Laid Back Mickey here. I'm not a doctor. But I've worked with over 6,000 clients dealing with aging body issues. Back, neck, knee, and more. Or just that old balance issue that pops up as we get older.
So ask your doctor if you can ride after surgery, or about any other concerns.
Now, to the reality of life. Getting old sucks.
I know, because I'm getting older and it sucks. Some mornings you wake up and the pain moved from here, to over here, to over here. Some mornings I crawl out of bed instead of jumping out of it.
Here's the good news. Once you get going, it warms up. That's the whole point of a trike. It cradles your body and makes it easy to ride.
I used to put my nose up at these
Back in the 90s I owned bike shops. I was in my 20s. I'd walk past a recumbent and think, nah, that's not me.
I didn't have any aches back then. I didn't get it.
That's also why most bike shops still don't carry trikes. You walk in and there's a 25-year-old behind the counter who jumps out of bed every morning. Good guy. Doesn't get it yet. I didn't either.
I get it now.
Why a trike works when your back doesn't
A tadpole trike has two wheels up front. Wide, stable base. You're sitting down and looking forward, not hunched over drop bars with your neck cranked up.
Nothing to balance. Nothing to fall off of at a stoplight.
I've got riders in their 70s, 80s, and past that still rolling after fusions, degenerative stuff, and epidurals. Once their doctor cleared them.
But here's what people get wrong. They shop the logo on the frame. Fit and suspension matter way more than the brand.
Fit the trike to your body. Don't fit your body to the trike.
Never be satisfied with okay
That's what I tell every single customer.
If you buy a shoe one size too small, it will never feel comfortable. Doesn't matter how long you wear it. Your toes aren't getting shorter.
Same thing with a trike. If the fit is wrong, you won't ride it. You'll tell your friends it wasn't comfortable and it'll sit in the garage.
So when we get on a call, I'm asking 10 to 20 questions. Not sales questions. Fit questions.
One of them is your x-seam. Everybody knows their inseam from buying jeans, crotch down to your sock. X-seam is different. You sit on the floor and measure from your butt to the end of your heel. That tells me how to set the boom for your legs. There's a chart on our website with a little drawing of a guy doing it.
That's one measurement out of about 20.
Full suspension cuts the list fast
If your back needs forgiveness, full suspension is usually the first filter. That alone knocks the list way down.
The Catrike Allroad is US-made full suspension, and it's often the one that gets people riding without blowing the budget. There are premium full-suspension builds above it. They're great. They're not always the right spend.
Which one is right depends on your height, your weight, how you'll load it into your car, and where you're actually riding. That's consult work. You're not going to sort it out from a forum thread.
Short riders get told no a lot
If you're somewhere around 4'8" to 5'6", you've probably been handed a bike that was too big for you and told to make it work.
Back in the 90s we hunted for 650 wheels and short frames for smaller riders. Hardly anybody made them. We did custom adjustments and it was a pain. You'd end up with a small person on an oversized bike, leaned way too far over. Uncomfortable.
Trikes are different. Shorter cranks. Adjustable boom, seat, and handlebars. And now some are built compact from the start.
I had a gal named Victoria come to me. About 5'2". Road rider her whole life. She was starting to get balance issues, and that scared her, but she didn't want some slow tank either. She wanted fast and sporty and stable.
I told her I had the perfect trike for her. The ICE Sprint X Pixel. Smaller seat so she's not swimming in it. Smaller rear section. Put a taller rider in that seat and it sits below their shoulders. On her, it fit right.
Point is, there's a right answer for your size. You just have to ask somebody who's fitted a few thousand people.
Getting in and out
This is the one nobody thinks about until they already own it.
Seat heights vary a lot by model. Some sit low and sporty. Some start higher and are easier to stand up out of.
I had a guy call me about a trike he's had almost 15 years. Loves it. Can't get out of it anymore. And nobody ever made grab handles for that old model.
If your trike is newer, grab handles are cheap and they fix this. If it's old, sometimes it's just time for a new one.
People get in different ways. Some side sit and swing in. Some step over. Some back into it. Start with our guide on how to ride a recumbent trike, then we'll confirm the motion that works for your body on a call.
Loading it into the car
Don't plan on deadlifting an e-trike. Roll it.
Pull the battery when you can. Use real ramps, not the cheap ones that don't open right. Lock the parking brake once it's in.
A couple came in a while back. The wife already had a trike and they'd been dropping it in the back of their Forester. Easy. Then they went to two trikes, and now he needs a receiver hitch and a rack that'll actually hold one.
That's a real cost. I'd rather tell you now than after you order.
And sometimes the answer isn't a rack at all. Sometimes it's a folding trike.
Read how to transport your recumbent trike before you buy any hardware.
Gearing, in plain English
Derailleur: you have to be pedaling to shift.
Internal hub: you can shift sitting still. At a light, on a hill, doesn't matter.
Internal costs more. If you've got hills, or you've ever been stuck in the wrong gear at a stop sign, it's worth it.
One of my mechanics worked at a regular bike shop before he came here. He told me they never stocked Rohloff, Enviolo, or Shimano Alfine. Never had to. Everything was external gears.
That's part of why trikes cost more than the bike you bought at the box store.
What these cost
I don't love saying the price. I'll say it anyway.
Trikes start around $2,000. You can get a great Catrike for around $3,000. They run up to $20,000 for the loaded stuff.
I was selling bikes in the 90s for $500. So I know how that number lands.
But don't go cheapest either. There are $500 trikes out there with wooden seats, built for kids, sold as adult trikes. I have heard "I bought it, it was garbage, I gave it away" more times than I can count.
Don't get 7-Eleven sushi.
If the one you want is over your number, we do financing. Get the one that works for you today and five years from now.
What actually happens on a call
You don't buy on call one. Here's how it goes:
- We get on the phone and I ask my 10 to 20 questions. We narrow about 30 models down to two or three.
- I send you a short homework list. Ramp, model, maintenance, top accessories.
- You rebook and we finalize.
We're closed Sunday and Monday, so plan Tuesday through Saturday.
We keep over 40 trikes in stock, so you're usually not waiting months to ride.
If you're near Sacramento, come in and ride one. If you're not, that's most of my people. We ship nationwide, ready to ride.
Book a Free Build Your Dream Trike Session
Questions I get every week
Can I ride after a spinal fusion?
Only if your doctor clears you. After that, the seat, the fit, and how you get in and out matter more than the brand.
Is a trike easier than a bike after back surgery?
For most people, yes. You're sitting supported and you're not balancing on two wheels. Your doctor still has to clear it.
What's the best trike after back surgery?
There isn't one. A full-suspension model fitted to your height and weight beats a name on a frame every time. Get on a call and we'll narrow it.
How much is it going to cost me?
Depends on fit, suspension, and whether you need a motor. I'll give you a real number on the call. Don't use a price off an old blog post, mine included.
About Mickey O'Brien. Laid Back Mickey has owned bike shops since the 1990s and runs Laid Back Cycles in Sacramento, California. He's worked with over 6,000 riders with back, neck, knee, and balance issues, and does one-on-one Build Your Dream Trike sessions with riders all over the country. 916-668-8766.
