Many electric bicycles on the market have gears, and many have no gears. When I buy an electric bicycle, I first want to know the difference in riding experience between an electric bicycle with gears and an electric bicycle without gears, and which one is most suitable for my riding needs. So, do you need gears for electric bicycles?

Generally speaking, electric bicycles do not need gears. The pedal assistant device powered by the battery of your electric bicycle can handle various situations requiring gear shifting when using a standard bicycle. There are some extenuating circumstances.

Now you know that your electric bicycle does not necessarily need gears, but you may want to know why some people who ride electric bicycles prefer to have gears rather than no gears. Please read on to find out the answer.

Do electric bicycles need gears?

In general, electric bicycles do not need gears. The pedal assistance system can visually identify the situations that need to change gears when riding a standard bike, and help cyclists accordingly. However, some electric bicycles are made of gears to improve the riding experience.

The pedal assist device of the electric bicycle is specially designed to handle the situation that you need to change gears when riding a standard bicycle. An electric bicycle without gears, or a single speed electric bicycle, knows how much or how much to help you step on the pedal during riding. Therefore, no matter whether you are riding up and down the mountain or trudging on rugged terrain, please rest assured that most electric bicycles can take you to your destination, no matter how dangerous the journey is.

However, some cyclists may prefer to install gears on electric bicycles. Reasons for this may include:

More and more important sports
Battery saving
Walk faster on steep mountains

Use gears on electric bicycles to get effective exercise

Although you can exercise on an electric bicycle without gears, as long as you lower the pedal assistance level, using gears on an electric bicycle can give you more effective exercise.

When you ride a bike, you can increase your heart rate through greater resistance, so using an electric bike with a higher gear requires you to step harder, which in turn will increase your heart rate.

Use gears on your electric bike to save battery power

When using an electric bicycle, you can move forward in three ways. You can choose to fully automate (accelerator), use pedal assistance, or step on the pedal yourself. The accelerator needs a lot of batteries, while the pedal assist device (partially driven by the motor, but has an auxiliary function when you step on the pedal) needs some of your batteries.

Although the pedal assist system is only partially powered by the motor of the electric bicycle, it still has battery life.

Therefore, turning off the pedal assist, driving completely manually, or using the low assist in a higher gear can help conserve battery life.

Some passengers who commute for a long time or work with electric bicycles may choose to lower the pedal assist or manually step on the pedal when using the shifter to save the battery when using the charger for a long time.

Use gears on your electric bike to go faster on steep hills

Although most electric bicycle motors can cope with steep slopes, if there are many steep slopes where you ride, it may be a good idea to buy an electric bicycle that can shift gears.

When riding a standard bicycle, it is very important to shift gears when going up and down the mountain. As with traditional bicycles, the shift of electric bicycles during mountain climbing can enable cyclists to better control the speed of electric bicycles on mountains and the necessity of pedaling.

Most electric bicycles have a maximum speed, so if there is no shift function, the maximum speed may be slower than expected when climbing a particularly steep mountain slope. On average, using a higher gear requires less effort to speed up, while using a lower gear requires more effort to speed up.

When you use the gear of an electric bicycle, you can adjust how fast you want to walk on the mountain. You can even run faster than the highest speed of an electric bicycle, because the motor of an electric bicycle cannot provide more than a certain level of power. In addition, using gears allows you to quickly ride up and down hilly terrain with less effort.