So, but when you're sitting back like this, there's really not any strain on your back, okay.

So that's the purpose for this nice swept-back cruiser style handlebar, okay. It allows you to sit back nicely like this. It's just a relaxed position. This is not a power performance position, okay. So that's one of the differences that you'll see that we'll talk about with the hybrid. It's the same with road bikes and mountain bikes, in that it has a geometry that facilitates more power and also more agility. So, but with a cruiser like this, you're just riding around. You don't need it to be agile. So I'm going to do a little bit of riding later on, but that's the main thing, you want to see how I'm sitting up nice and straight, so it's comfortable. It takes the pressure off of my back. If you have any back issues or pain like that, it's nice and close to the ground.

So you can feel secure and stable, but you can still also get the right leg extension, okay. One other thing is usually on a cruiser it will have wider tires. So these are wider tires. They're less efficient than a road bike we'll have, which can be very, very narrow, but they have a more stable feeling. They're cushier because they have lower air pressure. And a lot of folks just feel safer on that wider tire. You can see on the hybrid, it does already have a narrow tire. It's not as narrow as a road bike. So it's not hyper-efficient like the road bike is, but it's a little bit wider for some more traction. It has some tread, but it's not as wide as this. So it will be a little more efficient.

Bit faster, okay. You can also see these, the wheels are larger. And what will happen is because of the wheels being larger, and then with the pedals being in the conventional location that when I get on this bike, I'm going to be on the tips of my toes, or on the balls of my feet rather, okay. This is typical for a road bike or a mountain bike, okay. If you're riding, if you're a cyclist, you're just used to this position. This is how you're going to be. A lot of times you'll have cleats. So you'll be a little bit elevated from the ground already anyway. But this is a normal position on a conventional bike. The innovation with putting pedals forward is kind of making it more of a chopper bike, is that your feet can be flat.

But if you find yourself on a bike, where you're on the balls of your feet, that's normal, that's actually the traditional style. The reason for that is because I want to make sure that I get the right leg extension, which is almost straight up, but not quite bent a little bit. So I could have the seat even a little bit higher and you'd have to lean the bike like this. That's why usually on a road bike, the bike is leaned over when a rider is stopped.

Now a lot of people, of course, especially if they're not going for power, or speed, or some sort of sports activity, they don't like that. They would prefer to have a more relaxed position. Now the advantage of the traditional position and with the pedals where they are like this one, is that you can get more power, okay. You're just now going to get the same power with the cruiser, with the pedals and the four positions that you will with this one. With the pedals like this basically directly below your body, you're pushing directly down those pedals. So you get a lot more power. Of course with an e-bike, that may or may not be a consideration.

If you have like an E-mountain bike, for instance, you may be really powering up Hills and just using a little bit of electrical assist to make you go a little bit faster. You want that power, you want to feel your legs and get yourself up the terrain. But you can see how the pedals more directly below me and move this kickstand out of the way.

So the pedals are more directly below me. So I get a lot of power. Also, I'm a little bit more crouched. I'm not in the road bike position like this, but I'm also not in the cruiser position like this with my back straight up and down. So if you're on a hybrid, you're almost always going to have some sort of lean. It may be a little more, it may be a little less. On this one for me, it's about like this, but I'm definitely not sitting straight up, okay. So on most hybrids, there will be some sort of angle on your back. So there will be a little bit of pressure on your back. And a lot of people will experience that as pain. It just kind of depends on the condition of your back, maybe the level of your health and your conditioning. And then of course, if you have any injuries or other health issues,

So also, and less of a consideration with recreational bikes, but with the pedals directly under me, I have more agility. So I can see if I go up a hill and I want to stand up on the pedals, and start using those to pump a little more, I can do it. I'll show you what that looks like on this bike, right. I'll just take it for a little spin, where I'll get out of the saddle and I'll show you how I can have some agility kind of with the same way that a mountain bike or a road bike will have, right. And I don't have the battery or the power on right now.

So you can see how I just have this natural positioning to toss the bike around, right? So that's where the advantages of the conventional pedal position here on the hybrid, similar to a road bike or mountain bike. And a hybrid, of course, I didn't mention is usually some sort of blend of a road bike and an off-road bike or mountain bike. So they'll take different features of each and use them. For instance, this one kind of has a little bit more of a mountain bike style frame, but it has more of road bike style wheels. It actually has a nice wide cruiser seat on it. The handlebars are a little bit more like a mountain bike, but they're curved back a little bit like a cruiser, but not as extreme as the cruiser sweep, all right.

Now, let me ride this one around. I'll show you. It's a little awkward. If you want to get out of the saddle, or if you're really pushing hard because you don't have that direct power transfer or pushing straight down. When you're on that one, you can push straight from your back, directly down onto the pedals. With this one, you're using more leg power. Again, we have our battery. So if you're looking for an easy cruise, it just doesn't matter. You don't need that power that gives you or the agility. So I'll show you when I ride this around, again we don't have any electrical assistance. If I want to get out of the saddle, I'm kind of in a weird position here. Also with the handlebars being wide, you don't have nearly as much control.

It's a lot sloppy. So that's what I mean when I say less agility on the cruiser bike, but that's not what it's for. So, again you just got to kind of think about what kind of riding you want to do. A bike like this would be cool. I think if you kind of had a commute you where you want to get a little bit of your own exercising. Also, especially if you're riding on roads that aren't the best, it's a little more agile. You can hop around. You can swerve, you can move things. You're not going to have the exact same level of control with the cruiser that you would with a more aggressive bike, like the hybrid here. So anyway, I think that kind of explains a lot of the points about it. There's a lot more, you can go into also with the hybrid bikes.

The hybrid world is very, very vast. There are so many different types of bikes that can be classified as hybrid. So, you can kind of figure out what your style is and then find the right hybrid for that. I'm sure there are probably thousands of variations of hybrid bikes. It's a very broad category and almost anything that's not a road bike or a mountain bike or a cruiser just goes into the hybrid category, gets a mixture of those three. I truly hope that was helpful for you. If you liked it, please do like it and hit subscribe. It helps grow our channel. And if you need any help at all, please contact us. You can call us at 310-982-2877 or email us at theteam@sixthreezero.com. Remember sixthreezero is spelled out S-I-X-T-H-R-E-E-Z-E-R-O. Theteam@sixthreezero.com. Thanks.