Electric Bikes For Tall Riders

i was going to try to simulate being tall but that didn't really work so well so we'll just do it from here but we are going to talk about electric bikes for tall people and let's get into it recently we made videos with recommendations for short riders as well as heavy riders and i figure it's only fair to make a video about tall riders as well it's definitely something that comes up a lot and i hope that i can provide some helpful suggestions now probably the first thing that comes up when people are looking for an electric bike and they're taller and they say well will it fit me and how do you make that determination is it just that i need a double xl frame size or an xl frame size or there's a fly coming around here i we don't have electric mics to fit them that was pretty cheesy okay so one of the more common questions people ask is will it fit me now there's a lot of different details to consider if you're a taller rider and you're looking to get an electric bike for yourself first is really is it going to fit me and if it does fit you how is it going to handle what's the experience going to be on it is it actually made to be able to accommodate a larger rider just because you can actually ride it doesn't mean that you're necessarily going to be comfortable on it and there's a lot of different factors that come into play there probably one of the more important ones is the frame size but it's not necessarily the most important one because sometimes there are spikes that have just one frame size and they can fit a variety of different riders and that's not necessarily a bad way to go if they're made to be flexible in that way but before we get into that i should probably just mention what is actually a tall rider what would i actually consider a tall rider now i'm five foot nine i have a 30 and a half inch inseam and i'm not sure if i would consider myself average height but i guess somewhere kind of around there i'd say if i was thinking of what is a tall rider would be somebody outside of maybe more common sizes we encounter and probably above 6'3 or so you know certainly somebody can be considered tall if they're over six foot or at least here in the us i mean other places in the world there's people that are more commonly tall i went to the netherlands and there's a lot of really tall people and actually a lot of the bikes that come from there tend to be a bit larger generally speaking i would choose a size medium but some bikes can tend to be a bit larger some bikes can tend to be a bit smaller and it really depends on what you're looking for what type of experience you're looking for sometimes having a smaller bike could mean that it's a bit lighter could potentially be a bit more maneuverable but if you're going for longer rides you might prefer a larger bike just kind of allow you to stretch out a bit more on it have some more room i'd like to talk about what we've seen in the past as far as frame sizes what we're kind of seeing now and probably what we'll see more of in the future if you think about it the electric bike market it's still a growing market it's still relatively young now when i first started this about 10 years ago most bikes came in just one size and many manufacturers that's still the case but as the market grows and as a lot of manufacturers work in more mature markets they're able to have more variety and more options to satisfy the needs of their consumers so we see with a lot more developed bike brands that they have more frame sizes maybe some of the smaller companies they can't really afford to offer as much variety because if you think about it when it comes to manufacturing manufacturing that additional frame it creates more complexity and costs more money and that sort of thing so if you're in this very small subset of rider heights it might be difficult for that manufacturer to create something and for it to be profitable so for a lot of these companies where they used to just have one size then many of them switched to having two sizes more recently we see some manufacturers go to four potentially even five frame sizes that's generally more complete you know you can go everywhere from like extra small small medium large extra large some even have like a double xl but not all sizes are created equal manufacturers use different measurements to determine what the size of their bike is but one of the most common measurements is what's called the seat tube and that's basically the measurement from the center of the crank arm up to the top of the seat tube where the seat post inserts so this is one of the more common measurements so if you see a frame that says 18 inches or 20 inches or 50 centimeters or 55 centimeters generally it's going to be going by that measurement but there's different measurements that are also important especially if you're taller another measurement that's really important is the top tube length the the length of the seat tube to basically where the handlebar stem goes or the headset the top tube measurement is the top part of the front triangle of the bike then you also have a down tube but the top tube is going to impact your reach like how much space you have between you and the handlebars now if you're a taller person and you have a very short top tube you're kind of in a weird like scrunched up sort of position you also might tend to be further back on the bike to try and give yourself room that can create a kind of uncomfortable and unbalanced position in an ideal world you're as balanced in between the front and rear axle as possible and that's gonna really create balance on the bike you might have had the experience of riding a bike and you're back a little bit too far and you feel like there's not too much weight on that front wheel you could feel this tendency to want to like lift up that front wheel that sort of thing and maybe if you're riding on a flat surface it's not as big of a deal but as you start going up a hill it becomes a much bigger deal because then you feel like you have to push your weight forward too much or that sort of thing and you're constantly trying to rebalance yourself as opposed to just being able to feel comfortable just like fixed in that position and that's really where the frame size comes into play in a big way i mean there's different ways you can modify a bike like for example you can put a seat post a longer seat post or potentially even a seat post that is set back a little bit but thinking about it is you know the closer you get to that rear axle the more potential for you to be a little bit more unbalanced but if you're too far forward that can also create a bit of a weird experience riding the bike you're putting too much weight on the front wheel it's not going to be as easy to steer or handle and you're not going to get as much traction on that rear wheel because you're not putting too much weight there i don't want to over complicate things but these are important things to think about and to consider now you can get to know this just by riding the bike and seeing how it feels but that can also be a challenge because oftentimes bike shops have demo bikes or bikes available for testing in more of the medium and large size to have those larger sizes available for testing you're going to have a much smaller clientele that's interested in that and it could be difficult to support that and to have those bikes available so oftentimes you need to be thinking differently and consider different details and actually consider what the ideal measurements are for you and you know take certain measurements on your own one of the things that we generally ask people for is their height and their inseam the ncm is not your pant leg in seam it's actually the measurement from your crotch to the floor without shoes this is a really helpful determinant of what is the ideal frame size for you now there's certainly other factors to consider and as you get into more advanced bike fitting you'll want to consider some of these other details like you know your torso length your arm length different things like that but in a general way you can get pretty close to where you want to be with an electric bike with those two measurements with that in-c measurement you can consider what the standover height needs to be for example now with somebody with a slightly shorter in-seam at 30 and a half inches i find that a lot of bikes might have a slightly taller standover height and it can be a challenge at times in an ideal world you have an inch or two of clearance between your crotch and top tube just to protect yourself in the case that you have to hop off the saddle quickly now more and more there's bikes that have a low step that doesn't have that top tube it's less of a concern so you know the standover height is not really a thing there but if you can find a bike that has a taller top tube you still have enough clearance and actually in an ideal world you have that top to go up relatively high and you can have a larger bike that fits you because if you think about it that top tube the down tube and then the c tube that makes a triangle so all these things are impacted if you extend one of them it's going to impact the other measurements as well and that's just how it's going to work now not all manufacturers are equal in the way that they handle their sizing just because you're a 55 centimeter or 58 centimeter and one frame manufacturer you're not necessarily going to be the same in others i think considering that detail as well as the top tube and potentially the wheel size is going to be another factor now you might be inclined to want to opt for the largest possible frame out there but actually if you're going to also include a suspension seat post you might be adding another three or four inches with that suspension seat post because it's not going to go down all the way or in the case of a dropper seat post you can go up to 170 millimeters not sure the exact calculation of that but it's i think four inches or so to have that ability to drop the seat post down you can consider some different frame sizes now as i mentioned that top tube length that's going to be really important and to give you that ability to kind of stay in between the wheels now certainly you could if you need some more room and to stretch out a little bit you can put a longer stem on it and a lot of times people want to sit more upright now one thing with the taller rider you tend to have a higher center or gravity and that's another factor so trying to be lower have your lower center of gravity you're going to feel more comfortable more planted on the bike now naturally people that are taller they might also be heavier so considering the weight rating of the frame and the bike overall is important detail as well so many of the bikes that we offer they tend to be a little bit more robust and can handle a bit more weight wheel size is another important consideration but it's not necessarily a rule that just because you're taller you need to have a larger wheel size for example we work with some manufacturers and they have a smaller wheel size like turn for example they make a folding bike and they make a cargo bike cargo bikes can be a really good way to go because they have a longer wheelbase and it's going to be easier for a taller rider to stay in between the wheels that's a good thing to consider more specifically the long or mid-tail bikes they can also generally handle a bit more weight so that's another thing to think about you have 20-inch wheels some bikes have 24-inch wheels 26-inch wheels many of the bikes that we offer have 27.5 inch wheels this is a common size that's used for mountain bikes and they're also common to have a wider tire on there from my perspective that's a good way to go it's going to give you a little bit more support it's going to support your weight better and if the bike can be appropriately sized for you that's a great consideration as well beyond the 27.5 the 28 inch or 29er wheel which is pretty much the same thing also called a 700c depending on the application that it's used for is another consideration one of the larger wheel sizes you'll find in more traditional bikes and electric bikes however there is one other wheel size that's not actually so common but it's a possibility if you're particularly tall a 36 inch wheel so i actually know a gentleman his name is david and he has a company called dirty sixer and he makes 36-inch wheeled bikes pretty wild historically he hasn't made too many electric bikes but in speaking with him i think there's a possibility we might be seeing something pretty soon there traditionally those wheels have been used for unicycles but he actually used them for bicycles specifically made for taller riders and from his side his clientele generally starts in the six six range and goes up to i think seven four was one of his tallest customers shaq is one of his most famous customers and he's about seven feet tall he's also a really just big guy overall and you know he build a bike that can handle him now certainly there's ways you can modify any bike and you could pretty much fit anybody on any bike you know i could put a six-six rider on a sized bike with a super long seat post and a super long stem and they could say oh i feel relatively comfortable the bike's not really that stable but you know just think about that uh you know i would say if you have an opportunity to test the bike in person definitely a good way to go or really just try to work with the professional that knows what they're talking about here has experience with this sort of thing and find a bike that's actually made to fit a taller rider as opposed to just trying to modify one to fit you i think that's mostly what i wanted to talk about i'm sure other people are going to have other suggestions and i definitely recommend you leave them in the comments if you can because as you know i'm not a tall guy and you know if you have personal experience it's great or if you have personal experience fitting toward riders i mean i certainly have a decent bid of that and we work with a variety of manufacturers that do offer some bikes for taller riders but you know nothing beats you know just hearing from more people and just helping to make a more informed decision i mean that's part of the spirit of this youtube channel and we try to educate people and help them understand these things on a deeper level to wrap things up i'd like to just talk about a couple of the bikes that i'm specifically familiar with that would potentially fit a taller rider but i'd say we start to teeter out somewhere in like the six seven six eight you can get a bike that's probably made to fit a rider up to six six but going beyond that you're likely going to have to make some modifications like a different seat post different handlebar stems etc but you want to stay within a reasonable range and not go way beyond that because you probably could tend to put more pressure on that frame more strain on the frame than it might otherwise be built to handle and as i mentioned before you can create an experience where the bike is not as stable as it should be or it's really intended to be and you definitely want to be careful about that we work with the manufacturer gazelle they make a lot of bikes that tend to be larger some other manufacturers recent muir definitely a good one and they have some pretty large frames one of the bigger bikes is their homage they make it in a 58 centimeter definitely tends to be pretty large they also have a model called the nevo which they have in a really large size and really actually most of their bikes they tend to be a bit larger one thing to consider if you're a bigger person they're full suspension bikes they can be more challenging to accommodate a heavier rider and outside of that i mentioned you know cargo bikes more specifically they're long and mid-tail bikes recent muler has a bike called the multi-charger and has a longer wheelbase even though the frame size and the largest size is only 51 centimeters you could tend to be a bit more comfortable on that bike because you end up really centered between those wheels and that's going to be really helpful some other manufacturers that also have these kind of long and mid-tail bikes is like turn for example as i mentioned before their gsd model definitely a good consideration if you're taller actually i know their pr guy is pretty tall and i've met him in person i see him you know looks pretty comfortable on the bike if you're riding in a more aggressive position really leaning forward the frame size becomes more critical if you're riding like more sporty if you're riding mountain biking or road racing that sort of thing it's a little bit different as far as sizing somebody on a bike like that as opposed to somebody that you're sitting a bit more upright if you're sitting more upright and your elbows are more kind of bent like this longer top tube might just kind of push you forward a little bit but if you're sitting in a more forward position if you're kind of stretched out if you have to bend your elbows too much that's going to be a little bit uncomfortable it's going to create like weird stress and pains and that sort of thing really depends on your ride position because we tend to focus on more urban riding and more comfort sort of stuff people tend to want to ride more upright and it's less of a deal i think outside of that you know looking at some of the larger bike manufacturers can be helpful because a lot of times they will have more frame sizes available definitely something to consider there i think that's mostly what i want to cover here hope you guys found that to be helpful if i can provide any more insight or maybe you want me to do a follow-up video on this or one of these topics i think we're probably going to end up doing a video on bike sizing overall and bike fitting i have a good friend of mine that's professional bike fitter just uh hope you enjoyed and we'll see you soon [Music] you

Channel: Propel

Views: 20,400

Keywords: ebike, electric bikes, e bike, ebikes, tall riders, tall riders ebike, tall rides electric bikes, how to size bikes, tall riders advice, electric bike, electric bicycle, propel electric bike, propel bikes, tips for tall riders bike, bosch ebikes, tall bikers, best bike for tall guy, Tall cyclist, taller cyclist, bikes for big people, ebikes for large people, larger ebikes, large ebikes

Id: Q3epW0XuEPQ

Length: 17min 33sec (1053 seconds)

Published: Fri Jul 16 2021