My wife's birthday is next week. She mentioned an electric scooter. Any of y'all have one?

This would not be for commuting, range / speed are not important. Just for riding around the neighborhood -- a fairly large gated community. There's also a walking / biking trail that runs past our development -- paved over what used to be a railroad track.

I'm looking (online) at a Segway -- a new model, which will be released, coincidentally, on her birthday.

https://store.segway.com/nineb...ckscooter-e2-plus-ii

Looks like a great way to break a hip.

quote:

Originally posted by Gustofer:

Looks like a great way to break a hip.

Then she and I would be a matched pair.

Here's mine:

^^^^^
I felt faint when I saw that.

We just got my 8th grader this one from Sams for graduation from us and all his grandparents. It's not terribly heavy, folds down and clips so you can easily carry it by the handle and it doesn't feel awkward.

https://www.samsclub.com/p/jet...76?xid=plp_product_6

It has a bluetooth speaker, so if your wife wants to play hype music or the theme from the wizard of oz where the witch was on her bike, that would work.

I suppose the Top Gun opening score would be okay too.

quote:

Originally posted by Pipe Smoker:
^^^^^
I felt faint when I saw that.

I didn't feel too great when it happened.

My kids have the smaller Segway scooters. Solid.
Wouldn't hesitate to get one of the larger ones.

quote:

Originally posted by V-Tail:

quote:

Originally posted by Gustofer:

Looks like a great way to break a hip.

Then she and I would be a matched pair.

I’m with Gustofer on this. I always associate those types of scooters with youngsters. I’m going to go out on a limb and guess that your wife is no youngster, so the concern is real.

Was thinking more about the Little Rascal scooter for your wife.

Maybe something like this. Seems safer and less likelihood of breaking a hip…

I'm extremely happy with my VX5 Pro GT. It does 17mph flat, excellent range of 22 miles, and fairly flight. Suspension would be cool but with pneumatic 9" tires its been fine to ride the 2 mile round trip to my kids school. They also offer a 2 year warranty.

https://vmax-escooter.us/colle...r-time-for-e-quality

I want this one for myself:

https://www.segway.com/ekicksc...-pro.html?kid=K10610

It looks like a crazy death wish, but I'm into it. For reference I ride motorcycles like a psychopath so I think I'll have a "decent" chance of surviving.

quote:

Originally posted by 12131:

quote:

Originally posted by Gustofer:

Looks like a great way to break a hip.

Have either of you seen scooter-induced broken hips, professionally? Or is this more along the lines of "If you get a Red Ryder, you'll shoot your eye out" or "Don't get a P320, it will go off by itself in your holster"

I would really like my wife to enjoy this, Lord knows, she deserves it, but I don't want to do it if it's a real risk.

You would really have to know my wife to assess this. She is probably as far from the typical 81 year old as you can get; both physically and mentally, she could easily challenge women half her age. She is more fit, more active, more agile, than many forty year olds.The energizer bunny would collapse, trying to keep up with her. Her situational awareness always amazes me, and her reaction time is competitive with youngsters.

She is no stranger to single-track vehicles. She was an MSF instructor, she put thousands of miles / year on her motorcycle. You might have seen the instructional film about motorcycles vs. cars, in a traffic school or driver's ed course. She was the motorcyclist in the film, with her champagne colored BMW R-65 -- she spent the better part of a week with the film crew and the precision driver of the automobile that almost hit her in each of the carefully choreographed scenarios.

I'm confident that her risk factor is much lower than the bulk of the population, but on the other hand, I would hate to see her go through what I did, when I had my fracture. I was planning to place the order this morning, but I guess I'll need to discuss this with her first.

quote:

Originally posted by JonDaddy82:

It looks like a crazy death wish

It sure does. 50 mph on a scooter like that!

The one that I'm looking at for my wife is entry level, limited to 15 mph.

quote:

Originally posted by V-Tail:
Have either of you seen scooter-induced broken hips, professionally? Or is this more along the lines of "If you get a Red Ryder, you'll shoot your eye out" or "Don't get a P320, it will go off by itself in your holster"

This particular contraption? No.

However, I do see a lot of broken hips in elderly women, particularly those with decreased bone density. It doesn't take much to get a fracture.

Taking a tumble, even at 10-15MPH, at her age, could certainly result in a hip (or other) fracture or potentially a head injury from whacking her melon on the ground.

At 81, she might think she's still young and spry, but she's not. I'd sure hate to see something catastrophic happen.

That does look like kind of a fun little unit though...for a youngin'.

quote:

Originally posted by Gustofer:

... head injury from whacking her melon on the ground.

Unbreakable habit from her motorcycle days -- she always wears a helmet on her bicycle, no exceptions, and she would do so with the scooter.

Segway makes solid scooters with good quality, but much less features for the money compared to Hiboy, Gotrax, and immotion which are popular. The Segway you posted has no rear suspension, no disc brakes, and the 8" non pneumatic tires will kill you if you kit a few pebbles or sand on the street. Speed makes it fun, 12 mph gets very boring very fast.

I just went round and round with this, researching it and went for one with a seat, much more stable seated position and can still be used standing up.

I would go for a seated scooter, gotrax makes a good one. But features I would be looking for: dual suspension, dual disc brakes, pneumatic tires and larger diameter the better (I prefer offroad tires as grass, sand etc. don't frazzle it, but I'm also using it on crappy Bahamian roads too a lot), and motor watts and battery size. That being said, if you don't need it folding/portable as much, the electric bikes are much more popular now.

I'm 275lbs and wanted one light enough to fold and carry onto and off of yachts when I travel on them (this is 53 lbs). I went with this one, keep in mind you should check all of the bolts on every single one you buy. But I use it around the neighborhood in Pompano Beach, it's done a yacht trip for a week in Key West, a 12 mile trip in West End, Bahamas and been to Elbow Cay, Bahamas in the past few months since I bought it. Battery life was still showing 2/3 battery life after the 12 mile trip all at 20+ mph, it does 34 mph with myself on it, rated for 330 lbs. 1st gear= 12 mph, 2nd gear =20 mph max, 3rd gear 34 mph......throttle is variable. You can just set the gear and run in the same gear all day, from a dead stop. 12 mph is way too slow and unstable too and boring. I usually ride 18-20 mph and it's fun, good breeze, and stable when you go over bumps and so forth, 34 mph is fun but have to really be paying attention and so far I have no need to go any faster than that, and that's usually about 4-6 mph too much, this is coming from someone that has a 96 mph 20' boat.

Mine. Several sellers on Amazon have it under different brand names, about the same price:
https://freeboystore.com/produ...ric-scooter-j-11-max

My friends gotrax, comfortable well built, not sure you can stand and ride:
https://www.amazon.com/Gotrax-...ps%2C135&sr=8-6&th=1

Another friend has this big tire Hiboy and really likes it, it's his 3rd scooter, he's a full time yacht captain that spends months in the bahamas and uses the heck out of it.

https://www.amazon.com/Hiboy-V...TmFtZT1zcF9hdGY&th=1

V-Tail, have you considered an e-bike? I’m thinking (just starting to think) about one for my wife; I’m not ready to give up my Trek road bike just yet. Lots of options; the main thing is I don’t like to think about going around standing up on a scooter.

quote:

Originally posted by sjtill:

V-Tail, have you considered an e-bike? I’m thinking (just starting to think) about one for my wife.

Yes, we discussed that and concluded that it's overkill. She just wants something to cruise the neighborhood (slowly), never leaving our gated community. Speed limits in all the sub-developments are 15 mph, and the furthest point from our house is maybe 1.5 miles, so low speed, limited range, will be good.

Also, looking at cost. This new Segway model, due to start shipping mid-week, has an introductory price of $299. A decent e-bike from a known manufacturer with good parts availability would cost a heck of a lot more than that, and have capabilities that she would never need or use.

My recommendation:



ATGATT. Even at 15 mph.

quote:

Originally posted by Sig2340:

My recommendation:

<helmet photo here>

ATGATT. Even at 15 mph.

ABSOLUTELY! She won't even go across the street on her bicycle without a helmet. It's a habit that she developed during her years of motorcycle riding. She'll use helmet, knee pads, etc.

Without a helmet you may receive a beump on the head. (Inspector Clouseau)