ETrike Showdown: Conventional Tricycle vs. Recumbent Tricycle – Expert Review!

Conventional tricycle or recumbent tricycle? We'll weigh the differences and benefits. Hey everyone, I'm Dustin. I have nearly 20 years of experience in the bike and e-bike industry. Today we're going to talk about conventional trikes versus recumbent trikes, the differences, the benefits, and maybe which one's right for you. All right, I've got two of our electric trikes here, our Easy Transit folding 750-watt conventional trike and our Simple Glide fat tire 750-watt recumbent e-trike. So let's talk about recumbent e-trike or trike versus conventional trike. Now, a conventional trike is more of an upright, not more, it is an upright riding position where the pedals are directly below your body, and you are pedaling straight down below your hips on the pedals. Now, on a recumbent, the pedals are going to be out in front of your body, so you're pedaling more like this. Now there are different variations of recumbents, there are like the full lay down recumbents, where you're all the way out in front of your body like this. This is more of an upright recumbent, more like a recumbent bike at the gym, where you have a seat and you're pedaling out in front of your body. Now, again, in my mind, a recumbent can mean a lot of different variations, but mostly out in front of your body is what a recumbent tricycle would be.

So, the pluses and minuses of both. I would say a conventional trike is if you like that conventional riding position where you're pedaling right below your hips, then you'll want a conventional trike. The benefit is that if you're climbing hills in particular, you're going to be able to get a lot more torque down on the pedals by pushing down through your hips below your body. Now, with electric assist coming out and the throttle capability, you can make up for that leverage on hills like on a recumbent like this by utilizing the assistance, right? Typically, though, you're going to get more leverage down on those pedals in a conventional seating position versus pedaling out in front of your body. But again, if you have that assistance kind of makes up for the leverage that you lose because of the seating position. The other thing, too, is it's more compact typically, right? Usually shorter front to back. If you like something a little smaller, maybe easier to transport, also gonna turn a lot quicker. If you wanna navigate indoors, gonna be smaller, more compact than a conventional one.

 Recumbent trikes typically gonna have a little bit of a longer frame because, again, you have to move the pedals forward. Now there's an upside to that as well, where it usually creates a little more stability by lengthening the frame versus a more compact one. Now, both are stable, just requires a little bit more weight transferring around turns on conventional trikes versus a recumbent e-trike. All right. Now, the other thing about a conventional trike is that if you're someone that does struggles to mount and dismount, you're going to have to raise the seat to get the proper leg extension. So that may be a challenge for you. Just something to think about. If you're not able to get up onto the seat, because typically with a conventional riding position, your foot is going to be up like that, so you can get proper leg extension. So if you don't feel comfortable with that anymore, then maybe a conventional trike's not right for you because, in the case of a recumbent, you can be lower to the ground, but you're still getting the proper leg extension because you're pedaling out in front of your body. And you can see the difference is that the seat is lower.

 I can get onto it very easily, very simply, has a very low step over. Now, very low step over on the Easy Transit as well. But again, if you have that seat up, you gotta come up to the seat and then get on, right? Now, once you're seated, it is very comfortable. You can have a nice upright position. You can see on the Easy Transit, the bars come into my body. I like this e-trike, but again, it may not be suited for you and your body. The other thing, too, if you're somebody that has balance issues or you've fallen off a trike or a bike, you may prefer a recumbent because again, it keeps you lower to the ground, which I've noticed gives a lot of riders a sense of comfort, safety, and security. Now, the other thing, too, is if you struggle to mount and dismount, you can get the lay-down recumbents as well, which are even lower to the ground and easier to get on. Now, the challenge with those may be getting out of them. The reason I like this type of seat is that you can sit down, but then to get up, my feet are here to push up.

 If you have a lay-down recumbent, you do have to think about is it's hard for you to kind of sit up and get yourself out of it? Because if you're lying down, like maybe on a couch, as an example, it could be challenging for some riders to get up. So, another thing to consider if you do choose a recumbent, it's just really important to think about your physical capabilities and what the number one deciding factors are when you're looking for a trike or e-trike, because it may be hard to check every single box. You may have to make some concessions when you ultimately go to choose the right electric tricycle for you. So, in terms of if you're buying an e-trike, power, power options, and battery options exist almost the same between both pedal assist levels. You can get throttles on either one of them. I will say, for a lot of the recumbents, you can see we do have a front basket for a lot of the recumbent e-trikes out there. There are not a lot of baskets and cargo from what I've seen. So that is one thing I've noticed. You'll see a lot more of the conventional trikes with bigger cargo space in the rear, in particular. That is something in Sixthreezero we hope to come out with later this year, some recumbent options with more storage, because I know that's one thing a lot of riders have mentioned.

 So you may find that, though, with a lot of the lay-down recumbents in particular, there's no option for storage or baskets on them, maybe just a small bag to bring with you. So, hope that helps. Remember, it's all about your body and your riding habits to help you make the to find the right trike or e-trike for you. If you have any other questions or comments, please reach out to us at theteam@sixthreezero.com or call us, 310-982-2877. We also offer a 30-day test ride of your e-trike policy. 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 warranty everything for one year. If anything goes wrong in the first year, we take care of it, parts, and labor. In addition to that, we have a test ride spot here in San Clemente, California. You can come and try any of our e-bikes or e-trikes. We are at 1046 Calebe Rocoto, Unit K, in San Clemente, California. In addition to that, join our community. We have a Facebook group called Sixthreezero peddlers. There are 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 our 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.