Sunday, November 22, 2015

Fisher-Price Charisma 3-in-1 Trike: Review




As you may know I've wanted a trike for Baby S for so long! For one reason or another, time has flown by and we haven't managed to get her one yet. We were contacted by Fisher-Price to see if we would like to review their brilliant Charisma 3-in-one trike - and I couldn't wait for it to arrive! It looked exactly what we have been after. The Fisher-Price trike arrived super quick in a fairly small and fairly easy to carry box, it looked great from the pictures and I couldn't wait to set it up and get rolling. We take A out on his bike all the time and I always feel bad for Baby having to watch him having fun from her pushchair, but not any more!

Opening the box!

As I unpacked the box I could immediately see the quality of this trike compared to a budget version we had for our son - they are worlds apart. The plastic parts are the classic Fisher-Price 'last forever' plastics. The metal parts were sturdy and solid but still fairly light and the wheels felt like they would be much more efficient that the noisy plastic ones we used to have to put up with. I decided to put the bike together with both kids present (1 and 4) as a test to see how easy it was under pressure. It was very easy to put together, but I would not recommend doing it with children around, they got far too excited and made me make a mistake that took some time to fix - my fault entirely. The instructions were pretty simple and clear, though I would have liked more words than just a picture with the word 'click' as I found a couple of the images a tiny bit confusing, particularly with the front wheel/steering lock type parts. Very soon though, we had our bike set up! 



Baby S (16m) was very eager to climb in. I so wish we had had this when she was younger too! There are no pictures of the box opening due to the craziness of the day, but to assemble you just have to fix the wheels on (you will need a screw driver) and the rest is simply clicking together with a couple of parts that just require the Allen key that's included.



The features!

From the title it's clear to see that this trike has lot's to offer. This trike grows with your child from 10 months to approximately 3 years - though I know my four year old son would happily ride around on it in any form if he was allowed! This bike will last you a long time. There are some brilliant features on this bike, it is ridiculously practical and it has storage - I love storage! Here are the main features;

  • Manoeuvres like a stroller
  • Reclining padded seat
  • Seat belts/pads
  • Easy click navigator button on mud guard
  • Bag and 'boot' storage
  • 3 easy to change stages from 10 months to 3 years
  • Lightweight
  • Built in suspension
  • Rubber wheels
  • Comfortable for baby
  • Flip down foot rests


So firstly, this really does manoeuvre like a stroller - a good one at that. It took a little while to get the hang of switching off the child steering mode the first time but this was a great feature meaning baby could 'steer' without it actually controlling the direction. I was pleased about that as otherwise I think we may have been sick from zig zagging! The trike is super easy to push, I did it with one hand and A (4) even pushed his sister at times which they both found hilarious. Being able to move it one handed (including up and down curbs) was brilliant with a dog, boy on his bike and husband in tow. 

The seat seems really comfy and baby was very almost nodding off, so although I didn't think we would use the recline feature at her age, I think we will and it means I can use it for school runs or quick trips to town without worrying about her being asleep at the wheel! If she dozes off I can quickly recline it, pop a blanket over her and carry on. The harness/seat belt is brilliant and very good quality too! We had it looser as you can see in the pictures as she was enjoying leaning forwards to steer and be silly with her brother. From ten months you would definitely want it tighter (not that they could go anywhere!) but I'm not sure if they would be able to reach the handle bars. It doesn't matter too much though as there is a handy hole to store their juice/snack in which I haven't seen before and baby seemed to quite like holding onto the plastic seat anyway some of the time. The flip down foot rests are another great feature, but Baby S can't quite reach them yet so we keep them tucked up for now. 


I loved that we were able to store a large bottle of drink (coffee!) for me, the dogs ball and poop bags with plenty of room for a blanket, nappy and wipes too. I love that no space has been wasted and so much thought has gone into this about what parents need as well as making it fun for the children. The only thing that would make this trike completely perfect would be the addition of a parent brake. It wasn't particularly an issue at all, it would have just been a nice Brucey bonus had it been there,



My favourite thing about this is the way it steers. Having used one before where the rear push handle does the steering, this one having a fixed parent handle, but large front swiveling wheel works so much better! I can't even compare the two, this one is hands down the very best way to go for a trike and if you are looking for a baby/toddler bike right now, I can firmly say this is the best I have seen and used. Can you tell that we love it?



To sum up, this trike is lightweight and extremely easy to push. It allows child to think they are steering when you are in full control. It grows with them at every stage meaning you don't have to buy more bikes for quite some time! The fact that the quality is so good means it will actually see you through those stages unlike some other brands. You can use this pretty freely with the ability to recline a sleeping baby and carry a few essentials too. The design, colours and look of it are lovely and you can tell it will be great to use just by looking at it.

In short this Fisher-Price trike is fun, great quality, practical and super easy to push - everything you want from a trike of this kind!



This trike retails at an RRP of £79.99 (though on writing this it has £10 off at Smyths!) which I think is a really great price and that's coming from the wife of a Yorkshireman! If you'd like to read more or buy, you can click here. A humongous thumbs up from us.


Thanks for reading,

Wafflemama, with the help of Baby S & A




Disclosure: We were sent a trike in exchange for an honest review. All words and thoughts are my own and we love it!