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the-vu

online magazine, since 2000

Tag: folding scooter

Freestyle Pro-Scooters without the tricks?

By Jeffrey the Barak. Just lately I have been finding that riding a scooter for a few miles is too tiring to be all the fun it should be, so I have taken to using a bicycle for these intermediate to long distances. Now with a bicycle being a machine, it will give you about… Read More Freestyle Pro-Scooters without the tricks?

January 13, 2015December 6, 2022 thebarak13 Comments
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  1. Karen Little Avatar
    Karen Little
    January 13, 2015

    Bite the checkbook and get an Oxelo Town 9 . . .

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  2. Rich-Rally Avatar
    Rich-Rally
    February 21, 2015

    It’s interesting figuring out the right set of wheels given requirements, constraints and budget. Have you considered the Razor RDS dirt scooter for $130?

    I bought the black label version. It is built solid, but the headset pitted on me in no time. I wasn’t riding on smooth surfaces though. I like the slick Innova tires I found to replace the knobby ones. Rubber pneumatic tires are wider and safer when road gets rough or wet.

    When I compare my RDS to my Atom which I bought later, I always pick the Atom for sidewalks. The RDS wheelbase and footboard are too short for easy relaxed cruising. To go fast & safe I need two v-brakes with handy levers. Also, the small wheels force me to keep an eye on the sidewalk rather than looking around.

    If you keep to areas familiar to you and you might need to ride over bumpy chip-seal paving surface and/or storm drains, go for the RDS (red) or the Black Label version. It’s the best pneumatic small wheel scooter around for the money. Phase Two is the pro version approaching $300. Oh, the Sidewalker Atom is $359 which would burst your budget!

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    1. admin Avatar
      admin
      February 21, 2015

      Thanks for the comments Rich-Rally. The Dirt Scooters discussed in David Jones’ article have as you know evolved from freestyle scooters, which in turn evolved from the compact foldable Razor scooter. Most people only know about this class of scooter and were unaware of scooters prior to 2000. The Atom on the other hand is a descendent of the larger and much more substantially framed European 12 inch scooters that go back decades. In discussion, and I refer here to the Let’s Kick Scoot forum and all of its experienced scooterers, it seems to be a consensus that pneumatic tires smaller than 12.5 inches are generally not very good. So the Dirt Scooter is an in-betweener that is mostly like a freestyle scooter, but can go off the concrete onto firm dirt, whereas your Atom is for riding along the road without doing tricks and covering some distance.

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  3. K. Scooter Avatar
    K. Scooter
    February 22, 2015

    Great post Jeffery! We for one are thrilled scooters are making a comeback. A green way to get around that gets more people outside and moving around? No complaints here!

    Kickscooter.org Team
    http://www.kickscooter.org

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  4. Karen Little Avatar
    Karen Little
    February 22, 2015

    Everything you wrote is fascinating, especially as you are still mulling over your purchase. My comment is to add information about the Town 9 as compared to a Xootr.

    I prefer that 2-wheeled vehicles have at least one handbrake and at minimum, a handbrake and a stomp brake. That requirement limits my recommendations (of sorts) to a go-ped Know Ped (with a small litany of flaws), the Xootr (my family’s preference is the Venus), and the European Oxelo Town 9, which is the only small urban scooter I now ride.

    There is no similarity between a Xootr (any model) and an Oxelo Town 9. Although I’ve ridden Xootrs for years, I’ve always tempered my recommendations to others. Hitting a seedpod during an otherwise happy roll can totally destabilize a Xootr.

    The Town 9 rides nothing like the Xootr. I’ve been riding mine, for example, this past week in Savannah, which is largely flat ground littered with twigs, seeds, and occasional lifted bricks. Two years ago we were here on Xootrs and had to give up riding them through some of the most beautiful neighborhoods because Xootrs could not handle nature’s flotsam and jetsam.

    Fourteen months ago, a non-scooter accident caused me to go lame; so lame that at times, I could not walk a block without extreme pain. At present, I cannot put 100% pressure on a slightly bent left leg BUT I can scoot around on my Town 9 as though I was in perfect physical condition.

    Note that everyone, including me, recommends foot switching when scooting. Unfortunately, currently I can only push with one leg — and you know what? I don’t miss foot switching. That is a HUGE difference between riding on a Xootr and a Town 9.

    OK, healthy people like my husband (who has had a nasty fall on a Xootr) can go full speed on a Town 9 feeling almost as secure as he does on a 12-inch scooter, but with far less effort. The Town 9’s handlebar doesn’t wiggle and it can fold within 2-seconds.

    The Town 9 is the only scooter that I’d recommend for park tours where the tourists have never before tried a scooter. OK – yes, I’m long winded because I want to make it really clear that the Town 9, introduced last year, is in a class by itself.

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  5. Phil Little Avatar
    Phil Little
    March 30, 2015

    Karen and I went to Hong Kong, bought two Town 9’s. I immediately took one out and did the Kowloon Promenade, Star Ferry docks to the wall at the end, 5 miles, starting 7:00 am. Little hot, but breeze was great! Only glitch was when the pedestrian Nazi Lady spotted me and said, sternly, (in Chinese, rapid fire) “no scooting only walking!!” and turned away. Of course, I continued on my way! (On the way back, I noticed a barrage of offended Chinese as I passed a certain person, but that’s why God gave us scooters…….to evade the critics!!)

    I do believe I am the first and only person to have scooted the entire length of the Kowloon Prominade (as well as the first person who has done 2 fast laps around the Pyramid at the Louvre in Paris…….but that’s another story!!!) simply because no one else has thought of it!

    So, having established these two benchmarks, I can say, without fear of contradiction, that scooting is the way to get around while traveling and enjoying new cities, and those slow plodding PEDESTRIANS are naught but impediments to our mobility, and footsore victims of their own ignorance! Hah! hard to avoid a sense of our own self-enlightenment here!

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  6. KOTA Avatar
    KOTA
    March 31, 2015

    Jeffrey, I agree with you completely about a scooter, or a bike. They both have their place. If I’m going to do 20 miles, it won’t be on a scooter. If I’m doing a few miles, where I want to enjoy the scenery, and stop a lot, then a scoot is the way to go.

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  7. Sunayon Avatar
    Sunayon
    September 18, 2018

    hey, Jeffrey
    What would your suggestions in 2018 about pro scooter industry? Or it’s time to move on Electric scooting but I’ve felt the origin of love with pro scooter and its massive tricks too. https://scooterstudy.com/best-pro-scooters-review this article enough to buy or love a pro scooter. What’s your opinion on my question?

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    1. editor Avatar
      editor
      September 20, 2018

      Thanks for the question. A Pro-Scooter is best if you want to do any kind of jumping or tricks. As a conveyance to get from A to B, the bars are too low, and a street commuter scooter will be more comfortable. Look for the article called Kick-Scooter Classifications on the-vu as that will describe the intended use of each kind.

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  8. Sunayon Avatar
    Sunayon
    October 6, 2018

    Thanks ”The VU” For replying me and the suggestion. I got it.

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  9. Nick Avatar
    Nick
    April 10, 2020

    A good way to tell an adult scooter from a kid’s scooter is by the weight capacity. If the scooter is designed to support a weight of over 220 pounds, it’s likely that it has been engineered for adults. This is a good way to get used to what you like and what you don’t like without having to spend too much money on an expensive pro scooter. This article site help you to buy a best pro scooter you can check it Best Pro Scooters in

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  10. Tiffany Avatar
    Tiffany
    January 16, 2022

    Hi Jeff,

    I’ve been invested in pro scooters ever since my son started riding a few years ago. For commuting though and just ride quality I think you might be better off on a big wheeled scooter. The best pro scooters usually have 120mm wheels at the max and if the riding surface isn’t great its not a pleasant experience riding them, especially over long distances.

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    1. editor Avatar
      editor
      January 17, 2022

      True. They are best used on polished concrete or hardwood.

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