Are Tricycle Gear Aircraft Easier to Fly Than Tailwheels?

Answer: To fly, no. But when it comes to controlling them on the ground during takeoff and landing, yes. 

It’s analogous to driving a five-speed car on a hill. You have to know exactly when to let out the clutch and apply the accelerator to avoid rolling backward.

Aircraft equipped with tricycle landing gear are easier to handle on the ground because the back end doesn't want to come up to visit the front, which is what can happen with a tailwheel aircraft if the pilot is not ahead of the aircraft and rudder proficient. The technical term for this is a ground loop. A tailwheel pilot needs to have excellent situational awareness, knowing which direction the wind is coming from and using appropriate rudder and elevator control to keep the airplane from “getting away from them.” 

This extra level of pilot proficiency required can make taildraggers more expensive to insure than tricycle gear aircraft, especially for low-time pilots. This is part of the reason that most modern aircraft designed specifically for the training market are tricycle gear. They are easier to handle on the ground, more forgiving of a sloppy pilot technique, and have lower insurance costs.

That being said, one of the perks of a taildragger in addition to it being the standard of some the best-looking airplanes ever made, such as a the Piper Super Cub and Cessna 195, the fact the propeller is higher off the ground than in a tricycle gear aircraft makes tailwheel airplanes the machine of choice if you want to venture into the backcountry or onto unimproved runways.