Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #14355 in Sports & Outdoors
• Color: null
• Brand: Kettler
• Model: 8839-590
• Dimensions: 21.00" h x 22.00" w x 30.00" l, 21.00 pounds

Features

• Child's tricycle features an auto-freewheel for comfort and safety
• Designed for riders 18 months to 5 years old
• Komfy-ride air tires, sturdy rear tipping bucket
• Quick-adjust frame with telescoping multiple frame adjustment options
• Tri-wheel steering navigation system

Amazon.com Product Description
Offering a smooth transition from stroller to trike, the brightly colored Kettler Kettrike Air-Navigator Tricycle includes a parental control steering system that locks handlebars into place for parental guidance when using the optional pushbar. The Auto-Freewheel allows your child to rest his or her feet on the pedals while you guide them with the pushbar.

Using the optional tandem add-on, you can use Air-Navigator for two children.

When your child is ready for biking, a simple on/off switch (located under the Kettler logo on the handlebar stem) unlocks the front steering stem and the Air-Navigator operates as a standard freewheel tricycle. The durable metal frame has an easy step-through design, and it can quickly be adjusted to accommodate your growing child or fit another rider. You can also add another rider with the separately available Kettler tandem add-on (see image).

The three Komfy Ride tires are filled with air (via regular Schrader valves), which give the trike true road gripping traction and responsive maneuvering. The blue bucket seat provides excellent riding comfort, and the sturdy yellow tipping bucket on the back of the trike is great for transporting everything from toys to sand. The frame is made of high carbon steel and has a fade-resistant polyester powder coat finish in brilliant red. This tricycle meets ASTM safety requirements.

Key Features:

• Tri-wheel steering Kettrike navigation system
• Quick-Adjust frame with multiple frame adjustments
• Parental Control steering lock system locks handlebars into place for parental guidance and steering with pushbar
• Auto-Freewheel allows children to rest their feet on the pedals while parents guide them with the optional pushbar
• Komfy-Ride air tires for superior performance, road gripping traction and responsive maneuvering
• Tipping rear bucket sturdy enough to haul even sand
• Tandem adaptable
• Weight limit: 200 lbs. Main "D-Tube" frame is weight tested to 400 lbs.
• Lifetime main frame warranty; three-year parts and components warranty

Customer Reviews

Pretty slick ride for a 2-3 year-old
My son has had the Air-Navigator for about a year now and loves it. The bucket is a nice addition - he likes to collect rocks and leaves on our rides and throw them in there. The handle works well and is long enough that I (6' 1") don't have to lean over at all on our walks/rides.

I have two complaints about the item:
1. The tricycle has a locking mechanism in the stem that, when engaged, prevents the front wheel from turning significantly. This helps the bike track better when engaged. Unfortunately, this locking mechanism doesn't work very well and keeps coming disengaged.

2. The tire valves are very short, stiff, and angled towards parallel with the inside of the wheel rather than outwards. I've had trouble finding a pump that can latch on to these valves to reinflate the tires.

Good for pushing, not so good for pedalling
I bought this trike for my daughter's 2nd birthday. When she was not able to pedal yet, it worked fine. The parent navigation system is not that easy to use, but easy enough for a short push ride around the block.

The problem surfaced after she really learned to ride a trike over our holiday vacation. It was my nephew's old trike, a cheap plastic one, made by FisherPrice I think. She mastered it perfectly in a couple of days. When we came back we were so excited about her trying her own trike. But she had and is still having trouble with the auto-freewheel design. The design causes the pedals to slip a little before locking into position, and it can happen anytime when the speed of the trike is not perfectly matched with the speed at which she pedals, not just when she tries to start the trike. This makes going on any surface that is not perfectly flat more difficult and confusing. And the trike does not stop when she stops pedaling, which can be scary for a little child, and the parents too, when the road is going downhill a little.

All in all I regret this purchase very much, especially considering we paid $200 for the trike. I wish I had just bought one of those cheap plastic trikes. I still give the product 3 stars since the construction is solid and the product quality is good overall.

Rear-wheel steering explained
The whole time I was researching this product, I thought that the rear wheel steering was linked to the front wheel - countersteering to provide a reduced turning radius. And I couldn't see from any of the photos or the owner's manual how that was supposed to happen.

Since neither Amazon's nor the manufacturer's description makes this clear, here's how it works:

The rear wheel steering is only used when the parent is pushing with the pushbar. You lock the front wheel, unlock the rear wheels, insert the pushbar, and you can steer it from behind. When it's the kids turn to drive, you remove the pushbar, lock the rear wheels, and unlock the front wheel.

Maybe it's just me, but this certainly wasn't clear from anything I'd read online.