A 69-Year-Old First-Timer Puts a Dual Motor Electric Trike to the Test

Meet Victor: A Real Rider With a Real Problem to Solve

Victor Martinez is 69 years old and lives in the San Fernando Valley. He isn't a cycling enthusiast, a gear reviewer, or someone who spends weekends comparing motor specs on forums. He's a guy who recently moved, discovered that his new life came with a new inconvenience, and wanted to know whether an electric trike could fix it. So he drove down to our San Clemente location, climbed onto a dual motor electric trike, and let us film the whole ride.

That's what makes his test ride worth watching, and worth writing about. Most reviews are done by people who ride constantly and know exactly what to look for. Victor came in with an open mind and almost no experience. By his own count, this was only his third time ever riding anything electric. He made a small mistake with the buttons partway through, asked a lot of questions, and said exactly what he was feeling as he felt it. If you're someone who has been wondering whether an electric trike is right for you but worries it might be complicated, intimidating, or too much machine, Victor's ride is about as close as you'll get to trying one yourself without leaving the house.

In this article, we'll walk through his ride from the first pedal stroke to the final verdict: the flats, the downhill stretch, the climb, the bumps, and the practical reasons he gave for why a trike like this could fit into his life. Along the way, we'll add some context about what he was experiencing and why it matters if you're shopping for one of our electric tricycles.

The trike Victor rode is a dual motor model, which he called the Simple Glide in the video. As the name suggests, it uses two motors instead of one. Victor summed up the reasoning in his introduction better than any spec sheet could: two motors for a longer range and more torque.

Those two benefits are worth separating, because they show up in different ways on a ride. Torque is what you feel when you start from a stop or point the trike up a hill. It's the shove that gets you moving and keeps you moving when gravity is working against you. Range is less dramatic in the moment but matters more over time. It decides whether a trike is something you use for a quick loop around the block or something you trust to take you somewhere and bring you back.

A single-motor trike is plenty for a lot of riders, especially those who stick to flat neighborhoods and short trips. But riders who live in hilly areas, carry heavy loads, or want to plan longer outings often appreciate the extra headroom a second motor provides. Victor had just moved to the foothills, which means hills are now a daily fact of life for him. That made the dual motor setup a sensible place to start.

If you're not sure which configuration makes sense for your body, your terrain, and how you plan to ride, our fitting process is designed to sort that out. It's run by real people, not a chatbot, and it's the fastest way to narrow down the lineup.

The First Pedal Strokes: Torque Without the Jolt

Within seconds of getting rolling, Victor noticed the power. His words were simple: right away he could feel the torque, but it wasn't overwhelming.

That second half of the sentence matters a lot, especially for newer and older riders. One of the most common worries we hear from people considering their first electric trike is that the motor will lurch forward and catch them off guard. It's a reasonable concern. Nobody wants to feel like the machine is in charge. What Victor described is the balance a good trike should strike: enough power that you notice it immediately and feel the assistance doing its job, but delivered smoothly enough that you stay in control.

He settled into third gear, which he said felt about right for the conditions, and started to get comfortable. A few moments later he put it another way. The trike had some speed, he said, but more than speed, it had get-up-and-go. That's a useful distinction. Top speed isn't really the point of a trike like this. What riders notice day to day is responsiveness: how easily it gets moving from a stop sign, how it handles a slight incline without bogging down, and how little effort it takes to keep a comfortable pace.

For a rider like Victor, that responsiveness translates directly into confidence. When you know the trike will respond when you ask it to, you stop worrying about the mechanics and start paying attention to the ride itself. That shift happened for him remarkably fast.

Early on, Victor started thinking out loud about what the dual motor would mean for him beyond the test ride. He understood that the extra capacity would let him take longer trips. Instead of just going to the store, he said, he could go to a park, a national park, or ride around a lake. In his words, it would give him more options.

That idea of more options is really the heart of what range does for a rider. A trike with limited range quietly shrinks your world. You start doing mental math before every trip, wondering if you'll make it back, and eventually you only use it for the shortest, safest errands. A trike with more range does the opposite. It invites you to say yes to things: the longer route along the water, the detour to a friend's house, the afternoon at the park that turns into a full day.

Victor came back to this point at the end of his ride, and he got specific. If you're going to spend a whole afternoon out, have a picnic at the park, head to the beach, or just have a lot of running around to do, he said, this is your vehicle. That's a good list, because it covers the range of real-life uses rather than imaginary epic journeys. Most people don't need to ride a hundred miles. They need to know the trike will handle a full, busy day without making them nervous.

If longer outings are on your list, it's also worth thinking about the gear that comes along. A good set of bags and panniers makes a picnic or beach day much easier, and keeping your battery and charger in good shape is one of the simplest ways to protect your range over the long haul.

The Three-Mile Problem

About a minute into the ride, Victor explained the real reason he was there. He had recently moved out to the foothills of Los Angeles, and he now lives three miles from the nearest store. He used to walk to the store. Now that isn't practical, and driving there, he said, was getting old.

A lot of people will recognize this exact situation. Three miles is an awkward distance. It's too far to walk comfortably with groceries, especially with hills involved. It's short enough that driving feels a little silly, but long enough that you end up doing it anyway. Then you deal with traffic, find parking, and wrestle bags in and out of the car, all for a carton of milk and a few other things.

Victor also admitted something honest: he doesn't always feel like riding his regular bike there. That's not a lack of fitness or willpower. It's just how people work. If an errand feels like a workout every single time, you'll start finding reasons to skip it or default to the car. An electric trike changes that calculation. The motor takes the edge off the hills and the distance, so the trip becomes something you can do on an ordinary Tuesday afternoon without psyching yourself up for it.

He described the trike as a happy medium between walking or a regular bicycle on one end and a car on the other, and that's a fair way to think about it. You get the freedom and fresh air of being on a bike, without the full physical demand. You get the practicality of a vehicle, without the parking lots and traffic jams. As he put it while rolling through the neighborhood, it just zips right through.

Once you start using a trike for errands, cargo space stops being a nice extra and becomes essential. Victor noticed this quickly, pointing out that the trike had a lot of room for groceries and mentioning its stability in the same breath.

Those two things are connected. On a standard two-wheel bike, carrying a heavy load changes how the bike handles. A full basket on the front can make steering feel twitchy, and loaded saddlebags can make a bike feel tippy at low speeds or when you stop. Three wheels solve a lot of that. The trike stays upright on its own when you stop, so you're not trying to balance a loaded bike while you wait at a light or step off in a parking lot. The weight sits low and steady, and the ride feels the same whether you're carrying a few items or a full week of groceries.

For riders like Victor, who are replacing car trips with trike trips, that combination is what makes the whole idea work. If you can't bring the groceries home, you'll still end up driving to the store. If you can, and the trike feels just as stable on the way back as it did on the way there, you have a real alternative.

If hauling things is a big part of how you plan to ride, take a look at our electric trikes with a large basket and our cargo electric trikes. You can also add or upgrade storage with sixthreezero baskets sized for different trips.

Heading Downhill: The Feeling That It Won't Tip Over

Victor told the camera he was going to put the trike to the test and give his honest opinion. Then the route turned downhill, and his reaction came almost immediately: these are so sturdy.

Downhills are where a lot of riders, especially newer ones, feel the most nervous. Speed builds without any effort, and you become very aware of how the vehicle beneath you is holding up. Victor described exactly the reassurance he was looking for. He said he didn't get the feeling that it was going to tip over or that it was falling apart. Instead, he called the ride beautiful.

As he kept coasting, he noted that he didn't really have to do anything. Gravity was doing the work, the trike was tracking where he pointed it, and he could simply enjoy the ride. When he reached a right turn, he narrated it for viewers: making the turn, braking just a little, seeing how it handled. His verdict again was beautiful.

That sequence is worth paying attention to if you're new to riding. Turning while going downhill is one of the moments that separates a confidence-inspiring trike from a nerve-racking one. Good brakes let you scrub off a bit of speed smoothly before the turn rather than grabbing hard in the middle of it. A stable frame keeps everything composed as you lean into the corner. Victor's light touch on the brakes and calm reaction suggest the trike made that moment feel easy.

If braking performance is a priority for you, especially if you live somewhere with long descents, our collection of electric trikes with disc brakes is a good place to start. And whatever you ride, a properly fitted helmet is never a bad idea.

Comfort came up again and again throughout Victor's ride, but one line stood out. After calling the trike really very ergonomic and unbelievably comfortable, he added that even his chair at work isn't as comfortable.

It's a funny line, but it says something real. A lot of people give up on riding not because they lack interest, but because it hurts. A narrow saddle, an aggressive forward lean, and pressure on the wrists and lower back all add up quickly, especially as we get older. If every ride ends with something aching, it doesn't matter how great the scenery was. You'll ride less and less until the bike gathers dust in the garage.

Comfort-focused trikes are designed around the opposite idea. A wider, cushioned seat supports you instead of perching you on top. An upright riding position keeps your back in a natural posture and takes weight off your hands. Handlebars come back toward you so you're not reaching. All of this adds up to a ride you can enjoy for an hour without counting the minutes until you can get off.

Victor's comment captures what that feels like from the rider's side. He wasn't thinking about frame geometry or saddle width. He was just sitting there, rolling down a hill, feeling better than he does at his desk. That's the experience we want every rider to have. If comfort is at the top of your list, our most comfortable electric trikes collection is built around exactly this kind of feeling, and you can fine-tune things further with options from our seat lineup.

A Learning Curve of Basically Zero

Somewhere in the middle of the downhill stretch, Victor offered one of the most useful observations of the whole ride. There's nothing intimidating about this bike, he said. The learning curve is like zero. It's like riding a bicycle.

Coming from someone on his third-ever electric ride, that's a meaningful statement. Plenty of people assume electric trikes are complicated machines with a lot to figure out before you can use them safely. In practice, the basics are familiar. You sit down, you pedal, you steer, and you brake. The motor adds assistance on top of what you already know, rather than replacing it with something new.

There's also the matter of balance. Many people who haven't ridden in years, or who have lost a bit of confidence in their balance, find that a trike removes the biggest source of anxiety. You don't need to hold yourself upright at a stop. You don't need to put a foot down at every light. You can start slowly, stop slowly, and take your time without worrying about wobbling.

That's a big part of why our electric trikes for seniors are so popular with riders who are returning to cycling after a long break. For riders who also want an easier time getting on and off, our easy-to-mount eTrikes with a low step-through frame keep the frame low so you don't have to swing a leg high over the top.

Victor's experience is a good reminder that you don't need to be an expert to enjoy one of these. You just need to be willing to get on and try.

As the route leveled out, Victor took a moment to appreciate something that has nothing to do with motors or batteries. He mentioned the nice fresh breeze and pointed out that you're not breathing exhaust the way you would in a car. Even in an electric car, he said, the air isn't quite as fresh as it was right there on the trike.

It's easy to overlook this when comparing ways to get around, but it's one of the most consistent things riders mention after a few weeks of regular riding. Being outside changes how a trip feels. You notice the weather, the smell of the trees, the neighbors in their yards, and the little details of the route that blur past through a car window. An errand that felt like a chore in the car can feel like a small break in your day on a trike.

There's a mental side to this as well. Many riders tell us that a short ride clears their head in a way a drive never does. You're moving under your own power, at least partly. You're paying attention to your surroundings without the stress of traffic, and you arrive feeling a little more awake than when you left. For someone who has just moved and is getting to know a new area, as Victor had, riding is also a great way to learn the neighborhood at a human pace.

None of this shows up on a spec sheet, but it's a big part of why people who start riding for practical reasons tend to keep riding for enjoyment.

Heading Uphill and Figuring Out the Assist Levels

After a U-turn, the route pointed uphill, and Victor announced that it was time to see how the trike handled a climb. The first part went smoothly. He tackled a rise and simply said no problem. Then came a steeper hill, and with it, the most relatable moment of the video.

Victor wanted more power and asked how to make it more powerful. What followed was a quick back-and-forth with the team riding alongside him as he worked out the controls in real time. The assist level is controlled with the arrows on the left side. He was told to go to five, learned that it was the black button rather than the gray one, pressed what he thought was right, and then realized the trike wasn't responding. Had he hit the red button? He probably had. He asked if he had messed anything up. He hadn't, and a moment later he was on his way again.

We're including this because it's honest, and because it's exactly what happens to most people the first time they use an ebike display. Nothing was broken, nothing was dangerous, and the fix took a few seconds. Every rider has a short adjustment period with their controls, and that's normal. The point isn't to memorize everything before your first ride. It's to know the basics, especially how to raise and lower the assist level, and figure out the rest as you go.

If you're getting a new trike, here's a simple tip: before your first real ride, spend five minutes with it parked. Turn the display on and off, step through the assist levels, and find the buttons by feel so you're not looking down to locate them on a hill. You can also find model-specific guides in our assembly instructions, and if you ever need a replacement, we carry ebike displays as well.

Once Victor had the assist level dialed in, the climb was a different story. He noted that it went uphill without any feeling of stress, either on him or on the trike itself. A little later he put it even more bluntly: he wished his SUV could do that. He couldn't feel any strain on it at all and described himself as just cruising along.

This is where the dual motor setup really earns its keep. On a regular bike, or even on a lower-powered electric model, hills are where the ride stops being fun. Your legs start burning, your breathing gets heavy, and you find yourself standing on the pedals or giving up and walking. With strong, well-matched assistance, a hill becomes just another part of the route. You keep pedaling at a comfortable cadence, the motors make up the difference, and you crest the top without having to recover.

That's especially important for someone in Victor's situation. Living in the foothills means hills aren't optional. If the trike couldn't handle them comfortably, it wouldn't solve his three-mile problem; it would just swap one hassle for another. The fact that he described the climb as effortless tells you a lot about whether a trike like this would actually get used day to day.

He also mentioned, almost in passing, that he wasn't going to hit serious traffic at his speed. That's another quiet advantage of a trike for errands and neighborhood trips. You're moving at a pace that feels comfortable and controlled, not trying to keep up with cars.

Testing the Suspension: A Miracle on Wheels

Toward the end of the ride, Victor deliberately went looking for rough ground to see what the suspension could do. He had already praised it earlier, calling it excellent suspension and a sturdy build. Now he wanted to put it to the test.

His reaction was immediate: fantastic. Then, with obvious surprise: that suspension is something else. He followed up with a comparison that anyone who has hit a pothole on a cheap bike will appreciate. Most bikes, he said, would fall apart and leave you flat on your face. Then he asked the question that showed how impressed he was: how do they do it?

Suspension is one of those features that's hard to appreciate until you feel it. Streets, paths, and parking lots are rarely as smooth as they look. Cracks, curb cuts, tree roots, speed bumps, and gravel all send jolts up through the frame and into your hands, back, and neck. On a ride to the store, you might hit dozens of these without thinking about it. Over time, those bumps are often the difference between a ride that leaves you relaxed and one that leaves you sore.

Good suspension soaks up much of that impact before it reaches you. It also helps keep the wheels in contact with the ground over rough surfaces, which makes the trike feel more planted and predictable. For older riders, or anyone with sensitive joints, that's not a luxury. It's what makes regular riding sustainable.

Victor's final description of the trike was a miracle on wheels: high technology, but simple to use. That pairing of capability and simplicity is exactly what we aim for.

While cruising along near the end of his ride, Victor started thinking beyond his own needs. You could use this for your job, he suggested, if you have offices in nearby locations. He compared it favorably to the clunky golf carts that are common in a lot of workplaces, especially for industrial purposes, and even pictured someone delivering a pizza on one in an industrial park.

It's a sharp observation. A lot of businesses and organizations need to move people and small loads short distances, again and again, throughout the day. Think of large campuses, warehouses, manufacturing sites, resorts, retirement communities, parks, and facilities with multiple buildings. Golf carts and utility vehicles get the job done, but they're bulky, expensive to buy and maintain, and need space to park and turn around. Walking takes time and tires people out over a long shift.

An electric trike sits nicely in between. It's compact enough to navigate tight spaces and narrow paths, stable enough to carry tools, supplies, or deliveries in a basket, and easy enough to ride that employees don't need much training. As Victor pointed out repeatedly, the learning curve is very small. The trike stays upright at every stop, so workers can hop on and off as often as they need to. And because it's pedal-assisted, it's quiet and clean, which matters indoors or near people.

If you're thinking about trikes for a team, a campus, or a facility, our corporate and bulk orders page is the place to start. Our cargo eTrikes are also worth a look for work that involves carrying more than a basket's worth of gear.

Cardio on Your Own Terms

In his closing thoughts, Victor made a point that often gets lost in conversations about electric bikes and trikes. If you want to get a little cardio, he said, you can use it like a bicycle. You can adjust how much power you put in on your own and how much you let the trike do the work for you.

There's a common misconception that riding with electric assistance doesn't count as exercise. It does. You're still pedaling, still moving your legs, still raising your heart rate. What changes is that you control the intensity. On a day when you feel strong, you can turn the assist down and work a little harder. On a day when your knees are bothering you, or you're carrying groceries up a steep hill, you can turn it up and let the motors carry more of the load.

That flexibility is exactly why so many people ride more after switching to an electric trike than they ever did on a traditional bike. A regular bike asks for the same full effort every time, which makes it easy to skip rides when you're tired. An electric trike meets you where you are. Because you can always make the ride easier, you're more likely to go in the first place, and those regular rides add up.

Some riders also prefer having a throttle option for moments when they want to give their legs a full break, such as pulling away from a stop or handling a short, steep section. If that sounds useful, browse our electric tricycles with throttle control.

Victor wrapped up his ride by listing the kinds of people he thought a trike like this would help: people with mobility issues, people who need cardio, and people who don't want the hassle of getting in and out of a car and finding parking. It's a short list, but it covers a lot of ground.

If you have mobility concerns, the stability of three wheels and the support of a motor can open up trips that might otherwise feel out of reach. You don't need to balance at stops, and you don't need to power yourself up every hill. For many riders, that's the difference between staying close to home and getting back out into the world.

If you want to be more active, the adjustable assist lets you build fitness gradually without overdoing it. You can start with short, easy rides and work your way up, turning down the assist as you get stronger.

If you're simply tired of the car for short trips, a trike gives you a practical alternative for errands, visits, and outings in your neighborhood. Victor's three-mile trip to the store is the perfect example. It's too far to walk with bags, too annoying to drive, and just right for a trike.

And if you're somewhere in the middle of all three, as many riders are, that's fine too. The beauty of a comfortable, capable trike is that it adapts to you rather than the other way around. If you're still comparing options, our Ultimate Bike Buyer's Guide walks through the main things to consider, and the Bike Advice section has plenty more help with choosing a ride.

What to Notice on Your Own Test Ride

Victor's ride works as a handy checklist for anyone trying an electric trike for the first time. He didn't plan it that way, but he ended up testing nearly everything that matters, in roughly the order you'd want to test it.

Start with the first few pedal strokes. Pay attention to how the assistance arrives. You want to feel it right away, as Victor did, but it should feel smooth rather than sudden. If you feel startled, try a lower assist level and work your way up.

Next, try a gentle downhill and a turn. Notice whether the trike feels composed and whether a light squeeze of the brakes is enough to control your speed. Victor's habit of braking just a little before the turn is a good one to copy.

Then find a hill. This is where you'll learn the most about power and about the controls. Practice moving up and down the assist levels before you reach the steep part, so you're not hunting for buttons mid-climb.

Finally, ride over something rough: a cracked patch of pavement, a driveway lip, or a speed bump taken at a sensible pace. That's the quickest way to feel what the suspension and frame are really doing.

Throughout the ride, check in with your body. Are your wrists relaxed? Is your back comfortable? Could you see yourself sitting there for an hour? Victor's office chair comparison is a fun benchmark. If the trike feels better than where you spend your workday, you're probably on the right track.

By the end of the ride, Victor didn't hold back. This is awesome, he said. I love it. This is great. He called the trike beautiful, praised the dual motor for its long-distance capability and extra torque, and said that if you have a busy day ahead or a long afternoon planned, this is your vehicle.

What makes his review valuable isn't the enthusiasm on its own, though. It's that the enthusiasm came from someone who started out unsure. He was a newcomer to electric riding, he made a mistake with the controls, and he asked questions along the way. Through all of that, his impression kept getting better: comfortable on the flats, steady going downhill, effortless on the climb, and surprisingly smooth over bumps. That's the arc we hope every new rider experiences.

If Victor's ride has you curious, there are a few easy ways to find out for yourself. You can come in for a test ride by planning a visit to our store, just as Victor did. If that isn't practical, every purchase comes with our 30-day test ride, so you can try your trike on your own streets, hills, and errands before deciding it's the one. Our bikes ship with free shipping, are backed by our warranty, and financing is available if you'd like to spread out the cost.

Not sure where to start? Begin with our personal fitting, browse the full lineup of electric tricycles, or watch more real rider stories in our Video Blog. Victor came to see whether an electric trike could solve a small, everyday problem. He left talking about lakes, parks, beaches, and picnics. Sometimes the right ride doesn't just get you to the store. It makes your world a little bigger.