"Like Sitting on a Couch": Olympia, 55, Takes Her First Ride on the Simple Glide Recumbent eTrike

Meet Olympia

Olympia is 55 years old, and she showed up to this ride the way most of us show up to something new: a little unsure, mostly excited, and ready to laugh at herself if things got awkward. She had come to try the Simple Glide 500W Recumbent eTrike, a three-wheeled electric trike where you sit back in a supportive seat with your legs stretched out in front of you instead of perched on top of a saddle.

There was no script and no rehearsal. The camera simply followed her from the moment she sat down until she rolled back in roughly ten minutes later, grinning. That makes this less of a product demo and more of a real first impression, the kind you'd get if you borrowed a friend's trike for a spin around the block.

That's exactly why we think her ride is worth writing about. Spec sheets tell you what a trike is. A first ride tells you what it feels like, where the small learning curves are, and whether the thing actually makes you happy once you're moving. Olympia's ride answers all three, and she was refreshingly honest along the way, including about the fact that she normally leans toward two wheels.

If you've been wondering whether a recumbent eTrike could work for you, especially if you're in your fifties or beyond, or you've got a back that doesn't love a traditional bike seat, follow along. We'll walk through her ride from the first seconds to the last, and then pull out the practical lessons for anyone thinking about making the switch.

The very first thing Olympia noticed had nothing to do with the motor. It was the seat. Within about half a minute of getting on, before she had gone anywhere at all, she was already saying how comfortable it was for her back, and she said it with the kind of surprise that tells you she wasn't expecting it.

That reaction makes sense once you understand what a recumbent position does. On a standard bike, your weight presses down through a small saddle while your upper body leans forward over the handlebars. Your lower back and wrists end up carrying a lot of the load. On a recumbent trike, your weight spreads across a wide seat and a backrest. You're reclined slightly, your spine is supported, and your arms rest naturally on the handlebars instead of propping you up.

For a lot of riders, that difference is the whole reason they start looking at recumbent electric trikes in the first place. Some have back trouble. Some have had a hip or knee replaced. Some simply haven't been on a bike in years and don't want their first ride back to hurt. Olympia didn't mention any specific condition. She just sat down and immediately felt the difference.

It's worth pausing on this, because it's easy to underestimate. Comfort isn't a luxury feature on a trike. It's what determines whether you ride once and park it in the garage, or whether you go out again tomorrow and the day after. A seat that feels good in the first thirty seconds is a seat you'll actually use.

Every new rider has a moment of figuring out the controls, and Olympia's came early. Someone nearby wondered aloud whether this particular trike even had a throttle. It does. The next question was where it was, and after a bit of back-and-forth the answer turned out to be a twist throttle on the right side of the handlebar.

What followed was a very relatable few seconds of trial and error. Twist this. No, this one. Hang on. Then, finally, a simple instruction: twist. And off she went. It's the sort of fumbling that looks funny on camera but is completely normal. Nobody is born knowing where the controls are on a vehicle they've never touched.

A twist throttle works a lot like the grip on a scooter or motorcycle. Roll it gently toward you and the motor delivers power without you needing to pedal. Let it go and the power stops. For riders who want the option of moving without pedaling, at least for part of a ride, a throttle is a big deal. If that's high on your wish list, it's worth browsing the electric trikes with throttle control so you can compare how different models handle it.

One practical tip from watching this moment: before your first real ride on any eTrike, spend two minutes sitting still and just touching everything. Find the throttle, the brakes, the display buttons, and the assist controls. Say out loud what each one does. It feels a little silly, but it means that when you're actually rolling, your hands already know where to go.

Not long after she got the throttle sorted, Olympia pointed out something that two-wheel riders rarely think about until they experience the alternative. You don't have to put your feet on the floor.

On a bicycle, every stop involves a little balancing act. You slow down, unclip or slide forward off the saddle, and catch yourself with one foot. At an intersection, on a slope, or when you're tired, that moment can be the most unstable part of the whole ride. It's also where a lot of falls happen, especially for riders who are rebuilding confidence or dealing with balance issues.

A trike simply removes that problem. Three wheels hold you up whether you're cruising or completely stopped. You can come to a halt, sit there, look around, have a conversation, and set off again without ever lowering a foot. For Olympia, who was learning the controls in real time, that stability gave her room to experiment without worrying about tipping over.

If you've got any hesitation about balance, this is one of the most important features to weigh. It's a big part of why so many people shopping for electric trikes for seniors end up on three wheels, and why recumbent models in particular feel so settled. You're sitting low, your center of gravity is close to the ground, and the trike stays put when you stop.

About a minute and a quarter into the ride came one of the most honest moments in the video. Olympia went to bump up the assist level, pressed the wrong button, and dropped it to zero instead. She narrated the whole thing out loud: she had meant to go up and went down instead. Then she corrected it, and a few seconds later she was back to saying it was great.

If you're new to electric bikes and trikes, here's what was happening. Most eTrikes let you choose a pedal assist level, usually shown as a number on the display. At zero, the motor isn't helping when you pedal, so you're doing all the work yourself. As you step up through the levels, the motor adds more and more power every time you turn the pedals. Higher numbers mean less effort and usually a bit more speed.

Pressing the down button when you meant to press up is about the most common beginner slip there is, and it's harmless. Nothing breaks. The trike just stops helping you for a moment, you feel the pedals get heavier, and you realize what happened. On a recumbent trike, since you're stable and seated, you can glance down at the display, fix it, and keep going without any drama.

The useful takeaway here is that the assist system is forgiving. You don't need to master it before you ride. You can learn it while you ride, the same way Olympia did, and within a minute or two the buttons start to make sense. Many riders settle on one or two favorite levels and rarely change them after the first week.

A little under two minutes in, Olympia asked a question that comes up on almost every first ride: how do you change gears?

It's a fair question, and it points to something people often find confusing about electric trikes. There are really two separate systems working together. One is the motor assist, which you control with the buttons on the display. The other is the mechanical drivetrain, the gears that change how hard or easy it is to turn the pedals. They both affect how the ride feels, but they're adjusted differently.

The easiest way to think about it: the assist level decides how much the motor helps, and the gears decide how your own legs feel while pedaling. On flat ground with a decent assist level, you might barely notice the gears. On a climb, or when you're pedaling with little or no assist, choosing the right gear makes a real difference to how much effort you're putting in.

Olympia got her answer from the person riding with her and moved on, which is exactly how most people learn. If you'd like to understand this before your first ride rather than during it, the sixthreezero Bike Advice blog has plenty of walkthroughs on controls and setup, and the assembly instructions section covers getting a new trike ready to roll. A few minutes of reading can save you a few minutes of fumbling at the curb.

Once the controls clicked, the ride turned into what it was really meant to be: a relaxed loop through a residential neighborhood. A riding companion joined in around the two-minute mark, and from there the soundtrack was mostly directions and laughter.

First came a right turn down a hill. Then a quick check about which way to go, another right, and a plan to make a U-turn at the end of a cul-de-sac. Simple stuff, but it's exactly the kind of everyday riding a recumbent eTrike is built for. Quiet streets, gentle curves, a bit of downhill, a bit of turning around, and no rush to be anywhere in particular.

That U-turn deserves a mention. Turning a trike around in a tight space is a different skill than on a bike. You don't lean; you steer, and the wider footprint means you need a little more room. A cul-de-sac is the perfect place to practice because there's space, there's usually no traffic, and the circle gives you a natural path to follow. By the time she came out of it, Olympia was letting out a loud, happy "woohoo."

From there it was more turns, a decision to head back, a lefthand bend, and a loop around before returning to where she started. If you're planning your own first ride, a route like this is ideal: short, familiar, mostly flat with a slope or two, and plenty of places to stop and turn around if you want to.

If you read the raw transcript of this ride, one thing jumps out right away. A huge chunk of it is just laughter. Over and over, minute after minute, the only thing captured is someone cracking up.

It might seem like a strange thing to focus on in a review, but it's actually one of the most telling details. People don't laugh like that when they're nervous, uncomfortable, or fighting a machine that won't do what they want. They laugh like that when they're having fun and feeling a little bit giddy about it. The laughter starts around the time she rolls downhill and keeps showing up for most of the ride.

There's a reason this matters. When people consider an electric trike, especially a recumbent one, they often frame it in practical terms. Is it safe? Is it stable? Will my back hold up? Those are all important questions, and the Simple Glide answers them well. But there's another question that gets overlooked: will this be fun?

Olympia's ride answers that one pretty clearly. Ten minutes on a trike she'd never touched before, and she spent a good part of it laughing out loud. That's the feeling that gets people back out the door the next morning. Comfort and stability make riding possible. Fun is what makes it a habit.

Around the seven-and-a-half-minute mark, as the group approached a climb, someone remarked that the trike was probably going to struggle. It's a small moment, but we think it's worth addressing directly rather than skipping over.

Every electric trike has a relationship with hills that depends on a handful of things: the motor's power, the assist level you've selected, which gear you're in, how much you're pedaling, the rider's weight, and how steep the grade actually is. The Simple Glide uses a 500W motor, which is plenty for typical neighborhood streets and moderate slopes. On a long, steep pitch, though, any trike in this class will slow down, and you'll get the most out of it by helping with the pedals and picking an easier gear.

That's not a flaw so much as a reality of physics. A recumbent trike carries a rider in a seated position, on three wheels, with a frame built for stability rather than racing. If you regularly ride steep terrain, it's worth knowing that up front and planning accordingly: higher assist, lower gear, steady pedaling, and no shame in taking it slow.

If your area is especially hilly, or you'd like more power in reserve, it can be worth comparing other options too. Sixthreezero also offers a fat tire electric trike lineup with more motor and grip, and the broader electric trike collection lets you compare motors side by side. For Olympia's ride, though, whatever the climb did or didn't do, it clearly didn't dampen her mood. She came back still laughing.

When Olympia rolled to a stop at the end, the first thing out of her mouth was the same thing she'd noticed at the very beginning. It's great for the back. You're just so relaxed. She compared it to sitting on a couch.

That's a striking comparison, and it's not an exaggeration. A recumbent seat with a proper backrest really does put you in a lounge-chair posture. Your hips are supported, your lower back is braced, and your legs push forward rather than down. Instead of hunching over handlebars, you sit upright-ish and look straight ahead at the street.

For people with back pain, this can be the difference between riding and not riding at all. A traditional bike saddle concentrates pressure in a small area and asks your core and lower back to stabilize you the whole time. Over a long ride that adds up. On a recumbent trike, the seat and backrest do most of that stabilizing work for you, so your muscles can relax.

There's also a mental side to it. When you're comfortable, you stop thinking about your body and start paying attention to the ride itself: the breeze, the neighborhood, the person riding next to you. That's what Olympia meant by relaxed. If comfort is your top priority, take a look at sixthreezero's most comfortable electric trikes, where recumbent models like the Simple Glide sit alongside other designs built around a supportive ride.

After the ride, she was asked a direct question: so you like the three wheels? Her answer was more interesting than a simple yes.

She said yes, she liked it. Then she added that she thinks she prefers two wheels. And then, almost in the same breath, she said this was great. A few seconds later she wrapped it up by saying she likes them all.

We appreciate that answer because it's real. Plenty of riders have a long history with bicycles and a soft spot for the feel of two wheels: the lean into a turn, the lighter frame, the sense of gliding. Trying a trike doesn't erase that. What it does is show you a different kind of ride that has its own strengths, and for a lot of people those strengths end up winning out over time.

If you're torn the way Olympia was, you've got options. Sixthreezero makes both electric bikes and electric trikes, including step-thru electric bikes that make mounting easier on two wheels. Some riders keep one of each: an eBike for longer, faster outings and a trike for relaxed errands and days when their back or balance isn't cooperating. There's no rule that says you have to pick a side forever.

The honest bottom line from Olympia: even as someone who leans toward two wheels, she found the Simple Glide easy, comfortable, and genuinely enjoyable. That's a pretty strong endorsement from someone who wasn't predisposed to love it.

One of the last things Olympia said is probably the most important for anyone on the fence. She said the trike requires no effort whatsoever and that you feel very safe. Then she described the feeling as being in a little vehicle, almost like being in a car.

That sense of being inside something, rather than balanced on top of it, is exactly what a recumbent design creates. You sit low between the wheels. The seat wraps around you. Your feet are out front on the pedals. The trike is wide enough that it doesn't wobble, and when you stop, it simply stays where it is. All of that adds up to a ride that feels contained and secure.

Feeling safe isn't just about avoiding falls, although that's a big part of it. It's also about how relaxed you can be while you ride. A rider who feels safe can look around, chat, take in the scenery, and react calmly to a car backing out of a driveway. A rider who feels unsteady spends the whole time gripping the handlebars and bracing for something to go wrong.

The "no effort whatsoever" part comes from the combination of motor assist and the twist throttle. You can pedal as much or as little as you like, and on a flat stretch you can let the motor carry you. The Simple Glide also includes a reverse feature, which Olympia didn't need on this short loop but which comes in handy for backing out of tight spots. If that matters to you, the electric trikes with reverse collection is a good place to compare models with that feature.

Watching Olympia's first ride, a clear picture emerges of who this trike suits best.

It's a natural fit for riders who want comfort above all else, especially anyone with back discomfort or who finds traditional bike seats painful. It's a strong option for people who are nervous about balance, who are returning to riding after a long break, or who want to stop without putting a foot down. It also works well for riders who like the idea of a throttle so they can rest their legs when they want to. If getting on and off easily is a concern, you might also browse the easy-to-mount eTrikes to see how the Simple Glide compares to upright, low step-thru designs.

It's also a good match for the kind of riding Olympia did: neighborhood loops, quiet streets, gentle downhills, a cul-de-sac to turn around in. That covers a lot of what most people actually do on a trike, from heading to a friend's house to running a short errand or simply getting outside for half an hour.

Who might want to look elsewhere? Riders who regularly tackle long, steep climbs may want more motor power, so the fat tire models are worth a look. Riders who are set on the lean-and-carve feel of two wheels may still prefer an eBike, as Olympia herself suggested. And if you're a larger rider, it's sensible to check the weight capacity on the product page and compare it with sixthreezero's high weight capacity electric trikes before you decide.

Olympia's ride is a great template for anyone heading out on a recumbent trike for the first time. Here's what we'd pass along based on what we saw.

Start by adjusting the seat so your legs are comfortably extended but not locked straight when the pedal is at its farthest point. A good fit makes the whole ride feel easier and protects your knees. Then, before you move, take a minute to locate every control: the twist throttle, both brakes, the assist buttons, and anything else on the display. Practice squeezing the brakes a few times so you know how firmly they grab.

When you start rolling, begin on a low assist level and a short, quiet route. A cul-de-sac or an empty parking lot is ideal. Practice gentle turns in both directions and at least one full U-turn so you can feel how wide the trike needs to swing. Remember that you steer a trike rather than lean it, so keep your body relaxed and let the handlebars do the work.

Don't worry if you press the wrong button. Olympia dropped to zero assist by accident and was back on track within seconds. And wear a helmet, even on a short neighborhood loop; sixthreezero carries helmets as well as bags and panniers if you want to carry a few things along. Finally, give yourself permission to laugh. The first ride is supposed to be a little clumsy. It's also supposed to be fun.

In about ten minutes, Olympia went from wondering where the throttle was to cruising through her neighborhood, turning around in a cul-de-sac, and laughing most of the way. She hit the wrong button, asked how the gears worked, and admitted she usually prefers two wheels. None of that stopped her from calling the ride wonderful, comparing the seat to a couch, and saying she felt safe the whole time.

That's what makes her ride such a useful snapshot. It wasn't polished. It was a real person, on a real street, figuring things out on the fly and having a great time anyway. If you've been curious about a recumbent electric trike but worried that it might be complicated, uncomfortable, or a little intimidating, her experience suggests otherwise.

If you'd like help deciding whether the Simple Glide 500W Recumbent eTrike is right for you, sixthreezero's personal fitting can match you with a model based on your body and riding style, and the Ultimate Bike Buyer’s Guide lays out the main things to weigh. Sixthreezero also offers a 30-day test ride, free shipping, and a warranty, so you can try one at home on your own streets.

As Olympia put it at the very end, she likes them all. But for a relaxed, back-friendly ride where you feel safe from the first minute, the Simple Glide made a pretty convincing case.