OVERALL RATING: 81. GRADE: B-. The Tour Trek Tahoe delivers moderate performance for a moderate price. At an MSRP of $99.99, it’s half the price of the other push carts we tested. Unfortunately, with that price come trade-offs in both the feature set and build quality.
Tour Trek appears to be one of Golfsmith’s house brands, and the Tahoe is the low-end option in their line of three push carts. It is lightweight (albeit not particularly compact when it’s folded up), but didn’t give us much confidence in its stability on the golf course, and also doesn’t provide much storage space. It also tended to squeak and creak quite a bit.
If you’re only an occasional golfer and are looking for an inexpensive lightweight push cart for the few times that you do play, the Tour Trek Tahoe may fit the bill, but frequent users will likely find greater value in the selections available at a higher price point.
Retail price: $99.99
Availability: Discontinued. Replaced by the Tour Trek One Click 2.0
Pros:
- The lightest golf push cart that we tested
- The least expensive golf push cart that we tested
Cons:
- Unwieldy long shape when it’s folded up
- Lacking in fit and finish
- Meager storage space
SIZE/WEIGHT
The Tour Trek Tahoe was the lightest cart in our comparison test (10.5 lbs. as tested). Sweet! Unfortunately, the odd shape of the cart when it’s folded makes it unwieldy to handle – the front wheel extends out such that a folded Tahoe is over 3 feet 8 inches long. Not sweet! Even if you are motivated enough to remove the front wheel (by releasing a clip and pulling the wheel off), it’s still pretty long. Did we mention that it’s long? If we throw in the word “upside” a few times, we’ll sound like Jay Bilas during the NBA draft coverage.
EASE OF SET-UP
The Tour Trek Tahoe is pretty simple to set up – you unfold it, slide a clip into place, stick your bag on it, and then secure straps at the bottom and top. One of our “mechanically challenged” reviewers had a devil of a time figuring out where the sliding clip was, but once he was pointed in the right direction, he was able to master the process. Trust us, if he can do it, anyone can do it.
ON COURSE IMPRESSIONS
- The Tour Trek Tahoe felt a little less rugged and sturdy than any of the competing products. Part of this may just be its light weight, but it also has a bit of the squeakiness of an IKEA desk that has been hurriedly assembled. The angle at which the bag sits places most of the weight on the back half of the cart, which made us nervous about it tipping backward – as a result, we tried to avoid parking it pointed uphill on any steep inclines. The wheelbase is narrower than competing products, leading to a little less stability on side hills.
- The brake mechanism is unique – each of the two rear wheels has a ring of ten “notches” at the axle, and near each of the rear wheels is a plastic pedal. Pushing the top part of the pedal with your foot inserts a plastic “stopper” into the ring of notches and engages the brake (it doesn’t matter which of the two wheels you decide to “freeze”, so you can use either your right or left foot). Pushing on the bottom part of the pedal lifts the plastic “stopper” out of the ring of notches, and off you go. It feels kind of cheap and plasticky, but it’s simple and it works!
- The tires are made of plastic, so there is no danger of winding up with a flat. Unfortunately, the plastic creates more friction going through heavy grass than either rubber or foam tires. Of course, this isn’t as much of a problem if you’ll just hit your ball into the middle of the fairway, where the grass is nice and short…
- The handle can be adjusted within about a 45 degree range, providing flexibility for users of different heights.
- We found that the alignment was off on our Tour Trek Tahoe, so the cart would pull to the right. Unfortunately, there does not seem to be any way to correct the alignment.
STORAGE/ACCESSORIES
The storage available on the Tour Trek Tahoe was the most meager among the push carts we tested, which is unfortunate, since one of the joys of using a push cart is being able to easily carry way more stuff than you would ever need. What the Tahoe does include is:
- a valuables tray with a magnetic lid, which was the smallest among the push carts we tested, and includes a bracket to store up to 3 balls. Because the tray is so shallow, we were unable to cram our standard set of stuff (2 golf balls, a GPS device, an iPhone, a set of keys, and a wallet) into the tray. In addition, the lid latches at the bottom of the tray (instead of at the side or at the top), so if the lid accidentally pops open, all of your stuff will fall out (thank you, gravity!) – this struck us as an unfortunate design choice.
- 4 holes for storing tees
- 2 holes for storing ball markers
- a clip for holding a pencil
- a pair of clips/tabs to hold a scorecard
- a cup/bottle holder (which we wish was positioned a little higher on the cart for easier access)
Note that the Tour Trek Tahoe is not umbrella friendly – there is no receptacle for holding a deployed umbrella, nor is there a strap to store one when not in use (although almost all golf bags these days have a strap, so it’s not strictly necessary to have it on your push cart).
STYLE
The Tour Trek Tahoe isn’t going to impress your friends with its flashy good looks. It looks, well, like a cart. But hey, surely it’s available in bright colors that jazz it up, right? Nope – it only comes in silver. Just repeat the old mantra from your mom…”If your friends are going to judge you on your push cart, then they aren’t really your friends at all…”
VALUE
With a retail price of $99.99, the Tour Trek Tahoe is the least expensive push cart we tested. So while we wish it had more features and that the build quality was a bit better, at this price, we can’t complain too much. If your goal is to find an inexpensive alternative to carrying your bag on your back, the Tour Trek Tahoe isn’t a bad choice.
