Kickbike Setup and Review

Hey Tribe,

"What's the difference between a kickbike and an adult scooter?"  Well, for one thing, 'kickbike' sounds a lot cooler.

Overlooking the Susitna River

"Hey, you're missing parts of your bike." Nah, I actually paid good money to not have those parts.  I feel a lot safer knowing I can just step off the thing rather than having to swing my leg up and over a seat and my center of gravity is lower.

Near Eurkea, AK

Let's talk about the kickbike!

Moose flats bridge

First, it is plainly and simply super fun to ride.  Second, it is a fantastic way to exercise my dogs and we get to do something together.  Third, well, I just feel cool.

UAF Experimental Farm trails

We've had an entire season of use with it, so I feel comfortable recommending it to you all and can point out some things I love and some things I do not love.  Since I'm combining my review with how I set up and use the kickbike, this will be a slightly longish, but beneficial, post.

Byron Glacier

I bought my kickbike from Kickbike America, but was incredibly frustrated to discover that though they advertise "flat shipping fee of $60 in the US" they don't honor that statement.  They were willing to ship it to me, but rather than the promised $60 fee, they were going to charge me over triple that amount.  To add insult to injury, when I sent them an email about it, the guy who replied had the audacity to say I must be used to paying higher shipping fees since I live in Alaska.  Seriously? Who gets used to that?  Alaska is the 6th largest international cargo transportation hub in the world, so it isn't as if we're way out of the way.  There has to be a better shipping solution  

Fit for Finnish dogs

So, I did what all irritated Alaskans do and had the kickbike shipped to a relative who lives in the lower 48, then flew down and brought the box back up with me as checked luggage.  The cost of the airfare was still cheaper than what Kickbike America was going to charge me.  Yeah.

Such a hassle, but worth it

Anyway, let's move on from my distaste for the company's shipping woes and representatives and get back to the product, which I do actually like.

I like being out with my dogs

Assembling the kickbike was mostly straightforward, but we (it was a group effort) did have difficulties getting the wheels in place with the brakes all lined up properly.  I ended up just riding with a squeaky wheel for a bit until I got a bicycle savvy friend to take a look and fix it for me - took him all of two minutes and I was squeak free.

Silent ride along the Denali Highway

So, how does it ride?

Spoiler alert - it rides great on smooth surfaces

As I mentioned earlier, I love that I can just step off the kickbike - it's easier than trying to dismount from a bicycle.  People with flexibility limitations will find the kickbike delightfully accommodating.  People with giant feet may find the foot platform a little tight - I wear shoe size 8 womens and have plenty of room; people who have giant bodies may find the handle bar too short - I'm just under 5'10" and feel I have to slouch a bit, but not uncomfortably so, and when "rough riding" I'm bent at the knees anyway, so the handlebar height is perfect.

One size fits most

That being said, I have crashed. Several times.  I'll talk about the reasons in a minute, but want to say here that I always, always, always wear a helmet.  I dutifully don a snowboard helmet, because it wraps around the sides and back of the head better than a bicycle helmet: crashes on a kickbike typically cause me to fall to the side or backwards and a snowboard helmet is designed for just such impact.  Oh, and I'm totally going to buy kevlar motorcycle pants with knee/hip padding this season.  Gloves are nice too.

Wearing my helmet as we stop to play and cool off at Jim Lake

Propelling myself is easy and fun and I feel like a kid cruising around: the squishy suspension is fun, as is the silly bell on the handlebar.  Going up hill is still a chore, but I'm weak and out of shape.

These chubs are also currently out of shape.

That's why I use dogs and the primary reason I own the kickbike is for them to pull me and we can do this exciting activity together.  However, I quickly learned that wheels and pulling lines don't mix well - if the dogs' pulling line goes slack, it can get caught in the front tire and cause the bike to lock up and we all crash and burn.  It's bad. Very bad.  A lot of websites, including Kickbike, sell these funny arm things that suspend out from the front of the bike like a narwhal or unicorn horn and are designed to hold the line out from the bike wheel a bit.  But none of them can prevent the line from going slack and then you still risk running over the line, getting caught, and causing mayhem.  Enter the Tug and Tow mushing rig.  AKA, Salvation.  It is very much like a retractable leash that attaches to your bike and brilliantly keeps the line taught at all times.  I can't see how there is ever any danger of the pulling line getting caught in the front wheel with this setup; I cannot understand why anyone would want to use anything other than this genius device.  No, not a sponsored ad, I paid for my own setup and those folks don't even know I exist to write this, I just seriously believe this product is amazing.  Go buy it and be as happy as I am!  Oh, and you'll look cool and clever too, because everyone will want to look at it and ask about it.  Look closer at all my kickbike photos to see the Tug and Tow in use.

Designed for one or two dogs - Rex just wears both clips when he runs alone.

Since the kickbike rolls, the dogs have no problem pulling me and we cruise with ease.  I bought the Kickbike Cross Max, which boasts the highest ground clearance of their models and "tires that eat up any trail, shocks that smooth it out, disk brakes that will keep you out of trouble, and looks that give bears nightmares."  With a description like that, it sounds like it was specifically designed for Karelian Bear Dogs!  The website goes on to say it "was made for competitive dog mushing through extreme terrains." Awesome!  I'm not competitively mushing, but the KBDs and I do go pretty hard on gear and Alaska trails are rather extreme, so this seemed like a perfect fit.

Kickbike/KBD combo - maybe we'll give a Grizzly a nightmare today.

Let's recall that bit about extreme trails and eating it all up; well I ate dirt on the first real trail we rode, but I don't think that's what the company meant, and I'm pretty disappointed in that regard.  See, the kickstand is poorly placed and mounted so low it catches on most any root that rises above the dirt.  When it catches, the bike flips and I go flying.  Not sure what Kickbike considers extreme terrain to be, but any trail with exposed roots is apparently too extreme - practically every trail in Alaska.  Bummer.

Photo taken shortly before hitting a root and breaking part of the kickbike.

Oh, and those swell disk brakes?  All they do is lock up the tires, which leave rubber skid marks on the pavement, but do nothing to slow down the bike when it is being pulled by my two dogs.  That's not helpful.  Keep in mind this kickbike is designed and advertised to be pulled by running dogs, so it isn't like I'm using it outside the realm of it's intended use.  I'll work on my "whoa" command some more with the KBDs and use that as a verbal brake.

They're not even fast, pulling beasts - we enjoy trotting at a 5 mph pace.

Other than those two rather significant downsides, I do still like the kickbike and enjoy using it (on smooth, root and divot free trails and bike paths).  The dogs can run and I can go with them and we get to do something together.  Using the kickbike is an enjoyable way to explore; it is one of our favorite summer activities and we plan to ride often!

April Snow Stroll

 Hey Tribe,

April (snow) showers bring May June flowers...

It just keeps snowing and snowing and snowing here and a lot of people aren't pleased, but we're too busy playing and admiring the beautifully white landscape to care if it's "supposed" to be spring or not.  We have sunshine, but it isn't warm and won't be warm for quite some time.  Typically, Southcentral Alaska doesn't see flowers until June anyway, so I'm ok to keep the white stuff a bit longer.

During one of these many snow shower days, TheMother and I braved the flakes and the roads to take the dogs on a much needed stroll.

Well, the humans strolled while the KBDs ran through the snow like fools.

Not surprisingly, Fly got too close to the riverbank's edge and she plunged completely into the water and had to swim a bit before she found a secure enough footing to haul her sopping wet body from the icy water.  She shook and rolled in the snow for a few seconds and hopped back up just as relatively dry as before she took the dunk.  I tried to have her hold still long enough for me to scan for injury, but she was too impatient and raced away to catch back up with Rex.

Rex, meanwhile, behaved more cautiously around the water and opted to only wade in as far as his ankles.

Typically, there is a view from the bridge that is quite picturesque and it is nearly obligatory for locals to take a photo whenever they visit the place.  So, naturally, I wanted to set my dogs up for said necessary photo - however, Fly had other plans for our pause in the middle of the bridge.

This is the photo I had in mind

Being a highly observant creature that craves high locations from which to better view the world, Fly decided the bridge's handrail would make for a better vantage point.  So, she made the leap.

She absolutely could have stuck the landing and been just fine parading back and forth along top of the handrail, but I wasn't willing to risk it - actually, I didn't really pause to consider the possibility, I just reached to catch my baby from possibly plummeting, again, into the river.

She's probably still thinking about trying it again.

Strolling through the woods felt safer to me for my daring duo and they had a riot hunting and sniffing in and out of the tall trees and then making mad dashes back to me when I re-called them for pork fat snacks.

However, the woods held another agility challenge that Fly found almost immediately and mastered easily.

Rexy very much wanted to be up there with her, but he couldn't figure out how she'd done it until I showed him; then he gleefully joined her up on the log and both dogs looked about them with superior satisfaction.

We found a wide snowy meadow of sorts - it's probably a swamp in any other season - and it was nice to be able to watch the dogs romp in the snow and explore the area.  It was also exceedingly pleasant to have the entire place to ourselves and I felt very lucky to be there right then with TheMother and the KBDs.

The not-currently-a-swamp's snow was several feet deep, but that didn't deter either dog: both merrily swam through and appeared to have a glorious time out there.  They must feel the same way I do whenever I step somewhere I've never been before.

While there, I wanted to see what kind of action shots I could get of the dogs with Little Buddy (our gopro), so I had the dogs sit and wait while I got myself set up with what I hoped was a good camera setting.  Then, on my signal, TheMother called the dogs and they streaked across the expanse of unmarked snow toward her, like very good dogs indeed.

I need to improve my skills.  It will be fun to return here next winter and see if I am able to produce clearer images.  

One more race across the bridge and our journey was nearly at an end, which was good, because I think we'd had enough adventure for one day.

Before we were completely finished, we did take some time to practice a long down stay; the tired but happy Karelians were content to lounge in the deep snow and collect snowflakes on their black backs as I took one more photo for the memory blog.