PawTrekker Scooter Review
Many people own dogs in the world. Quite a few of those have regular exercise routines for themselves and their canine companions. This includes regular walks, hikes, and some even run with their dogs. Few people can imagine the thrill of flying along at 20km/h up the trails being towed by their dogs running full out.
The PawTrekker Scooter was designed specifically for those interested in dog sports the PawTrekker scooter is one of the best, sturdiest dog scooters available. Scooters make better dog vehicles than bicycles. This is because scooter have no pedals, chains, and less moving parts. This means less chance of injury to yourself or your dogs. Specifically the dog lines cannot get caught in the gears and pedals because there are none.
I was lucky enough to purchase my PawTrekker scooter off a buy and sell website, and picked it up in November 2017. It was in amazing condition. Apparently the seller thought her dogs would love dog sports as much as she did. Brand new, the PawTrekker is fairly expensive at about $700CAD plus $500CAD shipping from the UK. If I had purchased it new, It would have been worth every penny.
The PawTrekker is built to last, built to take a lot of abuse, and looks great. It’s fairly heavy weighing in at 16kg. This is a small trade off for the toughness of the bike. I have gone over some very rough terrain, fell off, been dragged, smashed into poles, and all manner of collision and accident with the bike. Except for a bunch of missing paint, the bike is still in remarkable shape. The foot deck has decent ground clearance at 14cm. Good enough to get you over rocky terrain. The front forks and wheel have a suspension system which makes for a smoother ride over rocky terrain.
One of the most unique features of the bike is the large steel brushbow. It is specifically designed to attach the dog gangline, and keep it from getting caught up in the front tire. This is a lifesaver for inexperienced dry-land mushers. As a novice, with other bikes I have gotten too close to my dogs going down a hill and the line caught in the front tire. The bike stops dead, and you get thrown off onto the trail. Sometimes your dogs will stop, sometimes they will just keep running dragging the bike. Be sure to wear a helmet.
With some great features, the Pawtrekker boasts the following, according to the PawTrekker website:
- Our disc brake model has:
- Strengthened steel swan necked scooter frame
- 5.4” ground clearance
- Front suspension forks
- Quick release steel brushbow
- Front and rear mechanical disc brakes
- 3-finger alloy black anodized brake levers
- Quick release front and rear wheels
- Screw on Kraton handle bar grips
- 20″ 2.125” tyres
- Bottle Brass-on’s for mounting of bottle holder
- Welded Mounting points for mounting of front and rear mud guards
- Dimension when complete assembly: 178 x 160 x 109cm
- Total Weight: 16kg
With the quick release Pawtrekker Brushbow, quick release wheels and disc brakes on both wheels, this dog scooter provides strength and stability coupled with low maintenance parts. High ground clearance reduces the impact of grounding out on rough terrain.
After using the bike for several thousand kilometres of dog mushing both dry land and in shallow snow, under brutal terrain and conditions, there have only been a few component failures on the bike.
PROBLEMS:
Once or twice I encountered a pole in the middle of an ice covered bridge and the brushbow hit the pole. This detached it from the vehicles and my team continued up the trail without me. With the brushbow being detachable to fit in small vehicles, it makes it detachable on impact on the trail. The quick disconnect system is great to make its disassembly easy, but not good when on the trail. This isn’t an issue I have experienced often, but may be a concern. A couple of zip-ties are an easy fix if you feel this is an issue.
The handlebar weld broke off. This is most likely from being abused when the bike is dropped, or I fall off, being dragged. The bike is also sometimes handled roughly when coming in and out of vehicles. This is certainly not something that is PawTrekkers fault.
The brake systems require constant adjustment. The dual disk brakes are wonderful! They offer fantastic braking power, they dont’ clog up with mud, snow, or other debris as easy as rim brakes. They also have better heat dispersion qualities over long brake holds, such as downhill grades. However after a few thousand kilometres of rough use I find myself consistently having to adjust the brake tolerances. I initially paid a bicycle shop to do this, until I learned how to do it myself through watching online videos. Again this issue may simply be a result of continued hard use, and not a design flaw in the bike itself. In the future I may upgrade the brake systems to full hydraulic as stopping the team is very important.
Factory equipped with a kick-stand, this feature caused me a significant amount of injuries. During a competitive race, it’s normal to be very focused on the dogs and often kick the ground to propel the scooter faster. The positioning of the kick stand is such that you will often catch it with your ankle. This caused several severe bruises and injuries during races. After talking to other mushers who own the scooter, I was advised to remove the kickstand. It no longer causes any issues. With several dogs pulling the scooter, and the requirement to attach it to a vehicle or pole during set-up, the kickstand becomes a redundant feature.
EASE OF REPAIR:
The Pawtrekker is a machine, and all machines wear and break down. The PawTrekker is very easy to fix on the trail. Almost every component is easily found at local bicycle shops including brake pads, cables, tires, rims, suspension forks, and handlebars. When replacing my handlebars I found one at a scrap metal shop which I got for pennies, and it fit the bike perfectly.
Brake systems can be adjusted right on the trailside with a few simple tools including an Allan key wrench.
Tires, tubes and rims are compatible with BMX bikes and are readily available at most hardware stores and specialty bicycle shops as well as online.
Most components that may require personal adjustment such as handlebar height, angle, brake handle placement are also easily adjusted, right on the side of the trail if necessary.
OVERALL:
The PawTrekker scooter is the Cadillac of two wheel dog scooters. Most dry land mushers envy anyone who has one, and they have very high resell values. The front suspension makes it a joy to ride. They are sturdy, very well made, and have fairly high quality parts. The scooter is also very easy to repair and parts are readily available if necessary. Of the several models of dog scooter I have tried, the PawTrekker is certainly the best.