2 Surprising Lessons I Learned Riding an Electric Tricycle| What Every Senior Should Know

Hi, I'm Diane. I'm at Sixthreezero in San Clemente, and today I'm going to take this beautiful, Relaxed body e-trike out for a ride. Come with me. Off we go. So I've been testing a lot of the e-trikes here at Sixthreezero to see what's the best fit for me. And this is one of my favorites for a variety of reasons, but what I want to talk a little bit about as I'm going for my ride today is that there are a couple of things to really consider when you're thinking about which e-trike you want to purchase. And something to think about in general when you're thinking about Do I want an e-trike or an e-bike is the fact that an e-trike rides differently than a two-wheel bike. And if you are a past bike rider, whether it be a road bike, a mountain bike, whatever kind of bike, you know that when you're riding a two-wheel bike, a lot of what you're doing is driven by the fact that you're leaning. You're leaning into turns, and that's how you do a lot of steering and really control the bike. But when you're riding an e-trike, the controlling and the steering is done really by your handlebars. And so that takes a little bit of getting used to initially, but it's not a great learning curve.

But I just wanted to point that out. What I will say is that if you're on a two-wheel bike, a road bike, let's say, you're probably looking for speed. I personally feel, and again, I'm just a test rider, that I don't take turns quickly when I'm riding an e-trike, not as quickly as I would on my road bike. There's a lot of safety and stability with an e-trike, but I feel that you have to go a little bit slower around the turns than you would on a two-wheel bike for the reasons that I just said. So now we are going to go up a hill, and this is really the beauty of any type of e-bike, is that it allows you to easily go up hills. Hills that I would not tackle on my own if I were riding just a regular to like a regular bicycle. So, going up the hill, I'm on all the sixthreezero bikes that have different gears like you would on your traditional bike. And it also has five levels of pedal assist. This is a fairly steep hill. So I'm in pedal assist three right now. Something else that you want to consider when you're looking at different options on an e-trike

You need to think about what your rides are typically going to look like. Are you going to be going up hills, or are you going to be sticking mainly to flat ground? Because that makes a difference. You always, always want to make sure that you're checking your energy bar level, considering what type of ride you're going to be on, and making sure that your battery's full. Should we go straight here, Lisa? Okay. Because what you don't want to have happen is to be in a position where you've gone out so far that you're not going to have enough battery power to get you back if you need the pedal assist. So on these bicycles or e-trikes, you'll see that there's a display in front of you. So I always know what my energy bar level is, which means what the battery looks like and how much is left. I can think about, you know, possible routes that I want to take based on that. And also considering if it's hilly.

Am I going downhill for the majority of the front part of the ride, where I'm going to have to go uphill on the back part of the ride? And do I have enough energy left in my battery to do that? So something definitely to consider when you're thinking about which type of bike you want to get. All right, okay. As you can see, I'm taking it a little bit slower as I went around the turn, and I used the throttle because I was literally on an incline when I stopped at the stoplight. But now I'm being bad. I'm using the throttle only, and that's burning up part of my battery. You can see right there on the energy bar, tells me that if I keep riding like this, That's how I'm gonna burn the energy off. But let's see what happens when I start pedaling and using pedal assist. Now it's showing that, like me, that, all right, you're gonna be able to use this battery for a little bit lot while longer. And also,I just switched to pedal assist two, which means that I'm now using more Battery energy. And you'll notice that the energy bar goes up a little bit higher, but it's too steep to do that.

So I went back to pedal assist three. What I really, really recommend you do is make sure that you go and test ride as many different e-bikes or e-trikes as you can so that you can choose the bike that's right for you and give some hard thought to exactly how you're going to be using this bike. Are you going to use it on flat ground? Are you going to use it on trails? Like, you really have to think about it. And that's what I'm doing too, because I'm trying to come to a conclusion on whether I want an e-bike or an e-trike and what's most important to me. You really need to think about these things before you make your purchase and be honest with yourself about how you're going to use it. If you're going to use it to run errands, then an e-trike with a lot of accessories front and back is good for you. If you're gonna be riding mainly on flat ground, then maybe you don't need the bigger battery, which is gonna be a little bit more expensive. It's all things to think about and consider. But the best thing that you can do, and what I've done with all of my bike purchases over the years, is I like to find, I like the local dealers, local manufacturers, and I try to talk to the owner if I can.

I've been at sixthreezero quite often, and I've seen the owner work with potential customers, talking with them about how they're going to be riding these bikes. There is not a hard sale going on, and there shouldn't be. And if you ever feel pressed on a sale, then maybe it's time to find a really great big bike shop, and I found this at sixthreezero, listens to you. They ask questions to help guide you to the best decision without pressuring you into a decision. Should I turn in here? It's so pretty here. Like this trike. And when you do a lot of test riding, then you can see, you know, what feels best to you. Like, there are all sorts of different options for the handlebars in terms of the width of the handlebars. All the bikes are customizable so that you can adjust them so that, whoo, a bump. Should I pull in here, Lisa? Yeah. So you can adjust them so they best fit your body type. And you can adjust the seat as well so that you can find the bike that fits you best. Like, what's most comfortable?

Do you want a bike that has a back on it to help you with pedaling? Does this feel good to you? There are so many different options, but get out there and test-ride if you can. Again, I've never felt pressured when I've been at sixthreezero. I've asked the same questions a million times, and they give me an honest answer. Patience, empathy, everything like that. So that's my advice when you're looking for or thinking about questions about what might be the best e-trike for you. Just be honest with yourself about how you're going to use the bike. So that you get the most use out of it. You don't want to spend money on something that you're not going to use. So, lots of questions to ask yourself, and get out there and just experience it for yourself. Because just like anything else, you might look at something or have a thought in your mind that this particular thing or feature would be great for you, and you would use it, and then you actually get on the bike. Maybe you don't like that feature as much, or maybe you're like, gosh, my bike, my back hurt a little bit after this. Maybe I do want a seat that has the lumbar back support, or maybe you have the back support. You're not going to use it. Who knows? You don't know until you try. So if you can get out there and try it, do it.

Thanks so much for coming with me on this ride. I love this bike, and I hope that you can experience it as well. Have a great afternoon.