First Road Ride on the EVRYjourney E-Bike: Pedal Assist, Throttle, and Real Hills

The First Ride Begins: Throttle Starts and Pedal Assist

There's a specific kind of first ride I love watching. It isn't a spec test or a hill-climb shootout. It's someone who has never taken a particular bike out on a real street, rolling out for the first time and finding out, in real time, what that bike is actually like. That's what this video is. One of our team members took the EVRYjourney out on the road for the very first time, filmed the whole thing, and talked through it as it happened. I'm going to walk you through that ride, stop by stop, and add what I know about the bike along the way. If you're weighing the EVRYjourney for yourself, you get both the honest first impressions and the context behind them.

A quick note on how this went down. It was a real ride on public streets, with a second rider out front calling the route: keep going straight, stop at this light, press the crosswalk button, make a left here. Nothing was staged around the bike. There were cars, a van, red lights, a couple of hills in each direction, and one moment where my teammate didn't hear a direction in time. I've kept all of that in, because the imperfect parts of a first ride tell you more about a bike than the polished ones.

Getting rolling with the throttle

The ride started the way I'd recommend most new e-bike riders start: with the throttle. After a couple of "okay, okay" moments getting oriented, my teammate hit the throttle and the bike moved off. On the EVRYjourney, the throttle is a simple thumb control. Push it down and the motor moves the bike entirely on its own power, with no pedaling required. That matters most in the first few seconds of any ride, when you're balancing, finding the pedals with your feet, and trying to get up to a speed where the bike feels stable. A gentle press of the throttle takes the wobble out of that moment.

I tell people all the time that the hardest part of riding any two-wheeler is the first three or four pedal strokes from a dead stop. That's when you're slowest, least balanced, and most likely to feel shaky. If you haven't ridden in years, it's often the part that keeps you off a bike entirely. Having a throttle under your thumb turns that awkward launch into something smooth and predictable.

Pedal assist one on a smooth street

Once rolling, my teammate dropped into pedal assist one and headed out into the street. Pedal assist is different from the throttle. The motor only engages when you're pedaling, and it adds power on top of your own effort. Level one is the gentlest setting. You're still doing real work, but the bike feels lighter, almost as if someone is giving you a steady push from behind. On a flat, smooth road, it's plenty.

"Always nice to be driving on a smooth road," was the comment at this point, and I'd agree. A good surface is where you really feel what a bike is built for. The EVRYjourney is a cruiser at heart, with an upright position and relaxed geometry, and on clean pavement it simply rolls. There's no fuss, no fighting the handlebars, just an easy glide down the street.

The first hill and pedal assist two

Then the road tilted up. Honestly, this is the moment that decides whether a lot of people keep riding. On a regular bike, a hill early in a ride can drain your legs and your enthusiasm in about thirty seconds. My teammate bumped up to pedal assist two and the reaction was immediate: "Makes it much easier." A few seconds later came a simple "Love it."

That's the whole point of a multi-level pedal assist system. You don't have to choose between all motor and all you. You dial in the amount of help the terrain calls for. On the flat, level one. When the grade starts, level two. Steeper than that, go higher. Your legs stay in the game the entire time, and you don't arrive at the top of the hill gasping for air.

Live, laugh, pedal assist

Somewhere on that climb came my favorite line of the whole video. My teammate announced plans for a shirt that says "Live, laugh, love, pedal assist," then reconsidered and trimmed it to "Live, laugh, pedal assist." Somebody please make that shirt. I'm only half joking. That reaction, the spontaneous joy of a climb that should have been hard and wasn't, is something I see over and over with first-time e-bike riders. People expect pedal assist to feel like cheating. Instead it feels like the bike finally matches the way they want to ride.

A little later came the move to pedal assist three, along with "Obsessed with this" and "Look at me go." Level three gives a noticeably stronger push, and it's where plenty of riders settle for general cruising once they're comfortable. It keeps a good pace without taking you out of the ride. You're still pedaling, still connected to the bike, still choosing how hard you want to work.

Why starting gradually works

The pattern on this first ride is the one I'd hand to any new owner: throttle to get moving, level one on the flat, step up as the road demands. You learn how the bike responds before you ask it for a lot of power. By the time you reach level three, you've already felt the motor come in and drop out several times, you know how quickly it responds, and nothing about it surprises you. That progression builds confidence much faster than jumping straight to the highest setting and hanging on.

It also keeps the ride enjoyable. A first ride shouldn't feel like a test you're trying to pass. It should feel like this one did: a little tentative for the first minute, then relaxed, then genuinely fun. That shift happened in the first ninety seconds of the video, and it set the tone for everything that followed.

A first ride on a quiet path is one thing. A first ride in real traffic is another, and this video had plenty of it. About a minute and a half in, my teammate noted a car off to one side and a red light up ahead, and just kept riding steadily while the guide confirmed the route. "I know where we're at," was the comment. That calm matters more than people think. A bike that feels unstable makes you anxious about everything around you. A bike that feels planted lets you pay attention to the road instead of your balance.

Stopping at the light

At the first light the instruction was simple: stop here, we're going to cross. There was a funny little exchange about whether to cross on foot or on the bikes (on the bikes), followed by a moment of figuring out that "press the button" meant the crosswalk button. Then came the wait for the signal, with the guide waving my teammate ahead.

I want to point to that wait, because it's where the EVRYjourney's frame quietly does its job. When you stop on a lot of bikes, you either tip up onto your toes or slide forward off the saddle to get a foot on the ground. My teammate came back to this exact point at the end of the ride, and I'll go much deeper on it later. The short version is that the EVRYjourney sits you low enough to put your feet down flat while you stay on the seat. At a long red light, that's the difference between standing comfortably and balancing awkwardly.

Throttling across the intersection

When the signal changed: "Let's use that throttle and cross the street. Awesome." This is my favorite use of a throttle, period. Crossing an intersection from a stop is the moment you most want to get moving promptly and smoothly, and it's also the moment you're least steady. A throttle launch gets you up to speed and clear of the crosswalk without a wobbly first few pedal strokes in front of waiting cars. Once you're rolling, you settle back into pedal assist.

Plenty of riders tell me they bought an e-bike for the hills and ended up loving the throttle most at intersections. It makes sense. Hills you can plan for. Traffic lights come at you constantly, and every single one of them is a standing start.

The van moment

Right after the crossing came a left turn and an instruction to follow a van. By the time my teammate heard it, the bike was already out in front of the van. The response was exactly right: "Let me slow down a little bit," followed by a quick apology to the guide for not hearing the direction until it was too late.

I left this in on purpose. It's a small thing, but it's real. On a first ride you're processing a lot at once: the controls, the road, the route, and another rider talking to you. Missing a call-out is completely normal. What I want you to notice is how easy it was to correct. The bike slowed down predictably, nothing felt rushed, and the ride carried on. A comfortable bike gives you room to make small mistakes without them turning into big ones.

Riding a cruiser-style e-bike in traffic

Many people considering the EVRYjourney ask me whether a cruiser-style e-bike is practical for street riding, so let me speak to that directly. The upright position is a real advantage. You sit tall with your head up, which gives you a better view of what's happening ahead and around you and makes you easier for drivers to see. You aren't hunched over the handlebars staring at the pavement just in front of your wheel.

Our product page describes the EVRYjourney's riding position as upright and relaxed, intended to reduce strain on the back, hips, shoulders, and knees. That comfort isn't only about how you feel at the end of the ride. When you're comfortable, you fidget less, you have more attention to spare, and you make better decisions in traffic.

Red lights and restarts

A few minutes later there was another red light, another stop, and another throttle restart: "And now we throttle. And we are throttling. Look at me throttling." It's funny, but it also shows how quickly the throttle became second nature. By that point there was no hesitation at all. Stop, feet down, wait, thumb the throttle, go.

That's the rhythm of most real rides around town: a stop, a start, a stretch of cruising, then another stop. A bike that makes every one of those restarts easy is a bike you'll actually use for errands and short trips, not just weekend paths. If that's how you picture using an e-bike, take a look at our step-thru electric bikes. A low frame makes getting on and off at every stop that much simpler, which adds up fast on a ride with lots of lights.

Keeping pace with another rider

One more thing this stretch of the video shows is how well the EVRYjourney works when you're riding with someone else. The guide called the route, and the bike had no trouble keeping pace, easing off, or pulling ahead and then backing down again. Being able to fine-tune your speed with the assist levels and the throttle is a big part of what makes an e-bike good for riding with a partner, especially when the two of you have different fitness levels or different ideas about how hard a ride should be.

That flexibility is something I hear about constantly from couples and families. One person wants a workout, the other wants a relaxed cruise, and on regular bikes somebody always ends up waiting or struggling. With pedal assist, each rider sets their own effort and you still arrive together.

Around the three-minute mark the route turned downhill, and the mood in the video shifted from careful to gleeful. "Life is a bike ride," my teammate said, then let the bike run and called out 20 miles an hour on the display.

Letting it roll, then slowing down

Here's what I liked: the very next line was "Now I'm going to slow down because that's the safe thing to do." And then, for the folks back home: "See, Mom, I'm wearing a helmet. I'm slowing down."

Jokes aside, that's the right instinct. A downhill on an e-bike, which weighs more than a standard bike, builds speed quickly, and your brakes are the thing you need to trust most. The EVRYjourney 500W is listed on our site with front and rear disc hand brakes. On a descent like this one, being able to scrub off speed smoothly and predictably is what lets you enjoy the hill instead of white-knuckling it.

And yes, wear a helmet. Every ride, every time, no matter how short. If you need one, you can find sixthreezero helmets alongside the rest of our accessories.

How the display helps on a descent

Later, on another long downhill, my teammate noted being on pedal assist one at 19.3 miles an hour while hardly pedaling, then decided to slow down "a wee bit." That's a useful detail because it shows how much the display tells you. The EVRYjourney's display shows your speed and which pedal assist level you're in, so you always know both how fast you're going and how much help the motor is giving you. On a descent, that speed readout is a good reality check. It's easy to underestimate how fast you're moving when a bike feels this smooth.

It also illustrates something new riders don't always realize. On a downhill, gravity is doing most of the work. Being on pedal assist one at 19 miles an hour doesn't mean level one is fast. It means the hill is. Pedal assist adds power when you pedal, and if you're mostly coasting, it's largely you and gravity. That's why I always tell people to match their speed to the road and the conditions, not to whatever number feels fun.

A word on speed and local rules

A general caution, not specific to this bike: rules for e-bikes vary depending on where you ride, and shared paths often have lower speed limits than streets. Know the rules in your area, and remember that a speed that feels fine on an empty road can be far too fast near pedestrians, driveways, or intersections. The ride in this video is a good model. Enjoy the descent, then back off when it makes sense.

Making the green light

At the bottom of the hill there was a green light up ahead and a switch to pedal assist three: "Let's see if we can make this green light." This is a nice example of using assist levels tactically. Level three gives you a burst of extra help to get through a light while it's still green, without sprinting. Then, with "Okay, now I can use my little legs," it was back to doing more of the pedaling.

The final climb on pedal assist four

The last section was a climb, and this is where my teammate went to pedal assist four and called out 15 miles an hour going up the hill. Think about that for a second. Fifteen miles an hour uphill, on a first ride, on a cruiser-style bike, while still pedaling. On a non-electric cruiser, most of us would be grinding up that same hill at a crawl, or walking the bike.

This is where a 500-watt rear hub motor earns its keep. Our product page describes it as delivering a smooth, easy ride either with pedal assistance or under full motor power, and the climbing on this ride matched that description. No drama, no strain in the voice, just a steady climb and a cheerful "Roger that."

Climbing tips for new riders

If you're new to e-bikes, a few things from this ride are worth copying on hills. First, raise the assist level before the hill gets steep, not halfway up it. The bike responds best when you're carrying some momentum and the extra help comes in as the grade builds. Second, keep pedaling at a steady, comfortable cadence instead of mashing hard. Pedal assist works with you, and smooth pedaling makes for a smoother climb.

Third, remember you have gears as well as assist levels. The EVRYjourney 500W is listed with a 7-speed Shimano drivetrain, so shifting to an easier gear alongside a higher assist level keeps your legs comfortable on longer climbs. Fourth, don't feel like the throttle is only for flat ground. If a hill is steep enough that getting started from a stop on it would be a struggle, the throttle is there for exactly that.

Hills and battery range

One honest note: climbing on higher assist levels uses more battery than cruising on level one. Our product page lists the EVRYjourney 500W at roughly 20 miles on full electric and 20 to 40 miles on pedal assist. Where you land in that range depends on how hilly your route is, which levels you use, how much you lean on the throttle, and how much weight the bike is carrying. For a route like this one, with a mix of flats, descents, and a few climbs, mixing levels the way my teammate did is a sensible way to stretch the battery while still enjoying the help where it counts.

A good habit for the first few weeks with any e-bike is to pay attention to the battery indicator on your regular routes. You'll quickly get a feel for how much a particular hill or a particular assist level costs you, and after that, planning a longer ride becomes second nature.

Right after that final climb, my teammate pulled over and gave the verdict straight to camera. The gist: a great time on the first road ride with the EVRYjourney, and a bike that felt like riding a beach cruiser. Super comfortable. I want to unpack each point that came up, because every one of them ties back to a specific design decision.

"It really felt like I was riding a beach cruiser"

The EVRYjourney isn't a classic single-speed beach cruiser. It's an electric hybrid cruiser with gears, a motor, and a frame built to handle more than a boardwalk. But it was designed to feel like a cruiser: an upright posture, a wide and soft saddle, and a relaxed way of riding that never asks you to get aggressive. That's what my teammate was picking up on. You get the feel of a cruiser with the capability of an e-bike underneath it.

For many riders, that's exactly the combination they're after. They love the laid-back cruiser feel but live somewhere with hills, want to ride farther, or simply don't want to work that hard every time they head out. If that sounds like you, our electric beach cruiser collection is a good place to start browsing.

A seat that's lower to the ground

The second thing my teammate loved was that the seat sits lower to the ground. At a stop sign or a red light, it's easy to just put your feet down, rather than wobbling the way you might on other bikes. In my teammate's words, the bike felt very stable and secure when stopping.

This is the EVRYjourney's signature feature, and it comes from what we call forward pedaling. On a traditional bike, the pedals sit roughly beneath the saddle. To get proper leg extension, the saddle has to be high, which means that when you stop, you can't reach the ground without tipping the bike or sliding off the seat. On the EVRYjourney, the pedals are moved forward relative to the seat and the bike sits lower overall. The rider is closer to the ground but still gets full leg extension on the pedal stroke.

In practice, stopping becomes a non-event. You squeeze the brakes, put both feet down flat, and you're stable. There's no hopping off the saddle and no tiptoe balancing act. For newer riders, shorter riders, people returning to cycling after years away, or anyone who has ever felt nervous at a stoplight, that's a big deal. It takes away the moment when most low-speed tip-overs happen.

Room to extend your legs

The third point was how much my teammate could extend their legs, because the seat sits further back. This is the other half of the forward pedaling design, and it's what keeps a low seat from feeling cramped. Lots of bikes can be set low by dropping the seatpost, but then your knees come up toward your chest on every stroke, which is uncomfortable and inefficient.

The EVRYjourney's geometry lets you sit low and still straighten your leg properly at the bottom of each pedal stroke. You get the stability of being close to the ground and the efficiency of a correctly extended leg at the same time. It's the kind of detail you don't think about until you ride a bike that lacks it, and then you can't stop noticing.

Pedal assist for hills, throttle to get going

The last part of the verdict was a big thumbs up for pedal assist on hills, which made them much easier, and for the throttle to get going. That lines up with everything we saw on the ride. Pedal assist turned climbs that could have been the low point into some of the most enjoyable moments, shirt slogan included. The throttle made every standing start, every intersection, and every restart after a light smooth and easy.

Those two features pair naturally with the frame. The low, foot-forward position makes stopping secure, and the throttle makes starting effortless. Between them, the two moments new riders worry about most, stopping and starting, are covered.

What a first ride can and can't tell you

I'll be straight with you about the limits. This was one ride, on one route, by one rider, and first impressions are only part of the story. A six-minute video doesn't tell you how the bike feels after a month of commuting or how the battery behaves across a full season. What it does show, honestly and without a script, is how approachable the EVRYjourney is right out of the gate.

My teammate went from "okay, okay" at the start to throttling across intersections and climbing on pedal assist four in roughly six minutes. That's the learning curve I want people to see. There's also something in the tone. The jokes, the "look at me go," the shirt slogan, none of that happens when a rider is nervous. It happens when someone is comfortable enough on a bike to relax and have fun, and to me that's the best review a bike can get.

If you've been on the fence about whether you could handle an e-bike, especially if it's been a while since you rode anything with two wheels, I'd encourage you to watch the video with that in mind. Pay attention to the stops more than the speed. That's where this bike sets itself apart.

Because this was a first-impressions ride, nobody stopped to read off specs. So here's a rundown of what our product page lists for the EVRYjourney 500W, to help you connect what you saw on the ride with the hardware behind it.

Motor and riding modes

The EVRYjourney 500W uses a 500-watt rear hub motor, and the product page describes three ways to ride it. You can leave the motor off and pedal it like a traditional bike. You can use pedal assist, where the motor engages only when you pedal. Or you can use the thumb throttle and let the motor move the bike entirely on its own. All three showed up in some form on this ride, sometimes within the same minute.

Battery and range

The battery is listed as a 500W, 48V, 10.4Ah lithium-ion pack with charger, rated for about 20 miles on full electric and 20 to 40 miles on pedal assist. The page also notes the battery is certified to the UL 2271 standard by ACT Labs. As I mentioned earlier, hills, assist level, throttle use, and rider weight all affect where you land in that range.

Brakes, gears, and display

Stopping is handled by front and rear disc hand brakes. The drivetrain is listed as a 7-speed Shimano setup with a Shimano Tourney rear derailleur and a Revo-style index shifter, rolling on 26-inch wheels. The LCD display shows your speed, power level, and battery charge, which is exactly what my teammate was reading when calling out speeds on the descents and the climb.

Comfort touches

Beyond the frame geometry, the page highlights an extra-wide, foam-packed saddle and soft synthetic leather grips. Those don't show up in a speed readout, but they're a big part of why a ride like this one feels relaxed rather than punishing, and why my teammate kept coming back to the word comfortable.

Fit and sizing

The EVRYjourney 500W is listed for riders from 5 feet to 6 feet 4 inches tall, with a weight capacity of up to 300 pounds. Height is only part of fit, though. Inseam and arm length matter too, which is why I always recommend running through our bike fitting guide before you choose. It takes a few minutes and it's the best way to make sure the low, foot-forward position works for your body the way it did for my teammate.

Which EVRYjourney is right for you

The EVRYjourney comes in more than one version on our site, including women's and men's frames as well as fat tire editions, and details like tire width and listed top speed can differ between them. Always check the specific product page for the version you're considering. You can browse by frame in our women's electric bikes and men's electric bikes collections, and if wider tires appeal to you, our fat tire electric bikes are worth a look.

Who this bike makes the most sense for

Based on this ride and the design behind it, the EVRYjourney fits a few kinds of riders especially well. It suits people who are new to e-bikes or returning to cycling after a long break, because the throttle smooths out starts and the low seat makes stops secure. It suits riders who want to put their feet flat on the ground at every light. It suits anyone with hills in their neighborhood who loves the relaxed cruiser feel. And it suits older riders who value stability; our electric bikes for seniors collection gathers models with that same priority in mind.

If comfort is your top consideration overall, our comfort electric bikes collection is built around exactly that. And since the product page notes the EVRYjourney has a rear rack ready for baskets or panniers, you can make it an errand bike with something from our bags and panniers lineup.

Tips for your own first ride

If you end up on an EVRYjourney, here's the first-ride approach I'd borrow straight from this video. Use the throttle to get moving from a stop. Start on pedal assist one on flat ground and step up only as the road asks for it. Raise the assist before a hill rather than halfway up. Use the throttle again at intersections. Watch your speed on descents and slow down before you feel like you need to. Put your feet down flat at every stop and enjoy how stable that feels. And wear a helmet, every single time.

Try it before you commit

The best way to know whether a bike suits you is to ride it. We offer a 30-day test ride, and if you're near us you can visit our store and take one for a spin yourself. You can also browse the full lineup of sixthreezero electric bikes to compare options side by side.

My teammate wrapped up the video by thanking everyone for coming along and hoping you'll join for the next one. I'll second that. First rides like this are some of my favorite things we film, because they show exactly what a bike feels like to someone meeting it for the first time. Thanks for riding along.