First Ride on the Simple Glide Fat Tire eTrike: Back Support, Hills and a Whole Lot of Fun

A First Ride, Filmed From the Very First Pedal

Most product reviews are recorded after someone has already figured the thing out. They know where the buttons are, they've worked out the quirks, and they can talk about it with the calm of a person who has done it a hundred times. This one is different. When Lindsay climbed onto the Simple Glide fat tire electric trike for the first time, the camera was already rolling, and it stayed rolling for the next twelve minutes as she learned to ride it in real time, on real streets, with her instructor Lisa riding alongside.

That makes it a useful thing to watch, and a useful thing to write about. If you've been wondering what it actually feels like to get on an eTrike for the first time, whether it's hard to learn, how it handles corners and curbs, and whether the comfort features are as good as they look in photos, a first ride tells you more than a spec sheet ever will. You get the hesitation, the small wobbles, the moment confidence clicks in, and the honest reactions that come with all of it.

What follows is a walk through that ride, from the parking lot at sixthreezero headquarters to a neighborhood loop, past a brewery, toward the ocean, through a park, around a cul-de-sac and onto a sidewalk path. Along the way we'll pull out the practical lessons, the things any new rider should know before their own maiden voyage, and talk about who the Simple Glide is likely to suit. If you want to browse while you read, the full lineup of fat tire electric trikes is a good place to start.

First Impressions: The Seat That Stole the Show

Before the trike moved an inch, Lindsay had already found her favorite feature. Walking up to the Simple Glide, the first thing she pointed out was the seat. It isn't a narrow saddle, and it isn't a flat bench either. It has a proper backrest, contoured in a way that she compared to a good ergonomic office chair, the kind built for people who sit for hours and need their lower back held in place.

Her reasoning was simple, and it's worth repeating: on almost every bike, you get no back support at all. You perch. Your core, your arms and your lower back do the work of keeping you upright and stable, and on a long ride that adds up. A seat with a backrest changes the posture of the whole ride. You sit into the trike rather than on top of it.

It's easy to dismiss this as a comfort perk, the sort of thing you'd mention in passing. But it ended up being the thread that ran through the entire video. Lindsay brought up the back support at the start, again within the first minute of riding, several more times on the open road, and once more near the end when she said, with no exaggeration in her voice, that the back support was everything. When a feature keeps coming up unprompted across twelve minutes of riding, it's telling you something about how much it affects the experience.

If seating comfort is high on your list, it's worth looking at the broader range of comfortable electric trikes and at sixthreezero's seat options, since the right seat can make the difference between a ride you tolerate and a ride you look forward to.

Lindsay put it plainly a little way into the ride: as you get older, back support becomes really important. That isn't marketing language, it's something most adults figure out on their own at some point. A long drive, a day at a desk, a weekend of yard work, and your lower back lets you know about it. Traditional bikes ask a lot of that same area, especially if the riding position leans you forward.

A supported seat does a few things at once. It takes load off the lower back by giving it something to rest against. It helps you keep a more upright, neutral posture, which also takes pressure off the wrists and shoulders because you aren't leaning your weight onto the handlebars. And it gives you a physical reference point. When your back is against something, your body knows where it is in space, and that translates into a feeling of security.

That last part came through clearly in the video. Lindsay said she felt very secure, that she didn't feel like she might fall backwards or slide off, and that nothing about the seat made her nervous. For a first-time rider, that sense of being held in place matters a lot. Nerves are the biggest obstacle to learning anything on wheels, and anything that lowers them makes the learning curve shorter.

This is one reason three-wheel designs with supportive seating are so popular among older riders and anyone managing back, hip or balance concerns. If that describes you or someone you're shopping for, the collection of electric trikes for seniors and the recumbent eTrikes are both worth a look, since they're built around the same idea of keeping the rider supported rather than balanced on a perch.

Starting Slow: Power Level One and the Maiden Voyage

The first few moments of the ride were deliberately gentle. Lindsay set the pedal assist to level one, which she called perfect for starting out, and gave the trike what she described as a little boost to get rolling. That's exactly the right instinct for a first ride. Starting at the lowest assist level means the motor adds just a bit of help to each pedal stroke, enough to make the trike feel light, but not so much that it surges ahead before you're ready.

Lisa, her instructor, stayed close and kept an eye on things. At one point, as Lindsay picked up confidence quickly, Lisa warned her to be careful around the corners. Lindsay laughed it off, but she listened, and she slowed down. That's a pattern that repeated throughout the ride: a burst of excitement, a reminder to take it easy, and a willing slowdown. Honestly, that's what a good first ride looks like.

Within a couple of minutes Lindsay was declaring that she wanted one. She'd been on it, by her own count, about three seconds before she'd made up her mind. It's a funny line, but it also says something real about how approachable the trike is. There was no long, awkward period of figuring out balance, because on three wheels balance isn't the rider's job. You sit down, you pedal, and the trike stays upright on its own.

Then came the question from Lisa: was she ready to head out of the lot and onto the street? Lindsay was. And that's a point worth noting for anyone nervous about learning. The practice phase in the parking lot was short, maybe two minutes, and it was enough to feel ready for quiet roads. Your own timeline might be longer or shorter, and that's fine, but the lesson is that an eTrike doesn't demand a lot of rehearsal before it starts feeling natural.

Learning to Ride Wide: The Three-Wheel Footprint

As soon as Lindsay started making real turns, one thing became her constant mantra: go wide. A trike has two wheels at the back, which means the rear of the vehicle is wider than the front. On a bicycle, where the rear wheel follows directly behind the front, you can cut a corner tight and the back end comes along for the ride. On a trike, the rear wheels track wider and slightly inside your line, so if you clip a corner too tightly, you can catch a curb with a back tire.

Lindsay put it memorably. You have to know the width of your back end, as she said, and she later repeated, with a laugh, that you've got a wide booty in the back. It's the kind of thing that sounds like a joke and is actually the single most important habit for new trike riders to build. Running a rear wheel up onto a curb isn't fun, as she pointed out, and it can jolt you or tip you if you're going too fast.

The fix is easy once you know about it. Approach turns a little wider than feels natural, especially right turns along a curb. Look at where the rear wheels will be, not just where the front wheel is going. And slow down before the turn, not in the middle of it. Lindsay did all three of these things repeatedly as the ride went on, swinging wide around stop sign corners and reminding herself out loud to watch the rear.

It's also worth knowing that this awareness carries over to parking, doorways, gates and bike paths. Once you've got a feel for your trike's width, you'll stop thinking about it. But in the first few rides, saying it out loud the way Lindsay did is a surprisingly effective way to make it stick.

A few minutes into the street portion of the ride, Lindsay decided to bump the assist up to level two, mostly because she felt like it. Then, feeling braver, she moved to three, and then to four. Lisa summed it up with a laugh: she's a daredevil now. Lindsay's response was to reach for the throttle.

This progression is a good model for how to get familiar with pedal assist. Each level changes how much the motor contributes to your pedaling. At the lower levels the trike feels like a well-tuned, easy-rolling bike. As you go higher, each pedal stroke carries you further and you settle into a faster cruising pace with very little effort. Trying them one at a time, on a quiet road, lets you feel the difference and choose the level that suits the moment.

The throttle is a separate option. Instead of adding power when you pedal, it lets you move without pedaling at all, which is handy for getting started from a stop, for climbing, or for giving your legs a rest. Lindsay used it at a few points, including on a hill and when she pulled away onto the open road. If having a throttle is a priority for you, sixthreezero keeps a dedicated collection of electric tricycles with throttle control.

One honest note: Lindsay also caught herself more than once and dialed things back down. She'd get excited, speed up, and then say out loud that she needed to slow down because she was still learning. That's the right instinct. Higher assist levels are fun, but on your first few rides the lower levels give you more time to react, more room for mistakes, and a better chance to learn the trike's handling before you add speed to the mix.

Hills Without the Sweat

One of the clearest moments in the video came when the route tilted upward. Lindsay hit the throttle and the trike kept climbing, while she talked about how great this would be in a place like San Francisco, or anywhere with lots of hills. Then she said the thing everyone who has ever pushed a regular bike up a steep street already knows: on a normal pedal bike, you're going to be sweating, and it's not fun.

She was refreshingly frank about who she is as a rider. She's not a cyclist, she said, and she's not into the tights and the full outfit. That's not a knock on anyone who loves road cycling. It's an acknowledgement that a lot of people would happily ride more if riding didn't require a certain level of fitness or a certain kind of commitment. Hills are usually the first thing that scares those people off.

An electric trike changes that equation. With assist turned up or the throttle engaged, a hill stops being an obstacle and becomes just another part of the route. You still get to choose how much effort you put in, but you're no longer at the mercy of the terrain. For people in hilly towns, that can be the difference between owning a bike that sits in the garage and owning one that gets used every week.

Lindsay summed it up neatly: this, to her, was a dream. Not because it turned her into an athlete, but because it let her enjoy the ride without dreading the climb.

Baskets, Errands, and the Grocery Run Test

As the ride settled into a rhythm, Lindsay's mind drifted to everyday use. She imagined heading down to the store for groceries, and she pointed out that the Simple Glide has a basket to put them in. On a regular bike, she noted, you usually don't have anywhere to put anything. You end up with a backpack full of produce, or you skip the bike and take the car.

She also mentioned that there's room in the back, which is one of the quiet advantages of a three-wheel layout. The rear axle sits between two wheels, which gives a stable platform for carrying things. A load in the back of a trike doesn't throw off your balance the way a heavy pannier might on a two-wheeler, because the trike isn't relying on you to keep it upright.

This is where an eTrike starts to earn its place as a practical vehicle rather than just a fun one. A trip to the pharmacy, a quick grocery run, picking up takeout, dropping off a library book: these are exactly the short trips that tend to happen by car out of habit. With a basket and some cargo space, plenty of them can happen by trike instead. If carrying capacity is high on your list, browse the electric tricycles with a large basket, look at cargo electric trikes, or add storage with sixthreezero baskets and bags and panniers.

Later in the ride, Lindsay came back to the same idea from a slightly different angle. She talked about living in California and being able to run nearby errands while being outside, and she joked that you could give your car a break. It's a lighthearted line, but it's also the real case for an eTrike as a daily vehicle: short trips, done outdoors, without the hassle of parking or the cost of fuel.

About five minutes into the video, Lindsay made a right turn and paused to comment on it. She said the Simple Glide turns really easily, and she singled out the steering as something she particularly liked. Her reasoning was practical: you're going to be making a lot of turns on an eTrike, so it matters that they feel smooth and natural.

That's an underrated point. A lot of first-time trike riders expect steering to feel heavy or awkward, especially at low speed. On a bicycle, you steer partly by leaning, which a trike doesn't do in the same way. Instead you steer with the handlebars, more like a car. It takes a few turns to adjust, but once you do, it feels intuitive, and low-speed maneuvering in particular becomes much easier than on two wheels because you never have to worry about tipping as you slow down.

Lindsay was honest about her progress here too. Later in the ride she admitted her turns were still a little choppy and asked viewers to give her a bit of kindness since it was her first time ever. Watching the video, that's a fair self-assessment, and it's also completely normal. The first dozen turns on a trike feel a bit mechanical as you learn how much to steer and when to slow down. After that, they smooth out.

A tip that follows from her experience: practice slow, wide turns in an empty lot or quiet street before tackling busier corners. Do a few lefts, a few rights, and a U-turn or two. By the time Lindsay reached a cul-de-sac near the end of the ride, she swung through a U-turn without fuss, which shows how quickly the skill builds.

Pedal When You Want, Ride When You Don't

Somewhere along a quiet stretch, Lindsay hit on what she clearly saw as one of the best things about riding electric. You can just relax and take in the scenery, she said, instead of worrying about pedaling hard just to get somewhere. And if you want exercise, you can turn the assist down and pedal more yourself.

That flexibility is the heart of what makes pedal-assist vehicles appealing to such a wide range of people. On any given day, you can decide what kind of ride you want. If you're feeling energetic, drop to a low assist level and get a real workout. If you're tired, it's hot out, or you just want to enjoy the view, turn the assist up and cruise. Same trike, same route, very different experiences.

It also takes the pressure off. Plenty of people avoid riding because they worry they won't be able to make it back, or that they'll run out of energy halfway through a loop. Knowing the motor is there as backup removes that fear. You can push yourself on the way out and let the assist carry more of the load on the way home.

Lindsay summed it up simply: she really likes having options. For a lot of riders, that's exactly the right way to think about an eTrike. It isn't a replacement for exercise, and it isn't only a way to avoid it. It's a tool that lets you choose, ride by ride.

One of the more thoughtful moments in the video came early on, as Lindsay rolled past a brewery. She said that on an eTrike, it feels like you get to see a lot more of the world because you're covering more territory. You're going places, as she put it. It's a small observation, but it gets at something real about how electric assist changes the way you experience your surroundings.

On foot, you see a few blocks. In a car, you see a lot, but it goes by in a blur behind glass, and you're focused on traffic and parking. On a bike without assist, your range depends on your legs. An eTrike sits in a sweet spot: you're outside, moving at a pace where you can actually notice things, and you can comfortably reach parts of your town you'd normally only drive through.

Later, Lindsay looked back at how far they'd gone and pointed out that she wasn't tired and she wasn't sweaty. That's the payoff. A loop that would wear out a casual rider on a regular bike left her fresh enough to keep chatting and still eager for more. By the end, she'd passed a brewery, glimpsed the ocean, ridden through residential streets, looped a park and explored a cul-de-sac, all in a single session.

She also imagined riding along the ocean in summer, wind in her face, listening to music. Whether your version of that is a beach path, a lake loop, a greenway or just your own neighborhood on a warm evening, the point stands. An eTrike makes it easy to turn a short ride into an outing, and to make outings a regular part of your week.

Road Manners: Stop Signs, Crosswalks, and Safety First

For all the laughter in the video, there's also a steady stream of good habits worth pointing out. At stop signs, Lindsay stopped and looked for cars before turning. At one intersection, she and Lisa used the crosswalk, and she talked through the decision out loud: stop here, go to the crosswalk, no one's coming, so we're clear to go. When she moved into a lane to turn left, she checked with Lisa first and confirmed no traffic was coming.

Near the park, she said it directly: always watch the road, always look out for cars and people, safety first. It's a simple message, but it bears repeating for new riders, because the excitement of a first ride can easily crowd out caution. An eTrike is easy to ride, which is exactly why it's easy to forget that you're sharing space with cars, pedestrians, dogs and kids.

A few practical habits follow from what's in the video. Slow down before intersections rather than in them. Make eye contact with drivers when you can. Use crosswalks and follow local rules about where trikes and eBikes are allowed. Remember your rear width when pulling up to curbs and lane lines. And wear a helmet; sixthreezero carries a range of helmets designed for comfortable, everyday riding.

It's also worth riding with someone for your first few outings if you can. Lisa's role in the video was small but important: she guided the route, flagged tricky corners, and kept Lindsay's enthusiasm in check when it needed checking. A friend or family member who rides can do the same for you while you learn.

The Sidewalk Moment and the Value of a Compact Frame

Toward the end of the ride, Lisa directed Lindsay onto a sidewalk path, and Lindsay announced, with some surprise, that this might be her first sidewalk experience on a trike. She took it slowly, went wide getting on, remembered the rear wheels, and made it through cleanly. Her reaction was pure delight: she did it.

Her takeaway afterward was a useful one. She said she liked that the trike is still small enough to fit on sidewalk paths. A common worry about adult trikes is that they'll be bulky, hard to fit through gates or onto shared paths, and awkward in tighter spaces. Her experience suggests the Simple Glide strikes a reasonable balance: wide enough at the back to feel planted, but not so wide that it's limited to open roads.

A quick caution here, though. Whether you're allowed to ride on a particular sidewalk or path depends on where you live. Some towns permit it, some restrict it, and some allow it only on designated multi-use paths or at low speeds. Check your local rules before you make sidewalks part of your routine, and when you do share space with pedestrians, slow right down and give people plenty of room.

That said, being able to use paths and narrower routes opens up a lot of possibilities, particularly for park loops, waterfront promenades and greenways. It's one of the reasons a trike like this can work both as an errand-runner and as a leisure ride.

The Simple Glide in the video is the fat tire version, and while Lindsay spent more time talking about the seat than the tires, the tires are quietly doing a lot of work throughout the ride. Fat tires are wider than standard bike tires, which gives them a bigger contact patch with the ground. In practice, that tends to mean a softer, more cushioned ride, because the wider tire absorbs small bumps and cracks before they reach you.

Look at the route in the video and you'll see the kinds of surfaces fat tires are good at handling: residential streets with uneven patches, curb transitions, a stretch of paver stones near the park, sidewalk joints and the occasional dip. Lindsay rolled over pavers without comment, which is itself a kind of review. When a surface change doesn't register as something worth mentioning, the tires are doing their job.

Wider tires also add to the planted, stable feeling that runs through the whole ride. Combined with the three-wheel layout and the supportive seat, they help explain why Lindsay kept describing herself as feeling secure. If that stable, cushioned ride appeals to you, compare the full range of fat tire electric trikes, and if you'd prefer two wheels, sixthreezero also offers fat tire electric bikes.

What Lindsay's First Ride Teaches New Riders

Watching someone learn something for the first time is often more instructive than watching an expert. Here's what Lindsay's twelve minutes on the Simple Glide suggest for anyone about to take their own first eTrike ride.

Start at the lowest assist level. Lindsay began on level one and only stepped up once she felt comfortable. That gave her time to learn the steering and braking without the trike getting ahead of her.

Practice in a quiet space first. A couple of minutes in a parking lot made a big difference. Use that time to try starts, stops and slow turns in both directions.

Always go wide. The rear wheels sit wider than the front. Swing a little wide on turns, especially along curbs, and keep that rear width in mind when you pull up to anything.

Slow down before turns, not during them. Several of Lindsay's smoothest turns came after she consciously eased off. Choppy turns usually come from carrying too much speed into the corner.

Let your enthusiasm out, then reel it back in. It's fun to try the higher assist levels and the throttle, and you should. Just keep it in proportion to your experience, and dial down whenever you feel like you're reacting rather than riding.

Ride with a guide if you can. Lisa's occasional reminders kept the ride safe and relaxed. A riding partner who knows the area and the trike helps more than you'd think.

Be kind to yourself. Lindsay's own words: it's her first time, so give her a little kindness. First rides are supposed to be a bit choppy. Every ride after gets smoother.

If you're buying online and want help with setup, sixthreezero's assembly instructions walk through getting your trike ready, and the ultimate bike buyer's guide is a good primer if you're still comparing styles.

Is the Simple Glide Fat Tire Right for You?

Lindsay's ride answers a handful of questions people tend to ask before they buy their first electric trike, even if she never asked them out loud.

Is it hard to learn? Based on the video, no. The practice phase was about two minutes before she felt ready for quiet streets, and her main adjustments were getting used to the rear width and smoothing out her turns. Neither required any special skill, just a little repetition.

Will I feel safe? Lindsay said repeatedly that she felt secure, and much of that came from the combination of three wheels, a supportive seat and a stable, cushioned ride. You still need to ride carefully, but you don't have to fight to stay upright.

Do I have to pedal? You can, and you can choose how much. Lower assist levels give you more of a workout; higher levels and the throttle let you cruise with little or no effort. Lindsay mixed all of these depending on the moment.

Is it practical, or just for fun? Both. The ride was clearly a blast, but Lindsay's mind kept turning to errands, groceries and short trips that would normally mean taking the car. The basket and rear space are what make that realistic.

What about hills? The throttle and higher assist levels handled the climbs on her route without any visible strain, and she finished the loop neither tired nor sweaty.

If you have a question her ride didn't cover, the sixthreezero team's fitting consultation is a good way to get a straight answer about your height, mobility, storage and the kind of riding you have in mind.

Final Thoughts: Twelve Minutes From Nervous to Obsessed

Some reviews try hard to sound balanced and end up sounding flat. Lindsay's ride is the opposite. She was excited from the first look at the seat and only got more excited as the ride went on. By the end she was riding through a park, looping a cul-de-sac, handling a sidewalk path and saying, more than once, that she was obsessed.

But under the enthusiasm there's a solid, practical story. A first-time rider got on a trike she had never seen before and, within a couple of minutes, was comfortable enough to head out onto real streets. Within ten, she was climbing hills, working through assist levels, turning confidently and thinking about how she'd use it for groceries and errands. She finished the ride neither tired nor sweaty, and the one feature she kept returning to was the one that most directly affects how a long ride feels: proper support for her back.

That's a useful thing to know if you're weighing up an eTrike for yourself or for someone in your family. The learning curve is short, the comfort is real, and the practical uses add up quickly once you start imagining your own routes. If you want to keep exploring, browse the full range of electric tricycles or dig into more rider stories and how-to guides on the sixthreezero Bike Advice blog.

And if you do take your own maiden voyage, take a page from Lindsay's book. Start on level one, go wide around the corners, keep safety first, and let yourself enjoy it. The wind in your face part tends to take care of itself.