Running Errands on an Electric Trike: A Small-Town Ride Along With One of Our Riders

A Real Errand Day on Three Wheels

Most of the videos people send us aren't epic. Nobody's crossing a mountain range or riding coast to coast. They're filming a Tuesday. And honestly, those are my favorite, because a Tuesday is where an electric bike or trike earns its keep.

This one comes from a rider in our community who lives in a small, hot town and rides an electric trike. She turned on her camera one afternoon, said she had a couple of errands to run, and took us along. No script. No production crew. Just a woman, her trike, her husband riding behind her, and a short list of things she needed to get done.

Before we go any further, I want to pass along something she made a point of saying on camera: she doesn't work for us. She was clear about that. She described herself as a happy e-triker and a happy customer, and that's the spirit in which she shared the video. I'm grateful she did, because it says more about how these machines fit into real life than anything I could write from behind a desk.

The to-do list

Her list was about as ordinary as it gets. First, a haircut. She'd been wearing her hair pulled up all summer to keep it off her neck in the heat, and she was done with that. Second, a stop at the photo shop to pick up some prints. Third, a drop-off at her daughter's house to deliver those prints. Then home.

Three stops. If you live in a small town, you know that's the kind of list that usually means hopping in the car, making a few two-minute drives, and spending more time parking and buckling up than actually moving. She put it simply: everything in her town is close together, so she can run errands really quickly, and it's a lot quicker on her bike.

That point deserves a second look, because it surprises people. In a lot of small towns, a bike or trike genuinely is faster door to door for short hops. You roll right up to the front of the shop. You don't circle for a space. You don't wait for the cabin to cool down after it's been baking in the sun. You get on and you go.

Why small towns are made for e-trikes

We talk a lot about city commuting when it comes to electric bikes, and that's a real use case. But small towns might be an even better fit, especially for three-wheelers. Distances are short. Traffic, while it can get busy at certain times of day, usually isn't the bumper-to-bumper chaos of a big city. And the things you need on a regular basis, the barber, the pharmacy, the post office, a grocery store, a family member's house, tend to sit within a few miles of each other.

An e-trike turns that geography into an advantage. The motor flattens out the hills and keeps you from arriving sweaty, which matters a lot in a hot climate like hers. The third wheel means you don't have to balance at every stop sign, which is a big deal when your errand route involves a lot of stopping and starting. And because you're sitting upright, you can see what's around you.

If you've been thinking about this kind of riding, our full lineup of electric tricycles is a good place to start browsing. You'll see a range of frame styles, and it's worth paying attention to the details that matter for errand riding specifically, which we'll get into later in this piece.

A beautiful day for it

One of the first things she said once she got rolling was that it was a beautiful day, a nice day for a ride. It's a small comment, but I think it captures something about running errands this way that doesn't show up on a spec sheet.

When you drive to get a haircut, the drive is dead time. You're just getting from A to B. When you ride, the trip becomes part of the day. You notice the weather. You wave at people. In her video, folks along the way stopped to chat, and she thanked them and told them she enjoys it. That's not something that happens through a closed car window.

She also didn't pretend every moment was serene. At one point she noted it was busy out there. At an intersection she couldn't tell whether the road was clear, then realized it was just barely clear. Later she called out that there was a car coming. That's real riding. Errands by trike aren't a fantasy where traffic disappears; they're a practical choice that comes with its own set of skills, and she clearly had them.

That combination is what I want to dig into in this article. Her day was simple, and she said as much at the end. But simple doesn't mean thoughtless. There were good reasons behind leaving the truck at home, good habits at each stop, and one piece of equipment she was emphatic about. Let's go through all of it.

Every rider has their own reasons for picking the bike over the car on a given day. Hers were refreshingly practical, and I suspect a lot of readers will recognize themselves in at least one of them.

Reason one: it's genuinely quicker

We've already touched on this, but it's the reason she led with. In a small town where everything is close, the trike gets her there faster. There's no fussing with parking, no walking across a lot, and no backing out of a tight space. For a three-stop afternoon, that adds up.

Reason two: short trips aren't kind to a diesel

This one I hadn't heard framed quite this way before, and I appreciated it. She and her husband had recently bought a new truck that runs on diesel. Her point was that it's really not good to run a diesel on short trips all the time, so they use their bikes instead.

I'm not a mechanic, and I'd encourage anyone with a diesel to check their owner's manual or talk to their dealer about what their specific vehicle needs. But the general idea she was getting at is one a lot of truck owners will nod along to: some engines are happier on longer drives than on a string of two-minute hops around town. If that's your situation, a trike or e-bike for the short stuff is a pretty elegant solution. The truck gets used for what it's good at, like hauling and longer trips, and the trike handles the haircut and the photo pickup.

Even if you don't drive a diesel, the broader principle holds. Short car trips are often the least efficient trips you make. You burn fuel getting the engine up to temperature, you add wear on the starter and brakes, and you barely get anywhere. Those are exactly the trips an electric trike was built to take off your plate.

Reason three: doing her part

She mentioned, almost as an aside, that she's doing her part to help save the planet. I like that it wasn't the headline. For a lot of riders, the environmental benefit is real and meaningful, but it rides alongside more immediate reasons like convenience and enjoyment. Every errand you run on a trike instead of a car is one fewer short car trip, and in a town where those trips add up week after week, that's not nothing.

Reason four: fresh air and fun

Her closing thought was that you get a lot of fresh air and have lots of fun. If I had to pick one reason that keeps people riding long after the novelty wears off, it would be this one. Errands are chores. Riding turns a chore into something you look forward to.

Planning a route that works

Her route was straightforward: home to the salon, salon to the photo shop, photo shop to her daughter's, and back home. But even a simple loop benefits from a little thought, especially if you're new to riding for transportation.

Order your stops so you're not doubling back. She hit the haircut first, then picked up the prints, then delivered them. That's a natural sequence: you pick something up and then drop it off, rather than carrying it around through unrelated stops.

Know your tricky intersections. In her video, there were a couple of spots where she had to pause and figure out whether she could go, including one crossing where she and her husband talked through which direction to take. Every town has a few of these. Once you've ridden your route a couple of times, you'll know where to slow down, where to take a quieter side street, and where it's worth waiting a few extra seconds.

Think about the heat. She lives somewhere hot enough that keeping her hair off her neck was a daily concern. On hot days, riding earlier or later, carrying water, and using pedal assist generously can make a big difference in how you feel when you arrive.

Parking and locking up

At the salon, there was a quick, funny little exchange between her and her husband about what to do with the bikes. Should he come in? Should they chain the bikes up together right there? In the end, he waited outside with them.

It's a small moment, but it raises a question every errand rider deals with: what do you do with your ride while you're inside? A few habits help. Carry a good lock and use it, even for quick stops. If you're riding with someone, locking two bikes together, as she suggested, can make them harder to walk off with. Look for a spot where your trike won't block a doorway or sidewalk; three-wheelers take up more room than a standard bike, so it pays to be considerate. And if you have a removable battery or anything valuable in your basket, think about taking it with you.

Right after the haircut, she said something any e-bike rider will relate to: she should turn her bike on. We've all done it. You hop on, start pedaling, and wonder why it feels so heavy, only to realize the system is still off. Make powering up part of your routine at each stop, right after unlocking.

Between the haircut and the photo shop, she pulled over and spoke directly to the camera about something she clearly cared about. If you only take one practical lesson from her video, make it this one.

She said that in her riding, she's found side view mirrors to be really important. And she explained exactly why.

When turning your head isn't easy

She has arthritis in her neck. That makes it hard for her to turn her head, which is precisely the motion most cyclists rely on to check behind them before a turn or a lane change. When you're riding in traffic and you can't easily look over your shoulder, mirrors stop being a nice extra and become essential equipment.

I think this is one of the most important points in the whole video, and I want to spend some time on it, because she's far from alone. A lot of people who choose an electric trike do so because of exactly these kinds of physical realities. Maybe it's arthritis, like her. Maybe it's a stiff back, a past injury, or balance that isn't what it used to be. The trike solves the balance problem. Mirrors help solve the visibility problem. Together, they let you ride confidently without asking your body to do things that hurt.

If that sounds like you, our electric trikes for seniors collection is worth a look, not because mirrors only matter to older riders, but because that collection is built around the kind of comfort and stability that riders with limited mobility tend to prioritize.

What went wrong with her first mirrors

Here's where her story gets really useful, because she didn't just tell us mirrors matter. She told us what happened when she got the wrong ones.

After she got her trike, she bought a set of side view mirrors online that had a flexible post, the idea being that she could position them however she wanted. It sounds like a great feature. In practice, she found that the mirrors kept moving. She was constantly having to reposition them. It got so frustrating that she eventually just took them off.

Think about what that means. Someone who genuinely needs mirrors, because she physically can't turn her head comfortably, ended up riding without any because the ones she had wouldn't stay put. That's the real cost of a bad accessory. It's not just annoying; it can push you into riding less safely than you'd like.

A flexible post that's adjustable by hand is, almost by definition, also adjustable by vibration, bumps, wind, and the occasional brush against a wall or doorframe. On a smooth road you might not notice. On real streets, with curbs, cracks, and driveways, a mirror that drifts a little with every jolt can end up pointed at your elbow or the sky by the time you need it.

What she's switching to

She said the mirrors she plans to buy next will most likely come from us. In her words, we have a lot of really great accessories. The ones she has her eye on, she said, are about the same price as the ones she originally paid for, but they have a steady, solid post so they don't move around.

I'll be honest: it's always nice to hear a customer say that. But the bigger takeaway here isn't which brand she chose. It's the principle she landed on through trial and error. When you shop for mirrors, prioritize a mount that stays where you set it. Flexibility is nice during setup. Stability is what you need on every ride after that.

She also gave a quick shout-out to our customer service team, saying any conversations she's had with them have had really good results. I'll pass that along to the team. If you're shopping for mirrors or anything else and you're not sure what fits your trike, reaching out is a good first step.

How her husband fills the gap

Without her mirrors, she's relied on a workaround: her husband. He rides behind her most of the time, and when a car is coming up from behind, he honks to let her know. Other times he'll holler that it's all clear.

It's a sweet system, and you could see it in action throughout the video. But she was clear that it's not a substitute. Her husband won't always be there, and even when he is, a honk tells you something is coming without telling you where, how fast, or how close. A good mirror gives you that information yourself, at a glance, without turning your head. She wrapped up the segment by saying it one more time: very important to have those mirrors.

Setting up mirrors on a trike

A few practical tips, drawn from her experience and from what we see with riders generally. Position your mirrors so you can see the lane behind you with just a shift of your eyes, not your head. That's the whole point if neck mobility is an issue. Sit on the trike in your normal riding position when you adjust them, not standing next to it. Check them at the start of every ride for the first couple of weeks; if they've moved, the mount isn't doing its job. And if you ride with someone behind you regularly, ask them to ride in your mirror's field of view so you get used to judging distance.

Mirrors aren't the only part of a safety setup, of course. A good helmet belongs on every ride, errands included. We carry sixthreezero helmets designed with everyday riders in mind. But for riders like her, who can't easily look back, mirrors are the piece that changes how riding in traffic feels.

Once she had the prints from the photo shop, she announced the next leg: they were headed to her daughter's house. This part of the video is the most charming, and it also says a lot about how riding as a pair works and what you need to carry things around town.

Riding as a team

Her husband rode behind her for the whole trip, and you can hear the two of them working things out as they go. At one intersection she couldn't see if they could go. At another, there was a bit of back and forth about which way to head, followed by a few quick okays as they sorted it out. When a car approached, one of them called it out.

If you ride with a partner, a few habits make errands smoother. Decide who leads. In her case, she rode in front and her husband rode behind, which makes sense: the person behind can watch traffic coming up from the rear and warn the leader, and the leader sets a pace that works for both. Agree on simple signals. A honk for a car coming, a shout for all clear. Keep it short and consistent so there's no confusion. And talk through tricky spots before you reach them when you can. Deciding which way to turn while you're already in the intersection is how people end up stopped awkwardly in traffic.

Riding together has another benefit she didn't mention but clearly enjoyed: company. Errands become a shared outing instead of a solo chore.

Special delivery

When they reached her daughter's house, she announced herself with a grin: your delivery service awaits. Her daughter, who it turned out was out back and likely in the pool, called for them to come around back.

What followed was a sweet little family moment. She handed over the prints and asked her daughter to look through them to make sure they were okay. They were all water and beach photos, which, she noted, just ended up that way. Her daughter said she loved them. Thank yous all around. Then back on the trike.

I love this part because it's the kind of trip people don't think of as an e-trike use case. Dropping something off at a family member's house is one of the most common short trips there is. It's also one of the most pleasant to do by bike, because you arrive in a good mood and you're not worried about blocking a driveway.

Carrying your stuff

Prints are light and flat, so they don't take much room. But errand riding often involves more than that: a bag from the pharmacy, a few groceries, a package to mail, a dish to drop off. This is where a trike really shines compared to a two-wheeler, because many trikes are designed around carrying things.

If cargo space is high on your list, start with our electric tricycles with a large basket. For heavier or bulkier loads, take a look at our cargo electric trikes, which are built with hauling in mind.

Add-ons can make an already practical trike even more useful. Our baskets and bags and panniers let you organize what you're carrying, keep smaller items from rattling around, and protect things like photo prints from the elements.

What makes a trike good for errands

Watching her day, a few qualities stand out as especially useful for this kind of riding.

Easy on, easy off. Errand days mean mounting and dismounting several times. A low step-through frame makes that much easier, particularly if your joints aren't as cooperative as they used to be. Our easy-to-mount e-trikes with a low step-thru are worth comparing if that matters to you.

Smooth starts. Stop-and-go riding at intersections is where a lot of riders appreciate having a throttle, which lets you get moving from a stop without having to push hard on the pedals. If that sounds appealing, browse our electric tricycles with throttle control.

Comfort. If you're riding to get a haircut on a hot day, you don't want to arrive sore. Seat, posture, and ride feel all matter more than you'd think on a trip with multiple stops. Our most comfortable electric trikes collection pulls together models built around that idea.

Room for accessories. Mirrors, a basket, a bag, maybe a phone holder. Make sure the trike you pick has room for the gear that makes errands practical, and that you leave room in your budget for the accessories that keep you safe, starting with good mirrors.

With the prints delivered, she turned the camera around and said their errands were all done and they were heading home. Then she summed up the whole afternoon better than I could: it's that simple. Hop on your bike, go run your errands, head back home.

That simplicity is the point. Her day didn't require special training, a long-distance machine, or a perfect bike lane network. It required a trike that fit her body and her town, a couple of good habits, and the willingness to leave the truck in the driveway.

Getting started with errands by trike

If her video has you thinking about trying this yourself, here's how I'd approach it.

Start with one errand. Don't try to replace every car trip on day one. Pick a short, familiar trip, like a coffee run, a visit to a family member, or a pickup from a nearby shop, and ride it a few times. You'll learn your route, your tricky intersections, and how long things actually take.

Get your safety basics sorted before you ride in traffic. That means a helmet, a reliable lock, and, especially if turning your head is difficult, a pair of mirrors on solid mounts that hold their position. Learn from her experience and skip the flexible posts that drift.

Make powering up part of your routine. Unlock, turn the system on, check your mirrors, go. After a few rides it becomes automatic.

Find a riding partner if you can. Her husband's role as rear lookout wasn't just practical; it made the outing more fun. Even if you usually ride solo, inviting a friend or family member along for the first few trips can make the learning curve feel a lot friendlier.

Pick a trike that fits you. This might be the most important step, and it's the one people most often skip. A trike that's the wrong size or the wrong style for your body will feel awkward, and an awkward ride is one you'll stop taking. Our bike fitting quiz is a quick way to narrow down options that suit your height, riding style, and comfort needs.

Try before you commit. If you're on the fence, read through our test ride policy so you know exactly how it works before you order.

The bigger picture

I'll close with what struck me most about her video. She wasn't trying to make a point about cycling, or the environment, or e-trikes in general. She just had a few things to do on a nice day, and she chose to do them on three wheels. Along the way, she shared a hard-won lesson about mirrors, a practical reason for keeping short trips off the truck, and a reminder that riding is supposed to be enjoyable.

Fresh air. Lots of fun. A haircut, a stack of beach photos, and a happy daughter at the end of the route. If that's not a good argument for running your errands by trike, I'm not sure what is.

Thanks to our rider for letting us tag along, and for being so generous with what she's learned. If you've got your own errand-day story, we'd love to see it.