Pedal Assist vs. a Steep Hill: Diane Tests the Simple Glide 750W Fat Tire Recumbent E-Trike

Why Hills Are the Real Test for an Electric Trike

I've spent a lot of years around bikes, and I've noticed that the conversation almost always starts in the same place. People ask about top speed, range, and motor size. Those are fair questions. But when someone tells me what actually keeps them off a bike, it's rarely about speed. It's a hill. Usually one particular hill, sitting right in the middle of a route they'd love to ride if only that climb weren't there.

That's why I wanted to share a ride my colleague Diane filmed on the Simple Glide 750W Fat Tire Recumbent E-Trike. Diane rolled out from our sixthreezero showroom with one goal. She didn't want to just tell you that pedal assist and a throttle make hills possible. She wanted to show you, on a real slope, with nothing staged to make it look easier than it was.

What makes her demonstration worth your time is that she started the climb with the motor's help switched off entirely. She tried to pedal the hill on her own first. It didn't go well, and she said so on camera. Then she brought in pedal assist and the throttle, one level at a time, and narrated exactly what changed. If you've ever wondered what the difference between pedal assist 1 and pedal assist 5 actually feels like on a grade, this is about as clear a picture as you'll get without riding it yourself.

The trike Diane chose for the day

Diane picked the Simple Glide 750W Fat Tire for this ride on purpose. As she explained before setting off, the fat tires, together with the stronger battery and motor, give her more power to work with. The wider tires also mean she can head onto a stretch with a little more gravel if her route calls for it. She was still deciding where she wanted to go that day, and she knew this trike would open up more options than she'd otherwise have.

That versatility is a big part of why so many riders are drawn to fat tire electric trikes. You're not choosing between a trike that's pleasant on smooth pavement and one that can handle a rougher patch. A stronger motor paired with wider tires lets you plan a ride around where you want to go instead of around what your trike can tolerate. If you're just starting to explore three-wheelers, our full range of electric tricycles shows how many different directions that idea can take.

Diane also mentioned more than once how user friendly the controls are, and that matters more than people expect. A powerful trike with confusing controls isn't much help when you're halfway up a slope and need to make a change quickly. Simple controls are a safety feature in their own right.

The Simple Glide is a recumbent design, which means you sit back in a relaxed, supported position rather than perched upright over the pedals. If that style is new to you, our collection of recumbent electric trikes is a good way to see what the seating position looks like. For this story, though, the seat is a supporting player. The star is what happens when the road tilts upward.

Diane's honest starting point

Here's what I respect most about Diane's video. She didn't present herself as an athlete. She was candid about where she is physically, and I think that candor is exactly why her ride resonates with so many people who watch it.

Diane told viewers plainly that she can no longer take on a hill by herself on a bike. It doesn't matter how many speeds or gears the bike has, she said, mountain bike or road bike. She can go about five feet before she has to stop and rest. In her words, it just isn't worth it, and it isn't fun.

Then she said something I hear from riders all the time, though rarely this directly. Knowing a hill was coming gave her anxiety before a ride even started, and she didn't want that feeling. A ride is supposed to be something you look forward to, not something you brace yourself for.

If that sounds familiar, you're far from alone. I talk with plenty of riders who used to ride regularly and slowly drifted away from it. Usually there wasn't one dramatic moment. It was a buildup of small frustrations: the hill you started walking, the group ride you started skipping, the route you quietly stopped suggesting. Eventually the bike just sat in the garage.

Choosing your own effort

What changed things for Diane wasn't a heroic push to get fitter. It was control over how much help she gets. With pedal assist and a throttle, she explained, she decides for herself how much physical exercise a ride includes. When she's had enough, she leans on one of those features so she doesn't injure herself.

She described the payoff in three parts: not getting overly fatigued, being free to explore whatever she wants to explore, and having the confidence to get back safely and finish the ride without hurting herself or anyone else. That last part is worth pausing on. Diane wasn't only thinking about her own legs. She was thinking about what happens on a shared path when a rider runs out of strength at the wrong moment.

That idea runs through everything that follows. Pedal assist and a throttle aren't about skipping exercise. They're about choosing it, deciding how hard you work and when you stop, instead of letting the steepest hill on your route make that decision for you. With that in mind, let's look at the controls Diane was working with before she pointed the trike uphill.

Before Diane headed for the hill, she walked through the two features she'd rely on for the rest of the ride. If you're new to electric trikes, this is the part worth slowing down for. Once you understand how these two systems relate to each other, nearly everything about riding an e-trike gets simpler.

Reading the display

On the Simple Glide 750W Fat Tire's display, Diane pointed to the letters PAS. That's pedal assist, and the number beside it tells you which assist level you're in. When she started, the trike was in pedal assist 1. By pressing the arrow button, she could step up through the levels all the way to pedal assist 5.

She called the setup very user friendly, and that's a fair description. Changing levels is a single press per step. There are no menus to scroll through and nothing to dig for while you're rolling. You glance down, press the arrow, and the number changes.

The logic is easy to remember. Level 1 gives you the lightest touch of help. Each step up adds more motor support for the same effort from your legs. Level 5 is the most help the system offers. Diane promised to show what each level meant once she was actually on a slope, and she followed through, which we'll get to in the next section.

How pedal assist behaves

Pedal assist does what the name suggests. It assists your pedaling. Diane pointed out later in her ride that once you stop pedaling, pedal assist switches off. That's an important detail for anyone new to e-trikes. The motor isn't going to push you forward on its own just because the display says level 5. It responds to your pedaling and adds to it.

I like to describe it as a partnership. You provide the rhythm, and the motor multiplies what you're putting in. At a low level on a flat path, it feels like a gentle tailwind. At a high level on a steep climb, it feels like someone strong is helping from behind while you turn the pedals at an easy pace.

The throttle: your gas pedal

The second feature is the throttle. On this trike it's a small twist control on the handlebar. Diane compared it to the gas pedal in a car, which is the simplest explanation I've heard. Twist it, and the trike moves.

When she's using the throttle, Diane said, she's running on almost pure motor. She can pedal and use the throttle at the same time if she wants. But if she'd rather not do anything with her legs, the throttle handles it. That flexibility is what makes it so useful in specific moments, and you'll see several of them in her ride: starting on a steep slope, crossing a busy street, and getting home after her legs had done enough.

If a throttle is high on your must-have list, it's worth knowing that not every electric trike includes one. Our collection of electric trikes with throttle control brings together the models that do, so you can compare without combing through spec sheets.

The rule that trips people up

Diane shared a detail near the end of her ride that belongs right here, because it confuses a lot of new riders. On this trike, the throttle only works when pedal assist is on. If she clicked all the way down to pedal assist 0 and twisted the throttle, nothing would happen. You need to be in at least pedal assist 1.

I've seen people assume their throttle had failed when the real issue was simply that the assist was set to zero. If you're on a test ride and the throttle seems unresponsive, check the display first. Bump it up to level 1 and try again.

Why two systems instead of one

You might wonder why a trike needs both. The short answer is that they solve different problems. Pedal assist extends what you can do while you keep pedaling. Your legs stay involved, and you choose how much work they do. The throttle covers the moments when pedaling isn't the best option: when you need power right away, when you're starting from a standstill on a slope, or when your body is telling you it's done for the day.

Diane used both throughout her ride, often together. She didn't treat them as separate modes. She changed assist levels as the terrain changed and reached for the throttle when a situation called for a quick, controlled burst. That blend is where these systems really earn their place.

Practice before you need it

One habit I'd encourage: get comfortable with the controls on flat ground before you need them on a hill. Click up and down through the levels. Feel how the trike responds at 1 compared with 3. Try a gentle twist of the throttle from a stop. Diane herself suggested starting a test ride on flat ground for exactly this reason. When the moment comes on a slope, you want your thumb to already know where the arrow is.

Comfort supports control

Controls only help if you can use them calmly, and that's easier when your body is relaxed. A recumbent seat keeps you settled and supported, so your attention goes to the road and the display rather than to holding yourself in position. If comfort ranks near the top of your priorities, browse our most comfortable electric trikes to see the designs riders tend to gravitate toward.

With the display and throttle explained, Diane pointed the Simple Glide toward the hill. What happened next is the heart of the whole video.

Diane's hill wasn't a gentle rise. She described it as pretty steep, and she admitted she wasn't sure of the exact grade. What she was sure of was that she couldn't climb it under her own power. To prove the point, she did something most demo videos skip. She tried anyway.

Pedal assist 0: the honest baseline

She took the Simple Glide 750W Fat Tire completely off pedal assist, setting it to 0. Before she even began, she was holding the brakes, because without them she would have rolled back down the slope. She told viewers she'd probably roll back once she started pedaling, too.

Then she tried. She pushed on the pedals, and she wasn't exaggerating about the result. She couldn't do it. The trike started rolling backward. She described the pressure building in her left leg as she fought just to keep from sliding down the hill.

I want to stay on this moment, because it's the most important part of the video. It would have been easy to leave it out. Plenty of product demos jump straight to the motor doing its job. But the sight of Diane straining against a slope she can't climb is what gives the rest of her ride its meaning. That's the situation many riders are actually in. Not a gentle incline that's a bit tiring, but a slope that is simply out of reach without help.

Pedal assist 1 plus the throttle: getting moving safely

Here's where Diane's choices get interesting. She clicked up to pedal assist 1. But because she was now in what she called a scary situation, rolling backward on a steep slope, she didn't rely on pedaling alone to get going. She slowly pressed the throttle as well.

The trike moved forward. Her reaction was immediate and completely genuine. Her anxiety, she said, dropped to zero.

The technique matters as much as the result. She didn't crank the throttle. She eased into it. Starting from a standstill on a hill, especially after fighting to hold your position, is exactly when a smooth, gradual input pays off. The throttle got all three wheels moving under power without Diane having to produce that first heavy push with her legs, which was the very thing she couldn't do moments earlier.

She pointed out that this trike has a 750-watt motor and called it strong. Once she was rolling, she came off the throttle and started working through the pedal assist levels.

Climbing through the levels

She clicked into pedal assist 2, then went quickly up to 3 because the hill was so steep. In pedal assist 3, she was moving at about 7 miles per hour.

Next she clicked up to pedal assist 4, keeping exactly the same pedaling cadence she'd been using. Her speed rose to about 10 miles per hour. She said she wasn't using any of her own energy. In other words, her effort hadn't changed at all, but the motor was now doing far more of the work.

Finally, she clicked up to the top setting, pedal assist 5. Her speed climbed toward 13, and then, in one of those honest little moments that make her videos feel real, her foot slipped off the pedal. She got it back and carried on, reaching close to 15 miles per hour on the climb.

That sequence is the clearest demonstration I know of what assist levels actually do. Same rider, same hill, same pedaling rhythm. The only thing changing was the number on the display, and the speed followed it upward. Step by step, the hill went from impossible to almost easy.

A quick word on those numbers. They're the speeds Diane called out on that particular hill, at her cadence, on that day. Yours will vary with the slope, your weight, how you pedal, and conditions like wind. What carries over is the pattern: every step up in assist gave her more speed for the same effort.

When the pedaling stops

Diane also reminded viewers that once you stop pedaling, pedal assist turns off. It sounds like a small point, but it's reassuring. The motor won't keep pushing when your feet come off the pedals, as hers briefly did, so you're never left wondering what the trike is going to do next.

What this means on a group ride

Diane brought the whole thing back to a scene every rider can picture. If she were out alone or with friends without pedal assist, she said, she'd have to wait for them at the bottom of this hill, because she couldn't get up it on her own. Either she'd sit out that part of the ride, or she'd have to ask everyone to take a different route because of her.

Nobody wants to be that rider, and in my experience that feeling is one of the quietest reasons people stop riding altogether. They don't want to hold the group back. They don't want to be the reason the route changes. With assist, the hill stops being a negotiation. You just ride it with everyone else.

She also admitted the back of her leg hurt a bit from her unassisted attempt. Even that short effort against the slope left her sore. Imagine what forcing her way up the whole hill on a regular bike would have done.

The beauty of pedal assist

Diane summed it up simply. When people say an e-trike or e-bike with pedal assist or a throttle lets you go on rides you couldn't manage on your own, this is what they mean. She couldn't climb this hill. With assist, she did. She called it the beauty of pedal assist and said it gives her the freedom to ride wherever she wants.

If you're trying to work out whether a trike like this suits your body and the terrain where you live, our personal fitting process is a good place to start. It's built to match you with the right setup so you're not guessing.

Hills got the spotlight, but Diane made a point of showing that pedal assist and the throttle earn their keep in plenty of other situations. Some of the most useful moments of her ride on the Simple Glide 750W Fat Tire had nothing to do with climbing.

Hilly terrain, every day

Diane lives in Southern California, and as she put it, it's hilly out there. For her, a trike that handles hills isn't a bonus feature. It decides whether a route is rideable at all.

The headwind problem

She also described a scenario almost every cyclist has lived through. Even on a perfectly flat path, a windy day can change everything. You head out with the wind at your back and feel fantastic. Diane laughed about that feeling, pedaling along so nicely and thinking you're a super athlete who can go anywhere.

Then you turn around to come home. The wind is hitting you in the face, and suddenly you're wondering how you'll ever make it back. As Diane said, it doesn't matter how many manual gears you have. When the wind is blowing hard, it's hard.

That's where pedal assist quietly saves the day. You can use it on windy days just as you would on hills, and it simply makes the ride easier. It changes how you plan, too. Without assist, a strong breeze might make you cut a ride short before you even leave, because you're worried about the trip home. With assist available, the return leg stops being something to dread.

Diane even mentioned during her ride that it was very windy and the wind was slowing her down a little. Real conditions, real ride.

Crossing a busy street

On her way back to where she started, Diane had to cross a really busy street. Even though the crossing was flat, she chose the throttle. For her, she explained, that's the safest way to get across. It's pure motor, and she can still pedal if she wants.

I think this is one of the smartest uses of a throttle, and one people don't always think about. Crossing traffic is about getting from one side to the other promptly and predictably. You don't want to be grinding through a slow first pedal stroke while drivers wait. A smooth twist of the throttle gets you moving right away.

Before she went, she checked for traffic. Nothing coming. Then she turned the throttle, and as she pointed out, it got her across and onto the downhill on the other side quickly.

Start low, every time

Just before that crossing, Diane shared a tip I'd put near the top of any new rider's list. When you're starting out from a stop, click back down to a low pedal assist level. If you leave the trike in pedal assist 5, it's going to send you off fast right from the start.

Her habit is to drop back to pedal assist 1 whenever she starts, unless she's about to turn and head straight back up a hill. That's sensible. Level 5 is wonderful on a steep climb, but it's more than you want when you're pulling away from a curb or easing into traffic. Get rolling at a gentle level, then click up as the terrain asks for it.

She paired that with the reminder from earlier: pedal assist has to be on for the throttle to work. If you click down to 0, the throttle won't respond. So "low" means level 1, not off.

Going downhill

Once she was across, Diane rolled into a descent. She was off the throttle, in pedal assist 1, and not pedaling at all, since gravity was doing the work. She was moving at about 11 miles per hour.

She was upfront about her style. She is not a fast downhill rider. She noted how much stability the trike has, and she still rode the brakes on the way down. As her speed reached about 17 miles per hour, she said plainly that she just doesn't like going that fast, and she kept the brakes working to hold it in check.

I'm glad she showed this. There's no rule that says you have to let a trike run on a descent. The right pace is the one that feels comfortable to you. Stability gives you confidence, and good braking habits give you control. You want both working together.

Coming up on a right-hand turn, she slowed further because she didn't want to take it at 16 miles per hour. She made the turn at about 11, which she noted wasn't especially slow. Slowing before a turn rather than in the middle of it is a good habit on any three-wheeler.

If braking confidence is high on your priority list, our collection of electric trikes with disc brakes is a useful place to compare. And whatever you ride, a helmet belongs on every outing, hills or not. You'll find options in our sixthreezero helmets collection.

Adjusting after the turn

After the turn, Diane clicked up to pedal assist 2. She explained that she hadn't hurt her leg, but she could still feel her earlier attempt on that hill, and she teased herself about what she'd been thinking trying to climb it without help. A slight incline followed, so she clicked up again to pedal assist 3.

This is pedal assist doing exactly what it's meant to do. Diane wasn't locked into a single setting. She was reading the road and reading her body, then adjusting one click at a time. That's the skill worth building, and it comes quickly once you start riding.

One of the most thoughtful moments in Diane's ride came when she talked about injury and recovery. It's a topic that comes up often when riders ask me about e-trikes, and she handled it in a way I found genuinely useful.

Coming back from an injury

Diane described a scenario. Say you actually did injure yourself, or you're coming back from an injury and working with a therapist. That therapist might tell you to take things only so far, and if you feel a certain sensation, to stop whatever you're doing.

On a regular bike, stopping isn't always realistic. If you're a few miles from home, you still have to get back. With a throttle, Diane explained, she can ride all the way back without pedaling at all. She noted she'd check her battery level first, which is exactly the right instinct.

I'd add one thought of my own. If you're recovering from an injury or managing a health concern, talk with your doctor or therapist about the kind of riding that fits your plan. What a throttle gives you is a dependable way to respect whatever limits you've been given. You don't have to choose between following that advice and getting home.

Using the throttle to finish strong

On her way back, Diane almost had to stop because a car was coming, and then she met another fairly steep incline. She used the throttle to get up it, then decided to throttle the rest of the way back.

She listed plenty of reasons you might want to do the same. Maybe you want to give your legs a rest. Maybe the ride ran longer than you planned, or turned out harder than you expected. Maybe you've already done the amount of exercise you wanted for the day, you've hit your limit, you're tired, and you don't want to pull a muscle. In any of those cases, as long as there's enough charge showing in your battery bar, you can throttle all the way home.

This is one of the most underrated benefits of an e-trike. It takes away the out-and-back worry. You can head out farther with confidence, because the trip home doesn't depend on how much strength you have left.

Tight turns and a smart parking habit

Back near her starting point, Diane showed off the turn radius of the Simple Glide 750W Fat Tire, and she was clearly pleased with how tightly it came around. Then she throttled back to where she began.

Before getting off, she set the emergency brakes so she wouldn't accidentally hit the throttle. That habit is worth copying. On any trike with a throttle, an accidental twist while you're getting on or off can move the trike when you aren't ready. Setting the brakes first takes a second and removes that risk.

What Diane proved

Diane wrapped up with a clear summary. Pedal assist got her up that hill and to a spot she could not reach on her own, and it helped her avoid injury. She was emphatic that she would not have made it even halfway up that hill on a regular bike. And if she had somehow forced her way up, she said, she definitely would have hurt herself.

Her conclusion was simple. Pedal assist and the throttle give you the freedom to take on those hills if you want to, and to explore all the different corners of your neighborhood, or wherever it is you love to ride.

Freedom came up again and again in her ride, and I think it's the right word. Not freedom from exercise, but freedom to choose it. Freedom to ride with friends instead of waiting at the bottom. Freedom to say yes to a route instead of quietly steering everyone around it.

Is this kind of trike right for you?

If you see yourself in Diane's story, you're the rider this kind of setup is built for. Maybe you used to enjoy hills and now plan around them. Maybe you want exercise on your own terms, with a way to ease off when your body asks. Our electric trikes for seniors collection is a good place to start exploring, and if getting on and off comfortably matters to you, take a look at our easy-to-mount e-trikes with a low step-thru as well.

Come try the hill yourself

Diane closed with an invitation I'm happy to repeat. It's one thing to watch her ride or read about it here. It's another to feel it. Come out and test ride for yourself. There's a hill right around the corner from our location, and there's a flat parking lot where you can get a sense of how different motors feel to you before you head for the slope.

You'll find directions and details when you visit our store page online. If you'd rather try a trike on your own streets, read how our 30-day test ride works and take on the hill you've been avoiding.

And if you're like Diane, if you reached a point where you could no longer safely ride up a hill, she promised you'll be so happy when you get to the top. She described it as a feeling of freedom, independence, and comfort, everything you'd imagine. Take the test ride. Find your hill. Then ride to the top of it.