When Should You Switch from a Two Wheel Bike to a 3 Wheel Bike? How You Know It's Time for a Trike

When should someone switch from a two-wheel bike to a three-wheel bike? Hey everyone, I'm Dustin. I have nearly 20 years of experience in the bike and e-bike industry. Today, we're gonna talk about when someone should transition from a two-wheel bike to a three-wheel bike. All right, right here I've got two of our best-selling electric trikes, our Simple Glide 500-watt and our 750-watt with the fat tire. All right, so let's say you or someone you know or a loved one wants to get out bike riding again, and maybe you witness them struggling on two-wheel bikes and they make you nervous, and you're thinking, oh, you should get onto a three-wheel bike. Or maybe you are at the point where you're like, you know what? It's time for me to get onto a three-wheel bike so I can get out and ride. Well, how do you know when that is, right? I see a lot of people who come here and they're interested. E-bikes have drummed up a lot of positive attention to the bike world, getting more people out on, bikes, which is great, especially for the senior crowd that may have given up on bike riding for many years and now they're excited about e-bikes or e-trikes because you can utilize the assistance to go up big hills and longer distances and expands the possibility and it is a great thing.

Now, how do you know when you're right for a three-wheel bike? Well, let me also say this, with the assortment of electric trikes that are available out there, you can do everything on a two-wheel e-bike that you can do on a three-wheel e-bike. And the reason I bring that up is because traditional tricycles, you really couldn't do the same thing on them that you could do on a two-wheel bike. Now, in theory, yes, you could, but because of how heavy they were and because of the wheels and the friction, climbing hills on a traditional trike would be challenging. And it was just more cumbersome to steer and turn. Now, with the introduction of e-trikes and the different frame geometries like these that are incredibly stable and balanced, if you have someone that you ride with who is on a two-wheel e-bike or a two-wheel regular bike, your three-wheel electric trike can do everything they can do. Go up hills, you name it, and you can buy the correct motor or battery to accommodate you, to ensure that you can do all those rides. 

So, I say that because if you feel like you have some fear showing up, your balance isn't what it used to be, it could be time now to transition to three-wheel, a three-wheel bike, particularly I think three-wheel electric is great. But I think a lot of people have this stigma on their head, well, I don't wanna be on three wheels, and I look old, and I do all these things. Let me tell you to throw all those opinions out the window because e-trikes are not your trike of old, and you're going to have so much fun on these. If you have to choose between being on a three-wheel electric or not being on a bike at all, definitely choose the three-wheel electric because, as I said, you can do everything you want to do. Now, how to know when you're ready? So I see a lot of people who still want to fight for that two-wheel bike. Oftentimes, two-wheel e-bikes can't balance, or they think it's their leg strength; they can't get the pedals moving, so they wanna go back to the gym, and build their leg strength to get onto a two-wheel bike. Oftentimes, what I see when they do that is not about the leg strength, it's about balance. And I commonly see balance as something that goes with a lot of the senior riders we have. Now, not everybody, and it depends on the age of the rider, and also any other medical conditions you may be dealing with. But if at any point you feel your balance is off a little bit, transition to a three-wheel bike.

Because, again, they're safer and you're going to still be able to get out and get exercise and not have to have that fear about tipping over, the fear of falling over. The other thing is if you have... Any kind of severe arthritis or anything that's limiting your physical mobility, and you're struggling to get your leg over the bar of an e-bike or get onto the seat, it's probably time to think about a three-wheel bike that's easy to get on and off of. You can see that when you have the three wheels, you can just sit down. You don't have to worry about balancing or holding the bike or getting yourself situated. And why that's so important for senior riders is because if this part of the ride is easy, you're gonna enjoy it so much more. If it's challenging to get on the bike, off the bike, or get your leg over, it's gonna stress you out even more. But if you opt for a three-wheel, it's just gonna make everything easier for you. And like I said, you're not gonna stress out about it. I've seen that oftentimes with test riders here, they get infuriated with themselves that they can't ride a two-wheel bike. I would say if you're feeling that, I understand, but don't let that hold you back from getting onto a three-wheel bike if that might work for you. You don't have to get back onto a two-wheel bike to get the same experience of bike riding. So ultimately, it's up to you to judge.

 But again, if you have any kind of fears about falling over, tipping, or anything like that on a two-wheel bike, just forget it. Get on a three-wheel bike because you don't want to be riding... in a fearful state, that's gonna lead to bad decision-making and ultimately may lead to you crashing. So, any other thoughts on the topic of when to switch from a two-wheel to a three-wheel bike, reach out to us at theteam@sixthreezero.com, or call us at 310-982-2877. We also offer a 30-day test ride on your e-trike policy, If you don't love your e-trike in the first 30 days, send it back. No questions asked. No money out of your pocket. In addition to that, we warranty everything for one year. If anything goes wrong in the first year, we take care of its parts and labor. Also, if you want to come for a test ride, we are here in San Clemente, California, at 1046 Calle Rocoto, Unit K. Come on out. Visit us. Take any of our trikes for a test ride before you purchase. And join our community. We have a Facebook group called Sixthreezero Pedalers. Thousands of members in the group. Join the group before you purchase to talk to existing riders to ensure you're making the right choice. Then, when you have yours, post in the group, make friends, and finally download the app to track your rides and compete on the leaderboard. So thanks for sticking around, and don't forget, it's your journey or experience. Enjoy the ride.