Are Adult Tricycles UNSTABLE? Adult 3 Wheel Bikes and How They Balance on Three Wheels

Are adult tricycles unstable? Stick around and find out.

Hey everyone, I'm Dustin. I have nearly 20 years of experience in the bike and e-bike industry and today we're going to answer the question, are adult tricycles unstable?

Well, before we get into it, hit the subscribe button below. Stay in touch with us here at sixthreezero. Be the first to know about all the new content we're putting out, giveaways we do, and of course, new product releases.

Before I get into it, I've got two trikes here. Adult trikes from sixthreezero, our easy transit foldable electric trike and our evryjourney 250-watt cruising trike. Both of these are linked in the description below and also in the corner of the video. Check those out. All right, I have done over a hundred test rides with people riding tricycles for the first time. I also read a lot of feedback online in forums about people feeling like tricycles are unsteady, unstable, easy to tip over, and comments like that.

So to answer the question, let's say you're getting into a tricycle or interested in a tricycle. Are they unstable? The answer is no. Now, are they different from a two-wheel bike? Do they require different types of steering? Yes. Do they feel unstable to a lot of first-time trike riders? Yes, and the reason for that is that many first-time trike riders have been riding two-wheel bikes for their adult life and are now getting into or looking at an adult trike or starting to ride an adult trike later in life. But their whole life they've been riding a two-wheel bike. Now it feels different, and if you've had your mind trained on how to ride a two-wheel bike, a three-wheel bike can feel different and it can feel unstable, but it's not.

Now, case in point, when you get onto an e-bike or an e-trike, clearly it's stable. You have two wheels in the back. Now I'm rolling a little bit. You have two wheels in the back and you can sit here and the bike is not going anywhere. Now, the big difference between a three-wheel adult bike and a two-wheel adult bike is a two-wheel bike you kind of lean and the bike goes. Leaning on a tricycle does absolutely nothing. You have to steer.

So that's why they say you ride a bike and you steer a tricycle. If you don't turn and steer, the trike will not go anywhere. This is what creates the sensation that they're not stable because when people start to steer and turn in their minds, they think they're going to tip over because if you did that on a two-wheel bike, you would tip over. But on a three-wheel bike, you won't tip over because you have two wheels back here that keep you balanced. Now, with a few caveats to that, you do have to ride a tricycle differently than you have to ride a two-wheel bike. Yes, you need to take turns slower on a tricycle, you should not speed into a turn. You should go slow into a turn, then accelerate out of the turn. On a two-wheel bike, you can accelerate into the turn and actually in some aspects it may be suggested. So you keep the momentum of the bike on the two wheels and there's no risk of tipping or falling over.

The exact opposite on a tricycle, which is you want to slow down into the turn, make sure both wheels stay on the back. Now, if you take a turn too fast on a trike and you lean too much, yes, you can cause that wheel to lift off the ground like that. Now, that is not the fault of the product. That is improper usage that will cause that to happen. Either you're traveling at speeds too fast or you're also leaning in the wrong direction. So when you take a turn on a trike, the difference is on a two-wheel bike, you're going to lean into the turn. Now if you do that on a trike, again, you have a chance to pop that wheel up. You want to do the opposite, which is turn the handlebars this way and shift the weight to your opposite butt cheek, right? So you're turning this way and leaning in the opposite direction, which is going to keep this wheel down.

Now it's a little bit counterintuitive, right? Because on a two-wheel bike, the way you're turning is typically the way you're leaning. On a tricycle, the way you're turning, you're leaning in the opposite direction to make sure this rear wheel stays planted. Now, the other thing I will say is if you're traveling at appropriate speeds, the lean of your weight and your weight distribution won't even really matter because if you're going at the appropriate speed, there's zero risk of lifting these two wheels in the back. And you can see videos on our YouTube channel of me riding tricycles and explaining how to ride a tricycle there. And I go through the whole process of how to lean, how to ride, and also explain the differences between a two-wheel bike and a three-wheel bike and how different they are. So that's important to note.

So the reality is yes, three-wheel bikes and adult tricycles are stable, but they are not stable if ridden under the same principles as you would ride a two-wheel bike. You need to adjust how you ride it, you need to learn to ride it properly, and if you do, a three-wheel bike will be more stable because there will be zero risk of falling over. There's zero balance required. You just have to develop the instincts that you developed for a two-wheel bike. A lot of us began riding bikes at a very early age, and over time it became a natural ability, just like riding a bike. It just becomes like breathing where it's second nature. Getting into a tricycle will require you to relearn and when you start to ride an adult tricycle, remember, this is something new, this is something different. This is not a two-wheel bike.

So adult tricycles are stable. If they don't feel stable to you, give yourself some time, and get used to how you ride them, and I guarantee over time you will feel that they're stable once you develop the tendencies and the proper way of leaning and riding on an adult trike.

So if you have any other questions at all, please comment below or email us the team@sixthreezero.com or you can call us at (310) 9822877. Don't forget EZ Transit, folding e-trike, and the EVRYJourney linked in the description below. You can check those out. Also at sixthreezero, we have a 30-day test ride of your e-bike or bike policy. If you don't love it in the first 30 days, send it back, no questions asked, no money out of your pocket. Lastly, we warranty everything on the bikes for up to a year. If anything goes wrong in the first year, we'll take care of it, no questions asked, no money out of your pocket. Also, we have a Facebook group called sixthreezero Pedalers and we also have an app.

Join the group in advance of purchasing. Ask people questions that you may have about trikes, find out about their experience, how they feel, and how it took them time to get used to it. Then once you're comfortable and you purchase, post in the group, and make friends. It's tons of fun. You can track your rides on our app which is downloadable in the Play Store and the iOS App Store. You can track your rides, and compete on the leaderboard. It's tons of fun. So thanks for sticking around and don't forget, it's your journey or experience. Enjoy the Ride.