I've Ridden THOUSANDS of Miles on Electric Trikes, Here's What I've Learned: E Trike Must Know Info

I've ridden thousands of miles on electric trikes. Here's what I've learned.

Hey, everyone. I'm Dustin. I've nearly 20 years of experience in the bike and e-bike industry, and today, I'm going to talk to you about what I've learned about riding electric trikes thousands of miles and what my biggest learnings and takeaways are. This is the EVRYjourney Cruiser E-trike, the Rickshaw with the seat on the back, and also our Easy Transit Foldable E-trike.

All right. So I have logged thousands of miles on these very e-trikes right here and some other e-trikes that we have as well, and there's been a lot of learnings and a lot of takeaways not only in my own experience riding thousands of miles but also witnessing others ride e-trikes and what goes on. So let's get into some of the things that I've learned after logging thousands of miles on three-wheel e-bikes.

Okay. Number one. The first thing I've learned, and I learned this a long time ago when I first started riding electric tricycles, is that three-wheel bikes drive and ride much differently than two-wheel bikes. So if you're getting into a trike for the first time or an e-trike, and you've never been on one, and most of your prior riding experience comes on a two-wheel bike, riding a three-wheel bike is just much different. The body weight transfer is different, how a trike steer is different than a two-wheel bike, and what I've noticed is it takes some time to adapt to riding on a three-wheel bike if you historically have only ridden on a two-wheel bike. So not something to be discouraged by, not something to be frustrated by if you're getting into it.

What I've also found is that after a few minutes up to maybe a couple of hours, up to maybe a couple of days, everybody gets it. Again, it just takes some time to get used to. But over time, all the riders I've seen, myself included have gotten used to it. Now, to me, riding on three-wheel e-bikes is like second nature. I've learned the steering, and the body weight shifting, and when I get on, I instinctually can drive a three-wheel bike, and my body can adjust between two-wheel bikes and three-wheel bikes. I just know the different tendencies, I know the feel, and again, my body and my mind now know what to do after logging thousands of thousands of miles on a three-wheel bike. So the same thing will happen to you. Just remember you had to learn to ride a two-wheel bike at some point. You do have to learn to ride a three-wheel bike even though it's much easier and the balance comes innately with a three-wheel bike.

Okay. The number two thing I've learned after logging thousands and thousands of miles, not even that I've learned, I've never tipped a trike. I've never tipped an electric trike. Now, I have had instances where my rear wheel has come off the ground, don't get me wrong, and the reason that that has occurred is that usually, I took a turn too fast or I did something I shouldn't have done, but I've never tipped. I've never felt that close to tipping.

The other thing I will say is I have hit a curb before, and I've made another video on this before, but when I went for an e-trike ride one time, I took a turn too sharply, and I hit the rear wheel on the curb. So what did I learn? I learned that you've got to take the turns slower than you would on a two-wheel bike, and you've got to be aware of your rear end when you're taking turns on a three-wheel adult bike. It's a bigger rear end. Now, you have to get the rear wheels past the curb, then take the turn. That's very, very important, and I learned my lesson early on, and I've never done it again. Rarely, if ever, do I lift the rear wheels anymore because of my weight transfer, how I take turns, and the speeds I take turns, I've gotten used to that as well. Now, again, to me, it's second nature. It's easy, and it feels very safe.

Now, the third thing I've learned is leaning your body weight on a trike does not turn the trike. Steering is what you have to do to get the trike to move. Again, I went through this very early on in my learning phase, which is when you start leaning your body like you do on a regular bike with the expectation that the trike will turn. It's not going to happen. You have to steer the wheels, steer the handlebars to make the trike go in the direction that you want it to go. Leaning will not do anything. Now, shifting your body weight and leaning on turns and slants will help keep the bike balanced, but it will not turn the trike. I just did another great video about turning on slants, and I have other videos on how to turn a trike. You can check those out, and I'll explain the same thing. You've got to turn the bars for the trike to move. Very important if you're out there riding an electric tricycle.

Now, in addition to that, some other things I've learned is that an electric tricycle battery will drain quicker than a two-wheel e-bike battery. Now, this may seem pretty obvious, but it does happen. Now, I can't tell you to what extent or how much faster, but you're pulling a bigger bike, and in some situations like the Rickshaw here, you've got thicker tires. Now, we've put a bigger battery on the Rickshaw to account for that. That's one thing, but it's just something to keep in mind you're not going to get the mileage out of a battery on a three-wheel e-bike that you will on a two-wheel e-bike.

Now, I say that with some caveats because there are so many factors that play into the range, but if all things were created equal, same battery, same rider, same conditions, everything, you're going to get more miles out of your electric two-wheel bike than you are in your three-wheel bike. Again, you're pulling three wheels back here. It's more drain, it's more drag on the battery, so just have to be mindful of the distances that you're riding, your battery size, and how much juice you need in that battery to get to where you're going. Over time, what I found is I started to understand the range of my battery on my e-trike, and I started to understand the distances I could go, how far I could go, if I took on certain hills, and how much of the battery would drain. The same thing will happen to you. You'll start to get familiar with your e-bike, your e-trike, the output of the battery, the motor, and all those things combined.

The other thing too is different tires, different configurations play into the battery draining on your e-trike. Again, a fatter tire, heavier trike, and battery will drain quicker. However, this is a larger battery, so you're going to have more capacity in there that will make up the difference. So we've tried to account for that with our products where we have larger batteries for the bikes that... or e-trikes that we feel are going to drain the battery quicker.

Now, the other thing I found in thousands of miles because I've ridden a lot of rides, particularly with the Rickshaw, with passengers on the back and friends that are riding on two-wheel e-bikes, and what I found is I can keep up with them, no problem, on my e-trikes. This is 750-watt. That's 250-watt. That's also 750-watt. When you're out cruising on the open road and you get up to speed, you're going to be able to keep up with your two-wheel e-bike friends, with no problem. Now, at some points, like the initial acceleration or if you're going up hills, you may be a little bit slower on your electric tricycle. But if you're just out cruising on a pathway, you will 100% be able to keep up with a two-wheel e-bike.

So if you have a spouse, partner, loved one, or friend, and you're concerned that they're on a two-wheel bike, you're on a three-wheel e-bike, and you'll be able to keep up with them with no problem. Now, make sure you try to keep the motor sizes similar if you're concerned, battery sizes, and things like that, but options exist. Like I said, we have 750-watt, 250-watt. There are other motor sizes out there as well, so you'll be able to keep up with all the two-wheel e-bike riders out there. So if you've had to recently switch to a tricycle and you were wondering if you could keep up with friends or something of that nature, trust me, no problem, you can. I've done it now. I've ridden everywhere. I've ridden to the beach, I've ridden from work, I've commuted, and I've been with two-wheel e-bikes, and I'm never a drag keeping them from going or they have to slow up or something to keep up with me.

All right. One thing I've also learned is to try to put something in your tires like slime or I think there's something called FlatOut which you put in your tires in advance of riding because I've learned the hard way. I got a flat tire on my e-trike when I was on a very far away ride, and I wasn't able to get service, so I actually had to walk my e-trike to a bike shop, and that was a long way away. A few miles. So, on a two-wheel bike, it's even going to be much easier if you're out riding to get picked up and transport that two-wheel bike. But if you have a trike and you're out for a long ride, you want to be prepared. So I recommend putting slime in your tires and/or something called FlatOut.

Also, carry a pump with you if you're going to be more than 5 miles away from your starting point. If you tend to stay close to home within a mile radius and you just make loops or something, then it shouldn't be as big of a deal. But if you're going 5, or 10 miles out away from your starting point, your house, wherever that is, make sure you prep the tires, put slime in them, and keep a pump with you. In the worst case, at least you could pump the tire, and it could go flat, get you home, et cetera.

So that's something, again, I learned the hard way. It only happened to me once until I realized, "Okay. I never want this to happen to me again. How do I prepare for this in advance so it's not going to ever happen?" because walking a mile, pushing a trike, especially a Rickshaw is not a fun process. Unfortunately, this is the product that happened to me. I had a passenger with me, so we got some good exercise out of it. We ran over a big nail in the street, and it was lodged in there. Unfortunately, that happens. It has happened in my car quite a few times as well.

Now, in addition to that, lastly, I would say after riding thousands of miles on my e-trike, man, they are just so much fun, especially the Rickshaw, but, the Cruiser and the Easy Transit, I've ridden in so many different circumstances. I've taken the Easy Transit inside stores. The Rickshaw I've transported passengers with, and my Cruiser here, I've just been out on 10-mile rides on the trail. I've also taken this off-road. I've taken the Rickshaw off-road, and the possibilities are just limitless on a trike.

I enjoy it every once in a while because it's fun to not have to worry about the balance, and I can do things on the trike that I wouldn't be as confident doing on a two-wheel e-bike. So I switch off back and forth. I'll use my regular two-wheel e-bike. I'll take out the trikes. Again, I like to drive these inside places for fun like offices. I've taken it through our office a little bit as well just for the heck of it. So if you're thinking about getting an e-trike, I highly recommend it. It's so much fun.

Now, if you have any other questions at all about what you've learned from riding an e-trike, please email us, at theteam@sixthreezero.com, or call us, at 310-982-2877. If you're in the market for an electric trike, check these out linked in the description below or the corner of the video. In addition to that, we have a 30-day test to ride your electric trike. If you don't love it in the first 30 days, send it back. No questions asked. No money out of your pocket. In addition to that, we have a one-year warranty. We'll take care of everything in the first year. If anything goes wrong, parts and labor, don't worry, it's on us.

Lastly, join our Facebook group, Sixthreezero Peddlers. There are thousands of members there. Post in the group. Ask them about their experience with electric trikes. See how they like theirs. Then, when you're ready to purchase, you can feel comfortable, and when you have your trike, you can post in the group, and make friends. It's tons of fun. Lastly, you can download our app, the Sixthreezero app in the iOS or Apple Store. Compete on the leaderboard and track your rides in the app. That is a lot of fun as well. So thanks for sticking around, and don't forget, it's your journey, your experience. Enjoy the ride.