SENIORS: What is the Secret to Finding the Right Pedal Assist Level on an EBike? You'll Never Guess!

What level of pedal assistance is best for a senior e-bike rider? Stick around to find out.

Hey everyone, I'm Dustin. I have nearly 20 years of experience in the bike and e-bike industry, and today we're going to talk about what level of pedal assistance is best for a senior e-bike rider. Before we get into it though, hit the subscribe button below. Stay in touch with us here at Sixthreezero. Be the first to know about all the new content we're putting out, giveaways we're doing, and of course new product releases. All right, if you're a senior rider over the age of 55 or 60 and you're thinking about getting an e-bike or you already have an e-bike, then talking about the pedal assistance level is important because number one, it can keep you safe. And number two, there are also ways to preserve your battery. And number three, I think it's best to just figure out how you get the most out of your ride.

All right, before we get into everything, this is the simple step through an e-bike from Sixthreezero. It's linked in a description below. This is an awesome e-bike for seniors because of this very low step-through right here. It makes for easy on and off. It also has a very comfortable ergonomic position that's not going to put your body in pain, and it's also very, very safe. Okay, so we talk about pedal assistance levels. Most e-bikes on the market for around-town riding have five levels of assistance. Level one gives you the least amount of assistance, and level five, gives you the most amount of assistance. There are some e-bikes out there that have three levels. I've ridden them before too. I would say that maybe more in the mountain bike realm or some other bikes out there use them as well. I've gone on many test rides with seniors over the age of 60.

We've done lots of first-time rides here, and I've witnessed firsthand how many seniors prefer to use their pedal assist when going for rides on their e-bikes. Now the pedal assistance level is going to be up to you. It's hard for me to tell you this is the best level that you should use when riding an e-bike. It's going to come down to personal preference. It's also going to come down to the type of terrain that you're riding on. If you haven't ridden an e-bike before, you're going to find that as you get out riding, you're going to start to realize, okay, on this hill I need level four. For this flat ground, I'm only going to use level two. For this hard-packed trail, I may need to put it in level five because it's creating a lot of resistance under the wheel.

So it's really hard to say what level of assistance is going to be best for every senior rider. What I've seen from a lot of the riders that I've ridden with is many prefer to not go above level three. And I would say there are two reasons why. One, level three, level two, it's going to give you significant power unless you need to be flying around at 20 miles an hour, assistance level three and level two, and even level one on flat ground riding, it's going to be more than enough and it's going to get you up to good speeds. And it's going to give you that assistance to help you ride longer, take some pressure off your muscles and just make the overall ride experience more enjoyable. And what I find with a lot of the senior riders is that that's what they're looking for.

They still want to be out riding a bike. They want to be moving their legs. They don't need to be flying as fast as they can. The other thing I've noticed is that levels four and five feel like too much power for a lot of the senior riders. It feels very fast, it feels too fast. And then it gets to the point where they're pedaling so fast and the motor is outpowering their legs. And so what I mean by that is, you're almost pedaling so fast that there's no resistance on your legs at all, and the motor's starting to do most of the work. And I find that a lot of the senior riders enjoy the act of riding their bike and keeping their legs moving with just a little bit of assistance to help push them a little farther, and make some of the hills easier.

Now, with that said, if you have a lot of hills to encounter, it's up to you how you utilize that power. Again, if you put it in level five, it's going to make hills very easy. If you put it in level three or four, you may be still testing your body a little bit, and get yourself some exercise, but the assistance is going to make it overall easier to get up that hill. And even in some of the rides I've done, a lot of the seniors still prefer going up hills to feel like they're creating the power of the bike so they feel in control of the bike. For some of the riders, if the bike is too powerful and it's doing too much of the work, they feel like they're out of control. Now, that's not everybody. That's just some that I've witnessed firsthand.

So the other thing I will say too is if you're a rider, a senior rider, over 225 pounds, the level of assistance that you're going to want to use during rides may differ from a rider under 225 pounds. I'm 225 pounds myself, and I witness and ride with a lot of friends, and we sometimes will take on hills together and somebody who's 130 pounds is going to get enough power out of level one, whereas I may need to be in level four. And so it just depends on how your body is responding to that motor. You're going up a big hill, your friend who's 150 pounds may put it in level two, and they may fly up the hill. You may need to put it in level five to get up that hill. So if you're a senior that's over 225 pounds, I think you're going to want to utilize the assistance levels four and five more than riders under 225 pounds will.

And again, that's going to come down to you getting comfortable on your e-bike, seeing how the motor responds, seeing what level of assistance feels right for you. I can't make a blanket statement and say, all seniors should do this level of assistance. But from what I've witnessed and what I've seen a lot like, staying in the two to three range feels like enough power to them, feels like a great riding experience. And that, again, as you start to encounter hills or you're a little bit of a heavier rider, you may use the four and five levels as well. I'd love to hear your thoughts and opinions on the topic of what level of pedal assistance you use. Go ahead and drop them in the comments below, or you can email us at theteam@sixthreezero.com or call us at (310) 982-2877. And this simple step through e-bike right here that's awesome for seniors is the LinkedIn description below.

You can find it on our website, sixthreezero.com. We also have a 30-day test strategy e-bike policy. If you don't love your e-bike in the first 30 days, send it back, no questions asked, no money out of your pocket. In addition to that, we're going to warranty everything for one year. If anything goes wrong in the first year, we'll take care of it. We'll send you the parts and reimburse you for the labor needed to get you out and ride to fix your bike. Lastly, we have a Facebook Pedalers group and an app with thousands of riders Before you purchase, talk to them. There are lots of senior riders there. Ask them questions, and see how they like their e-bike. And then once you have your e-bike post in the group, make friends. It's tons of fun and you can track your rides on the app. So thanks for sticking around. And don't forget, it's your journey or experience, enjoy the rides.