I’m not sure how many countries e-scooters are legal in? They’re not in the UK, outside of commercial trials.
Watching this video with the sound off and ignoring the commentary (i.e. educationally rather than as poor-taste entertainment) I think it’s a fair comment that whilst many of the riders are being jerks, plenty are not – but are caught out just the same. Scooters tend to be very sensitive to gravel and potholes that a bicycle would shrug off, and the subsequent face-plants tend to be very sudden. Braking power is also low due to the high CoG, and this is particularly true going downhill. Generally speaking I’m not a fan of them.
kwlf wrote:
I’m not sure how many countries e-scooters are legal in? They’re not in the UK, outside of commercial trials.
They used to be illegal in Sweden but have been made legal, leading to an explosion of pay-as-yo-go rental scooters. I think they’re crazy dangerous. One of my sons admit to loving them and of course he uses them without a helmet although he would always use one on a bike. Go figure…
IMHO scooters are useless for the intended purpose here, which is travelling from an airport to “somewhere else”.
The vast majority of airports (which GA can fly to) are a long way from anywhere useful, and at the very least one needs to ride on some sort of “main road”. As kwlf says above, it takes only a small hole and you get a proper crash, straight over the handlebars.
Scooters are probably just-ok in a town, riding on pavements. Which, one hopes, have no pedestrians walking on them
Rental bikes, such as those at Le Touquet, are bad enough with their small wheels. These “kids’ bikes” are only just about usable on flat ground (such as Le Touquet). But then I am probably spoilt, riding a bike with 26" or now 29" wheels, albeit on some very rough ground These bikes work well as e-bikes (Alderney is a great use case) but to anyone used to a real bike they have awful steering.
Interesting discussions on these miscellaneous ground transportation means. Each offers pros/cons, and hopefully each one of us is able to choose one according her/his preferences and needs.
I’ve had different ones over the years, starting with your typical, made in Portugal, folding bicycle, then my 1st e-scooter (more of a e-motorbike ), and now the one I pictured above. Interestingly, they all weigh the same.
Why did I change between them?
Bulkiness, portability, public transportation, and no sweat.
Practical example of use:
2 weeks ago attended the experimental fly-in in Khumo, Finland. On the way up I landed at the Olanda / Byxelkrok (ESMZ) airfield. Out in the boonies, and a 7km ride to my accommodation. On the way back we stopped at the Borglanda Flygfält (ESMB) airfield. And a 6km ride into town. On both of these my e-scooter took me rapidly and quite safely (yes, I do wear a helmet and my hi-vis ) to my destinations. No calling and waiting, no timetable, no rental… just unload, hop on and drive away.
Adding to the previous, the scooter depicted has airless tires and full suspension.
And yes, same as when flying, a good scan of the outside world helps in avoiding collisions… and potholes
I’m no expert e-scooter rider. I think I’ve only done about 150km on it.
But looking at that video, it seems obvious to me that many of those users were brand new users.
If they weren’t new users, they would have realised that it’s difficult and dangerous to remove your hands from the handlebars (it’s not at all like doing so on a bike) and you can’t really ride onto curbs (or jump them).
Most of the accidents seem to involve one of those or people riding without watching where they are going and taking due care.
This thread shall never fall asleep, let me try to spark it up.
Somewhere up this thread I expressed my negative opinion about the politically driven electric fury, and I haven’t changed that.
Yet, I have to disclose, that I’ve also jumped on that bandwagon. I purchased an EV and I love it.
My mission profile for my EV has been set like this:
In my defense I state, that
Here is my beauty (I mean the vehicle, not the person standing on it):
[ post moved because it isn’t a car ]
Just come across a couple more on a US forum; no idea of European availability.
https://motocompacto.honda.com/
Pretty weird and prob99 difficult to ride with the tiny wheels, except on good tarmac.
Peter wrote:
Just come across a couple more on a US forum; no idea of European availability.
The Motocompacto meets the EU and UK top speed limitation (25 km/h). The web site doesn’t say anything about power, the limit being 250 W.
The Volador would be illegal in the EU and UK both because of top speed and motor power. (Illegal as a bicycle, that is. I guess you could register it, but that would involve complications, expenses and you might need some kind of driver’s license.)