New member looking for advice on trikes

[phil oldie]

I am a new user looking to buy an electric trike and hoping to get some advice from members and 69 years old just over 5 foot seven and about 12 stone. I have identified three trikes but have not been able to find any comparative reviews. I appreciate that the best advice is to go and try them out but to try more than one model at a time will require a pretty lengthy journey from my location in East Yorkshire.

The three trikes I have identified from Internet research are the battery bike trike 20, with the tilting option, which looks a little mumsy with a basket at front and back, the powabike cruiser, which offers the option of a second battery which is attractive but also offers a deluxe version without any indication of what the extra money buys you. The third option is the mission e trike which looks quite attractive and has a good looking speed and power display. Is anyone able to offer any further advice before I managed to get out to inspect a demonstrator. I require the bike for journeys of 5 to 12 miles (through ill-health I have lost my driving licence ) and I hope to get some useful exercise. I live at the top of the 300 foot hill so it is not really possible to go anywhere interesting without climbing back up the hill at the end of the journey hence the need for electric assistance

 

[flecc]

For the sake of completeness there's also the eZee Carro, an expensive product but superior in that it almost uniquely has a differential with drive to both rear wheels. That plus the very powerful front hub motor makes it an all-wheel drive trike. It uses Lithium batteries in a large choice of capacities. In the UK it will be special order only:

eZee Carro

Agents in the UK are Cyclezee.
.

 

[anotherkiwi]

Even more expensive (the GO swissdrive is the price of the trikes you mention all by itself) Made in Germany and a tadpole.

 

[Cyclezee]

For the sake of completeness there's also the eZee Carro, an expensive product but superior in that it almost uniquely has a differential with drive to both rear wheels. That plus the very powerful front hub motor makes it an all-wheel drive trike. It uses Lithium batteries in a large choice of capacities. In the UK it will be special order only:

eZee Carro

Agents in the UK are Cyclezee.
.

The Carro is approximately £1900 with the standard 11Ah battery in the UK and shipping would take 8 to 10 weeks.

 

[Cyclezee]

Even more expensive (the GO swissdrive is the price of the trikes you mention all by itself) Made in Germany and a tadpole.

This one is by HP Velotechnik http://www.hpvelotechnik.com/produkte/komfort/index_d.html

 

[timidtom]

I am a new user looking to buy an electric trike and hoping to get some advice from members and 69 years old just over 5 foot seven and about 12 stone. I have identified three trikes but have not been able to find any comparative reviews. I appreciate that the best advice is to go and try them out but to try more than one model at a time will require a pretty lengthy journey from my location in East Yorkshire.

I think you really should ride at least one trike. They are totally unlike the handling of a two-wheeler. If you've never ridden a bike you'll be fine. J has a tilting trike and, having ridden a bike for 60+ years had great difficulting in mastering the skills needed. She can now ride it locked, but I can only manage with the tilt in operation.
We're in Cheshire and if your travels ever take you in our direction you're welcome to try the Tilting Terror!

 

[RobF]

Forum member twinkle builds trikes and e-trikes and generally knows a fair bit about them.

She may see your thread, or you could send her a message via the forum.

One of her recent threads:

http://www.pedelecs.co.uk/forum/threads/building-a-20-wheel-tadpole-e-trike-from-scratch.17880/

 

[Emo Rider]

Mission cycles new e-trike model is an improvement over their old models. It's cheaper than the old models as well. It appears to be based on their E-Solo model that allows for easy mounting and dismounting. Sadly I do not have any experience with any other models other than Mission. However they have many other models that look like canidates for conversion based on your needs.

 

[Cyclezee]

We recently did some repairs on a Pashley trike with rear drive Cyclone motor and SLA batteries, it goes quite well....in a straight line, but without a differential on the rear axle cornering needs be done at low speed and with no brake on the rear axle either stopping power is not great. I wouldn't feel happy going any faster than 10 mph on this one.
Cyclone kits are available in the UK from Eclipse http://eclipsebikes.com/motor-kits-c-73.html

 

[RobF]

A customer of my local bike shop has a converted trike.

It's a bit of a monster, two lead acid batteries and what looks like a car starter motor driving a secondary chain.

The owner likes and uses it, which is all that matters.

He told me he goes to Holland with it on the ferry two or three times a year.