Is There an eTrike with a Narrow Footprint?

L

LindaRacine

New Member
Region
USA
Hi...

I'm new to the forum. Thanks to all who have come before me to post such valuable info.

I'm in my 70's and mildly disabled, and have pretty severe balance issues. In an effort to not feel my age, I dismissed the idea of an eTrike. But, I tried a friend's RADRover yesterday, and was essentially too intimidated to ride it. So, I'm back to thinking about an eTrike. I have some concern about them being a little wide for the narrow shoulders in my neighborhood. I'm concerned about the bike sticking out into the traffic lane. Do any of the models you've considered have a shorter axel than the others?

Thanks, in advance, for any thoughts.

Regards,
Linda
 
Consider the Catrike ePocket, about 31" wide and likely the smallest out there. Not cheap--$5,000. My wife rides a Catrike Trail (non electric) and reaslly likes it. USA made and in the top tier of recumbent trikes.
 
The Liberty is doable except for
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Make sure you try a recumbent before ordering, as they can be tougher to get up out of if you aren't as flexible anymore. But definitely the most inherently stable option.

Another option is adult stabilizer (look like training) wheels. Not all are e-bike rate, but worth a look if you can't find a trike you like.
www.roodog.co.uk

Adult Stabilisers

Adult stabilisers. Our adult stabilisers / training wheels will fit on most ebikes and normal bikes form 20 inch wheels up to 29 inches. Heavy duty
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Just beware of cheap tricycles, as some are more dangerous that a regular bike.
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The aluminum seven-speed Meridian has 26' wheels and is adult sized. The frame is good and the components lower end, big box retailer grade. It is stable, fits through a door so it is not overly wide and it has a large basket between the rear wheels. A used one costs about $300. Tires, grips, saddle .. can be easily upgraded. Then just add the motor and battery and you are set. You will have a decent trike that is better than the ones online, more affordably. My friend has one and loves it. He has a disabled placard and opted for a throttle which it turns out he never uses. When you first ride one practice doing figure eights of various sizes in a safe place to get the feel of it.
 
The rear axle on my wife's Evelo Compass e-trike is approximately 29 inches. The Compass is a conventional upright trike with 2 rear wheels (not a recumbent). I don't think you would want to go much narrower on this type of trike because of the tip-over hazard. Even with the 29" axle, you have to take the corners very slow to avoid the risk of tip-over.
 
I would contact UtahTrikes. They are probably the trike experts in the US, and do a lot of custom builds and electric conversions. They also deal all the major brands. They could probably steer you to something that would work.
 
J.R. said:
Liberty trike is the narrowest trike I've seen. Not a speedster though.

www.libertytrike.com

Liberty Electric Folding Tricycle | LibertyTrike.com

The Liberty Electric Trike is Powerful, Ultra-Portable and Fun! The Most Popular Electric Adult Tricycle in the World. Questions? Call 1-866-894-4620.
www.libertytrike.com www.libertytrike.com

Click to expand...
The liberty is also one of the more affordable trikes. Some nearby shoulders are too narrow
for 2 wheelers, but making oneself a visible is the best you can do. I have highly reflective
triangle I attach to my bike trailer which also has a flag, flashing taillight too.
 
arcom said:
The Liberty is doable except for
View attachment 99985
Click to expand...
You have a point there. My bike will do 25 mph, but my average riding speed is 13. I´ll bet
the Liberty can go faster downhill or with vigorous pedaling. 12 is just as far as power will get you.
Another thing about front whl. trikes is that you really do not want to initiate a turn of more than
15 degrees in excess of 12 mph unless it has tilting wheel capability. The liberty would tip over.
12 mph is a good top speed for that trike.
 
Trikes come in two configurations: Deltas (two wheels in the back and one in front) and tadpoles (two in front, in the rear). Tadpoles are inherently much, much more stable at speed while cornering. Pretty much all trikes that are designed for higher speeds are tadpoles.
 
jabberwocky said:
Trikes come in two configurations: Deltas (two wheels in the back and one in front) and tadpoles (two in front, in the rear). Tadpoles are inherently much, much more stable at speed while cornering. Pretty much all trikes that are designed for higher speeds are tadpoles.
Click to expand...
Yes, provided that the front is not one ridged beam. The ridged ones crash. On the good ones (tadpoles) the front wheels cant or tilt when turning. Take a left and the upper half of the wheels moves left, the lower half to the right. The front wheels on these are connected by upper and lower rods. Those are cool. Especially when they have an independent front suspension.
Sunseekers can have two wheels in back (deltas) and are semi-recumbent. They are narrow wheel candidates for conversion to electric.
 
LindaRacine said:
Hi...

I'm new to the forum. Thanks to all who have come before me to post such valuable info.

I'm in my 70's and mildly disabled, and have pretty severe balance issues. In an effort to not feel my age, I dismissed the idea of an eTrike. But, I tried a friend's RADRover yesterday, and was essentially too intimidated to ride it. So, I'm back to thinking about an eTrike. I have some concern about them being a little wide for the narrow shoulders in my neighborhood. I'm concerned about the bike sticking out into the traffic lane. Do any of the models you've considered have a shorter axel than the others?

Thanks, in advance, for any thoughts.

Regards,
Linda
Click to expand...
Actually I have experience with eTrikes and the FT-1900x has only 28" wide tracks, yet it's still very stable. So it would be best for you, I think. You can check if they still have it on sale at https://mobilityscootrike.com/
 
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