What You Need to Know About Adult Tricycles

Video Blog

August 25, 2020

Hey guys, Dustin here, CEO of Sixthreezero. Today, I want to talk about adult tricycles, tricycles for adults. I've got our EVRYjourney Tricycle right here. This is actually electric version, but all of the same principles will apply to the standard version versus the electric version.

A few things I want to talk about. Obviously, a lot of people choose tricycles for many different reasons. One of them may be balance concerns. Another issue is for hauling things around. Or they're also kind of fun. I like it if I just want to get out not having to worry about being up on two wheels. You can really just not have to worry about holding the handlebars too much other than to steer a little bit here and there. So, they are super fun. Now, couple things I want to point out. One of the great things of a tricycle is the mounting and dismounting is quite a bit easier. Obviously, on a bicycle you need to be able to get your feet to the ground while you're on the seat.

The one thing about a tricycle is, while you do want to be able to get your feet on the ground, when you stop, as an example, if I'm here, and I stop, and I can't get my feet down, you still can not have to balance. So, on a normal bicycle you've got to be able to get your feet down to the ground to really be safe. In this case, the bike's not going anywhere. So long as you've pushed the brake down, you're good to go. And then you could just sort of slide forward and get off the seat. So, the other thing to look for is if mounting and dismounting is challenging for you, you obviously want to look for a really low step-through height. So we actually have two models, the Body Ease Tricycle, and the EVRYjourney Tricycle. The Body Ease Tricycle actually has a little bit lower of a step-over height. So that's going to be better for shorter riders or people, again, that maybe have some more balance concerns. On this particular bike I would say anyone about 4'11, 4'10. As low as 4'10, 4'11 is okay to ride this bike.

If you are shorter, if you are 4'10, 4'11, I would just want to make sure that you are comfortable mounting and dismounting. One tactic is you can step onto the pedal and sort of push yourself over. Another option, again, is you can step through, then when you're here, you put your foot on the pedal and then you can get up to the seat. So, I would say even somebody 4'9 would probably be okay, but again, I'd want to make sure that you're comfortable getting on and off. And for Sixthreezero tricycles definitely the Body Ease Tricycle's going to be better for shorter riders. So other than that, the only other thing you need to be sort of careful on with a tricycle is taking turns. On tricycles sometimes if you take a turn too fast, you can actually pop up on two wheels.

So tricycles really are not meant for fast-paced riding. If you have some need for speed, please, I think two wheels actually would be safer. I've taken this up to about 15 miles an hour, but on turns you need to slow down to definitely about four or five miles an hour. And it also helps to just lean into the turn a little bit. So you keep the weight coming in so the wheels don't pop off the ground. Again, which is why I say this, if you're riding a tricycle you just want to be safe on it. And you don't want to have to be cruising around turns and really going fast. Now, if you're going to go on a dead straight away, it's okay to go 15, but make sure you slow into the turns. Again, on a normal bicycle, you don't have to slow down quite as much into the turns.

The other thing is you see some tricycles nowadays with different thickness of tires. To some extent it's a personal preference. The thicker tire's obviously going to grip the road a little bit better. It's also going to drag a little bit more. So it might make it a little bit harder to pedal. We use a standard 26 inch tire. This is actually the same tire off the EVRYjourney, normal EVRYjourney, standard bike, two wheels. We like it because they're a little slicker and they roll a little easier, but they're still thick enough to grip the road and thick enough to give the balloon effect of a soft ride. The fatter tires, again, they'll be even softer, but they're going to sink into the road even more and make it even a little bit more difficult to paddle.

And again, shouldn't matter too much if you keep your pace very leisurely, but it's just all things to consider based on your own athleticism, how much energy you want to exert, things of that nature. The other thing to look for is the gears. So, these are seven speeds. Both our tricycles are seven speeds. Single speeds are a popular option. I think single speeds are great if you really just want simplicity. Single speed is perfect if you're going to be flat ground five miles an hour or less. It'll be simple, less to worry about, you're not really concerned about speed, maybe you're riding less than a mile or two miles. It's a great option. We did a seven speed because we wanted to make ours a little more versatile. You still have that single gear, the first speed, if you need it, but this is going to allow you to go a little bit faster.

So we just wanted to give a range of speeds to accommodate a range of riders, basically. So, you can get this bike going a little bit faster. You could take this up minor hills. When I say minor, again, taking a tricycle up a hill will be challenging. You're talking about a lot more weight, a lot more rubber sticking to the road. So all things to consider. But again, if you're looking to ride maybe two, three miles on the tricycle I would suggest having seven speeds. It's going to give you the variance in gears, it's going to make it a little bit less tiring on your legs. Yeah, something I enjoy. The other thing, obviously tricycles come with different types of baskets. It kind of depends on what you're using it for. If you are looking for a tricycle to haul stuff, there are some great options out there with different configurations, different types of racks that you can put on the back.

We have a standard rectangle rack. You can actually fit quite a bit in here. Just remember, anything you put in here is just going to make the paddling a little bit harder. So, if you are going to be hauling things, or let's say you want to bring your dog, I see a lot of dogs going in the rear basket, I do recommend the gears. It's going to make hauling things quite a bit simpler. The last thing I wanted to point out, I almost forgot, is the brakes. So, if you plan on going more than say six, seven miles an hour, I think it's important to have dual front/rear handbrakes, either disc brake or pad brakes, caliper brakes. The reason is you've got a lot more to stop, a lot more weight. You want to make sure you've got a good braking system.

I would say if you have a single-speed trike, you could possibly get away with a coaster brake, but only, and I say only, if you're riding on flat ground and you're only riding five miles an hour or less, you could have a coaster brake. If you're going to do any sort of speed above five, and you really are going to need to stop that bike quick, handbrakes are the best bet. I think for the most part, disc brakes are overkill on tricycles, unless you're doing speed racing. I think the caliper brakes with the pads is going to be just fine. They'll grip the wheel enough.

So just all things to consider and think about. Other than that, then it comes down to comfort and riding position. The cool thing about this trike is we are using our EVRYjourney geometry, which is proprietary to us, the super comfortable upright riding position with that sort of forward paddling design. You can see by sitting here, my back's totally straight, my arms are relaxed. It makes it nice for a tricycle. I'll take this down to the beach every now and again, it's nice to just not worry about balancing and feel comfortable and then you can throw tons of stuff in the back.

So, that pretty much summarizes adult tricycles. If you guys have any questions I didn't address today, please comment below in the video. We'll get back to you. Any questions around adult tricycles, 26 inch tricycles, let us know what you're looking at a tricycle for. Don't forget, we have a 365 day return policy. So if you try a bike, buy a bike, you don't love it, you can always send it back within 365 days. We've got the tricycle category on the top of our website. In addition, we have an electric version. You can check that out. And don't forget, you can take our body fit quiz and we'll help fit you to the correct bike. The tricycles are even on there too. So if you're looking for a trike, you can take the quiz and we'll find the best one for you. So, thanks for watching. Enjoy the ride.