What's the Different Between the Pedal Assist Levels & the Gears on an EBike? Understanding EBikes

What's the difference between the bicycle gears and the pedal assist on an e-bike? 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 explain the difference between the bicycle gears on an e-bike and the pedal assist levels. All right. Now, I've done a lot of test rides here. One question we get when someone gets on the bike is: What is this? What is that? A lot of confusion because there are a lot of things going on. Well, not a lot, but a few things going on in the handlebars of an e-bike. And if you don't have a single-speed bike, you're going to actually have a gear shifter for the gears of the bike in addition to the pedal assist. So, quick synopsis: then we're going to bring you in for a close-up here so I can show you everything; gears on a bike are just that. Those are the gears you had on your 10-speed. You can shift from 1, 2, 3, 4, whatever it may be, or your old 21-speed. And there's a shifter here to shift those gears. Then, on the other side, you're going to have a button to increase or decrease your pedal assist level. They don't work together, they can work in unison, meaning you can somehow coordinate the gear of the bike you're in with the pedal assist level you're in, but you can change them at the same time, different times, in no way, shape, or form do you have to change the gears at a certain time in coordination with the pedal assist level. If you wanted to, you could push them both at the same time.

It doesn't matter at all. One is working on the actual derailleur of the bicycle, and one is working internally in the controller of the electronics of the e-bike. All right, so we're going to bring you in for a closer look, and I'll explain everything up here on the handlebars. Okay. Now, your setup on an e-bike is going to look fairly similar to this. You're going to have a screen, obviously, and you're going to have your... something to change your pedal assist level. So I don't know if you can see here, but on the left here, I have these arrows up and down. These change the assistance level that you get from the motor when you pedal. Right now, I'm in level one. You can push this up or down as you see fit while you're standing still or while you're moving; it's totally up to you. So, typically, you have up to five levels of assistance with your e-bike. Now, if you come over here, we have the shifter for the gears. Now, the gears on a bike, like I said, if you've never had a 10-speed or a 21-speed or a 7-speed, then you might not be familiar with this. But some form of a shifter will come on any bike that has speeds or gears, you name it. I'm trying to refer to the electric piece as assistance and refer to these as gears or speeds. Now, the speeds on a bike can be changed usually from a low gear to a higher gear. The low gears, like gears one, two, and three, are typically best when you're either moving very slowly or climbing hills, and the higher the gears you go, it's going to get harder to pedal. So that's good for flat ground and when you want resistance to go faster. So for an e-bike, if you're in the highest level of assistance on the electrical side, you typically want to be in the highest gear because you're going to be going very fast, and you want the resistance on the pedaling to match the assistance you're getting on the pedal assist level.

Now, I know that sounds a little confusing, but these are two different, independently working systems. One is electrical, one is not. If you come down here, you can see down below here, these are the speeds on the bike under here, and that is your derailleur. And for the speeds on the bike, the chain changes from each of those rings to either create more or less resistance when you're pedaling. So to change the gears on a bike, you do want to be moving because otherwise, if you change them while you're standing still, when you start riding, you're going to hear a lot of clanking and clunking back there as the chain tries to move. So you want to be pedaling, you click this, it'll shift, and you will hear it, and then you'll feel a different level of resistance when you're pedaling. The cool thing is that you can use the gears with or without the motor turned on. So for any e-bike that has gears like this e-trike, you can simply leave the motor off and still use the gears to ride it like a regular bicycle or tricycle. Now again, if you have a single-speed e-bike, you're not going to see a shifter here for years, and you know, a lot of times, I do see some riders that they don't want to shift the gears or they're not comfortable. It's OK if you do have gears on your e-bike and you don't shift them right away. Over time, if you get more comfortable and more confident just shifting the pedal assist levels, then you can start to utilize that. So you don't have to do anything with it, you can leave it in one gear and not touch it at all. That's completely fine, or if you get comfortable, you can start to shift and see which gear you like the most throughout your rides.

So that sums up the difference between the gears on a bike and the assistance levels on your e-bike. If you have any other questions at all, please reach out to us at theteam@sixthreezero.com or call us at 310-982-2877. We offer a 30-day test ride on your e-bike policy. If you don't love it 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 a year. If anything goes wrong in the first year, we'll take care of it, including parts and labor. Lastly, be a part of our community. We have a Facebook group with thousands of members called Sixthreezero Pedalers. Join the group and talk to existing riders before you purchase to ensure you're making the right choice, and when you have yours, post in the group and make friends. It's a lot of fun. And lastly, download our app to track your rides and compete on the leaderboard. That's a lot of fun as well. So, thanks for sticking around, and don't forget, it's your journey, your experience. Enjoy the ride.