Early Retirement Extreme Forums

Any recommendations? Good criteria seem to be: larger wheels, pneumatic tires, very fast to fold, light-weight, nice-looking, etc. Xootr seems to be a good brand.

Is it possible to ride these in the winter? Like placing studded tires on them or something?

After some research, I think Xootr has the best, professional stuff: http://www.xootr.com/xootr-kick-scooters.html

Questions that have come up:

1. What to do if you need to ride the scooter in snow or ice?
2. Is a wide base better than a narrow base?
3. Is a semi-flexible base better than a metal one?
4. How much does weight really matter?
5. Would the narrow, lighter option really make a difference for travelling?

Your question appears directed to people with experience with multiple adult push scooters, which I fear is a very small number of people.

I have experience with only one, the Micro Flex (link), but I will try to answer anyway. I actually recently sold this scooter (for 80% of what I paid for it, 2nd hand) because I'm moving to Ethiopia where there are no pavements on which to ride scooters.*

Observations: to fold this scooter required two hands, and preferably another point of contact (e.g., your leg). One hand holds two bolts together, one hand presses against the weight of the scooter which should be braced against something else. In work clothes this was not ideal, I'd have preferred quicker/simpler folding.

I'm sure bigger wheels would always be easier, making one less nervous about getting facial contact with the ground after hitting a minor crevice. That said, the wheels on the micro flex never gave me a problem. But they weren't large enough to make me comfortable, and I always slowed down a bunch prior to hitting a gap in the pavement.

I didn't desire pneumatic tyres. More maintenance. Never seemed like I needed them. With a scooter you don't have a lot of power anyway, losing thrust due to tyres that compress seems like it would be more trouble than they're worth.

On your questions:

1. I didn't experience much snow and ice in Geneva and no, I wouldn't have ridden in those circumstances.
2. The fairly narrow base on the micro was fine. I never had a concern putting one foot behind the other, although I hear that some people prefer to plant their feet side by side when coasting.
3. The Micro Flex has a flexible base, and I can't compare it to a metal base. But I don't see that it would make a massive difference. I probably would have preferred a model with a lower base (less distance to dip your leg when boosting).
4. I wouldn't have wanted mine to be much heavier. I do think that weight matters. After all, the portability is why I bought it.
5. See above.

*Kidding. There are pavements. But not many.

You probably covered this elsewhere, but why not ride a bike?

You can get an electric scooter in the $300 range.

Regarding snow and ice, I'm sure it's not impossible but it seems unlikely. Even if you could find studded tires or stud them yourself it seems like it will be a struggle to keep any speed through any substantial snow. On ice you will want yaktrax or something or you will fall when your foot slips.

There's a 1.5 mi push-scoot commute in between me and a company shuttle. It's either that or a 4 mile bicycle commute to the Office. It'd be nice to have both options available year-round.

Town is a 1 mile commute too. And when travelling, it's nice to have a portable scooter rather than a bike.

An electric "push" scooter could be cool.

I could walk, but I think a 1.5 mile walk might get old in business casual.

height/weight?

5' 9" 130

Fit

Do you want the rest of my dating profile?~~~

Why don't you ride a bike to the shuttle, lock the bike up at the shuttle stop, and just pick it up when you get dropped off after work?

Well, the bike I'm thinking of getting is a Salsa Vaya II, which is ~1.2K. I thought about getting a less-nice bike for this reason.

The scooter is handy to have for short-distances, especially in the city.

Olaz should be fine on the kick scooter at that height/weight.

o

Amish Kick Scooter with studded tires? Yeah, now we're talking

lol, I wonder if it's possible to tug a small trailer with a push scooter

So what did you end up getting?

I got a Xootr dash : )

With a rack and fender: http://www.xootr.com/kick-scooter-dash.html

I like that it's the lightest and most compact of the lot. The narrow base is also nice for energy efficiency. I can still switch feet just fine.

I may consider swapping the Dash for a Kickped. The kickped offers wider tires to handle rough pavement, rain, and slushy snow much better.

I wish the dash had more clearance to switch wheels.

I have the Xootr MG. My son may end up with it when he goes back to school. It is fun to screw around in the office. To me it is a toy, but it is very easy to go about a mile or so with it. I like the wider deck, but you are right - very low clearance. The kickped has wider tires at the expense of a slightly slower ride. It is a trade off. If I lived in the city, I would rely on one whenever it was dry.

I would rather own a bicycle than a scooter if mobility in snow is a consideration. Where I live (northeast) the snow accumulation would make it impossible to commute on any device that has a low deck (scooter, skateboard, etc.). If snow wasn't a consideration - I'd prefer an electric skateboard over a scooter.

Queue inspirational skateboarding video: https://youtu.be/ijLqo7hETPk

Oxymoron