The smarTrike is an innovative stroller which takes you from 6 months, all the way to 4 years old. And it’s not just a stroller – it’s got the ability to grow with your child, turning into a trike over four stages.
When this arrived, it was quick and relatively easy to assemble – much easier than some of the Lego projects, my 8 year old has. The only piece of equipment we needed was an allen key which was provided. Caspian, my two year old was absolutely delighted when he saw the smarTrike – the total opposite reaction when we try to get him into his current buggy. My two year old is headstrong and wily – he loves to hate the buggy and even though he says he will walk, it doesn’t take too long before he’s clamouring to be carried. And screams blue murder if we try to put him into the buggy. So I was keen to see whether he’d be more likely to use the smarTrike as it’s got an extra element of fun – the pedals!
For babies from 6 months old you’ll start with stage 1 where the front wheel position is fixed and it’s advised to have a more laid back seating position. We went straight to stage 3 where kids can sit up, pedal themselves and steer but the buggy handle is still up so the parent has some control. Caspian climbed straight in and we were off!
Now, this was his first time on a vehicle with pedals so he was concentrating more on the pedalling – which meant that even though he was holding the handlebars, he wasn’t thinking at all about steering. We had a few hairy moments, as he tried to steer us off the pavement and into the road but we soon got to some empty tennis courts where he could test drive his new transport!
Had he been on the road, he would definitely have been pulled over for drink-driving – his steering needs work, to say the least. But it was his first time, and he’s only two, so there’s room for improvement! I love how great this is for giving them some independence and control – we spent about an hour just on the tennis courts exploring how it worked. He was SO excited when he discovered he could power it himself, and also loved it when his brothers pushed him. As you’d expect, it’s powered from the front wheel so when it’s pushed, the pedals also turn. This is something to watch out for as sometimes when his brothers were propelling him around the tennis courts, the pedals were going too fast for his feet.
After playing around on the tennis courts, we took a trip into the park. Having a two year old in charge of steering the smarTrike is great unless your child is a maniac like mine. It wasn’t relaxing, but it’s only to be expected as he was testing it out. I did have to at some point, tip the front wheel off the ground so I could ensure he didn’t steer it into a passing dog or person.
We have a narrow hallway so space is tight, but the smarTrike Traveler folds up pretty small. You need two hands to press in the buttons to fold it up, but it’s easy to do.
Final Thoughts on the smarTrike Traveler
The smarTrike is a pretty genius piece of equipment and has lots of longevity. I really like that the back can lay down to 160 ° – the buggy that we currently have doesn’t do this. While Caspian hasn’t slept in it yet, I think it would be pretty comfy. And even though our first trip out was rather hectic, once he got over the excitement, it’s definitely made our trips out more of an adventure. It’s tricky when we need to get somewhere fast, but on the upside, he will actually sit in it without any issues, so that’s a big win!
Find out more about the smarTrike Traveler Stroller at smartrike.co.uk
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