Some Roll but no Rock
Written: Sep 01 '04 (Updated Sep 07 '04)
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Pros: Lightweight plastic construction, and inexpensive
Cons: Lightweight plastic construction, no rock, noisy and vibbbbrrraattting ride
The Bottom Line: I recommend this only for price conscience buyers, otherwise go for a higher quality product like Kettler.
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| chretiensucks's Full Review: Fisher Price Rock Roll and Ride Trike XL 73528 |
At the time of this writing, our son is just over a year old. He’s squirmy, active, energetic, and most of all, he wants to go everywhere. Enter Fisher Price’s Rock Roll and Ride Trike. Theoretically it is a toy which can adapt to a growing child’s needs. First as a rocker reminiscent of a rocking horse (without the animal); second as a mobile stroller except the child sits in an upright position and there’s a handle for an adult to guide and prevent the child from straying too far; and finally as a full-blown tricycle a little similar to big-wheels tricycles of the past.
Setup and Assembly
Almost all of the exposed parts are made of hard, colorful plastic. Many large predrilled holes are covered with tape which has to be removed. A lot of plastic shavings from the drilling tend to remain inside the parts so a little shaking and rotating is required to get these to fall out after removing the tape. You don’t have to do this but a perfectionist would probably get irritated at hearing these plastic remnants rattling around inside every time you play with the toy or move it around. And once you assemble all the parts, your opportunity to do this is gone.
Assembly is fairly simple and took about 20 minutes to complete. A mallet or hammer may be required to affix the rear wheel hubs to the metal axle as well as the front pedals.
Adjustability and Touch
The triangular seat can slide forward and backwards according to the length of your child's limbs. Although the handlebar is made out of plastic, it is stamped with a rough texture to provide adequate grip for the rider.
As a rocker
As a rocker the front wheel is locked in position with a peg to the arches. This prevents it from spinning and it prevents the front handlebar from turning. None of the three wheels come in contact with the ground. This toy is absolutely terrible as a rocker. The arch is too flat to provide any rocking motion whatsoever (it looks better in the photograph than it actually feels). My son has no fun at all on this thing. I can’t even get it to rock much, so I can’t expect him to be able to.
As a roller
A little more bearable, the part that formed the dismal arch for the roller can be unlocked and released to form a vertical handle behind the trike. It locks into position here and should be a good height for most adults (I’m 5 foot 9, my wife is 5 foot 3) and gives the adult good control as well as an easy way to assist the small rider on hills (even though there are warnings not to use these on hills) and turns. There’s also a dead pedal for children who aren’t tall enough to reach the active pedals on the front wheel. Because all the tires are made of plastic, it’s generally good for indoor use or grass but is noisy, traction-less, and vibrates more on asphalt or concrete. There is 45 degree restriction on the turning of the handlebar to either side but the turning radius is tight enough for most purposes. Don't count on it being able to make a u-turn within the width limitations of a sidewalk though.
As a tricycle
Unfortunately I can’t provide much practical insight into this yet because my son is still a little young to be using those front pedals. But the turning radius is obviously the same and the weaknesses it has as a roller (asphalt and concrete vibrations and noises) will obviously be exhibited as a tricycle as well. However, one advantage of the plastic wheels is that there are no spokes for tiny feet to get caught in - something that happened to my big toe when I was a child as my older brother anxiously pushed my tricycle faster and faster. Needless to say it ended up in a trip to the hospital.
Conclusion
Because this was a gift, I didn’t have much choice in the purchasing but in terms of similar competitive products, I’d probably prefer something with rubber tires and spokeless wheels (like the Kettrike Happy Trike which also has an adult guide-bar). Unfortunately there are no epinion reviews on that particular product but I’ve assembled another Kettrike tricycle before and from what I remember, it’s very sturdy construction comprised mostly of high quality metals. Must be that German engineering:-). I knocked off one star for the poor attempt at a rocker. Even though it is a creative idea, it's practically unusable as a rocker. Plastic wheels are a disadvantage but it is probably the only way any company is going to be able to sell it at this price point so I didn't deduct a star for it. But if Fisher Price ever tries to sell it for the same price as a Kettler...
http://www.kettrike.com
http://www.fisher-price.com
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 30
Type of Toy: Other
Age Range of Child: 12 to 36 Months
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Epinions.com ID:
chretiensucks
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Member: joe unpronounceable
Location: GTA, Ontario, Canada
Reviews written: 42
Trusted by: 3 members
About Me:
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