Globber Go Up Comfort Play Scooter review

Tested by: Rachel Jeffcoat, mum of three

Pros

• Exceptionally easy transition between different modes
• Sturdily built for years of use

Cons

• Limited colours and less high-end fittings than the Micro 3-in-1 Pushalong
• Transforming scooters – those with several different modes as the child ages – are more expensive

Specs

• Age range of pushchair/walking bike mode: 15-36 months
• Max weight of pushchair/walking bike mode: 20kg
• Age range of scooter mode: 3-9 years
• Max weight: 50kg
• Pushchair/ride-on weight: 3.89kg with parent handle; 3.41kg without
• Scooter weight: 2.5kg
• Dimensions: - Ride-on: 46.5cm-48.5cm (h) x 24.5cm (w) x 58cm (l) - Walking bike: 85cm-100cm (h) x 27cm (w) x 63cm (l) - Scooter: 67.5cm-82.5cm (h) x 28cm (w) x 56cm (l)
• Seat height: 32.5cm – 34.5cm
• Warranty: Two years
• RRP: £69.99

What’s the Globber Go Up Comfort Play like to purchase and assemble?

Globber is a global scooter company, with its UK sales and marketing managed by smaller distributor, Plum. It’s widely available from the Globber-Plum website and also Amazon, Smyths Toys and a few smaller outlets.

The model we tested was the Globber Comfort Play but, since the end of our testing period, the model has been renamed the Go Up Comfort Play, so that’s the name we’ll be using in this review. The design and all other details are identical. It’s still listed as the Comfort Play by a few smaller retailers.

There’s no need to purchase extras separately as everything you’ll need for the scooter’s various permutations is included in the price. Globber does sell safety pads, helmets, flashing lights and a backpack elsewhere on their website if you need them.

Spare wheels and a few other small parts are available for order on the website. You can find a digital version of the instruction manual on the US website, but not on the UK site. There are a couple of promotional videos for the Go Up Comfort Play on Globber’s YouTube channel, but the in-depth information you’ll need is all in the instructions – so don’t lose them!

What’s in the box?

The Go Up Comfort Play comes in quite a compact box with a sturdy plastic handle for carrying, measuring 58cm (l) x 22cm (w) x 26cm (h). It’s full of useful information, with the three main modes illustrated in diagrams, and age, weight and seat height ranges very clearly labelled.

Inside, the assembly time will depend on which scooter form you’d like. The ride-on form is the most complicated, with five parts to assemble and a screwdriver required. You’ll need to screw the seat to the stem, then the footrest to the base, then hook the seat onto the base and secure with a hand dial before clicking the parent handle into place. It’s a self-explanatory process and took 10 minutes from opening the box to having it ready to ride.

Because of the screwdriver and relative complexity, it’s not a process you’d want to complete with a small child hanging around in case of any pinched fingers.

For the ‘walking bike’ mode, the assembly is the same but without the parent handle. If you were assembling the scooter from scratch, you’d just need to click the T-bar into the base, which only takes a couple of minutes.

Related: The 10 best scooters for kids

What about the instructions?

The instruction booklet is fairly small, with IKEA-style diagrams followed by text installation instructions, usage instructions and safety warnings. The text is very small, but all the information you need is there.

There aren’t any specific instructions for transforming the Go Up Comfort Play between modes, but as this is just a matter of reversing the process you’ve already done, it’s very self-explanatory.

The relevant safety laws are listed on the first page for your information, but there’s no mention of a warranty here or on the website. On the US website, the warranty is confirmed as two years.

How safe is the Globber Go Up Comfort Play?

Happily, the Go Up Comfort Play complies with three safety laws: the relevant EN:71, and international standards ASTM F2264 and F963 (which regulate safety warnings for toys). There’s a basic standard of safety before we even begin.

Let’s look at the frame and materials

The Go Up Comfort Play is comprised of a plastic frame with a rubber seat pad, tough and shockproof polyurethane wheels, and an aluminium T-bar/parent handle.

While the matte plastic finish looks less high-end than the equivalent Micro 3-in-1 Deluxe Pushalong – especially in the neon pink our parent tester, Rachel’s, model came in – this isn’t reflected in durability or stability, both of which were impeccable throughout the week-long testing period and for months afterwards.

How does the Go Up Comfort Play stand up to bumps and knocks?

In walking bike mode, the seat vibrates a fair bit when the scooter is deliberately dropped, but everything remains sturdily intact. The suspended seat design does mean that, in practice, knocks are absorbed well, and there are three seat heights to ensure your child continues to be seated securely as they grow. The Comfort model has a more generous seat than the Sporty version (and added foot rests), and the Play models include a light-up horn.

The weight distribution of the ride-on and walking bike modes is superbly calibrated. At no point does the Go Up Comfort Play feel in danger of tipping forwards, even when our tester’s three-year-old leaned well over the handlebars for momentum (as she did often).

It’s almost impossible to tip the scooter over to the front in walking bike mode, and in scooter mode it’s still quite difficult. When given a good shove to the front or to the side, the rubber ends of the hand grips hit first, which are big enough to take the impact without damage.

It’s important to note that when the parent handle is attached in ride-on mode, the scooter is more top-heavy, and a child should not be left unattended without a parent stabilising the handle.

How stable is the Go Up Comfort Play in motion?

The handles of the walking bike are quite narrow – 25cm across in total, with only 7.5cm allotted to each hand – which reflects the intended age of the user. As a scooter, the handles are much more generous at 28cm across, with 12cm per hand. In practice, these handles are big enough for an adult to use – intentionally, as the T-bar is used as the parent handle in ride-on mode.

The wide front wheel base (23cm) and low ground clearance (2cm from the ground) make for increased stability, which is excellent for this age group, and ensures a good performance on bumpy pavements and damaged asphalt. The low ground clearance does make it difficult to use on any but the shortest grass, however, which is worth bearing in mind at the park.

The baseboard is lightly ridged in plastic, which isn’t as non-slip as some other models like the Oxelo Mid 5 and Mid 9, but our tester’s child didn’t have any problems with slipping.

What about the brakes?

It’s crucial that a transforming scooter like this one makes it easy for a child to learn to brake for the first time. The Go Up Comfort Play’s footbrake at the rear of the baseboard is a long piece of ridged plastic, and is light enough to step on with a small foot.

Our tester’s three-year-old quickly grew in confidence until she could do it unaided. During the brake test, the scooter took 59cm to come to a complete stop, which is useful to know when approaching traffic.

Any other safety features?

There aren’t any reflective strips or other features, though this age group is unlikely to be scooting very far from a parent, and of course it’s not recommended to scoot at night.

The Play model we tested did come with a light-up horn, but this is more of a toy than a safety device. In practice, it quickly ran out of battery and was a bother to remember to recharge, so our tester didn’t think it was worth the extra money – the Comfort Play is £15 more than the Comfort.

What’s the Globber Go Up Comfort Play like in day-to-day use?

Our tester’s three-year-old delighted in the Go Up Comfort Play, maintained her interest in it over time and rode it constantly – over long distances and short ones, leaving it out in all weathers.

The bright pink plastic bleached over time in the sun, but every mechanism stayed perfectly intact throughout the week-long testing period, and seems like it will remain so for some time to come.

How useful is the ride-on mode?

Globber advises the ride-on mode to be used from around 15 months, which our tester thought was about right – as soon as you’re sure your child can sit and hold on without toppling off! The parent handle is easy to grip and direct in motion. It’s a little tricky to get up high kerbs – our tester ended up either lifting it bodily from the front or spinning round and dragging from the back – but the movement in general is smooth, quick and easy to control.

Rachel especially appreciated how easy it was to click in and remove the parent handle, taking away any uncertainty that comes from longer trips. Your toddler can set off propelling themselves in ride-on mode while you carry the handle, then, when they get tired, the handle can be secured in a second and you can push them home. It also increased the riding and balancing confidence of our tester’s toddler, as she was able to practice regularly for small amounts of time.

Globber has clearly put a great deal of thought into design features for the Go Up Comfort Play. The footrest for the ride-on is sturdy and useful, and the transformation between ride-on and scooter can be done quickly and with no tools – unlike the similarly-designed Micro 3-in-1 Pushalong. Our tester’s toddler frequently changed her mind about which mode she preferred, so this innovative design was greatly appreciated.

What are the walking bike and scooter modes like in practice?

The scooter is intended to be used from the age of three. In walking bike and scooter mode, there’s little noise when in motion and the scooter leans to turn smoothly. This can be mastered in walking bike mode so that your toddler is already fairly familiar with it when trying the scooter for the first time.

The Go Up Comfort Play does have a mechanism to stop the lean-to-turn for an absolute beginner, but our tester’s toddler found that harder, and grew impatient with the lack of control.

How heavy is the Globber Go Up Comfort Play to carry?

The baseboard is a little more flimsy than the older, more substantial Globber models or even the 3StyleScooters or Micro Scooters competitors, and it bows just a little when jumped on. This didn’t affect performance or longevity, but our tester didn’t feel the scooter should be used anywhere near its maximum weight limit of 50kg.

Weight-wise, the ride-on mode is 3.89kg, the walking bike is 3.41kg and the scooter mode 2.5kg. As a scooter, our tester’s three-year-old could lift it over kerbs herself without difficulty, but as a ride-on it was more cumbersome to carry. In practice, it’s much easier to click in the parent handle and push it along the ground.

What’s it like to store and can it be folded?

Unfortunately, the Go Up Comfort Play doesn’t fold, though the toddler seat is quite narrow. The ride-on and walking bike modes don’t add greatly to the Comfort Play's footprint, and the parent handle can be easily clicked out for more compact storage. The ground footprint is 23cm x 56cm, so it shouldn’t be too hard to keep it in the shed or garage.

Is the Globber Go Up Comfort Play easy to clean?

In the pink model our tester used, dirt became trapped in the ridges on the baseboard and was visible because of the light colour. This would be easy to spray off, however, and the wheels and hand grips didn’t mark at all during the testing period. The plastic frame did bleach in the unusually hot sun of the summer, so we recommend stowing it in the shade in good weather. This only affected the aesthetics of the scooter, not the functionality.

Related: The best bikes for kids of all ages

What is the Globber Go Up Comfort Play like to look at?

It’s not quite the fanciest scooter on the block – the plastic fittings and eye-watering pink are a little garish – but it doesn’t look cheap or flimsy. The Go up Comfort Play comes in pink or navy, and the Comfort (without the horn) comes in lime green and sky blue as well. While our tester’s three-year-old was thrilled with it, we would prefer more gender-neutral alternatives.

Is the Globber Go Up Comfort Play good value for money?

Transforming scooters are always hard on the bank balance, and while this one is marginally less expensive than some of its competitors, £69.99 is still a hefty outlay for most families.

The trade-off is the longevity. But, while Globber says that the Go Up Comfort Play can be used for around seven years, potentially up to the age of nine, our tester thought this wasn’t quite accurate. Yes, the T-bar of the scooter can be extended, but the baseboard felt too light and small for her seven-year-old, who was more comfortable on the Globber Elite Deluxe.

Still, buying one scooter and using it from 15 months to the age of six spreads the cost quite far, and it definitely seems robust enough to pass down to younger siblings afterwards. Assuming you’re able to muster the initial price tag, the Go Up Comfort Play feels like great value for money overall.

Final verdict

Confidence in scooting is priceless, and you won’t find a better model to gradually build independence than the Globber Go Up Comfort Play. Well-designed and functional in each of its three modes, the progression allows your toddler to learn new motor skills one at a time – all while being robust enough to take any number of toddler batterings for years to come.

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