Seniors Over 70 Test-Ride Our Electric Trikes: Which One Did Jerry (75) and Constance (83) Choose?

Meet the Testers and Learn the Controls

I've spent 20 years in the bike and e-bike industry, and the biggest lesson from all that time is simple: a spec sheet can only tell you so much. The quickest way to learn whether a trike suits someone is to put them on it and watch what happens. So for this test I invited two riders over 70, rolled most of our electric tricycle lineup into the parking lot, and asked them to ride every single one before naming a favorite.

Jerry is 75 and stands 5'11". He had never been on an electric bike of any kind. Not a trike, not a two-wheeler, nothing with a motor. Constance is 83 and 5'6". She has ridden e-trikes before, but it had been a while, so in practice both of them were starting close to scratch. That made them a great test panel, because the questions they asked are exactly the questions most first-time e-trike shoppers have, and a few of their answers surprised even me.

We didn't have every model out that day, but we had the vast majority: semi-recumbent trikes with big office-style seats, a dual-motor version of one of those, two very different four-wheelers, a pair of more traditional-frame trikes, a fat-tire model, an extended frame for very tall riders, and our new rickshaw. Before anyone rode anything, though, I walked them through the controls. If you're new to e-trikes, this is the part worth slowing down for.

Turning it on and reading the display

Every trike in the lineup has a display, and every one turns on the same way: press and hold the power button, which carries the familiar power symbol. The button sits in a slightly different spot depending on the model, so on Constance's first trike it was the middle button and on others it was off to one side. One thing that catches people out is that the battery itself has its own switch. If the battery isn't on, holding the power button won't do anything, so I made sure every battery was switched on before they started.

Once the screen wakes up, there are three things to watch. You'll see your battery level, your speed, and, most important of all, your pedal assist level. That number tells you how much help the motor gives you while you pedal. There are five levels. One gives you the least help and five gives you the most. To turn it off, you press and hold the same button, and the trikes will also shut themselves off if you leave them sitting.

Pedal assist versus throttle

On every trike we tested, you have two ways to get moving. You can pedal and let the motor add assistance based on the level you've chosen, or you can use the throttle and not pedal at all. Jerry stopped me right there: "What's a throttle?" It's a fair question if you've never ridden anything electric. The easiest way to think about it is the gas pedal in your car. Use it and the trike goes. Let go and it stops pushing.

The throttle itself comes in two styles across our range. Some models have a twist throttle, which is the black section of the right grip that you roll toward you. Others have a thumb throttle, a small lever you press down with your thumb. Jerry's first instinct was that twisting the grip would raise the assist number, which is a very common mix-up. The throttle is purely the gas. To change the assist level, you use the plus and minus buttons by the display, and you can do that while you're moving. If throttle control matters to you, our electric trikes with throttle control are a good place to start browsing.

As a rough guide, level one will have you cruising somewhere in the 8 mph range. Level five pushes you toward the trike's top assisted speed, which lands anywhere from 16 to 20 mph depending on the model. I started both riders in level one and told them to step up whenever they felt comfortable.

Brakes, parking brakes, and the kill switch

Any time you pull a brake lever, even slightly, the motor cuts out. That doesn't mean the trike slams to a stop. It means the motor stops giving assistance, and you can either keep braking or let go and coast. You can also just stop pedaling or ease off the throttle to slow down. I told Jerry that if he ever wanted the motor out of the picture entirely, he could drop the assist to zero.

The trikes were sitting with their parking brakes on, which is just a small lock on the brake lever that keeps the trike from rolling away. On most models you pull the lever and press the little lock in to set it, then flip it back and pull the lever to release it. I like doing it with two hands: pull with one, push the lock with the other. Some models have a parking lock on one side, some on both, and one or two click down slightly differently, so take a minute with whichever trike you end up owning.

Jerry also spotted a red button and asked what it was. That's a kill switch. If it's popped out, the throttle won't work. It's a good thing to know about, because if your throttle ever seems dead, that button is the first place to look.

Signals, gears, and a few practical questions

Constance asked about signaling. Some of our trikes have built-in turn signals; on the rest you use the old-fashioned arm signals. Several models also have gears, just like a regular bicycle, with one lever to shift up and one to shift down. You never have to touch them, but if you do, shift while you're moving, since the chain has to move across the derailleur to change gears. For the same reason, don't crank the pedals hard backward while you're standing still.

Jerry had a smart question of his own: when you get off, should you set the assist back to zero? I'd say that's the safest habit. It means nothing happens if a hand or knee brushes the throttle while you're climbing on or off.

A few other basics came up throughout the afternoon. Most of the trikes we rode run 750 watt motors, which is the maximum motor size you can legally have on an e-bike in California. The batteries are rated for up to 50 miles, but real-world range depends on how you ride, where you ride, how fast you go, and how much you lean on the motor. A half-full battery, as one display showed later, means roughly 25 miles left. You don't need a driver's license to ride one, at least as of now, and you can ride in the bike lane or the regular lane, since the specs are matched to what's legal for e-bikes. And every model can take a trailer or hitch accessories, something that became a theme later in the day.

We started with the Simple Glide, our semi-recumbent trike, and we had two versions lined up side by side. If you've never seen one, the first thing you'll notice is the seat. It looks like an office chair: wide and padded, with armrests. You sit back in it and pedal out in front of your body rather than straight down beneath you. It's one of the reasons recumbent and semi-recumbent electric trikes are so popular with older riders.

Constance started on the standard version, which has a 500 watt motor, a little less power and a little less speed than the rest of the range. Jerry started on the dual motor version. I'll be honest, I put the first-time rider on the most powerful trike in the lot, and it turned out to be a fun way to begin. The dual motor also has rear suspension, which the standard model doesn't, so it adds a noticeable amount of cushion to the ride.

Getting set up

Before they rolled out, I adjusted Jerry's seat. On this model the seat slides back two or three inches, and at 5'11" he wanted that extra room. One small move and he said it felt much better. Then I had both of them power up their own trikes so they'd learn the button positions, released their parking brakes, and suggested a little twist of the throttle to get up the slight slope out of the lot. Jerry's first throttle twist got a surprised "Oh, wow" out of him, and then he took the wrong turn out of the gate, which we sorted out with some shouting and laughing.

Jerry's first impression is one I hear a lot. "It feels like it might tip over at first," he said. That's normal. A trike leans differently than a bicycle in the turns, and your body takes a lap or two to stop expecting to balance. Within a few minutes he was calling it pretty easy and saying, "This is fun."

Finding the sweet spot with pedal assist

The thing Jerry worked on most during that first lap was the relationship between his pedaling and the number on the screen. He stayed in level one for a while, feeling out the sensitivity, then jumped to four. "Man, it really takes off," he said. When he came back in, his summary was the most useful thing anyone said all day: the trick is matching your pedaling to the assist number. At level four on a dual motor trike, a light push on the pedals gets a big response, and that takes a little getting used to.

Constance, meanwhile, stayed in level one on the 500 watt version and simply said, "Oh, I really like this." She loved the armrests. Her line about the seat stuck with me: it feels like sitting in an office that moves.

Swapping trikes, and Constance finds her need for speed

After a lap, they switched. Jerry noticed right away that the standard model's seat didn't go back as far as he'd like, though it was as far back as that model allows, and he still found it comfortable. Constance climbed onto the dual motor and her face changed within about ten feet. "Oh yeah, you just touch it and it takes off," she said, and she was cruising along without pedaling at all, just using the throttle.

When they came back, I asked about the difference between the two. Constance didn't hesitate. The dual motor is way more powerful, she said, and it made her want to race. She asked if she could try top speed, so I sent her out toward the street to open it up. "I feel the need to speed," she announced on the way out. When she rolled back in, I asked how it was. "It's fabulous. Are you kidding me?" Jerry suggested she'd earned a speeding ticket.

I asked Jerry if he wanted a turn going faster on it. He said he was fine and ready to move on, which tells you something about how different riders want different things from the same trike. One rider gets on the most powerful model and feels at home pushing it. The other is perfectly happy cruising. Both of them were comfortable on it.

How stable is a semi-recumbent trike?

Jerry asked me straight out whether these trikes are tip-proof. I won't call any trike tip-proof, because if you push anything hard enough into a turn, you can find its limit. What I told him is that the Simple Glide is one of the two most stable e-trikes we make, and that if you ride it sensibly, the odds of it tipping are extremely low. That early feeling of "this might tip" fades quickly once you've done a few turns.

Jerry also landed on what I think is the most natural way to ride one. "The general idea is you pedal and then coast as long as you want, right?" That's one way. Another is to leave it in a lower level and just pedal steadily. To each their own. Then Constance admitted she'd forgotten to pedal the whole time she was on the dual motor. That's completely fine. You don't have to pedal on these. It takes you where you need to go.

Next up was a four-wheeler, which got a big reaction before anyone even sat on it. "Four wheels, huh?" Jerry said, and then, "You could hook a boat up to it." Not quite, but he wasn't far off in spirit. It has a hitch ball on the back, and that turned into one of the most interesting parts of the day. If four wheels sound appealing, our four-wheel electric bikes are worth a look.

This model keeps the semi-recumbent layout and big comfortable seat Jerry and Constance had just been riding, but with a fourth wheel and a 750 watt motor instead of two motors. It's a little lower on power than the dual motor trike they'd just come off. The seat also reclines, with a lever to adjust the angle, which got Jerry talking about kicking back. "If I owned it, I'd be laying back," he said.

Jerry's take: more stable, but he still preferred three wheels

When Jerry powered it on, the display showed half charge, which is roughly 25 miles of riding left. I warned him that four wheels feel different in the turns, released his brakes, and let him go. His first comment out on the loop was the one you'd expect: it's more stable with the four wheels.

Then he said something that surprised me a little. "I think I like the three-wheeler better myself." He couldn't say exactly why at first. My take is that once you've adjusted to the way a three-wheeler handles, a four-wheeler can feel more planted but less natural, and some riders simply connect with one or the other.

Constance on the four-wheeler

Constance's first thought was practical. She was glad it was low enough that, in her words, older riders can lift their legs over it without trouble. That ease of getting on and off is a big deal, and it's true across this style of seat. She also noted you could fit a lot of groceries in the big rear basket.

While she was riding, she dropped the assist all the way to zero just to feel what it was like. Her verdict: like riding a regular bike. Then she worked her way up through the levels to five, and her reaction to the handling was very consistent. "This baby handles differently. Very sensitive handling." She called the steering touchy and precise and said she wouldn't want to speed in this one, even though she'd been happy to open up the dual motor three-wheeler. That's a useful data point. The same rider can feel completely different about speed depending on how a machine steers.

Bringing a passenger along

Then I tried something new. I attached a passenger seat to the hitch on the back. All of these models have a spot to mount the hitch ball, and from there you can add an extra seat or a basket. We only had the hitch installed on this one that day, so this was our passenger test. If riding with someone matters to you, we keep a full selection of e-trikes built for carrying passengers.

Constance drove first, with Jerry buckled in behind her. One honest note from that run: there was a pedal zip-tied onto the trike from an earlier customer fitting, and I didn't catch it until we were already set up, so the controls felt extra responsive to the slightest touch. We laughed about it and carried on. Even so, her answer to my main question was clear. Did the extra weight change anything? "I can't tell that really. No, it makes no difference."

Her bigger observation was about who this trike is for. "I think this bike would be great for people who are kind of nervous about being on a bike," she said. "This gives you a feeling of great security." She also pictured it at the beach, loaded with chairs and an umbrella, or for running errands. She lives in a very hilly town, and she figured something like this would help a lot there.

Switching seats

Then they traded places. Constance buckled into the passenger seat, which, I should mention, still had the factory plastic on it because it was brand new. Jerry said it was like the plastic covers people keep on their couches. Jerry took the controls, still in level five from Constance's run, and gave it some throttle off the line. It launched quickly enough that both of them laughed. That's a good reminder to drop the assist level before you set off with a passenger.

Jerry was still working on the same thing he'd been chasing all day, the sweet spot between acceleration and pedaling, so he could cruise without those little lulls in speed. He also noticed the steering got a little looser as he went faster. From the back, Constance said it felt great, though she was still thinking about the handling she'd felt from the driver's seat. She thought this trike would suit someone who wants to feel absolutely secure, while admitting that, for her, a three-wheeler felt just as balanced.

After the semi-recumbent models, we moved on to some different styles. These have more traditional trike frames, the kind where you sit on a regular bike saddle and pedal more or less straight down. I told both riders that if anything ever felt uncomfortable, we'd skip it. A couple of these turned out to be a much better fit for one of them than the other, and that's exactly the kind of thing you want to discover before you buy.

The extended frame for very tall riders

First, while Constance took a short break, I had Jerry try our extended frame trike. It's built for very tall riders, and at 5'11" Jerry was on the shorter end of who it's meant for. I moved the seat all the way forward, and he could reach the pedals, mostly with his toes. He used the throttle to get moving, since it's a fairly heavy trike, and then took a full lap.

He said it was nice and that he could manage with his toes, but when I asked whether he liked pedaling that far out in front of his body, he said no, he preferred the ones he'd already ridden. That's the right answer for him. This frame really comes into its own for riders from about six feet up to 6'5".

The Easy Transit and the Relax Body

Next came two models that sit side by side in the lineup. The Easy Transit is a compact, smaller, folding electric trike. The Relax Body is a semi-recumbent too, but with a traditional bike seat instead of the big office chair, so you still pedal slightly forward. Both are 750 watts. One of them asked whether these sat in a lower price range than the ones they'd just ridden, and they are.

I gave them a heads-up on two things. First, as you move toward a more traditional trike frame, the steering feels more like a classic trike, so the sensation Constance had noticed on the four-wheeler might be even stronger here. Trikes really do steer differently from two-wheel bikes, so take your time. Second, these have a thumb throttle. When you first press it, you may not get much response, and it takes a moment to work it in.

Jerry then asked a question I hear a lot: is there cruise control, so you can sit at a steady 15 mph and coast without pedaling? The answer is yes. There's a setting for it in the display. On a really open path, that's a great feature.

Fit matters more than features

This is where seat height and leg position took center stage. Constance wanted the seat low so it would be easy to get on, but lowering it far enough cramped her legs. That's exactly why semi-recumbent trikes like the ones she rode first work so well for many seniors. When you pedal out in front of your body, you can have a low, easy-to-reach seat without folding your knees up. She decided she didn't want to pedal this one, so she rode it on throttle only and took it easy. Her assessment was fair: she thought this style would be good for fitter riders.

Jerry, with the seat raised for his height, had a great time. On his trike he discovered that it has reverse, which you'll find on some of our models and which our reverse-gear electric trikes collection gathers in one place. He also found his own answer to the cruise control question. Holding the throttle at a steady pressure let him settle into a comfortable speed for sightseeing, sitting in level two with room to accelerate whenever he wanted. Touch the brake, and the motor cuts out as usual.

When they swapped, Constance immediately said she liked hers better. It reminded her of the one she'd already fallen in love with, and it has a little back support on the seat, which she appreciated. Jerry described his as more like a regular bicycle with a little added power. The steering felt like a bike to him and he said it was easy. Still, when I asked how they compared to the semi-recumbents, Jerry said those were way more comfortable.

The fat-tire version

We also had the fat-tire version of the Easy Transit. Everything is about the same except the fatter tires, which add stability, and a motor with a little more torque and a little more power. Constance tried to get on and quickly ran into the same problem: even with the seat as low as it would go, she felt cramped and couldn't comfortably reach the second pedal. "I honestly feel like I'm going to fall," she said. So we took a pass on that one for her, which is the right call. A trike that makes you feel unstable before you've even moved isn't your trike.

Jerry rode it later and loved it. He put it in level five and went full throttle without pedaling, and he said it really picks up, with a lot of thrust. He felt the fat tires made a difference, and you could see the extra torque.

The Any Terrain four-wheeler

Our Any Terrain four-wheel was the last of this group. Its steering is different from the four-wheeler they'd tried earlier. Jerry rode it first and found it nice and stable, and he liked how easy the thumb throttle made it to hold a steady speed. He'd been riding in level one and asked whether full throttle overrides the assist level. On some of our models it does. On others, you have to be in level five to get full throttle power. We're changing that so all of them will eventually work the same way.

Constance rode it next. Mounting took a moment, since I suggested stepping onto the pedal with her right foot and pushing up, and she laughed that it had been decades since she'd mounted a bike that way. Her verdict was honest and specific. She said it's very solid, very comfortable, and very stable, but she isn't fond of the four-wheelers in general. If she were going to choose four wheels, she'd want the one with the office chair and the baskets. The office chairs, she said, had already spoiled her. This one felt really sporty to her.

We saved the best for last, at least as far as Constance was concerned: our electric rickshaw. We make different versions, including a traditional one, but the one in the lot that day is a recumbent rickshaw that's new for 2026, with a seating setup similar to the semi-recumbents they'd started on. In the back, there's room for two kids, or even an adult and a kid.

The rickshaw also has the most fully equipped cockpit of anything they rode. There's a right thumb throttle, turn signals, a light, and flashers. Once Constance released the parking brake, we ran a quick check: left signal, right signal, all good. Windshield washer fluid? Check, we joked.

Constance drives, Jerry rides

Jerry chose to be the passenger first. Constance took the controls and immediately said it felt really solid, almost like a little car. The handlebars got a lot of attention. They're padded, and she said they made her feel like she was on a Harley. She also told Jerry not to worry, she wasn't going to go speeding with him on board.

From the back, Jerry was comfortable right away. "This one's very comfortable back here," he said, and he imagined sitting back with cruise control on, leaning into those handlebars. It was a gorgeous day, and at one point Constance said what everyone was thinking: "Aren't we lucky, riding these bikes?" When they came back, her first word was smooth. "This one is really smooth."

Jerry drives, and the rickshaw shows its power

Then they switched, and I slid the seat to make it easier for each of them to get in and out. Jerry checked the throttle and the brakes, put it in level two, and set off. From the passenger seat, Constance said she felt very safe. "I'm protected by all this padding and metal," she said, and she liked having railings on the sides to hold onto. Her line about it was one of my favorites from the day: "I could be on this going across America."

Jerry liked how smoothly it drove and how good the handlebars felt. Then he said he was going up to five and gave Constance a heads-up before he accelerated. That's good passenger etiquette, by the way. With the throttle and level five together, the rickshaw got up to speed quickly. Jerry said it would keep up with traffic, and Constance joked that he could start a DoorDash business in New York City.

Jerry thought they might have been doing 20 or 25 mph, though he hadn't looked at the speedometer. The rickshaw's maximum assisted speed is 20 mph, so it was probably closer to that, but the point stands. It gets going with real authority. And just like the earlier passenger test, Jerry said he didn't notice the passenger at all from the driver's seat.

Who the rickshaw is for

This is the obvious choice for anyone who wants to ride with someone: a spouse, a friend, grandkids. It had power, stability, the option for two people, and good torque to get up to speed. Constance joked about taking it for the afternoon, then about driving it back to LA. When we lined everything up at the end, this was the one that came closest to beating their favorite.

At the end of the afternoon, I lined the trikes back up and asked each of them to point to an ultimate favorite. They both landed on the same one: the Simple Glide dual motor.

Constance had plenty of reasons. She liked the office chair seat. She liked the speed. She loved how easy it was to get in and out of. And most of all, she liked that she could go fast and still feel just as safe. She pictured riding it to the grocery store. Jerry's reasons were shorter. He liked the power, and he found it very comfortable, office chair and all. I'd add one more thing in its favor: the dual motor model has rear suspension, which is an upgrade over the standard version and makes the ride noticeably cushier.

The rickshaw was a very close second. When we talked it through, they both agreed it had a lot of power and stability, it gets up to speed quickly, and it carries a second person or a couple of kids. Constance called it a tie. If the question had been "which one would you choose for riding with grandkids," I think the rickshaw wins easily.

What their choices tell us about choosing an e-trike as a senior

I've helped a lot of riders over 70 pick out trikes, and this afternoon was a pretty good snapshot of what usually matters. Here's what stood out to me.

Seat style matters more than almost anything. Both riders kept coming back to the office chair seat. Pedaling out in front of your body lets the seat sit low enough to get on and off easily without cramping your knees, and the backrest and armrests make a real difference on longer rides. Constance struggled on the traditional frames precisely because a low seat and a comfortable leg position fought each other. If you're browsing our electric trikes for seniors, start by deciding which riding position suits your body.

Power is about confidence, not just speed. I didn't expect an 83-year-old who hadn't ridden in a while to fall for the most powerful trike in the lot, but that's what happened. More power doesn't have to mean riding fast. It can mean pulling away from a stop or climbing a hill without effort. You control how much you use with the assist level and the throttle.

Three wheels or four is personal. Both of them agreed the four-wheelers were more stable, and both still preferred three wheels. Constance found the four-wheel steering touchy at speed, and Jerry just felt more at home on the three-wheeler. If stability is your top worry, a four-wheeler is a great option, but ride both if you can.

Height and fit change everything. Jerry at 5'11" and Constance at 5'6" are both on the taller side for their age groups, and they still had very different experiences on the same frames. The Simple Glide suits riders near six feet and above, as well as shorter riders, which is part of why it worked for both of them. The extended frame is built for roughly six feet to 6'5". The traditional frames worked well for Jerry and poorly for Constance. Fit isn't something to guess at.

Give yourself a few laps. Both riders were a little unsure at first, wondering whether the trike would tip and how sensitive the assist was. By the end, they were swapping seats, adjusting levels on the move, and choosing favorites with real conviction. The learning curve is short, but it's real.

Try one yourself

Reading about it is one thing. Riding one is another. If you're local, come see us and test-ride any of our e-trikes before you buy, the same way Jerry and Constance did. You can find the details on our visit our store page. If you can't make it in, we offer a 30-day test ride. If you don't love your trike in the first 30 days, send it back, no questions asked, with no money out of your pocket. We also warranty everything for a year, parts and labor, so if anything goes wrong in that first year, we'll take care of it.

I'd also encourage you to join our community before you buy. We have a Facebook group called sixthreezero Pedalers with thousands of members, and it's a great place to talk to people who already ride these trikes and hear what they think. And if you have questions about any of the models in this article, reach out to the team at sixthreezero.mom or call us at 310-982-2877. Talking it through is often the fastest way to the right trike.

Thanks again to Jerry and Constance for spending the afternoon with us. Remember, it's your journey. Enjoy the ride.