Kettler Kettrike Happy Navigator Tricycle
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List Price: Our Price: $190.00 You Save: $20.00 (10%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $189.99 (click here) Category: Toy See more product details |
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Description of Kettler Kettrike Happy Navigator Tricycle
MaxXtread tires, 5 Position QUIK-ADJUST Frame TrikeIdeal for children just learning to get around on their own, the HKS Kettrike Happy Navigator tricycle boasts several versatile features for kids and the grownups who love them. The trike employs Kettler's telescoping Quick-Adjust frame, which invites parents to expand the trike each time their toddler experiences a growth spurt. The telescoping frame is a must for parents who don't want to ditch the trike after just a few months of use.
Kids will also love the Auto-Freewheel function, which lets them rest their feet on the pedals while a parent guides them around with the pushbar. And thanks to the Parental Control steering lock system, kids won't be able to steer the trike in random directions while the grownups push. Other details include a patented rear wheel steering system with an on/off mechanism and MaxXtread wheels with a dual-layer safety tread wheel pattern that keeps the trike from spinning on wet pavement or other slippery surfaces. As with all Kettrikes, the HKS Kettrike Happy Navigator is backed by a lifetime main frame warranty and three-year limited parts warranty.
Sports reviews of Kettler Kettrike Happy Navigator Tricycle
Customer Review: This isn't your Daddy's German Engineering...
Sport shop rating: 2 Stars
My son has had his Kettler Navigator for a while and I'm still baffled over the "big deal." We purchased this trike because everyone raved about how great it was, but truthfully, I wish we'd spent the money elsewhere.
Here's the skinny:
Pros:
- Rear steering is great! This really helps you and keeps you from having to bend over. But, this is a feature on other trikes now too.
- Yeah, that's pretty much it.
Cons:
- The basket won't stay on.
- The pedals have almost no grippy-ness to them. When you're dealing with toddler/infants learning to pedal, having their feet constantly slipping off the pedals only frustrates them.
- Seat Belt...Why? What infant is going fast enough to need a seat belt?
- The Seat...even fully pushed forward isn't close enough for small children.
- The cheap plastic tires. At this price, I expect rubber, not the same cheap plastic stuff you find on low-end big wheels.
- The entire pedal structure is terribly cheap. The pedals have so much back and forth give in them (designed this way on purpose?) that my son ends up going backwards when he's trying to go forwards (and vice versa).
My list goes on. Basically, for the money you spend, this is definately not worth it. AND, since many of the features I listed here are applicable on all Kettler models (the same plastic pedals, the same basket), you should seriously look at other products before purchasing a Kettler.
Customer Review: Free Spin pedals make independent pedaling difficult to learn
Sport shop rating: 2 Stars
The Kettler worked just fine for my son when we first bought it. At that time, he was too little to pedal on his own. He liked being pushed around, but not for extended periods of time. Rear-wheel steering was good, and the construction was sturdy. But after owning this trike for a year and a half, I've had a few frustrating issues.
Most importantly, the "free spin" pedals made it difficult for my normally active and quick-to-learn child to catch on to pedaling independently. We have tried for months to teach him how to push the pedals with his feet, but since the pedals don't spin when the trike rolls, no amount of coaching and encouraging seemed to help him make the connection between turning the pedals and moving the trike. My suspicions were confirmed this afternoon when I took him to a park and asked another mom if my son could try her child's trike. He hopped on, and within two minutes he was pedaling happily down the track. I have to wonder if there's any way the company can devise a mechanism to turn the free spin on and off, similar to the steering mechanism which you can turn on and off. That would be great, but I have no idea if that's asking the impossible in terms of engineering.
I also have to say that the pedals are too slick and the basket is too loose--ours is continually flopping down to the ground, even when nothing is in it. I thought I was buying the perfect trike, but for us, it's been disappointing.
Customer Review: Directions are impossible
Sport shop rating: 2 Stars
I bought this bike based on recommendations from several friends. After working on it for over 2 hours yesterday, we finally got it together but it's not really together.
The directions are simply the worst directions I've ever seen. I would have read the directions cover to cover first (I always do that) but there are no written directions. There are pictures--and they don't always make sense. For example, it will have a drawing of a screw and it will say "actual size" but there is no screw that looks exactly like the drawing.
I'm giving this 2 stars because after I have someone else fix it, it looks like it will hold up. My son likes the seat and the parental steering is pretty easy to use--we just need the handle bars to stay on.
I'm dreading the idea of returning this item, but if we can't get the handle bars to stay on it's going back to Amazon.
Customer Review: One of the worst instruction manuals ever
Sport shop rating: 2 Stars
I purchased this tricycle on the recommendation of several parents. They told me their children loved riding it, and the parents loved that they could lock the wheels and control the tricycle during early ages.
What they didn't tell me is that they all purchased the tricycle already built at a toy store.
So I bought one online, and much to my chagrin, I just spent over two hours putting it together. The manual was the worst I've ever read (or not read, since there are no translations), there were parts left over and items (like the red plastic piece that's supposed to snap into the front wheel fender) that didn't sit properly into place or were poorly calibrated to fit together.
If Kettler is going to tout themselves as the "happy" tricycle they need to consider the happiness of the parent who decides to purchase this product unassembled.
Customer Review: Free spin pedals are an issue for learning and fun
Sport shop rating: 2 Stars
I bought this tricycle based on the great reviews and pushbar capability. I had read one review about the free spin pedals being an issue but didn't realize how big the problem it would be before I bought it. My 2 year old son could not easily learn that pedaling forward would make the trike move and would just wait to be pushed. When I stopped pushing and encouraging him to paddle, it just stopped being fun for him. On hindsight, I would never purchase a tricycle with free spin pedals.