Ped Number Five, The Return Of The KickPed

By Jeffrey the Barak.

I’ve been through a lot of scooters over the decades, at least nineteen kick scooters and five electrics. I usually buy new scooters, but this month, as I found myself wanting a 5th Ped-style scooter, I determined that the last new one may have already been manufactured by the current owners of what was originally Patmont Motor Werks, although this is not officially the case.

So I looked on eBay and found a used low-bar KickPed and bid on it, and paid dearly for shipping to Hawai’i, and took possession of what was described as a 20-mile almost-new KickPed.

As the seller said, the tires still had the injection ridge down the centers, indicating it could not have been ridden very far. But I found myself in possession of a KickPed that needed quite a bit of attention.

Getting it ready

The handlebars could be slightly moved up and down, so I had to remove the pole and follow some clear YouTube instruction on how to tighten up the head-set. And they also wiggled quite a bit so I added piece of metal duct tape to to the lower part so the so the slide tube would fit more snugly.

The seller had made “improvements” before he ever rode it, in the form of foam hand grips and a full deck grip tape with pictures of teeth on it. Those had to come off and I currently have no grip tape on the deck at all, and new original GoPed hand grips. I will add a little bit of grip product, but non-trick scooting does not benefit from full grip tape as you need to twist and switch legs.

Most alarmingly, it seems that some of the seller’s 20 miles may have been ridden on wet or damp days. The wheels and tires surrendered a lot of dirt to my cleaning towels and the deck bolts seemed to show signs of browning.

All of this was fairly easily cleaned away, and with a bit of wrenching and screwing here and there I brought it all back to new condition, which was a relief because I don’t expect to ever get much help in maintaining a KickPed in Hawai’i.

Of course I regret selling the last pair of Know-Peds that I had, in a fit of minimalism, but at the time I was sure I would always be long-distance kicking on air tires and at around 10 to 15 MPH. A recent accidental event led me to consciously choose to only ride on the sidewalk under human power and keep my speed below 6 MPH, so the amazing and accidentally successful Ped-style scooter once again became the ideal ride.

The difference between urethane wheels of any size and these handsome solid rubber lumps, that always have and still do remind me of Formula One racing tires, is remarkable. I now nonchalantly ride over things that would have thrown me off a pro-scooter. Rubber may be a bit slower than urethane on the smooth floor, but it makes the rough surfaces rideable.

Yes, the deck is a few millimeters higher than it is on most of the new urethane wheeled suspension scooters that now dominate the marketplace, but it is still low enough.

So, no more footbike-style power kicks and hop-switching down the road at fast speeds for me. No more firm grabbing of two brake handles to slow my descent of some crazy hill.

My new goal is to double my walking speed and be able to stop by simply stepping off. And I am getting as much enjoyment at just under 6 MPH as I was getting at 27 MPH on my last electric scooter. Having another KickPed feels like a homecoming.

Jeffrey the Barak has owned at least nineteen human-powered scooters and five electrics.

  • Previous peds:
  • Blue Know-Ped – stolen by a burglar,
  • Tall KickPed – bars too high,
  • two more Blue Know-Peds – sold prematurely,
  • then this one.

9 thoughts on “Ped Number Five, The Return Of The KickPed”

  2. Hi Jeff, in response to your Facebook query regarding my current inventory: Active include 2018 Mibo GT, 2014 Kostka Racer, 2018 Yedoo Trexx. Inactive, occasional include Kbike 5, Razor Air, 2008 KnowPed. Deceased include Kickbike Millennium Racer (2) KB Sport Max, KB G4, Sidewalker folder, Yedoo City, Mibo Rival.

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  3. If I understand correctly this is a Go Ped model and there is also a Know Ped model. Have you ever tried the Know Ped? Looks like the same thing with a wider deck. Those wheels on a kickboard would be great.
    To get off on a different subject I have recently found that many parts from Micro Scooters are interchangeable. You can build up a scooter of your own if you want. It just depends on what you’re looking for in a scooter. I just build up a compact kickboard and changed out a lot of parts and got the deck down to 2.5 inches. The 3.5 inch deck height on the Go Ped is a killer for me. Even 3 inches is a bit high as far as I personally like but it is passable. Mostly I’m into cycling and I’m not going to ruin my knees for this. I sold a Xootr Cruz 20 years ago because it was hurting my knees for cycling.

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    1. Jonathan, Yes! I have had three Know-Peds, all blue, and two KickPeds. I love the wheels and the unusually sized bearings are very good and silent too. Great that you customized a Kickboard to fit your needs. Admirable in fact. The deck height of the Peds is okay for people 5’9″ and up. I’m 5’7″ but I put up with it because I love the Peds and I have other scooters with low decks to switch to. I welcome to extra squats for half an hour or so as it means I don’t have to do them in a boring stationary exercise! I have to admit that not worrying about bottoming out is good on some uneven sidewalks and I usually choose the KickPed first if I ride off property. As for Know-Ped vs KickPed, I like the narrower deck of the KickPed, and the marine plywood upgrade and I never liked the front brake on the original Know-Ped. I just wish the KickPed deck did not scallop out some width right where I need it for a ski stance. So I am glad I found a new one because I missed having one around. I messed around with small pieces of aluminum tape and removed all free-play and sounds from the hinge, slide tube and spring, so my KickPed is totally silent!

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  4. Hi Jeffrey,
    I was LKS forum participant. I was just thinking about rubber wheels being the best compromise between air and PU wheels as you said on facebook and wandering why there aren’t more rubber scooters. I wonder if kickped wheels would fit with a dirt scooter wich seems to have similar width. And 6″ wheel of Kickped would perfectly lower dirt deck witch has 8″ air wheel. Could you give us the kickped wheel width and wheel axis width please?

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  5. Hi Jeffrey. Your site has been a wonderful resource for buying a first kick scooter. The Kick-ped seems like it fits my needs well for something to run errands and basically get around a little quicker than walking. I like the simple sturdy design and solid rubber tires seems like a good compromise.
    I’m not familiar with the changes over time due to the company being sold. Are there quality or availability issues or both? Thanks in advance

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