Review of InStep Pathfinder Bike Trailer

InStep Pathfinder Bike Trailer
By: InStep Average Rating: 3.5 Total Reviews: 22
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Love it!

On: 2008-07-01

The only problem we had was that we needed the part that actually attached the pathfinder to my bike and we didnt realize that when we initially ordered, so we had to order that separately. Other than that, my daughter and I love this bike. We have been able to ride in places that would have normally been a little too busy traffic wise for my daughter who was still learning to ride herself.

Happy Trails

On: 2008-05-16

My husband and my three year old daughter love using this tag-along. I was a nervous wreck thinking she was too little for it but we put all of her protective gear on her and away she went. She has never fallen off of it once. My husband says sometimes she get a little wobbly in back but she recovers well. She prefers it over her princess bike with training wheels, and as a bonus she isnt complaining in two miles that she cant ride any farther. When they take off on it she still giggles all the way down the driveway. Love it. Cant wait to test it out myself.

Tampered excitement

On: 2007-10-25

My excitement for this overall great bike has been tampered by the fact that it leans to one side. Many people stop me saying it looks unsafe... at the bike shop they threw up their hands saying: oh, well you bought it on Amazon! What can I say...

Tell your kids to look forward... then you both will love it.

On: 2007-09-10

We have two of these. One for a 6yr old and one for a 4yr old. The 6yr old is the one who will panic and get wobbley on me. I just tell her to peddal and look forward. This makes them regain their balance and you cruise along like nothing at all. We are quite a bunch going down the road... we have two of these (one attached to mine and one to my husbands bike) AND I have a 2 1/2 yr old in a wee ride seat in front of me! GREAT nightly cruises through the neighborhood. If you are looking for a way for the whole fam to get exercise this is IT!!! My kids will remember this forever.
Also DONT tighten the bolts that are closest to the trailer too much.. they are ment to move for bumps and turning! My husband tightened his too much and it caused his bike seat to turn everytime they took a corner... made for an interesting ride!

Do Not Buy this trailer

On: 2007-08-13

We bought the instep for my 4 year old, first of all it tilts at a very awkward angle and made my son very uncomfortable, but he was still willing to ride it, so we took it for a very slow paced ride. After about 15 minutes of riding the wheel completely siezed and would no longer roll, dragging us to a stop. I had to detach it and walk home carrying the trailer and walking my bike with my four year old walking beside me for several blocks. I was very displeased. The only thing this product is designed to do is roll and it cant even do that! Amazons reply to my return request was that the problem appears to be widespread and therefore the product cannot be replaced. As if I wanted to get another defective item!

Also I noticed that it does require a whole lot of tightening to prevent the attachement from turning sideways and then my seat post turned as well.

Now after waiting several weeks and returning one already, before, we still are not out riding our bikes like we would like to be doing. So continue your search as we will and steer clear of this product and this brand in particular.

Awesome!

On: 2007-08-06

Easy to assemble, sturdy and my daughter loves it because she feels like a big kid riding a two wheeler. I like it because we live in an urban area and I feel shes safe on the back of my bike.

A great training tool for building confidence in beginning bikers

On: 2007-06-22

We bought this with to intentions:

1.) To allow our Kindergartner to go out biking with my wife and me on paths and the like

2.) To build the confidence of our older child who was struggling with learning to bike.

The Trailer worked perfectly for both of these purposes. In fact after ONE ride on the trailer my oldest child gain enough confidence in her balance to hop on her bike solo and she has been riding well ever since. This alone was worth the investment for us!

Technically the only problem was the harness occassionally twists my seat slightly to the side, this was solved by extra tightening before each ride. The assembly was easy by biking standards and the trailer is very sturdy too.

Read this caution first before you order

On: 2007-05-31

About me: Okay, I looked around in big box stores and checked reviews here and then bought from a seller on Amazons marketplace. This is my first trailer bike but I have several bikes and am very comfortable working on them.

My experience with this bike is that the bike is decent enough, but all the comments about the most important part - the connection between the trailer bike and the adult bike are correct -- and you should strongly consider purchasing other bikes until the manufacturer fixes the poorly constructed joint. Ive called Instep and they are having me mail back the connection join to evaluate it, but what a pain eh? I was hoping to be riding with my daughter by now. Our maiden voyage was scary and dangerous, despite tightening down all bolts between the seat post and bike.

Heres specifically whats wrong: there are two critical bolts that are slightly too small for the holes they fit in (horizontal and vertical attachments in the connection piece.) I went to the hardware store and couldnt find the fractionally larger bolt that would solve the problem. Instep seems to have cut the holes too large. the result is that there is a millimeter or so play between the bolt and hole in each case which magnifies any shift of weight on the kids bike into a frightening jarring, shifting motion.

Ill update this if Instep sends back a better connection point. On the phone with them they tried to tell me that I should simply tighten both nuts on these bolts until the unit stops moving in either the side to side or up and down direction. While that might reduce the shifting in the bolt assembly it would remove the purpose of this connection piece, to allow for turns!

My lesson so far has been that it would have been good to buy something like this after a test ride, given the concerns posted about this unit. At this point if we end up with one of the more advanced bikes, Id still want to have a test ride first!

Great Investment!

On: 2007-05-31

The same bike trailer is sold at our local retailers for over $100. You cant beat this deal plus free s & h. My five year old daughter loves the bike trailer and it is helping her learn how to balance on two wheels. This was a great investment!

Great bike for family rides

On: 2007-05-16

This is a great bike trailer. The only complaint is that it is wobbly, and since my daughter is close to me, she cannot see in front of her without moving her head (and body) to the side, which suddenly throws the bike off balance....maybe more of a training issue.

tilted but fun

On: 2007-05-13

We are very happy with the trailer but I have noticed that it is somewhat tilted and I am not sure if it is an error in its design. It was not as easy to use as I thought because the child can really make you feel unstable if he or she moves too much. I am not heavy so I think that is partially why when my child moves it has a larger effect on my balance than when my husband is riding.

Frustrated

On: 2007-05-13

There was no indication they bike trailer would NOT fit many bikes. We will either need to modify the trailer hitch or get a different bike.
The trailer is nice -- just DOESNT fit!

Love it but it wobbles a little

On: 2007-05-12

We love this bike and my son wants to ride it all the time. It does take some getting used to though because it makes the bike wobble a little, especially if my son looks behind him. My husband and I could definitely handle it and we never fell but it was a little odd at first.

Good Product for the money

On: 2007-04-11

You cant go wrong with this product for 50 bucks and free shipping. Our son did find it to be a little wobbly, but no show stopper. If you are looking for a good deal on a decent bike trailer, this is it. If you want top of the line, keep looking.

Terrific product

On: 2007-04-05

We love this product.
My daughter is almost 4 & she asks to bike ride all the time now. She loves it & so do we.
The first time we installed this on my bike we did notice the bike trailer feeling a bit wobbly but my husband readjusted the clamp on the adult bike & it eliminated the problem. while riding you might notice the bike leaning slightly, my experience is its because my daughter is looking backwards, not because of a malfunction. If you can teach your child to not turn to the back & make sure the clamp is perfectly straight on your seat post, you shouldnt have problems with it being wobbly.

We love this

On: 2007-04-02

We purchased this for our 4 1/2 yerar old.

He loves it.

We love it.

Easy assembly. Easy hook up to Bike.

Not to heavy for my wife to use on bike rides. Stabiity is not an issue and it is getting our son used to riding on two wheels.

Wobbly

On: 2007-02-03

As others have mentioned already, I found this thing to be very, very "wobbly".

I never, ever felt comfortable riding with my (almost 4-year-old) son on this thing. It just felt too unstable.

I returned this after only a few days.

Very Pleased With This Product!

On: 2007-01-28

I was a little skeptical about buying this based on some of the other reviews that mentioned instability, loose connections, etc. But I bought one of these from a local store today (because it was the only one they had and I needed it today) and I am very happy with it.

It was very easy to put together, the connections are tight, and my six-year old boy is very stable on the back. He absolutely loves it and I have no complaints.

Its also surprisingly easy to pull a large child. We have a "bike seat" taht we still use with out 3 year old, and I think its actually easier to pull my 6 year old than to ride with my 3 year old in the seat, probably due to the center of gravity.

One last thing - I paid $99 + tax for this in the store. Amazon is offering a very good deal.

Happy Cycling!

Good design badly executed

On: 2006-09-25

I bought the trailer to take my granddaughter with me when I rode on vacation When I assembled the trailer, the chain was twisted. I bought a chain tool to break the chain and straighten it.

Then the chain kept falling off the front chainwheel. The sprocket was badly bent. I bought a large screwdriver to straighten the chainwheel. By the time I got it all working, my vacation was over.

By the time I see my granddaughter again, shell have her own bike. Im going to try to find someone with a small child to give the trailer to.

good value for the money

On: 2006-09-24

My daughter loves the ride and i like knowing she is right behind me. This trailer is easy to use and comfortable for her,the only thing it could use is springs or shocks under her seat. This does take a little getting use to as it does slightly swayto the side a little.You also have to be sure that you have leg length as your seat needs to be up a little higher than your normal setting. We enjoy our bike rides even more now that we can travel longer distances (nice that your child helps on those inclines).I recommend this product to parents who enjoy biking and wish they could take there little ones on those longer bike rides.

the position of the child wasn't straight, it was almost tip over

On: 2006-09-05

I rated 2 stars because the joint from the kids bike to the parent bike was too lose and the child was almost falling off from the bike. I also contact the company who made this product and they told me that they will send another part that will make the childs bike straight, but I never recived the part. I am very disappointment about because the safety of my kid is first and they didnt help me. I hope that in some future purchase the company can assist me on my needs.

Thank you

bike trailer

On: 2006-08-21

I find this trailer to be sturdy in strength, but somewhat wobbly in its performance. Sometimes my son feels unstable
and becomes a bit fearful.