Beyond biking – three great rides for kids and dads

You don’t have to ride a bike to ride. And you don’t have to settle for the same old Razor Scooter. There are more options for kids that add new dimensions to the ride. Here are three of our favorites.

If you have big halls and flat surfaces, you have to try the Plasmart PlasmaCar. This little guy is just too fun. It’s powered on a flat surface by moving the the steering mechanism back and forth. While not explicitly made for adults, the car holds up to 220 lbs and I love riding it as much as my kids do. If you look at the Amazon link, you’ll find over 500 reviews for this car, and most of them 5 stars. It’s well made with fun styling and colors, and recent price decreases have made it really affordable at under $45. If you have the space, get 2!

We love our Jogo self-propelled Carving Scooter (from Trikke.com) as well.

It uses the same principle as the Plasmacar but in a scooter. It’s about twice the price at about $100, but while this one is made for ages 4-8, it’s a faster ride. And since it’s a scooter, the child is upright working out more muscles to make it go. To get an idea, see this video from a video contest run by Trikke. This film is of a 70 year old guy with diabetes and heart disease who swears by the Trikke adult scooter. When you see this, you might also have to get one for yourself.

You can see more videos on the kids’ version at Trikke.com. Trike makes all kinds of cool

Finally, with a slightly different mechanism, is the Rockerboard. This scooter is again twice the price of the Trikke (about $200), but the mechanism is clearly a lot more sophisticated and it works on a different principle. Here you are shifting your weight backwards and forwards to power a motor that uses a set of small pulleys and gears to turn a rocking motion into fast speed. The Rockerboard can be used as a regular scooter, but the real fun is riding it using the rocker board and getting some speed. The Rockerboard handles really well and I guarantee you’ll be the talk of the farmers market (as I was) if you cruise into the crowd on your scooter. This is also a “toy” you’re going to have to fight to share with your kids.

Have you tried other alternative vehicles? Motorized bikes and trikes? Let us know in comments!

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