One of the great things about electric bikes is that riding in different terrains, such as in sand, can be much easier than if you’re riding a standard bike. However, there are basic tire and maintenance requirements for riding in the sand.

You can ride your e-bike in the sand if it has the right tires and you know how to take care of it properly, especially the electric components. Your bike needs wide tires that grip the loose ground and long, wide fenders that keep the sand from flying up.

What to Consider Before Riding Your Electric Bike in the Sand

If you’ll be riding in the sand, it’s most likely because you’re on a beach or in a desert. Either way, sand can be quite damaging to the motor, battery, and other components of your e-bike.

Think about what it’s like to get a mouthful of sand. It’s gritty and hard to spit out completely, right?! This is what it’d be like if sand gets into your electric motor or internal components.

Grains of sand are so small that they can get wedged in tightly where they don’t belong, like in bearings and brackets. And unless you have the skills needed to repair your own e-bike, you’ll be shelling out more cash pretty quickly.

Not only might you have to buy new parts, but you’ll have to pay a professional bike repair service to clean it all out for you.

Another concern about riding on the beach in deep sand is what lurks below the surface. Sharp objects such as shells, glass, and other things left behind by humans, can puncture tires.

So, you might want to keep a tire repair kit handy. This, of course, is a good idea anytime you’re riding far from home.

Additionally, decide where in the sand you want to ride. Riding on compacted sand will be easier for you and better for your e-bike overall. You’ll be able to maintain better control and there isn’t as much loose sand to fly up into your bike (and your face!).

Your ride in the sand will improve by keeping a lower tire pressure than you would on the pavement. Lowering your tire inflation will help you stay on top of the sand instead of being buried in it.

On a fat bike tire, which we’ll discuss in a minute, you can test out the right pressure by letting out a little air at a time, down as low as 10 psi. But make sure to re-inflate your tires’ inner tubes to around 20 psi before getting back onto a harder terrain.

For the greatest ride through the sand, just relax and keep as much weight over your back tire as you can. That’ll help keep you from getting thrown off your bike head first (just being real here).

Get the Best Tires for Riding Your E-Bike in the Sand

Truthfully, being able to ride your e-bike comfortably in the sand, especially deeper, loose sand has a lot to do with having the right tires for it. And you don’t have to buy an expensive bike to have the right tires.

So, what tires are recommended for sand riding? First and foremost you’ll need wide tires, most often called “fat” tires.

Although you can get bikes with 8-inch wide tires, this will be overkill for most riders. A 4-inch fat tire is pretty standard and can be ridden on most surfaces including sand.

The great thing about bikes with fat tires is that they provide a lot of traction due to their width and because they make more contact with the ground. Plus, a fat tire is extra-thick, making it strong enough to cover rough terrain without getting damaged.

When buying an e-bike that you want to ride in the sand, make sure you read the reviews that discuss the tires and whether they are good in the sand.

You won’t do well with an electric “road” bike that’s made more for speed and long distances. Instead, consider a mountain bike, fat tire bike, or hybrid. The fat tires on these electric bikes will get you over rough terrain and sand while still performing well enough on the road.

How to Maintain Your E-Bike and Clean It After Riding in the Sand

Although cleaning your electric bike after every ride in the sand is a good idea, nothing beats preventative maintenance to keep your e-bike in good shape. Anything you can do to prevent damage to the electric bike parts is well worth it.

How to Prevent Problems from Riding Electric Bikes in the Sand

• Avoid riding in the salt water, especially if it looks dirty (like is often the case at a beach inlet).
  
• Keep your chain clean and lubed. Make sure the lubrication is fully dry before riding so that sand and salt aren’t attracted to it. A Teflon lube is generally recommended.
  
• Lubricate other aluminum parts like the connectors on the wheel spokes and the sprockets of the pedals.
  
• Get a professional tune-up. You’ll need these more often if you ride in the sand or other extreme elements often. If you ride frequently, you may want to get a tune-up 2-4 times per year.
  
• And riding in the sand means you should probably have a professional clean out the sand from the drivetrain. You can do this at the same time as your tune-up.
  
  Good maintenance will protect your bike’s important parts and make your e-bike easier to clean as well.

The Best Way to Clean Sand Off Your E-Bike (Sorry, it’s not the easy way)

After every ride through the sand…

• Take a dry rag and wipe off all of the sand you can see on the entire bike. Sand is much easier to remove when it’s dry. Then you can use a slightly damp rag to clean it further, again wiping down the whole bike.
  
  Make sure to get into all of the crevices you can without putting pressure on delicate components or getting water into the electrical parts.
  
• Don’t spray or hose off an electric bike. I’ve seen bicyclists on forums suggesting that you hose off your bike after riding on the beach. However, for an e-bike, this can actually spread the sand (and salt) as well as damage the electrical components.
  
• Re-lubricate important metal parts so that they’ll be dry and ready for your next ride in the sand.
  
• If you won’t be riding on the sand the next time you take out your electric bike… inflate your tires back to their standard air pressure. Assuming you have fat tires, inflate them to around 20 psi.

Saltwater and Electric Bike Parts

Okay, so the general advice here would be to avoid directly riding in saltwater at the beach. Rust and corrosion will happen quickly, even if you clean your bike after each ride.

However, just riding on the sand at the beach (or even on the beach boardwalk) will get you sprayed with salt water from the wind and waves.

We once took our bikes on a 45-minute boat trip to and from Catalina Island. When we got home, we put our bikes away. A couple of weeks later, we went to ride our bikes and they were completely rusted!

So you probably can’t avoid potential salt damage to your bike if you’re going to ride it at or near the beach. And in addition to rusting, you’ll experience additional wear and tear on your electric bike.

Both sand and salt can make your chain stretch and break down other important parts. But if you follow the cleaning and maintenance advice discussed above, your e-bike will stay in good shape for longer.

If you haven’t yet purchased a fat tire e-bike, consider looking for one that has an internal gear hub (so the motor isn’t exposed) and an enclosed chain if possible. These will help prevent rust and other damage from sand and water spray.

Rules for Riding Your E-Bike at the Beach or in the Desert Sand

It’s always a good idea to find out the laws and rules in any location before you ride your e-bike.

Obviously, you should take caution if you’re on a populated beach or non-motorized trail, even if you think you’re far out into the desert.

But you should also find out if the land you’re riding on has electric bike limitations, as many do. You might think that riding in the sand dunes or desert where no one is even around is okay. But laws are laws and you could get fined.

Also, be careful of the electric bike riding rules you hear word-of-mouth. Much of what is being said on online forums and blogs say are opposing.

Don’t pack up your bike for a day at the beach without checking the local rules to find out whether you can legally ride there. Further, each state, county, and landowner can have its own rules.

Riding an e-bike is a truly exciting and new experience for many. And learning how to ride an e-bike can bring up so many questions about using the basic electric bike features like pedal-assist and throttles.

One of the first questions you might have is whether you can actually ride an e-bike without pedaling.

You can ride without pedaling as long as your bike has a throttle. A throttle will give you power with a simple twist of your hand or a push of the thumb, depending on which kind of throttle it is. Even if you’re not pedaling, the throttle will get power from the motor and propel you forward.

But the truth is that all electric bikes have pedals and only some have throttles. And how to ride using one or both features requires a little more understanding, which we’ll discuss in this article.

Should You Ride Your Electric Bike Without Pedaling

Truthfully, your electric bike wasn’t meant to be used without pedaling. Although it can be done, let’s first talk about “pedal assist” vs “throttle” and how they each will benefit your ride.

First, both of them get power from the electric motor on your bike. And the purpose of both of them is to move your bike forward.

How Pedal Assist Works

When using pedal assist, your feet give power to the motor by pedaling. Your feet basically tell the electric system to move the bike forward with a pedaling movement. It feels as though you’re getting help to move along easily and naturally.

On most e-bikes today, you also have the choice to increase your pedal assistance. My e-bike from Rad Power Bikes has 5 levels of pedal assist and boy do I fly when I increase the levels! But I do have to keep pedaling to make the bike go or it will eventually slow to a stop.

How a Throttle Works

On the other hand, a throttle allows you to continue pedaling if you wish but engages the motor with an action from your hand. Some throttles can be twisted with your whole hand (like a motorcycle) or pushed with your thumb.

If you throttle your bike, you’ll go forward even if you’re not pedaling. However, a gentle turning of the throttle will move you faster and faster. So, you don’t need to go zero to 20mph in a second! But it will get you started much faster than just pedaling.

What Happens If You Don’t Pedal

The less you pedal, the more battery you will use. So, if you’re riding your bike using only the throttle to move you forward, then your battery will run out very quickly.

You’ll also hear more noise coming from the motor, making it sound more like a moped. And this can be a problem if you’re riding on a path that wasn’t meant for motor vehicles.

Yes, you may get some dirty looks when people think you’re riding a moped. But you might also get stopped by the authorities. And who wants a ticket for riding a bike?

So, you might think about riding your e-bike without pedaling only when you’re on a roadway or where there are no other bikers or walkers (if they’re the zombie kind, you’ll be thankful that you can pedal… and even more thankful if you have a throttle).

Just so you know, if you decide to pedal using pedal assist, this will decrease your battery further. So, using this also takes more energy from the motor, thus decreasing your battery power.

And, if you’re using pedal assist and the throttle, and going up hills or through rough terrain, your battery time will be cut even shorter. So make sure to plan ahead by fully charging your battery and knowing how far you can go on that charge.

Finally, here’s an option. If you don’t want to pedal ever, for whatever reason, you could just get a moped or motorcycle.

But I get that you might want something that doesn’t go as fast as a moped and that you can ride on bike paths and trails, or wherever other bikes can go. On a moped, you’re pretty much stuck riding on the road.

Can You Go Uphill Without Pedaling?

I’m just going to say this right now… if you want to ride up hills, you should plan on pedaling your e-bike or getting that moped.

As mentioned above, going up hills with only a throttle will drain your battery fast.

Further, you can go faster and climb steeper grades if you use pedal assist. A throttle may get you started but it won’t take you up a hill like pedaling.

You have to remember that electric bikes are much heavier than standard bikes. So don’t expect a throttle to be able to make a climb all by itself. You’ll end up slowing down more than you’d like and then wasting your battery.

The Best Way to Ride an E-Bike is By Pedaling

How you choose to ride your bike is really up to you. But it seems kind of pointless to buy an expensive electric bike and not want to ever pedal it.

How to Use Pedal Assist Effectively

So the best way to ride one is to use varying levels of pedal assist and your throttle if you have one. Pedal at a low-assist level until you need more power to get you up a hill or because you’re tired. It’s easy to power up one level just by pushing a button.

Turn down pedal assist when you’re going down a hill. You don’t need it. You might also want to switch your bike into lower gear.

Then use your throttle when you need a quick start, like at a street intersection with other fast-moving vehicles. And use it when you’re tired and need to give yourself a “push”.

Spend some time riding in places without too many people or traffic. Then you can really check out the different levels of pedal assist and how to use the throttle if you have one.

Caution is advised when first beginning to ride. E-bikes are heavy. So, you need to learn how to use the brakes to stop quickly. And you should know that slowing down takes a bit longer than on a regular bike.

I almost ran into my daughter’s car on my first ride because I wasn’t prepared to stop!

You also need to be comfortable switching gears, adjusting pedal assist levels, and using your throttle.

Pedaling Your E-Bike is Great Exercise

No matter whether you’re riding a standard bicycle or an electric bike, pedaling one will be great exercise for any fitness level.

Not only will you strengthen your legs, but you’ll also get some great cardio if you take a long ride or find yourself pedaling up hills.

And, no, you’re not cheating by riding an e-bike. Instead, you’re giving yourself an excellent means to get more exercise by riding longer and farther than you would on a regular bike.

Take a look at some of the research from the National Institute of Health. You’ll probably be surprised to find that even though riding an e-bike is less intense, it’s still considered moderately vigorous and can burn around half of the calories as compared to riding a standard bike.

This truly is not a bad thing if having an e-bike gets you out exercising more and for longer periods!

And as long as you don’t exclusively use the throttle and high levels of pedal assist during your entire ride, you’re going to get a workout.

Riding an E-Bike Without Pedal Assist or Throttling

Can it be done? Yes, it can.

The first option is to not turn on the electricity system.

You can ride your bike manually by doing this and save your battery as well. But make sure to keep your key with you and your battery charged. Riding a very heavy e-bike manually can tire you out quickly. You might just change your mind in the middle of a ride.

Or, keep your bike on “zero” pedal-assist, if your bike has this option. This is a good choice because you’ll be able to increase the power to the bike any time you need it, whether you suddenly get tired or you need to get away from those zombies fast.

Why It’s Still Great to Have a Throttle on Your E-Bike

Even if you plan on pedaling, you’ll love having a throttle if you want to have an e-bike that starts up quickly and goes fast when you need it to.

It’s especially helpful if you’re riding the roadways to work, school, or to run errands. Starting up quicker with other fast cars around will get you out of the middle of the street faster and get you to where you’re going quicker.

If you’re super adventurous, you can even use the throttle to help you jump rocks and bounce down bumpy paths without pedaling. Just don’t try this until you’re an experienced rider!

And did you know you can even get an electric bike that only has a throttle, like the Jetson Bolt?

And, honestly, having a throttle is just plain fun!