Review - Scooters I Own

Summary review of scooters I own: Pros and Cons

I love scootering and own several kick, push, manual (not electric) scooters. They’re nimble, excellent for low impact exercise and are a great way to get around to find Geocaches. As I've mentioned in a previous article, I think scooters are a great solution to quickly get around (a location you might otherwise walk). They're almost as fast as bikes, but don't require a cumbersome bike rack to transport them. You can fold and fit several in your trunk. Get to your destination, unfold them and you're off! Skateboards are just as nimble but require a bit more training. Because of the brakes and added stability that handlebars offer, most people have the confidence to give scooters a go and quickly learn how to scoot. 

I am, by no means, an expert regarding kick-scooters, but I have spent a lot of time riding scooters and have logged many miles doing so. Over time, I've come to own a handful of scooters. Each one was carefully considered and suited my scootering needs at the time. What I can confidently claim is my opinion of the scooters I own. What follows is just that, my observations and opinions of the experiences I've had with the scooters I own. In order of purchase:

Razor A5 Lux

This was my first scooter. It's a good scooter. Cost is a BIG positive factor - It's inexpensive (about $85 at the time of this posting). This means if it breaks, is lost, stolen or you want to get another one for someone (so that they can scoot with you) it's relatively affordable. Unlike some other scooters I own, Razor scooter are highly available. You can get them just about anywhere. Check on Amazon or Walmart. It was for these reasons that we bought several Razor scooters one Christmas, one for each member of our family. It's nimble and folds quickly. The handlebars feel a bit narrow for an adult. It's got hard polyurethane wheels which roll fast and far on hard smooth surfaces. The wheels cannot get a flat (a good thing). However the hard wheels also make for a bumpy ride on rough surfaces. Riding off road, even on hard packed, flat dirt, is not a good idea. The deck is narrow and short for adult sized feet. (BIG TIP: Learn to scoot with both feet!) The Razor makes a lot of noise riding down the pavement. It rattles and some parts feel loose. It's just how it's made. Not what I would consider a premium scooter, but it works, it scoots and it's what I rode for many years before I got a premium scooter. On Amazon

Xootr

The Xootr was my first premium scooter. I love the small nimble size. It's very portable and easily fits in the trunk of my small car (Miata). It's lightweight and folds down and back up quickly. This makes it easy to fold up and walk into a store or get on a bus. It's very unobtrusive. It's got hard polyurethane wheels (see my comments about hard wheels above). The Xootr is well engineered with cast and machined parts, many made of lightweight aluminum. The bearings and wheels are excellent. It's got front and rear brakes. The handlebars feel narrow for an adult. The deck of my scooter (Mg) is made of magnesium. I dig the groovy dot pattern on it and it's cool to be able to say that you've got a scooter that has a magnesium deck. The deck is wider than the Razor's. A little noisier than my pneumatic wheeled scooters (below), but quieter than my Razor. I've taken it on a long distance scoot. A friend that I have made in the scootering world, Jonathan Kelley, loves his Xootr and writes about it here on Andy Thousands's magazine. Reasonably available, made in Pennsylvania, USA. They have recently increased their prices. The Mg model currently costs $329. If you can afford it, this is a great hard-wheeled scooter. Find out more HERE.

Boardy

This is my 2nd premium scooter. This is a great scooter. I'd consider this a medium sized scooter. It's larger than the A5 Lux or Xootr. This was my first pneumatic wheeled scooter and I love it! I was concerned about pneumatic tires. I had heard and read that people believed that they were "slower" than polyurethane wheels because they were softer which resulted in a higher rolling resistance and friction. I have not experienced this slowness or friction. I believe it is because I keep the 12" tires inflated to the maximum rated pressure (printed on the sidewall of each tire). Pneumatic tires are awesome. They smooth out rough pavement, don't rattle your teeth like polyurethane wheels and (given enough ground clearance) let you go off road on hard-packed dirt trails. Boardy uses a wooden board as part of the scooter's structure and it has several benefits. It's "bouncy" and flexy which may not appeal to everyone. I like the feel, kinda reminds me of skateboards that I ride. It provides a smooth "shock absorbed" flowy kind of ride. The board uses alternating layers of wood and fiberglass, a VERY strong combo. Skateboards have long used this design. This allows the board to be MUCH thinner, yet have the same structural integrity and weight bearing capacity of much thicker metal structures. This means the Boardy can have BOTH a low deck height AND relatively high ground clearance. Another benefit of using the wooden board is weight: the Boardy is relatively light for its size. Although the Boardy folds small enough to fit in the trunk of my Miata, it doesn't "lock" closed. I use a "strap system" (the modified Ken-Strap) in order to secure the handlebars from flopping around while folded. I've taken it on a long distance scoot. Boardys are not cheap. The current cost of the model I got is about $525. At the time of this writing many models are out of stock. Find out more HERE. 

Razor A5 Air

This is the smallest of my scooters, and that's a good thing. Its small size makes it VERY nimble and portable. It folds down and back up very quickly. This easily fits in the trunk of my Miata. In fact, I'm sure I could fit 2 of these in my trunk if I wanted to. Because it's small, it's also lightweight. Easy to pick up and carry. Price is quite reasonable. I paid approximately $120 at the time of this article. The A5 Air has 8" pneumatic tires. They do a good job of absorbing shock and smoothing out rough pavement. Again, I keep my tires at maximum pressure, so I don't really notice much of a slow down or rolling resistance. One disadvantage of pneumatic tires is they can get a flat. This means you'll need to carry a tire repair kit and a pump if you don't want to walk your scooter a potentially long way. Some people might carry inner tubes, I bring a patch repair kit which is lighter and takes less space. I suggest you "rehearse" a flat scenario so that you're not left stranded without the proper tools or skills to fix the flat and get back on the road. I've gotten flats on 2 out of my 3 pneumatic tire scooters, so it's not THAT uncommon. It only has a rear fender brake that is "good enough". Although deck height is low, ground clearance is also low which can cause scrapes and bottoming-out when crossing over humps in the road. Although I've ridden it off road on hard-packed dirt, the smaller tires and low ground clearance make it less than ideal. The A5 Air has some "anti-rattle" tech that actually works and reduces the amount of clattering as you move down the road. The A5 Air originally comes plastered with unappealing stickers, so I followed the advice of a scooter friend, Jeffrey Barak, on how to remove them HERE. Find out more about the Razor A5 Air HERE. I like this scooter because of it's cost, nimble portability and pneumatic tires, BUT it does take some skill and situational awareness to avoid pavement humps that can scrape bottom and bring you to an unexpected halt. Here's a technique that I use that works

SwiftyONE

This is the largest of my scooters and I'd qualify it more of a small kick-bike (or foot-bike). This is a nice, PREMIUM, scooter. It's too large to fit in the trunk of my Miata, so I had to figure out a way to carry it on a bike rack. The deck height is higher than the Boardy, but the ground clearance is about the same. Just like the Xootr and Boardy, this is well made and of excellent quality. Although it has a lightweight foldable aluminum frame, it's still the heaviest of my scooters. Folding and unfolding takes several steps (but very cool and clever!). It's fast and glides a long way on one push. The 16" pneumatic wheels travel smoothly over rough pavement and dirt roads, but again, you'll need to carry a patch kit just in case. I took the Swifty on a long distance scoot. Although I bought mine used and got an unimaginably good deal, a new one is pricey. Today's cost for the SwiftyONE is $880 + $140 shipping (from the UK) = $1020 American dollars. 

SUMMARY

I like all of my scooters for a variety of reasons. Most portable: The Xootr, Razor Air and Razor Lux. Rough pavement: Any pneumatic wheeled one. Easiest to open and close: Xootr, Razor Lux and Razor Air. Dirt trails: The Boardy. Long distance / high speed: Any, but preferably the SwiftyONE. Leave the flat kit home / worry free: The Xootr and Razor Lux. The only one I don't ride anymore is the Razor A5 Lux primarily because I've got much better options now. If we go out on a big group scoot and all the other scooters are taken, it would be a good backup. My son sometimes borrows it when he scoots with his friends. But credit to the Razor A5 Lux, it's inexpensive, was the original and got me started on my road to scooting! 

WHAT WOULD I RECOMMEND?

So, what would I say to a friend over a cup of coffee or pint of beer regarding which scooter I would recommend? I'd say that $85 for a Razor A5 Lux might be a great place to start. It's portable, rides nicely over most smooth pavements and you'll only be out $85 if you decide that scootering is not for you. Near this price point I LOVE my Razor A5 Air, BUT you might have to deal with flat tires, keep them pumped to max pressure and manage (learn) how to deal with lumps in the road since it has such low ground clearance. I've met riders who HATE the low clearance. Me, I can deal with it and love how the pneumatic tires ride over rough pavement. If you find that you love scootering the way I do, you can always spend more and upgrade to another choice. The remaining scooters are costly. The Xootr has hard wheels like the Razor A5 Lux. The Boardy (at the time of this writing) is out of stock. The Swifty has a high deck, is the heaviest and most expensive of them all. 

Closing thought: Electric scooters are an option, but I prefer push or kick scooters. Electric scooters are more expensive, more things could break, you can run out of battery power, they are heavier, larger and are NOT allowed in many areas. New restrictive laws are popping up all the time. On a kick scooter, I enjoy getting some exercise and am not relying on motors and batteries to get me where I need to go. Several times, I've seen the change in attitude of a person who derisively "thought" I was on an electric scooter, change to delight when I told them it was all human powered.