Hey, everyone. I'm Dustin, I'm nearly 20 years of experience in the bike and e-bike industry. And today, I'm talking to your parents, and we're going to answer this question. Should I let my child get an e-bike? Stick around.
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All right. So today I'm talking to the parents out there and we're going to answer the question, should I let my child get an electric bike? But before we get into it, hit that 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 do, and of course, new product releases.
All right, so let's say you are a parent right now and you've got an eight-year-old, a 10-year-old, and they're coming home every day and they're like, "Mom, all my friends have an electric bike." Or "Dad, come on. I can go that fast. It's okay. I want an e-bike." And you're asking yourself, "Man, should I let my son or daughter get an electric bike?" And this is a very complicated question. And being a manufacturer, and retailer of e-bikes, I have a lot of friends that come to me, and they always say, "What do you think? Should I let them get an e-bike?"
And it's one of those things where I can't make parenting decisions for anyone. It's a personal choice, but I can give some opinions about the topic. Now, I see where we live here in San Clemente and Southern California, I see a vast age range of children now on e-bikes. And I see children as young as eight years old, obviously, up to 18 years old on e-bikes. But I'm seeing children, eight years old. I'm seeing a lot of children, 10 years old, and nine years old on electric bikes right now. And it's getting harder and harder for parents to say no, because I see now on summer break, all these kids have their e-bikes and how can you exclude your son or daughter from that if the group of friends is riding to the pool and they all have e-bikes, right?
How's your son or daughter going to keep up on a non-electric bike? It's going to be very difficult. Or "Mom, it's embarrassing if you're going to drop me off at the pool and everyone else rides their e-bike," right? Well, those are tough questions and I get it. And I am in the midst of dealing with that too. Although, my daughter's only seven at this point, so we still probably have a couple more years till we have to dive into that. So the answer is on an electric bike, I think, number one, a lot of these manufacturers say specifically, "Do not operate if under the age of 16 years old." So one thing I want to say to all the parents is that if you do decide to get your son or daughter an electric bike that's really on you to take responsibility, check the manuals, check the brands.
Most e-bike companies are not going to advocate for children operating their e-bikes. Now, they may produce e-bikes that are small enough for children to ride but that doesn't mean that they're saying it's okay for children under the age of 16 to ride. So make sure you pay attention to that because these e-bikes are not designed for children. They're designed for adults but can fit children. And I think it was an unintended consequence from a lot of these manufacturers when they started making 20-inch wheels and allowing passengers on the back. In their mind, it was for adults. Unfortunately, most of the riders that have been choosing these products are actually under the age of 16. And now, it's exploded in such a short amount of time that it's almost hard to pull back. And now, there are so many parents and other children seeing them now that they're all flocking and buying more and more and more, right?
And so I don't know, for the manufacturers that do make bikes for kids, if their intention is to try to add more safety elements because as I see it now, there are no e-bikes designed for children. Because in reality, these manufacturers don't want children on e-bikes. And again, I'm referring to children, the ages of eight to 16. Now, a 15-year-old is going to be much better equipped to operate an e-bike obviously than an eight-year-old or a nine-year-old or a 10-year-old, but it still is going to have safety concerns regardless of the age, right? So the number one thing as a parent, if you're going to let your child ride an electric bike, is to take the time to educate them. Take the time to, number one, explain the rules of the road, and walk them through. Now, I know this is going to be difficult for an eight-, nine-, or 10-year-old to have the attention span to do this. In my opinion, if they can't learn the rules of the road, they can't operate an e-bike.
And I see so many children right now riding in the middle of streets, turning on busy streets, riding in the middle of a street that's 40 miles an hour. And there are certain elements that they need to understand: if there's a bike lane, they have to go in the bike lane. If they can't keep up with the speed of traffic, you can't ride in the middle of traffic. There are certain things about going through red lights, turning on yellows, and the way you stop at signs. If you're a bike on the street, you're a car, right? You need to stop at signs. So there are things that you need to spend time on. Perhaps there are some online courses you could administer to them or sit with them and walk them through. I would just say that's a very, very important thing if you want to do that.
Number two, if you're going to put them on an e-bike, spend time with them in a parking lot teaching them, and educating them. Don't throw them on an electric bike and hope that they're going to operate it. Watch them, learn with them, ride with them. Make sure you're witnessing them, and operating them in a safe manner. Watch how they go up curbs. Watch how they use the throttle. Watch how they use the pedal assist. Now, there's no government-mandated training for electric bikes, but as an adult, we can watch other riders and say, "That's not safe." Or "He's not operating that safely." Or "You know, that's stupid. Don't do that," right? Now, I'm not saying that to your child, but we'd be thinking in our head that it's a bad decision to turn left into an opposite incoming traffic or whatever it may be. So yeah, I think it's important. Ride with them, educate with them. Take it slow, right? Don't wrap up an electric bike, put it under the Christmas tree and all of a sudden say, "Cool. You're off and running. Go do whatever you want," right?
Because now your son or daughter's going to be learning from the other children how to operate an e-bike. And those children were never taught how to operate an e-bike most likely. So now it's people that don't know how to operate an e-bike teaching other people how to operate an e-bike. And nobody will know in this under 16 category how to properly ride an e-bike. So spend time with them riding, you would do the same when they got their regular bike. Also, just because your son or daughter can operate a regular two-wheel bike doesn't mean they're going to safely be able to operate an electric bike, right? Just because you can ride a bicycle doesn't mean you can ride a motorcycle. Two different things, way faster pace, speed of travel. There are controls up here, there's pedal assist, there's throttle, and it's more complex. Now, albeit, not that complex and everything is automatic in terms of how you shift it, but you need to have a higher level of awareness, right?
And there's a reason why in the US, people under the age of 16 cannot operate motor vehicles, cars because we've all agreed that it's best to wait till 16 for the safety of themselves and others that they drive a car, right? But right now, with e-bikes, it's pretty much free for all so long as you adhere to the rules of the road and the bike lane things. But, without that training now, we're letting these under the age of 16 riders out onto the road and they don't understand the rules of the road at all. So e-bikes are more complex than a standard bike. Even if your son or daughter rides a road bike and they travel at speeds of 20 miles an hour, 22 miles an hour, there's still less going on and less to be aware of than on an e-bike. On an e-bike if you accidentally hit the throttle or you turn the pedal assist up, there are things that can happen that can't happen on a standard two-wheel bike.
So as a parent, I just stress to you, just because your child can safely operate a standard bike does not mean they can operate an e-bike. So be there with them, teach them, witness them, make sure you give them some guidance on how much to use the throttle, how little to use the throttle, all of those things. And right now, as e-bike brands, we should take some responsibility in teaching those people, and at Sixthreezero, we are. We're educating, and we're trying to put out videos, but right now, there's no approved training course that anyone needs to take. You can walk in and buy an e-bike. So as a parent of a young child, I just urge you to go out, teach your child, put some parameters in place, and make sure they follow some rules. In addition to that, I'm seeing other scary things that are happening, which is I'm seeing a lot of children carrying passengers on the back of their e-bike, and I'm seeing lots of children operating at night. And I'm also seeing a lot of children driving in the middle of roads, right?
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And the one thing that I think is the worst out of all three of those, while riding at night is no good, but also carrying passengers on the back. Just like I talked about with a motorcycle, when you get your motorcycle permit and I got a permit after taking a driving course that the state of California puts on, there are two things I still couldn't do 'till I took the final written test of the DMV, which I couldn't carry passengers and I couldn't ride at night. So if you're going to let your child get an e-bike, do not let them carry passengers on the back. It is a very difficult experience. I had a motorcycle license, and I still do have a motorcycle license, but I owned a motorcycle for five years. There are two things I never did. One, I never put passengers on the back of my motorcycle.
Now, lots of people do that every day. I didn't have a bike that I felt was big enough and felt safe enough to do that and by all means, I think, if you can ride safely and put passengers on your motorcycle, go for it. And I think it's great, it looks like a lot of fun. I also never lane split, even though that is legal in California, I was never comfortable with it. But we should not have children on our e-bikes with passengers on the back because it changes the entire riding experience, the way the bike feels, and the handlebars move. If you accidentally, the brakes give out what can happen? Or if you're going down a big hill, there are certain ways the rider on the back will affect everything about an e-bike, how it breaks, how it accelerates, how it moves.
And again, we're not training our children at all about what that will feel like or be different and a lot of parents won't even have e-bikes themselves. So I would suggest number one, don't let your children carry passengers in the back. Number two, I would suggest night riding, if you're going to do it, stick to paths only. Don't be out on the street. Cars have a very difficult time seeing motorcycles as it is. Cyclists are even smaller, and the bikes are even thinner and less noticeable. So I just recommend staying off the streets at night or have your children stay off the streets at night. Keep them on paths. And if you are going to have to let them ride, bright lights, reflective gear. Anything that people can see them with, right?
The thing about motorcycles and motorcycle accidents is, the number one 'cause a lot of times people don't see them, right? It's hard to see motorcycles because they go fast, they zip in and out. So you have to make yourself visible. And also, the driver of the motorcycle needs to be way more aware than anybody else on the road, right? Because the implications of a crash on a motorcycle are going to be far worse for that person than it would for somebody in a car. So I just suggest no passengers for your children and no riding at night. The other thing, and I just said it, you have to have an e-bike if you're going to let your child get an e-bike. You have to know what it's like, and how to operate it, and if you're not going to own an e-bike, drive the e-bike you're buying for them before you're giving that child that e-bike. So you know everything about it. How does it accelerate? How fast does it go? What does it feel like?
Because there are also limitations you can put in place and you'd have to talk to your specific e-bike company, but there are certain things you can do in the displays to limit the speed. And also, you can limit the acceleration. There are also different types of e-bikes, with smaller motors you can get. So you need to take a look, know the specs, know the power, and know what product you're putting in the hands of your child, right? As I said, different motor sizes. There are powerful e-bikes that aren't street-legal at all that I see lots of parents buying for lots of children and now, they're making their way onto the streets. Well, the parents should know that this shouldn't be on the street. Train your child, and tell them where they can and can't use it. Buy the motor size that's appropriate for someone at the age level that your child is at.
We don't want eight, nine-year-olds riding around on thousand-watt e-bikes, right? It may seem like fun in games but putting that powerful of an object in such a young child's hands, I just don't think is a great idea. Again, just my opinion. So you can make smart choices. You can get your child an e-bike that would be appropriate for their age and their riding habits. And it's hard for me to say anything about the age of when you should or shouldn't get an e-bike because every child is different. And one eight-year-old may seem like an 11-year-old, and a 12-year-old may seem like a 10-year-old. It's really up to us as parents to make the best possible decision for the safety of our children. But I'll leave you with one thing, which is that e-bikes do come with innate dangers, right? It's a fast object, it can go fast. It has a throttle on it. They can be dangerous.
Now, with the proper training and the proper choice of product, they're going to be safer than they would be if you just buy an e-bike and don't look into anything at all. The other thing I'm going to throw out there is helmets all the time. Do not let your child out of the house with a helmet. There are lots of helmets on the market now. Sixthreezero sells a helmet that is great for e-bike riding. There are even more expensive, more protective helmets. I think if your son or daughter wants an e-bike, the great compromises get them the best possible helmet. So kind of sums up my thoughts on parents, should we be buying our children e-bikes? If you have any opinions or comments, put them below. You can also us at or call us at 310-982-. Also, if you want to check out the e-bikes on our website, they're linked down in the description. We don't make e-bikes for children. Most of our electric bikes are like these two here for full-sized adults.
Hi Ulsinus. I have a Jorvik electric mountain trike. Unfortunately, I’ve used it only a little! (The reason for lack of use is nothing to do with MS - it’s currently stored in an area that requires two people to get it up a short flight of steps. My wife first hurt her back and then broke her shoulder so the Trike hasn’t moved much).
However, when I have used the trike I enjoyed it. MS affects my right leg in particular and, as I discovered, it also affect my balance which meant I just couldn’t use a bicycle. With the trike I still have to pedal a little but each turn of the pedals keeps it going for a fair few meters.
The Mountain Trike is quite heavy but Jorvik do lighter versions and ( I think) non electric Trikes. Happy to answer any questions you might have and there is also a Jorvik Tricycle Riders site on Facebook- a very knowledgeable group of users/ owners.
Hi Ulsinus,
I’ve just switched from a normal 2 wheel electric bike to a 3 wheeler. I spent a lot of time researching electric tricycles and finally chose a cargo bike which is expensive, but I love it! It’s a babboe curve, 2 wheels at the front, one at the back, a large box on the front for sticks, shopping, whatever. It’s light, very powerful, and I love it. Saying goodbye to 2 wheel cycling was gutting but my new bike is amazing, a lot safer, and I haven’t looked back.
I think the two main reasons for the cargo bike were firstly, not wanting to stand out as much as I felt I would on a tricycle. Tbh my walking is so slow with sticks that I just wanted to blend in on a bike as much as possible and look like anyone else. The second reason is that it means I can cycle the dog to the park, let her out and ‘walk’ her cycling slowly alongside! She loves it. Oh, and yes. Had to pay VAT on it.
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