An exercise in frustration
Written: Nov 12 '02
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Storage compartment under flip-up seat.
Cons: This trike is in desperate need of redesigning.
The Bottom Line: I would not recommend purchasing this trike under the current design.
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| Taryn74's Full Review: Barbie Free Spirit Trike 72639 |
My daughter got the Barbie Free Spirit Trike as a gift from her grandparents the year she turned two years old. She had been asking for something she could ride on by herself without having to be pushed, so this seemed like the perfect beginner trike. We brought the trike home and my husband assembled it, which only took a few minutes and little hardware, and after applying all the cute little decals my daughter hopped on, ready to ride off into the sunset with the wind in her hair.
Things didn't quite work out the way she had planned.
First of all, her feet barely reached the pedals. She was able to touch them but could not reach them well enough to push on them. We tried having her scoot up closer to the front but then her knees would hit the handlebars and she couldn't get coordinated enough to move the pedals in the right direction. She became extremely frustrated and upset and refused to even sit on the trike and push it along with her feet. So the trike got put into a corner for a while.
Occasionally in the weeks following, she would spot the trike and drag it out and attempt to ride it again, but each time she ended up doing nothing but getting frustrated because her feet wouldn't reach the pedals. She did discover that the seat flipped up and began using the compartment to hide her sippy cup and toys from her little brother, but she refused to ride on it since she couldn't do it "right."
Eventually, months later, her legs grew long enough that she could easily reach the pedals. We were all very excited because she would finally be able to properly ride her trike. For days we had her sit on it and practiced moving the pedals in the right direction (which was still difficult because the design of the trike has the child pedaling in a forward motion with their feet in front of them) while we pushed her around, and she finally mastered the correct motion.
This presented a new problem - all of her weight was on the back of the trike and pedaling did nothing but make the front wheel spin without getting any traction. So she still could not ride her trike without assistance. This was very, very frustrating to her. All she wanted to do was be able to ride her trike and she couldn't understand why she couldn't make it work.
It has been two years now since she received the Barbie Free Spirit Trike as a Christmas gift, and she has only within the past few weeks been able to properly ride it. Although we now have a new problem, her legs are almost too long and she is having difficulty steering because her knees hit the steering wheel when she's turning.
One positive thing about this trike is it's sturdiness. It has been through a lot of abuse, including being stood on and used as a ladder, being banged on with toy hammers, being flipped over and used as a chair, and who knows what while I wasn't looking, and shows hardly any wear and tear. The plastic seat is cracked now, due to it being removed and accidentally stepped on by an adult.
All in all, over the past two years this trike has only gotten a few weeks of actual use, and that's not for lack of trying. If it weren't for the storage compartment under the seat, which she loved, I think I could have thrown the thing away and my daughter wouldn't have cared. I would not recommend purchasing this trike under the current design.
Recommended:
No
Amount Paid (US$): 25
Type of Toy: Other
Age Range of Child: 3 to 5 Years
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Epinions.com ID:
Taryn74
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Member: Susan
Location: Arkansas
Reviews written: 56
Trusted by: 12 members
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