Michelle Rice Tries the Easy Transit Electric Trike: An Honest First Ride

Michelle’s First Ride on the Easy Transit

I’ve helped a lot of people onto their first electric trike, and the opening seconds usually tell you more than any spec sheet ever will. For this video, Michelle Rice climbed onto the Easy Transit, said she hoped it would go great, and pushed off. A few seconds later there was a gasp, an “oh, shoot,” and then a long, steadying “wow, okay.”

I’m leaving that moment in. It’s the most honest part of the ride, and it’s exactly what plenty of first-time trike riders feel but never say out loud. Michelle didn’t explain what startled her, so I won’t put words in her mouth. What I can tell you is that the first push on any electric three-wheeler tends to surprise people, especially anyone whose body still remembers riding a regular two-wheel bike. You expect one thing, the machine does something slightly different, and your brain needs a few pedal strokes to catch up.

She caught up quickly. A string of “all right” and “okay” followed, which is the sound of someone talking herself through something new. I’d honestly recommend it to anyone. Within the first minute she called out that she was getting a little faster, close to five miles an hour.

Five miles an hour was her sweet spot

A couple of minutes in, Michelle said that going about 5 mph felt the best to her on the Easy Transit. That’s worth sitting with, because new e-trike shoppers often fixate on top speed. Five miles an hour isn’t fast. It’s a bit quicker than a brisk walk. And for someone getting to know a new trike, it’s a very sensible place to live.

At that pace you have time. Time to look ahead, time to feel how the front end responds when you turn the bars, time to get comfortable stopping and starting again. Speed is something you add once the basics feel automatic, not before. Michelle found that rhythm on her own, without anyone coaching her toward it, and that tells me her instincts were good.

Later she joked that it would be fun to try going ten miles an hour, then laughed and said she wasn’t going to try that. I liked that a lot. Knowing what you’re ready for on day one is a real skill, and it’s the thing that keeps a first ride fun instead of scary. Nobody gets extra credit for pushing past their comfort zone in the first five minutes.

Pedaling first, throttle second

The detail I found most interesting: Michelle barely touched the throttle, and she mentioned it twice. Early on she said she wasn’t using it much, simply because that’s her preference. Near the end she clarified that she’d used it at the very beginning, and after that she rode the natural way, just under her own pedaling.

Plenty of people assume an electric trike is basically a scooter with pedals bolted on. Some riders do use one that way, and there’s nothing wrong with that. But a lot of riders are like Michelle. They want the motor available, not running the show. They like the feel of their own legs moving the bike, and they want the electric side there for when they need it.

If that sounds like you, pay attention to how a trike feels when you’re mostly pedaling, not just how it feels on the throttle. A test ride spent entirely on the throttle tells you surprisingly little about the bike you’ll actually be riding day to day. Michelle’s ride was the opposite, almost all pedal, which makes her impressions especially useful for pedal-first riders reading this.

If having a throttle on hand matters to you, our electric trikes with throttle control are grouped together in one place. Having a throttle doesn’t mean you have to lean on it, and Michelle is proof of that.

Her verdict, in her own words

When she parked, Michelle summed it up plainly. The Easy Transit was a little more difficult, but she made it, and she said she could get used to it. She’d love to take it to the beach. She was also honest that it was kind of tough and not the most comfortable for her.

That’s a mixed review, and I’m glad it is. If every one of our videos ended with “it’s perfect,” you’d have no reason to believe any of them. Michelle enjoyed parts of the ride, struggled with others, and was willing to say both on camera. That’s the kind of feedback I actually want people to see before they buy.

In the next section I’ll dig into what “difficult” and “not the most comfortable” usually mean on a trike, because those two phrases cover a lot of ground. Most of what sits underneath them is either fixable or at least predictable before you order.

If you want to see the Easy Transit alongside the rest of our three-wheel lineup, start with our folding electric trikes or browse the full electric tricycle collection.

Michelle’s word was “difficult,” and she isn’t the first person I’ve heard use it about a trike. It catches people off guard, because a trike is supposed to be the easy option. Three wheels, no balancing, no tipping over at a stoplight. So why does the first ride so often feel harder than expected?

The short answer is that a trike handles differently from a bicycle, and most adults carry years of bicycle habits in their bodies. Those habits don’t switch off just because there’s an extra wheel underneath you.

You steer, you don’t lean

On a two-wheeler, you turn mostly by leaning. At speed you barely move the handlebars; your body tips and the bike follows. A trike doesn’t work that way. You steer with the bars, more like guiding a cart than carving a turn. Riders with a lot of bike experience sometimes find this the strangest part of all, because their body keeps trying to lean into corners and the trike simply doesn’t respond to it. People who haven’t ridden in years often adapt faster, because they have fewer habits to unlearn.

The fix is simple. Slow down before turns, turn the bars deliberately, and shift your weight toward the inside of the turn instead of trying to tilt the whole machine. It becomes second nature with practice. It just doesn’t feel natural in the first five minutes, which is precisely the window Michelle was riding in for this video.

The ground talks back more

A bicycle tracks a single line. A trike has wheels on more than one line, so a crowned road, a sloped sidewalk, or the edge of a driveway can tug it toward one side. Newer riders sometimes describe this as the trike “pulling,” and it can make a short ride feel like more work than it really is. Picking flat, smooth paths for your first few outings takes a lot of that friction away while you build confidence.

Power can arrive faster than you expect

Add a motor and there’s one more thing to learn: how the assist comes in. It can feel stronger or more sudden than you expected, especially on the first push, and that’s often the moment that produces a gasp like Michelle’s. If your trike lets you choose an assist level, start at the lowest one and work up as you get comfortable. Same goes for the throttle. Feather it in the parking lot before you use it anywhere that matters.

What “not the most comfortable” usually means

Comfort is the other half of Michelle’s verdict, and here I want to be careful. She didn’t say exactly what felt uncomfortable, so I’m not going to pretend I know. What I can do is walk through the usual suspects, because when someone tells me a trike doesn’t feel comfortable, it almost always comes back to one of a handful of things.

• Seat height. Too low and your knees come up high on every stroke, which wears you out fast. Too high and you’re reaching for the pedals and shifting around on the seat. A small adjustment here can change the whole ride.
• Reach to the handlebars. If you’re stretched forward, your shoulders and wrists end up carrying weight they shouldn’t. Upright and relaxed is the goal on a trike.
• The seat itself. Some riders want wide and cushioned, others prefer something firmer. Swapping a seat is one of the simplest comfort upgrades there is, and our sixthreezero seats are a good place to compare options.
• Getting on and off. If mounting feels awkward, the whole ride starts tense. A low step-through frame makes a bigger difference than most people expect, which is why we keep a collection of easy-to-mount e-trikes.
• Plain unfamiliarity. Sometimes a new trike just feels foreign, and “uncomfortable” is the body’s way of saying “I don’t know this yet.” Michelle said she could get used to it, which suggests some of this was in play.

None of these are reasons to rule a trike out. They’re reasons to get the fit right. That’s the whole point of our fitting process: matching frame, seat height and riding position to your body before the bike ever ships, instead of hoping it works out once it arrives.

Give a new trike more than one ride

The other thing I’d say to anyone reading Michelle’s verdict: judge a trike over a week, not over five minutes. Her ride was a true first impression, recorded live, startle and all. That has real value, but it isn’t the same as how the trike will feel on your tenth ride, once you’ve stopped thinking about the steering and your body has settled into the seat.

That gap between the first ride and the tenth is exactly why we offer a 30-day test ride. Take it out on your own streets, at your own pace, as many times as you need to form a real opinion. And while you’re learning, wear a helmet every time, even at five miles an hour. If you need one, our sixthreezero helmets are made with comfort riders in mind.

Partway through the ride, Michelle said something that frames everything else: the Easy Glider was definitely her favorite. She’d clearly ridden more than one bike that day. Toward the end she turned to the camera and asked what everyone thought of these bikes, and which one she looked the most comfortable riding.

This clip doesn’t include her full side-by-side comparison, so I’m not going to reverse-engineer her reasons. What I will say is that her preference is useful information on its own, and it points to two things I tell shoppers all the time.

First, preference is real and it’s personal. Two well-made trikes can feel completely different to the same rider, and the one that clicks for you isn’t necessarily the one that clicks for your neighbor. Second, the fastest way to discover your preference is to ride options back to back. Michelle went from the Easy Glider to the Easy Transit in one session, and the contrast was obvious enough that she named a favorite right there on camera.

“Which one do I look the most comfortable riding?”

I love that question, and I’d encourage every shopper to ask it of a friend. You can’t see yourself ride. Someone watching can. They’ll notice things you won’t: knees coming up too high, shoulders creeping toward your ears, a white-knuckle grip, or the opposite, a loose, easy posture and a relaxed face. Those details say more about fit and comfort than anything you’ll feel in the first few minutes.

So bring someone along on your test ride, and ask them Michelle’s question. If you can, have them take a short video. Watching yourself ride for thirty seconds is surprisingly revealing.

Not every trike is right for every rider

The Easy Transit felt harder to Michelle than the Easy Glider did. That doesn’t make the Easy Transit a bad trike. It may simply mean it isn’t her trike. Another rider could have the exact opposite experience, especially someone who needs what a folding design offers, like easier storage or transport, and is happy to trade a little extra learning time for it.

This is why I’m wary of anyone who says there’s one best trike for everyone. There’s a best trike for you, and finding it means being honest about how you’ll ride, where you’ll store it, how you get on and off, and how it actually feels once you’re moving. Michelle’s ride is a good example of that honesty in action.

About that beach ride

Michelle said she’d love to take the Easy Transit to the beach, and I get it. Rolling along the coast is one of the best reasons to own an electric trike in the first place. A practical note, though: boardwalks and hard-packed beach paths are one thing, soft sand is another. Loose sand is tough on almost anything with wheels, and wider tires generally handle it better.

If beach riding is a big part of your plan, take a look at our fat tire electric trikes, and think about storage for towels and a cooler bag. Our sixthreezero baskets are built for exactly that kind of day. Whatever you ride, rinse the sand and salt off afterward. Your chain and brakes will thank you.

How I’d use Michelle’s ride if you’re shopping

If you’re weighing an electric trike right now, here’s what I’d take away from this video. Expect the first few minutes to feel strange, and don’t judge the trike by them. Find your own comfortable pace, and don’t let anyone rush you past it; Michelle’s was around five miles an hour, and that’s perfectly fine. Decide honestly whether you’re a throttle rider or a pedal-first rider, and test the trike the way you’ll actually use it. And ride more than one model if you possibly can, because comparison makes your preferences obvious in a way that reading never will.

If comfort is your top priority, our most comfortable electric trikes are a good starting point, and riders looking for extra stability and an easy step-in often start with our electric trikes for seniors. If you’re near us, you can also visit our store and do exactly what Michelle did: ride a few trikes back to back and see which one feels like yours.

Thanks to Michelle for being willing to show a real first ride, gasps, laughs and all. That’s the kind of honesty that actually helps people choose, and it’s the reason we film these rides the way we do.