Kettler question re: Freewheel feature

[kellyotn]

My son is finally starting to peddle his Kettler vs. just being pushed, but the freewheel thing doesn't seem like it is working right. He'll peddle, but if he stops or slows down too much, the pedals will "catch" and kinda kick-back. It takes him a few moments to get back into the groove and I can tell it annoys him.

We also had a plain Kiddio with no freewheel feature and he seemed to have a much better time peddling that, but I've returned it to my sister, whom I was borrowing it from.

Is it normal for it to catch like that or is something wrong with it? I assume he'll get used to it, but for now he's so new at peddling, it's really not helping get him excited about the whole deal! :)

[annmcnam]

When we got our kettrike the freewheel feature did not work at all, but DH is quite handy and fixed it (can't tell you what he did). I bet you can call kettler direct and ask them, maybe it is still under warranty. www.kettlerusa.com

Hope this helps ;-)

[kellyotn]

Thanks! It was a total garage sale find that we've had for at least a year on top of it already being used, so no-go on the warranty.

I'll have to take a crack at it. DH is a builder, but I'm the engineer. ;)

[shilo]

email them, really!!!! my mom bought a clearance floor model for sam for his bday that was a mess, literally. the free wheel was broken and missing one of the hubs, it was missing the push bar, the seatbelt was broken, etc. they sent out all the replacement parts including the missing push bar for free and paid the shipping! after my first email, they asked me to send some info like serial and model number off the sticker on the bottom of the frame and they sent everything needed to fix it. IME, kettler customer service rocks, definitely worth a try!

lori
Sam 5/19/05 How lucky I am that you chose me.

[Karenn]

We have two Kiddio (made by Kettler) trikes, one with freewheel one without it. The one with freewheel didn't work when we first got it. I had to call Kettler and they sent me a new wheel. Even now, with the new wheel, my 2 1/2 year old, who can easily peddle our regular trike, can't peddle the one with freewheel. She has that "catch" kick-back problem that you describe. My five year old however, is now able to peddle the "free-wheel" trike no problem.

Overall, I'm just not that impressed with the whole "free-wheel" thing.

[kellyotn]

Thanks.

Sounds like I should have given my sister the Kettler and kept the Kiddio. :) Her son is younger, so he'd benefit from the pushbar thing more than my son does now.

Oh well, live and learn.