Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I'm currently on a work assignment in the UK, and don't have a car. As a result, my commute to work has consisted of either a fairly long walk (2+ miles round trip) or a relatively expensive bus ride. When I've tried renting a car, driving has taken nearly as long as walking due to the traffic density, and parking on site is impractical and expensive. I wanted something that would cut my travel time without a lot of extra expense. I saw this scooter and thought it might be a worthy solution. It claims to have a top speed of 15 mph and a range of up to 40 minutes, which translates to 10 miles, more than enough to cover my commute and some errands to boot on a single charge. And it's rated for a 220 lb. (100 kg) rider, which is well above my weight of 175 lbs. (75 kg). Overall, it seemed like an attractive prospect. However, I've found that the scooter is nothing like its specs on paper, and has been a tremendous let-down. This may be a great toy for kids, but it shouldn't be thought of as anything more. There are a few positives. The tires are beefy and handle pretty well on uneven surfaces and wet roads, and the riding platform is large enough that I can fit both feet comfortably. It feels pretty sturdy overall. The frame is fairly compact and easy to lock up at a bike rack, and so far as I know, no license or insurance is required to operate it. I travel wherever bicycles do, and I've yet to be hassled about anything. And in spite of my complaints to follow, the trip to work is now typically faster than taking the bus. However, this scooter has a lot of pretty serious design flaws, and unfortunately the cons are more numerous than the pros: 1. It's difficult to inflate the rear tire and even to check its pressure. The valve is hidden behind the sealed chain housing and an additional metal plate, and only a single small hole allows access, which requires rotating the wheel in reverse until the the valve is aligned with the hole, and then attaching a valve extension to whatever you're using to inflate the tire. One of these valve extensions is provided with the scooter (hidden inside the right handlebar), but it's made of thin plastic and is very flimsy. I accidentally shifted the scooter a bit while I had it attached to the valve, and crunch! With almost no effort it broke. I've since ordered metal replacements, but this is a hassle. In addition, the tire valve is not at the same angle as the extension when put through the hole, even with the wheel aligned, so getting the extender attached also requires pulling the valve fairly far out from its normal angle - not the easiest task if you don't have small hands. Even the front tire can be a bit of a pain to attach a pump to because of the sharp inward angle of the valve. Bottom line - a poor design. 2. The motor overheats sporadically, on average about every 10 minutes or so and at least once during each trip to/from the office, causing the power to cut and forcing me to get off, toggle the power switch, tap the reset button, and wait for the scooter to come back to life. This sometimes happens even on flat surfaces if I've been riding continuously for a while. The delay is usually only momentary (5-10 seconds), but still it's an irritation. More significantly, given that the scooter slows very quickly without the throttle kept on (almost as fast as if you apply the brake), it's potentially dangerous if you're riding near bikes or other traffic (as is often unavoidable in the UK). There is no warning before this happens, nothing whatsoever to indicate that the motor is overheating and approaching the point of cutting out. It just happens, and suddenly you've stopped. 3. The power is very, very limited, at least for a rider of my size. Even on a slight incline it slows to a crawl, so you might as well get off and walk it. Catch a headwind and you'll also notice an obvious drop in power. Also, the power and speed drop noticeably after just a 5-10 minutes of use. After a fresh charge, it's quite perky, but this is only momentary, and after about 20-25 minutes, it's down to a crawl. 4. The claimed max speed (15 mph) and operation time (40 min.) are either grossly exaggerated or else were measured with a small child on board. 40 minutes at 15 mph = a range of 10 miles, which sounds quite good. But in practice, I can go 2, maybe 2.5 miles before the motor has weakened to the point that it can't propel me more than walking speed and needs to be recharged. I tested the speed using my TomTom GPS unit with a fresh charge, and it registered only 10 mph. The TomTom typically reports speeds about 2 mph lower than the speedometer when I'm driving (tested with various rental vehicles), so it might be safe to estimate 12 mph, but again this drops pretty quickly as the scooter is ridden. Given that I weigh 175 lbs. and get poor performance, I struggle to reconcile the "ages 13+" sticker and the claim that it's rated for riders up to 100 kg (220 lbs), with the reality that even the average teenage boy would be too heavy to get much speed or range. 5. The throttle has only two settings - on and off. This makes for a jerky ride and it's hard to control the speed. Also, the throttle is made of fairly slick plastic, unlike the rest of the grips, which are rubberised. If you're operating it with bare hands, it's okay, but take it out on a cold day with a pair of cloth gloves on, and you may find it slipping out of your hand. 6. The battery is difficult to access. When I ordered the scooter, I considered buying a spare set of batteries (it uses two), thinking I could carry them with and swap them for a fresh set to extend the ride time. However, this is impractical as it requires removing 8 screws just to gain access to the battery compartment. The scooter obviously wasn't designed with this in mind, but quickly swappable batteries are fairly important when you're dealing with something with such a limited operating time. 7. Even without running, the battery continues to drain fairly rapidly if the power is left on. I forgot to switch it off one morning when I arrived at work. I noticed it was on at lunch time and switched it off. When I took it home at the end of the day, it died about half a mile earlier than normal - that's significant when the range is at best 2.5 miles without this extra drain. 8. It's awkward to carry, and the battery compartment is low to the ground. This isn't significant on flat surfaces, but it matters if you need to carry it up some stairs, in which case it's difficult to get it very far off the ground unless you pick it up by the bottom, and consequently it's quite easy to scratch up the plastic battery case. 9. The wires are long, loose and rub against the front tire when it's turned. I was able to remedy this to some degree by rotating the handles by a full 360 degrees, thus wrapping the wires around the stem of the scooter, but still they are a bit floppy for my liking. I've no idea why there would need to be so much play in these cords but it's begging for an electrical failure. Do yourself a favour and buy something to wrap these in (e.g. electrical tape). As a kid's toy, this is a cool concept, but it's not of much use as a serious means of transportation.