The New Captain's Chair for the Simple Glide Recumbent E-Trike: A Full Walkthrough

Meet the Captain's Chair: Maximum Comfort for the Simple Glide

I've been in the bike and e-bike industry for about twenty years, and if there's one lesson that has held true the entire time, it's this: the seat decides whether you keep riding. You can have a great motor, a smart frame, and a fantastic price, but if your back aches twenty minutes in, the trike ends up parked in the garage. So when we started offering a new captain's chair for the Simple Glide recumbent e-trike, I wanted to sit down with it, literally, and walk you through every part of it.

This article is the written version of that video, with a lot more of the thinking behind it. I'll show you what the chair does, how each adjustment works, who I think it's best for, and the practical stuff people don't always consider before buying, like how a seat affects getting the trike into the back of a vehicle.

A quick refresher on the Simple Glide

If you're not familiar with the Simple Glide, it's our recumbent-style electric trike. Instead of perching on a traditional bike saddle, you sit back in a chair-style seat with your legs out in front of you and the handlebars within easy reach. That relaxed, laid-back position is the whole appeal of a recumbent, and it's why so many riders who browse our recumbent electric trikes end up asking about seating first and everything else second.

The Simple Glide comes standard with its own seat, which is a little different from the one I'm talking about here. That stock seat is comfortable and does its job well. What's new is that the captain's chair is now available as an upgrade. Think of it as the premium option for riders who want to push comfort as far as it can go.

What makes this a captain's chair

The name tells you a lot. This isn't a slightly thicker saddle or a pad bolted onto a frame. It's a full chair, the kind of seat you settle into rather than balance on. Here's the short list of what it brings to the Simple Glide, and I'll go deep on each one later in the article:

• A lot of foam cushioning in the seat, noticeably more than you'd expect when you look at it from the side.
• A backrest that folds forward and backward, so you can recline it for comfort or lay it down flat for transport.
• A headrest that tilts and can be raised to suit taller riders.
• Armrests you can put down or leave up, depending on how you like to sit.
• A seat belt, which is completely optional.
• The same forward-and-backward slide adjustment riders already rely on to set their leg reach.
• A swivel plate that lets the seat turn to the side for easier mounting and dismounting.

That's a lot of adjustability in one seat, and it all serves the same goal. If you're looking for maximum comfort and maximum cushioning, this is the way to go.

Foam, and plenty of it

The first thing I point out to anyone who sees this seat in person is the foam. When you look at it from the side, you can really see how much cushioning is there. It's thick, and when you sit down it's really, really soft. You sink into it a bit, the way you would with a good armchair, instead of feeling the seat base underneath you.

Why does that matter so much on a recumbent? On a regular bike, your weight is shared between your hands, your feet on the pedals, and a fairly small saddle. On a recumbent trike, the seat carries far more of you. Your back, your hips, and your backside are all in contact with it the entire ride. So whatever the seat does well, you feel everywhere, and whatever it does poorly, you feel everywhere too.

Soft cushioning also changes how the road comes through to you. Every sidewalk seam, driveway lip, and patch of rough pavement travels up through the frame and into whatever you're sitting on. A deeper layer of foam gives that energy somewhere to go before it reaches your spine. I'm not going to put a number on it, because comfort is personal, but the difference between a firm seat and a soft one is something you notice on the first lap around the parking lot.

Who I'd point toward this upgrade

In my experience, riders who gravitate toward a seat like this tend to fall into a few groups. Some simply want the most comfortable setup available and don't want to compromise. Some plan longer rides and know from experience that comfort fades after the first half hour on a firmer seat. And some are riding specifically because a chair-style position is easier on their body than a traditional bike, which is the same reason people shop for the most comfortable electric trikes in the first place.

If you see yourself in any of those descriptions, the captain's chair is worth a close look. And if you're curious about other seating options we carry across the lineup, you can browse our sixthreezero seats to compare. But for the Simple Glide specifically, this chair is the most cushioned, most adjustable option we've put on it.

Standard seat versus captain's chair at a glance

I want to be fair to the seat the Simple Glide ships with, because plenty of riders are very happy on it. The difference comes down to range of adjustment and depth of cushioning. The standard seat gives you a comfortable, fixed backrest and the forward-and-backward slide. The captain's chair keeps that slide and layers on more foam, a backrest that reclines and folds flat, an adjustable headrest, armrests, a seat belt, and the swivel plate. If the standard seat already fits you well and you never transport the trike, you may not need any of that. If you've ever wished you could lean back a few degrees, turn sideways to sit down, or get the seat out of the way for loading, that's the gap this chair fills.

Now let's get into the feature that, honestly, surprised me the most once I started thinking about it: the way the back folds.

One of the huge benefits of the captain's chair is that the seat back can now fold forward and backward. On the video I demonstrated it a few times, because it's one of those features that sounds small until you see what it unlocks. It does two very different jobs, and both of them matter.

Job one: comfort through recline

The first job is obvious. Being able to recline the backrest means you can find the angle your body actually likes instead of accepting one fixed position. Some riders want to sit fairly upright so they feel more engaged with the handlebars and can see over traffic and hedges a little better. Others want to lean back and cruise. With a backrest that moves, you're not stuck choosing a seat based on someone else's idea of the right angle.

Recline also works hand in hand with the seat's forward-and-backward slide, which I'll cover in detail in the next section. When I had the seat slid all the way back on the video, I could feel a little cramped in the upright position. Tilting the backrest back opened things up right away. That's the kind of fine-tuning you simply can't do on a seat that only has one angle.

There's also a practical comfort benefit over the course of a ride. Your body doesn't want to sit in exactly the same position for an hour. Being able to ease the back a little further on a flat, quiet stretch, then bring it forward again when you're navigating a busier area, keeps you comfortable longer. You'll want to make those changes while stopped, of course, but having the option is what counts.

Job two: transport, and why it matters more than people expect

The second job is the one I really want people to think about. Folding the seat isn't just great from a comfort perspective. It's great from a transportation perspective too.

Here's the situation. The seat that comes standard on the Simple Glide doesn't have the ability to recline. That's fine for riding, but it means the seat back always stands up at the same height. The captain's chair can fold down flat. Once you lay that back down, the whole trike has a lower profile, and it's going to fit into the back of an SUV a lot easier.

I hear from a lot of riders who don't ride only from their front door. They want to take the trike to a beach path, a lake loop, a grandkid's house, or a campground. Others need to move it occasionally for service or a move. For all of those people, the tallest part of the trike is often what decides whether it fits through a liftgate opening or under a cargo cover. Bringing that seat back down flat can be the difference between a frustrating wrestling match and a straightforward load.

A few practical suggestions if transport is part of your plan, based on what I've seen over the years:

• Measure your vehicle's cargo opening and interior height before you buy, then compare those numbers against the trike's dimensions on the product page with the seat folded down.
• Do a dry run at home with the seat folded flat so you know the sequence before you're standing in a parking lot.
• Get a second person to help with lifting. A trike is a bigger, heavier object than a two-wheeler, and two sets of hands make loading safer for you and for the trike.
• Protect your cargo area and the seat with a blanket or mat so nothing scuffs on the way in or out.

None of that is specific to the captain's chair, but the chair is what makes the folding part possible. Something to think about if you're weighing the upgrade.

Storage at home, too

The same logic carries over to how you store the trike. A lot of riders keep theirs in a garage alongside a car, lawn equipment, and everything else that collects there. Others tuck it into a shed or a covered patio. In tight spaces, the tallest part of the trike tends to be what bumps into shelves, hanging bikes, or a low ceiling. Folding the backrest down when the trike is parked gives you a bit more flexibility about where it lives. It's not the headline feature, but it's one of those everyday conveniences you end up appreciating more than you expected.

The headrest

You still have the headrest with the captain's chair, and it adjusts. You can tilt it up, and you can bring it up higher. I'm 5'10", and when I sat in it on the video, I raised it up a little higher so it landed where I wanted it.

I'd encourage you to treat the headrest as part of your fit, not an afterthought. A headrest that sits too low pushes your head forward, which defeats the purpose of having one. One that's set right gives your neck a place to rest when you lean back, which is especially nice when you've reclined the backrest for a relaxed cruise. Taller riders will likely run it higher than I do, and shorter riders may leave it lower. There's no wrong answer, only what feels supportive for you.

Putting the recline and headrest together

The way I set this up is simple. First, I get my seat position roughly right so my legs reach the pedals comfortably. Then I adjust the backrest angle until my shoulders feel relaxed and my hands land naturally on the grips. Finally, I bring the headrest up or down so it meets the back of my head in that position. If I change the recline later, I check the headrest again, because the two affect each other.

It takes a few minutes the first time and then becomes second nature. And because everything adjusts, you can share the trike with a partner or family member of a different height without anybody having to put up with a seat that doesn't fit them.

Which brings me to the adjustments that set your fit from the ground up: sliding the seat, swiveling it, and deciding what to do with the armrests and seat belt.

A soft seat only helps if it's in the right place. The captain's chair keeps the forward-and-backward adjustment riders already know from the Simple Glide, and it adds a swivel option that can make a real difference getting on and off. Let me walk through each one the way I demonstrated them.

Sliding the seat forward and backward

You have the same forward-and-backward movement as before. To adjust it, you lift right at the release under the seat, slide the chair to where you want it, and let it lock back in. That's it. No tools, no guesswork.

When I slid it all the way forward on the video, it was a little too close for comfort for me. My knees came up more than I like and I felt bunched up against the handlebars. So I brought it back. Then I took it all the way back, and in the upright position it felt a little cramped in a different way. That's where the recline came in: tilting the back gave me the room I wanted. It's a good illustration of how these adjustments work together rather than separately.

Here's how I'd find your own starting point:

• Sit all the way back in the chair so your lower back is against the backrest. Don't perch on the front edge while you adjust.
• Put your feet on the pedals and rotate one pedal to its farthest point. You want a slight bend left in that knee, not a fully locked leg and not a deep bend.
• Check your reach to the handlebars. Your arms should rest comfortably with relaxed shoulders, not stretched forward and not jammed against your body.
• Make one change at a time, then ride a short loop before changing anything else.

Everybody's body is different, and the right setting for me at 5'10" won't be the right setting for everyone. If you'd like help figuring out what's right for your height and riding style, our team offers a personal fitting consultation so you don't have to work it out alone.

The swivel plate: easier mounting and dismounting

This is the feature I'm most excited about for a lot of our riders. The captain's chair also comes with a plate that lets the seat actually turn. I'll be upfront: we didn't have it installed on the unit in the video, so I couldn't show it spinning. But I want to explain how it works, because for some riders it'll be the main reason to choose this seat.

With the swivel plate installed, you can turn the seat to the side for mounting and dismounting. Instead of stepping over or around the frame and lowering yourself into a forward-facing seat, you approach it from the side the way you'd sit in a regular chair. You sit down, get settled, and then spin the seat to face the front. When the ride's over, you spin it back to the side and stand up.

That might sound like a small convenience, but think about who it helps. Riders with stiff hips or knees. Riders recovering from an injury. Riders whose balance isn't what it used to be. Anyone who's ever felt nervous about the moment of getting on or off. For those folks, taking the twisting and stepping out of the process can make the trike feel much more approachable. It's the same thinking behind our easy-to-mount e-trikes and a big reason why so many people browsing electric trikes for seniors ask specifically about how they'll get on and off.

A word of practical advice once you have the swivel installed: always make sure the seat is turned fully forward and settled before you start riding, and come to a complete stop before you turn it to the side to get off. Treat it as a mounting tool, not something you adjust on the move.

Armrests: up or down, your call

The captain's chair has armrests, and you can decide whether you want them down or not. On the video I showed them down. Totally up to you.

Some riders love having a place to rest their forearms when they're cruising, and armrests add a real sense of being held in the seat. Others prefer them out of the way so nothing crowds their elbows, or so getting on and off feels more open. Try it both ways during your first few rides and see which one you keep coming back to.

The seat belt

The chair also comes with a seat belt. Again, it's completely up to you whether you use it. Some people won't want it at all, and that's fine.

Personally, I actually like putting it on. It makes me feel safe and secure, and when you're sitting back in a deep, soft seat, that little bit of extra security adds to the relaxed feeling. If you're the kind of rider who likes the feeling of being snug in a seat, give it a try. If you find it gets in the way, leave it unbuckled. The option is there either way.

Bringing the whole fit together

When you add it all up, the captain's chair gives you more ways to tailor the Simple Glide to your body than the standard seat does: fore and aft position, backrest angle, headrest height and tilt, armrest position, an optional seat belt, and side-on mounting with the swivel plate. Set the slide first, then the recline, then the headrest, and then decide on the armrests and belt. Ride, adjust, and ride again. Within a week you'll have a setup that feels like it was made for you.

So where does that leave you? To sum up what I said at the end of the video: the captain's chair is really soft, really cushy, and really comfortable. If you're looking for an upgrade on the seat that the Simple Glide comes with, it's a really cool choice. And if you're going to be transporting your trike, the ability to fold that seat back down flat could make it a very nice option to have.

A few questions to ask yourself

If you're on the fence, these are the questions I'd ask a customer standing in front of me:

• Is comfort the number one reason you're buying a recumbent trike? If yes, the extra cushioning is exactly what this chair is for.
• Do you plan to put the trike in a vehicle, even occasionally? A seat that folds flat can make that a lot easier.
• Is getting on and off the part of riding that worries you most? The swivel plate is designed for exactly that.
• Will more than one person ride the trike? All that adjustability makes sharing simpler.
• Do you like the feeling of a seat belt and armrests holding you in? Both are there, and both are optional.

If you answered yes to a couple of those, I'd seriously consider the upgrade. If none of them really apply, the standard seat may serve you just fine, and that's a perfectly good outcome too. The goal is the right fit, not the most expensive one.

Try it without the risk

I know buying something like this online can feel like a leap, so let me remind you how we handle that. We offer a 30-day test ride. If you don't love it in the first 30 days, send it back. No questions asked, no money out of your pocket. That goes for the Simple Glide and for figuring out whether a seat like this suits your body. Thirty days of real rides tells you more than any video I can make.

We also back what we sell. We warranty everything for one year, and we take care of parts and labor. So if something isn't right, you're not on your own.

What to focus on during your 30 days

If you go the test-ride route, use that time deliberately. Don't just ride the same loop at the same seat setting every day. Here's what I'd actually do with the captain's chair:

• Spend the first few rides finding your slide position, then leave it alone for a while so you're judging the seat, not your setup.
• Try a ride with the backrest more upright and another with it reclined, and notice which one leaves your back and neck feeling better afterward.
• Ride longer than you normally would at least once. Comfort problems tend to show up after the first half hour, not the first five minutes.
• If transport matters to you, actually fold the seat and load the trike into your vehicle during the trial, not after it ends.
• Once the swivel plate is installed, practice getting on and off from the side a handful of times until it feels natural.

By the end of those 30 days, you'll know whether this seat belongs on your trike, and that's exactly the point of the policy.

Come sit in it yourself

Honestly, the best way to judge a seat is to sit in it. If you're able to come out to see us, we're here in San Clemente, California, and you're welcome to visit our store for a test ride. Try the Simple Glide, try the new captain's chair, see what you think about it, or test out any of our e-trikes while you're there. Sliding the seat, tilting the backrest, and raising the headrest yourself for a few minutes will tell you whether this is your seat.

If you can't make it out, browse our full lineup of electric tricycles online, and reach out with questions. We'd rather help you choose correctly the first time.

Talk to real riders before you buy

One thing I always recommend: join our community before you purchase. We have a Facebook group called 630 Pedalers with thousands of members, and many of them are riding the same trikes you're considering. Join the group, ask them about their experience with the seat or the trike, and get their honest opinion so you can make the right choice. People in that group are generous with their time, and you'll hear about the little things, like how they set up their seat or how they load their trike, that only come from living with it.

Then, once you have yours, post in the group. Share your setup, share your rides, and make some friends. Some of the best parts of riding happen off the trike, in the conversations around it.

Track your rides

Finally, download the sixthreezero app to track your rides and compete on the leaderboard. Whether you're riding for fitness, fun, or just to get outside more often, seeing your miles add up is a great motivator. And with a seat this comfortable, I have a feeling those miles are going to add up faster than you expect.

Final thoughts

The captain's chair takes everything people already like about the Simple Glide and makes the most important part, the place you actually sit, softer, more adjustable, and more practical. Deep foam for comfort. A backrest that reclines when you want to relax and folds flat when you need to haul the trike somewhere. A headrest you can set for your height. A swivel plate that turns getting on and off into sitting down in a chair. Armrests and a seat belt that are there when you want them and out of the way when you don't.

If you have any questions at all, reach out to us, sit in one at the store, or ask the riders in 630 Pedalers. Thanks for sticking with me through this walkthrough, and don't forget: it's your journey. Enjoy the ride.