smarTrike Xtend Ride-On Plus Scooter review: a 4-in-1 scooter for kids aged 12 months to 12 years

How we tested the smarTrike Xtend Ride-On Plus scooter

• Tested over a period of four months

• Tested with a three-year-old

• Used on different terrain including tarmac and grass

• Used in all four of its configurations

During testing, I scored the product on eight different criteria as detailed above. This gave an overall score of 93 out of 100, which translated to a five-star rating.

The smarTrike Xtend Ride-On Plus scooter comes in four parts

smarTrike Xtend Ride-On Plus: what’s in the box?

• smarTrike Xtend Ride-On Plus scooter with extendable footboard, handlebar and LED wheels

• Ride-On unit and components, including smaller second handlebar

• Two allen keys for assembly

• Instruction manual and maintenance booklet

This 4-in-1 scooter can be used as a ride-on toy for younger children

smarTrike Xtend Ride-On Plus: how does it look?

The smarTrike Extend Ride-On Plus is an attractive-looking kids' scooter that suits children of different ages. While the colour selection is limited to pink, teal, green and grey, there’s still enough choice to satisfy most tastes.

My three-year-old tried out the pink scooter and, with pink being her favourite colour, loved the vibrancy of it. However the majority of the frame is black so the pink added colourful accents.

Handlebar height is easy to adjust as your child grows

How easy is the smarTrike Xtend Ride-On Plus to assemble and adjust?

Happily, the smarTrike Extend Ride-On Plus took as little as five minutes to assemble. The main scooter comes in three parts, so you need to attach the footboard to the front wheels and then secure the handlebar into place using the two Allen keys provided.  

It’s a little fiddlier to attach the ride-on seat. While it slots into place on top of the scooter’s footboard, you need to click the second footrest into place (the first is already attached), as well as remove the scooter handle and then reattach it at the back of the unit so that the main handlebar can be used by a grown-up to push the scooter along. You’ll then need to attach a smaller handlebar at the front of the unit for little hands to hold on to while riding.

As your child grows, the scooter footboard extends, with three different lengths that allow the scooter to be used from age three all the way up to age 12. The footboard is adjusted using a button on the underside of the scooter, which I found a little tricky at first but quick to master after a couple of tries.

Once in place and secured using the two Allen keys, the handlebar has a lever that allows you to change the height and lock it into place easily without having to remove any screws. There are also no set heights (apart from the minimum and maximum heights), which allowed me to find the perfect fit for my preschooler.

The ride-on unit can be pushed along using a parent handle

Is the smarTrike Xtend Ride-On Plus safe and sturdy?

One thing I really like about the smarTrike Xtend Ride-On Plus is how sturdy it feels, especially for younger riders. It feels much more robust than our usual scooter, the Micro Scooters Mini Micro, especially given that the front wheels are large and chunky, the footboard is wider and the back wheel is a double wheel for extra stability.

The rear brake is wide enough for younger children to get to grips with quickly, although my three-year-old found she needed to apply a decent amount of pressure to make sure the scooter stopped completely when she needed it to. That said, she found it much easier to use than the rear brake on the Mini Micro.

Safety features on the scooter include soft, non-slip handlebars, with pink accents that matched the rest of the scooter. As well as the LED wheels, which provided some visibility in lower lighting, the scooter also has white reflective strips around the front and back wheels and a red reflective light at the back, similar to what you’d see on a child’s bike. 

The ride-on unit feels light but, once attached to the main scooter, felt sturdy and secure. My three-year-old was just hitting the 15kg weight limit at the time of testing but did do a small ride on it to see how it fared in terms of sturdiness. There are also two footrests either side which allowed her to keep her feet off the ground while on the move.

My child found the smarTrike Xtend Ride-On scooter easy to master

What’s the smarTrike Xtend Ride-On Plus like in day-to-day use?

I found the smarTrike Xtend Ride-On Plus to be a great child’s scooter for day-to-day use. My three-year-old found it very easy to ride and was off scooting straight away.

The wheels have a mechanism that means they move in the same direction as the handlebar, so the scooter is easy to steer by shifting the handlebar to the left or to the right. This allowed my three-year-old to become confident quickly and she very rarely needed me to help her ride. It took a little more time to master the steering on the Micro Scooters Mini Micro (and I’m still not 100% sure she has), so this was a welcome change. 

We used the scooter to travel to local playgrounds and parks, and tested it on different surfaces including tarmac, grass and gravel. While it was a little bumpy on grass and gravel, the ride was exceptionally smooth on tarmac and, generally, the large wheels handled different terrain well. The LED lights were a massive hit and my daughter loved that they lit up continuously whenever she was riding (they turn off automatically when the scooter isn’t being ridden).

From a parent perspective, the fact that the scooter folds down for easy carrying is a game-changer, especially as my three-year-old often abandons her scooter in favour of walking or running. It folds by pressing a button and twisting the handlebar. This was also ideal for transporting the scooter in the car when needed, i.e to and from the grandparents’ house. I tended to store it in the footwell behind the driver’s seat or in the car boot.

Weighing just under 5kg, the smarTrike is still fairly heavy so it’s not a scooter you’d want to carry for too long. The weight also meant that my daughter occasionally had trouble lifting the scooter if ever she needed to during a scooting session.

In ride-on mode, the scooter can’t be folded, but I liked that the main unit has a storage compartment that can be used to hold essentials or toys.

The smarTrike Xtend Ride-On Plus has a storage compartment

Is the smarTrike Xtend Ride-On Plus easy to clean?

Thankfully, I didn’t need to clean the smarTrike Ride-On Plus much during testing as it wore very well. The footboard and wheels did get muddy, but were easy to wipe down with a damp cloth.

Is the smarTrike Xtend Ride-On Plus good value for money?

Yes! A huge selling point of the smarTrike Xtend Ride-On Plus scooter is the longevity it offers. While it doesn’t come with any additional accessories like a bell or a pull-strap for parents, the fact that it can be used from toddler to tweenhood makes it well worth its £109 price tag. 

My three-year-old started using her Micro Scooters Mini Micro from age two, so age three may feel a little late to start using the smarTrike in full scooter mode if your child is eager to start scooting. But its versatility is a major plus if you’re not keen on shelling out for a separate ride-on toy then buying different scooters as your child gets older. 

About the author

Laura Westerman is an editor, writer and Deputy Head of Editorial Content at Mumsnet. Mum to a three-year-old, she is fully invested in finding the best and most affordable products for families.

With over nine years' experience as a full-time editor, seven of which have been spent writing, commissioning and editing product reviews and round-ups, Laura has a keen eye for what parents love and likes nothing more than putting together honest reviews to make parents' lives that little bit easier. 

In addition to her work as a writer and editor, she has also appeared in a number of product review videos for Mumsnet's YouTube channel.