Kettler Owners-Please help me figure out what I'm doing wrong

[corrie23]

I don't know if it's that I don't understand the freewheel feature or the footrest or what, but I'm clearly doing something wrong and I can't figure out how to fix it. I have a Jumbo (well DD does). I gathered that if I push down on that black rectangle on the front of the trike, she can't steer the front wheel while I use the pushbar (is that the "freewheel" feature in action?) Is there something else I push so that the pedals don't rotate? I have the footrest on and DD uses it but it periodically slips or becomes unbalanced or something and then the pedals start to rotate and they jam on the footrest and the whole trike comes to a sudden halt. It's not especially safe (almost launched DD a few times) and it's incredibly annoying since I then have to stop, bend down and fiddle with the pedals and footrest for a while to tighten the footrest and get things back in place and moving again. It happens frequently enough that I'm startng to limit her Kettler use on longer walks, and I dont want to do that. Please help me Kettler mamas!

[Chelsey333]

Mine does the same thing. I think it is a flaw and the only way to fix is to make sure the strap on the footrest is ultra tight. There was a post about this a while back and I think that is what I read. Mine turns to the right a lot when locked, I need to figure that out.

[tippy]

I had the same problem and ended up taking the footrest off. I ended up having to tilt the trike backwards so the front wheel was slightly off the ground and walk home that way. I called Kettler about it to complain and let them know about the design flaw. They informed me that the footrest works best with the S frame trikes because you can get it on tighter. Gee I wish I had known that BEFORE I ordered it :(

If you take the footrest off the wheels won't rotate while dd sits on the trike. My ds was small enough that his feet just dangled without hitting anything and we didn't have a problem not using the footrest. HTH

[corrie23]

Well, at least I know I'm not just inept at tricycle use. Does anyone know the contact # for Kettler so that I too can complain about this significant (and potentially unsafe) design flaw?

Alsowhen you say that the wheels don't rotate with the footrest off, what do you mean? With the footrest off don't the wheels and the pedals spin?

Thanks again!

[tippy]

They don't on mine. I have the parental control on so not sure if that is the reason why. They are just stationary. Oh and a funny story about the Kettler contact number. I called the 800 number on the booklet that came with the trike and imagine my surprise whe I heard one of those xxx recordings. When I called the regular number (757-427-2400) they apologised and said I must have received an "old" one because the number had since changed.