Review: Lazy seaside cruising on the Lectric Trike2

As part of my Joe Salas memorial tour of Rockport, South Texas, I spent some time with a handsome, well-appointed folding electric trike that offers a comfy, practical, relaxed getabout perfectly suited to life by the seaside... If you can handle the trike thing!Let's state this early and bluntly: I'm not a trike guy. They scare me. If you're accustomed to two wheels, well... The steering is backwards, they'll passively steer themselves toward the gutter if the road's cambered, so you need to lean your body over just to ride in a straight line, and they'll want to follow bumps or ruts in a road surface in surprising ways. Turning them at any kind of speed makes them want to tip over - a dynamic you have to prepare for by leaning your body in before you steer.That, and when you've got potholes to dodge, you're running three wheel tracks... And of course, when you're entering a driveway, hopping off a curb or going over a speed hump, you really wanna hit them head on, or be prepared for a bucking bronco experience as each wheel dips or rises individually. An attractive and well-built trike at an impressive priceLoz Blain/New Atlas Of course, these issues are likely known to you if you're surfin' the web looking for trike reviews. So I'll do my best to lay off that stuff and evaluate the Lectric Trike 750 (dusk blue) exactly as I find it – here in our man Joe's garage, the day after his "JoeFest" funeral party. Joe, if you're new to New Atlas, was a lively and energetic member of the New Atlas team until he recently banged his head on the ground and died. Which, while certainly energetic, wasn't very lively of him, all things considered.The Trike2 rocks an 840-Wh battery, for up to 70 miles (113 km) of range. It's got a set of pedals, as well as a twist-throttle on the right bar, controlling a 750-W nominal, 1,310-W peak, 85-Nm (63-lb-ft) electric motor between the rear wheels. As standard, it gets a "Cloud 50" suspension fork, and our review unit is upgraded with a "support seat" with a backrest, a tunable suspension seat post. a headlight, and a "cargo package" placing sturdy metal baskets fore and aft. All these additions work well (although the headlight does tend to rattle itself off axis over a bumpy piece of road).Certainly, the cargo racks are the star of the show here though; they've become favorite places for Joe's little kids to sit on gentle rides around the front yard and down to the shops. They're also unsurprisingly useful for hauling groceries and whatnot – and in fact Joe and his grieving widow Brianna have been using them to take the trash out down their uncommonly long driveway. Joe would often cruise this road at night... It was lovely to feel that same sea breezeKevin Fanady / New Atlas As a riding experience, the Trike2 is super simple. Switch it on, pick a power mode from the five between eco and turbo, and get going. You can pedal, at which point the torque/cadence sensor will amplify your efforts in an intuitive and comfortable manner – but there's only one gear, so your knees will be going like fiddler's elbows beyond about 12 mph (19 km/h) if you're trying to keep up.There's no need; the cadence sensor means that as long as you've got the pedals turning at all, the bike will accelerate. And of course there's the throttle, which makes the whole thing even easier up to a limited top speed of 17 mph (27 km/h). That feels like an entirely appropriate top speed for this kind of vehicle. It might be just how friendly folk are here in the South Texas seaside town of Rockport... Or it might be that there's a whole lot of older folk getting around on trikes, ebikes, stand-up scoots, golf carts and the like, but my experience riding the Trike2 around town is that people seem far more respectful of your space on the road than you'd tend to get on a regular ebike. That's nice, and I've taken to giving them a stately (trikely?) wave as they overtake ever so politely on my left. One nice practicality Lectric has included here is a nifty pair of parking brake locks. Stop the trike, flick a pair of blue levers on the brakes, then gently pull the brakes in and they'll ratchet to lock the wheels. Flip them off, pull the brakes in one last click, and they release so you're ready to roll again. Another nice touch is the super-adjustable seat post, which can place your backside anywhere from 30-42 inches (76-107 cm) from the ground, comfortably welcoming riders from 4 ft 10 in to 6 ft 2 in (147 to 188 cm). Controls are super basic and intuitive... Power up, power down, on/off and indicatorsLoz Blain/New Atlas Another feature that I'm less enthused about in this case is the Trike2's folding ability. If you need to fit this thing in the back of your SUV, you can whip the seat and front wheel off, fold down the handlebars, and fold the aluminum frame in half... But at this point, you're still looking at a 79-lb (36 kg), awkward behemoth of a thing that most folk, especially in the target market, will likely struggle to lift or maneuver. The bike could surely be quite a bit lighter without the folding capability, but Lectric has made the entire Trike2 range foldable, so that's that!What else? Well, the tires are nice and practical too, complete with puncture-resistant rubber and "slime" installed to allow them to run without air if a nail makes its way through. This is a tidy and attractive bike, with a lot of the cabling internally routed to keep the look nice and clean. And there's a very civilized rear brake light and indicator setup to boot. Joe used to ride this one along the beach road in Rockport, enjoying the sea breeze for a few miles on his way down to the Sugar Shack for an afternoon beverage or three, so that's where I took it with his brother from another mother Kevin. I can't think of anywhere the Trike2 would be more at home than this lazy seaside town. Brake lights and indicators... How civilized!Loz Blain/New Atlas Indeed, there was another similar e-trike parked just across the road as we knocked back a beer at our fallen buddy's favorite bar, made dark biker jokes about his untimely demise and mused over just how drastically the trajectory of life changes for these three girls without their Dad. What a hole one little person can leave. The time I spent on the Trike2 hasn't converted me away from two wheels, but at the same time, if trikes are your bag, I think this one's very nicely put together. It's about as simple and intuitive as ebikes get, it's solid, sturdy and the suspension makes for a comfy ride. The extended-range battery will cover more ground than most riders would use in a week, let alone a day – and the cargo racks make this a practical car replacement for a lot of short trips, letting you get some exercise and feel the wind in your face along the way. At US$1,799, Lectric has put a highly competitive price tag on the Trike2. You could save a few hundred bucks by grabbing, say, a discounted SixThreeZero Easy Transit at US$1,499, but you'd be giving up a fair whack of range and settling for tiny wheels, which would make me very nervous around potholes. I think most riders will find this an approachable and dependable trike, that's zippy enough to be fun across a range of trips while keeping things sensible enough to be safe. If only Joe had that same ability, eh?Source: Lectric