77 Year Old, Urban, Prosthetic Leg, thinking about an eTrike

[Sealeg2010]

Basic Question: Can I even consider an eTrike? or do I resign myself to a handicapped scooter?
I am a healthy 77-year old (other than the prosthetic leg).
It is a C-Leg, a computerized leg that allows me to choose bicycle mode.
I rode bikes up until I lost the leg in an accident ten years ago.
I live in a suburb of Columbus, Ohio, mostly flat neighborhood, main streets with bike lanes.
I rarely travel more than ten miles from home.
While testing out my abilities on stationary bikes, I have discovered a. I can't do a recumbent bike b. I can apply only moderate pedal pressure c. I would need bicycle stirrups
I can only lift about 50 pounds
I'm 5'11" and weigh 205 pounds with the 15 pound prosthetic on
In order to get to bicycle trails I would either have to ride more than ten miles or be able to transport the bike by car.
I own a Subaru Outback station wagon.
I would like to pay less than $2500.
Back to the basic question: Could I even use an eTrike? If "yes," what kind? Any suggested models?

 

[Dewey]

No recumbent means you'll be looking for a traditional upright delta trike, if you want to drive to the trail consider having u-haul add a trailer hitch to your Subaru and buying a small cargo trailer with ramps and some ratchet tie down straps. I had u-haul fit a hitch to my Subaru Forester and it was relatively inexpensive I think $200. Most ebikes have a walk assist feature that might help a heavy trike up a ramp if the motor is powerful enough and the ramp angle is shallow enough, but you would need to stand somewhere while the trike was moving so a safer solution would be to add a small hand winch designed to haul an ATV or boat onto a trailer. An alternative to a toe-strap/stirrup might be road bike clip-in pedals for cycling shoes though the twisting action required to clip in/out might not be suitable for your prosthesis.

Court has reviewed trikes on this site, here's the category list of reviews https://electricbikereview.com/category/trike/
There are conversions of pedal trikes, or purpose built e-trikes. For example a popular budget delta pedal trike is the Sun Traditional Tricycle, there are two electric versions: the one from Electric Bike Technologies in PA has a direct drive front hub motor with a reversing function, the official Sun E350 version has a different type of motor a geared front hub motor with no reverse feature. Both are single speed by default but I think there might be internal geared hub upgrades. Neither is particularly powerful and the heavy weight and modest torque of the motors would make climbing steep hills difficult. Purpose built e-trikes with mid-drive motors like the Evelo Compass or Electric Bike Technologies Step-Through offer more power and gears but are more expensive. If you're riding on flat land you'll probably be fine with a hub motor trike and spend the rest of your budget on the trailer, car hitch & winch.

Trikes have a reputation for tipping so you'll want good brakes and slow right down before taking any turns. A good feature to look for on any trike is a parking brake, typically this is a button on one of the brake levers.

 

[Sealeg2010]

No recumbent means you'll be looking for a traditional upright delta trike, if you want to drive to the trail consider having u-haul add a trailer hitch to your Subaru and buying a small cargo trailer with ramps and some ratchet tie down straps. I had u-haul fit a hitch to my Subaru Forester and it was relatively inexpensive I think $200. Most ebikes have a walk assist feature that might help a heavy trike up a ramp if the motor is powerful enough and the ramp angle is shallow enough, but you would need to stand somewhere while the trike was moving so a safer solution would be to add a small hand or electric winch designed to haul an ATV or boat onto a trailer. An alternative to a toe-strap/stirrup might be road bike clip-in pedals for cycling shoes though the twisting action required to clip in/out might not be suitable for your prosthesis.

Court has reviewed trikes on this site, here's the category list of reviews https://electricbikereview.com/category/trike/
There are conversions of pedal trikes, or purpose built e-trikes. For example a popular budget delta trike is the Sun Traditional Tricycle, there are two electric versions: the one from Electric Bike Technologies in PA has a direct drive front hub motor with a reversing function, the official Sun E350 version has a different type of motor a geared front hub motor with no reverse feature. Both are single speed by default but I think there might be internal geared hub upgrades. Neither is particularly powerful and the heavy weight and modest torque of the motors wold make climbing steep hills difficult. Trikes with mid-drive motors like the Evelo Compass or Electric Bike Technologies Step-Through offer more power and gears.

Trikes have a reputation for tipping so you'll want good brakes and slow right down before taking any turns. A good feature to look for on any trike is a parking brake, typically this is a button on one of the brake levers.

This seems like a pretty expensive proposition. Hitch, trailer, winch, plus tipping danger. Makes me wonder if it is a good idea for me after all.

 

[Dewey]

This seems like a pretty expensive proposition. Hitch, trailer, winch, plus tipping danger. Makes me wonder if it is a good idea for me after all.

Not necessarily, the Worksman electric Port-o-trike uses the same direct drive hub motor from Electric Bike Technologies so has the reverse function, costs $1400, and folds down small enough to fit into the back of your station wagon. The stock 36v lead acid battery is heavy with only a 15 mile range, so a good upgrade for $150 would be the lighter and more powerful 48v 10ah Lithium ion battery, it doesn't appear to have pedal assist just a thumb throttle and a single speed. There are electric winches with a swing arm designed to lift heavy electric wheelchairs and mobility scooters into cars, my father had one fitted to his station wagon for his electric wheelchair. Or there are scooter/wheelchair carriers with a ramp that tilt for loading and attach to a trailer hitch. It's do-able with your $2500 budget.

 

[RandallS]

I just sold one that would likely have worked for you.
Trike for sale

It was priced in Canadian dollars, so the used price would have been very close to your budget.

I'm only showing it to you so you are aware of options in folding trikes. The person who bought it from us, drove it away in the trunk of a Honda Civic.

Best of luck with your search.

 

[Iridebikez]

This is a situation where the other members have probably already provided the best advice for you. But I also know of a company called Utah Trikes, who build crazy contraptions I never could have imagined: https://www.utahtrikes.com/RECENTTRIKE-5237227_UTCustomCatrikeFatCat-4Quad.html. They could definitely build you something like a custom hand-powered version of this one, though it would probably cost extra: https://www.utahtrikes.com/PROD-11620084.html. Still, it might be worth getting in contact with them and going over your circumstances and requirements just to see what they think.