WelshBloke
Lifer
- Jan 12, 2005
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How is 15mph on one of those? That sounds terrifying tbh!
Captante
Lifer
- Oct 20, 2003
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I was looking at SlickDeals the other day and saw their highest-end $799 model had just been sold for $60 on Amazon! April 27 price mistake so I was two days too late
Thanks. Was looking at this one a few days ago but the commenters weren’t kind about the brand, especially the refurbs:
Saw a few horror-stories. D: Probably better when new though.
Gotrax GXL Commuter Scooter (Refurbished) - $$142.50 at Gotrax.com
Older generation GXL adult scooter, manufacturer refurbished. Non returnable, 30 day warranty. Regular price $299.99 Sale price $149.99 Extra 5% off with code Welcome5 https://gotrax.com/prod ...slickdeals.net
That just means they become a kick-assist scooter for half the trip (half is downhill).
Yeah, but the scooter would continue to be useful since home is even further away and he no longer has the rainy day option he once had (me).
It’s a V-shape.
The walk is short, which is why we chose to do it even before I became a bigger burden... after returning the landlord’s truck and adding my PT to his load. Heck, the old walk was three times as far and we did that all the time too. The issue now is that he needs to do it multiple times a day and the 15 minutes adds up. Those are hours he no longer has to spare if he’s ever going to get caught up on all the other obligations that the tornado set him back on.
It would be useful for other places too, like a workshop that’s a block away from our mother’s place or I could put his car on charge at Target and return to work on my lunch break so the car and scooter will be charged after work. Since I can no longer drop him off at the charger or pick him up when it rains, he’d be using it even if he were back in the old place tomorrow, and that is about a half-hour wall. Even ignoring heat, cold, rain, and crime, doing that twice daily is still two hours a day he doesn’t have.
Yeah, it’s closer to 13 minutes with some forced crossings, especially when you find piles of old power lines in the sidewalk as you do . Did it ~10 minutes today thanks to the rain but was held up by some dude who wanted to talk about “my dog” (some random pit bull that followed me the whole way but wouldn’t let me pet him). Also, there have been two shootings there in the last week and a half including one right across the street. My alibi is solid since I skipped work to deal with this:
Try telling me that some other day when we didn’t both get drenched in the rain with wasted trips.
Yeah, uh, neither does walking. Luckily it’s only half a mile.Thanks!
Dog-walking OTOH doesn't carry the kind of injury risk of riding one of those on the street.... might as well plan to get around on a skateboard.
But then that worked fine for me ... when I was 12!
Unless whatever scooter you choose to ride on the street has a strong enough suspension to ride through a deep pothole at its maximum speed and have a chance to stay intact/upright, it's a bad idea for an adult. (especially if you go with no protective gear)
If I needed to get a "bare-minimum" vehicle to get around locally I would 1000% go with a sub-50cc gas-engine scooter with shocks, a seat and real brakes.
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- Jun 24, 2001
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Man, even walking over that stuff is treacherous. Every step pivots branches up to snag your feet mid-stride.
The slowest setting is more than enough and he’ll use it in the street for now.Thanks! Think I’ll grab the one you linked and grab the Segway Ninebot ES3 Plus from Costco, since I can have that today and I could always sell one.
My brother had the same idea but people around me seem to be incompetent at listing them. Generic names (“scooter”), no specs, no mention of how much use or range the batteries have, always annoyed when you ask, etc. Even saw some listing the rental scooters (Bird/Lime) that I assume they don’t actually own!
Yeah, I think 10MPH is more than enough.
My Ninja 250 will serve that roll well enough when I get it going again. Working on it.Dog-walking OTOH doesn't carry the kind of injury risk of riding one of those on the street.... might as well plan to get around on a skateboard.
But then that worked fine for me ... when I was 12!
Unless whatever scooter you choose to ride on the street has a strong enough suspension to ride through a deep pothole at its maximum speed and have a chance to stay intact/upright, it's a bad idea for an adult. (especially if you go with no protective gear)
If I needed to get a "bare-minimum" vehicle to get around locally I would 1000% go with a sub-50cc gas-engine scooter with shocks, a seat and real brakes.
The Segway I’m probably picking up today has front and rear suspension so at least there is that but I sure wouldn’t want to hit a pothole on it! Will be sure to get gear.
Oyeve
Lifer
- Oct 18, 1999
- 21,917
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It goes up to 15mph. It doesnt just shoot to 15! By default it's enabled at 10mph max, you have to hold the button down to get it into 15mph. The throttle is pretty smooth and easy. Not touchy at all.
WelshBloke
Lifer
- Jan 12, 2005
- 30,452
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I get that you don't have to do 15mph, it's just that 15mph with your feet inches off the floor and little wheels sounds excessively exciting to me!
Oyeve
Lifer
- Oct 18, 1999
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Nah, the wheels are 8.5 inches and air tires. They aren't rinky-dink like those razor scooters from the 90s. And water resistant. Can go through normal puddles and rain without blowing up. I even leap of a NYC curb and onto the street and barely feel it.
brianmanahan
Lifer
- Sep 2, 2006
- 24,237
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Captante
Lifer
- Oct 20, 2003
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My Ninja 250 will serve that roll well enough when I get it going again. Working on it.
Nice! One of the absolute best "starter" bikes ever made!
- Jun 24, 2001
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Loved it. It was my exclusive transportation from 2008-2012.Nice! One of the absolute best "starter" bikes ever made!
When I got my Corolla I started some of the bike maintenance and upgrades I never would have risked doing myself if it were my only form of transportation. I eventually ended up in a state where too many things were missing or gone or taken apart when the weather changed, so I left it in the accessory building at my mother’s for the winter. Next spring I found the entire gauge cluster and headlight were ruined when she moved it outside. It was filled with wet leaves and slimy muck and all the headlight collector/reflector was rotted/flaked off.
I got in over my head with an aftermarket Koso gauge set from Taiwan and a Chinese bi-xenon projector setup but I’m ready to figure it all out. Stopped paying the registration years ago since it was still taken apart everywhere and didn’t functionally exist as a bike, so I’ll have some fines to deal with if I get it rideable again.
Captante
Lifer
- Oct 20, 2003
- 30,277
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Good friend had a 250 Ninja for his first real bike. I rode it a bunch of times and although not fast, the fun-factor handling and peg-dragging "tossability" made it one of my favorite bikes ever around town.
Nobody makes bikes that won't intimidate a beginner AND can provide effortless thrills for experienced riders anymore.
About the only real weakness was trying to ride on the highway which really brought home what it would feel like be a "leaf on the wind" !!
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mxnerd
Diamond Member
- Jul 6, 2007
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Since your brother has to transport to and from the city hall multiple times, you can't go for an electric scooter that's the cheapest and only provides the minimum distance.
I would have suggested Segway too earlier if the budget was higher.
An those who suggested 50cc gasoline scooters, not only they won't fit in the Volt, it's overkill.
I would have suggested Segway too earlier if the budget was higher.
An those who suggested 50cc gasoline scooters, not only they won't fit in the Volt, it's overkill.
Red Squirrel
No Lifer
This thread kinda has me wanting to look into these myself. My F150 is great for Home Depot trips but it's so overkill for getting to work.
Swap out the wheels on one of these scooters with something that can work in the snow and it would be fun and cheap for commuting to work.
Probably better off with an ebike in my case though because of the snow. You can get snow tires on bikes now.
Swap out the wheels on one of these scooters with something that can work in the snow and it would be fun and cheap for commuting to work.
Probably better off with an ebike in my case though because of the snow. You can get snow tires on bikes now.
- Jun 24, 2001
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Since any could do that distance multiple times per charge, I was looking for the cheapest with presumably the lowest range. Definitely don’t need the Segway ES3 Plus’ extra battery or the extra expense it adds but the scooter was right there in front of me, ready to solve some of our immediate problems... immediately... for $602. Has a bunch of niceties we didn’t particularly want or care for (dual suspension, regen brake, etc) but those should have some resale value if we find a better fit while solving some problems in the mean time.
I left the car on charge and walked to the Trek bike shop nearby and saw some of their eBikes. Also saw some off-road bikes that could handle snow. Got approached by a sales person and nothing had a price on it so I knew they were going to be $$$.This thread kinda has me wanting to look into these myself. My F150 is great for Home Depot trips but it's so overkill for getting to work.
Swap out the wheels on one of these scooters with something that can work in the snow and it would be fun and cheap for commuting to work.
Probably better off with an ebike in my case though because of the snow. You can get snow tires on bikes now.
- Jun 24, 2001
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My roommate is having an absolute blast on the Segway ES3 Plus and it’s starting to become a problem. He can’t even wait for it to recharge before he’s begging to go out on it again. Was only letting him try it out since my brother was less enthusiastic about it and the roommate, an avid cyclist with no car, already had a helmet (we didn’t yet), but it’s $600 I can’t afford to lose right now on a joyride. Also, we want to limit charge capacity to 80% and keep charge cycles to a minimum to extend the useful life and improve resale value so I’m going to put my foot down about joyrides if he hasn’t gotten it out of his system yet.
Might limit capacity to something extremely low since it has 20x the range we typically need, then there simply won’t be enough charge for joyriding. Then again, we may end up taking it further more regularly after all.
There are certain morning/afternoon hours where you aren’t allowed to use the free public charger at city hall so my brother charged at a city park nearby and rode the scooter home a couple extra miles. We rarely used that park before because they close the gates and night (can’t get your car back until morning) so it was a bit too far to risk not getting back in time on foot, but all that changes with the scooter. Having portable “last-mile” transportation eally frees up some options. Heck, I can even take the car to work and if he needs it he can come get it with the range that scooter has.
My brother doesn’t see it that way though. He seems concerned with stability and doesn’t like it at all, despite the dual suspension on the Segway (front and rear).
Might limit capacity to something extremely low since it has 20x the range we typically need, then there simply won’t be enough charge for joyriding. Then again, we may end up taking it further more regularly after all.
There are certain morning/afternoon hours where you aren’t allowed to use the free public charger at city hall so my brother charged at a city park nearby and rode the scooter home a couple extra miles. We rarely used that park before because they close the gates and night (can’t get your car back until morning) so it was a bit too far to risk not getting back in time on foot, but all that changes with the scooter. Having portable “last-mile” transportation eally frees up some options. Heck, I can even take the car to work and if he needs it he can come get it with the range that scooter has.
My brother doesn’t see it that way though. He seems concerned with stability and doesn’t like it at all, despite the dual suspension on the Segway (front and rear).
OK, I’m trying to order it but looking at the listing I cannot tell what model it is. The reviews seem to be talking about all kinds of different models and the closest I can find to a model in the Amazon page is “V2.” There are a lot of “V2” scooters in the GoTrax line. Not sure what I’ll get if I order with that link. Is it the same $300 one that GoTrax sells?
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The dashboard (if you can call it that) display in the pics from Oyeve's link is totally different from the GXL V1 or V2. I think it's the Apex, but the URL has "GXL" in it... probably the consequence of merging review or something. No idea what I will get from that link.
@Oyeve
Does your display look like the one in your link? Do you remember seeing "Apex" anywhere on the package or other materials? Is that the one I should go for? Thanks!
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sdifox
No Lifer
- Sep 30, 2005
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- Jun 24, 2001
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I noticed when we were doing the initial charge that the Segway Ninebot ES3 Plus kept powering itself on for seemingly no reason, even before it was fully charged. It seemed to settle down for the next 2 days but came back with a vengeance when we capped the maximum charge level at 80% and left it on charge last night.
I think it normally turns on automatically when you unplug the charger and it is also getting triggered instead any time the charge automatically stops. During the initial charge it was probably triggered when the internal battery reached 100% and stopped charging well before the combined total was 100%. Now it seems to do it when it reaches 100% or whatever you set as the maximum charge limit.
I like having a feature that limits/caps your max charge because it lets you preserve charge cycles by not routinely charging to a capacity that is overkill for your intended usage (typically a half mile on a 28-mile range scooter for me). Lithium Ion batteries like it when you stay away from extremes, so fully discharging and fully charging will reduce your total charge cycles and maintain more capacity for those cycles before you need to replace the battery. I set the charge cap at 80% while intending to avoid going under 30%.
The problem now is that charging stops and it powers itself on when it reaches the target level, beeping and illuminating the whole room with its stupid animated RGB lighting in the middle of the night, which soon drains the battery below the target or shuts down automatically, which reactivates charging (BEEP!), and reaches the target again (80% for me)... rinse, repeat. To break the cycle you have to manually unplug when it reaches your target which completely defeats the point of setting one. If you ignore it then the automatic start, drain, charge, repeat cycling it does obviously adds wear cycles to your battery, however little, which ALSO completely defeats the point. I’ve got a feeling that this only works correctly on their ES1 (ES3 without the second battery).
Ugh.
Another annoyance is that it shows speed instead of numeric charge level when it turns itself on. Obviously speed is 0 when you are still plugged in so there is no point to that and not knowing that this was happening at ~80% charge made it hard to diagnose, especially since it was doing it on the initial charge before it was ever fully charged or limited and it was paired with my brother’s phone and not mine.
They could probably fix this with a firmware update that lets you disable auto-boot when charging stops or by tying it to the actual plug insertion rather than charging/charged status.
I think it normally turns on automatically when you unplug the charger and it is also getting triggered instead any time the charge automatically stops. During the initial charge it was probably triggered when the internal battery reached 100% and stopped charging well before the combined total was 100%. Now it seems to do it when it reaches 100% or whatever you set as the maximum charge limit.
I like having a feature that limits/caps your max charge because it lets you preserve charge cycles by not routinely charging to a capacity that is overkill for your intended usage (typically a half mile on a 28-mile range scooter for me). Lithium Ion batteries like it when you stay away from extremes, so fully discharging and fully charging will reduce your total charge cycles and maintain more capacity for those cycles before you need to replace the battery. I set the charge cap at 80% while intending to avoid going under 30%.
The problem now is that charging stops and it powers itself on when it reaches the target level, beeping and illuminating the whole room with its stupid animated RGB lighting in the middle of the night, which soon drains the battery below the target or shuts down automatically, which reactivates charging (BEEP!), and reaches the target again (80% for me)... rinse, repeat. To break the cycle you have to manually unplug when it reaches your target which completely defeats the point of setting one. If you ignore it then the automatic start, drain, charge, repeat cycling it does obviously adds wear cycles to your battery, however little, which ALSO completely defeats the point. I’ve got a feeling that this only works correctly on their ES1 (ES3 without the second battery).
Ugh.
Another annoyance is that it shows speed instead of numeric charge level when it turns itself on. Obviously speed is 0 when you are still plugged in so there is no point to that and not knowing that this was happening at ~80% charge made it hard to diagnose, especially since it was doing it on the initial charge before it was ever fully charged or limited and it was paired with my brother’s phone and not mine.
They could probably fix this with a firmware update that lets you disable auto-boot when charging stops or by tying it to the actual plug insertion rather than charging/charged status.
Hence, the bike is overkill. Also, the flexibility of the scooter lets you take it inside at work, shopping, etc where you might not bring the bike.
Oh, like a trials bike with no seat? Neat idea.
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- Jun 24, 2001
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Someone on YouTube gets a solid “CLICK!” when unfolding theirs and I don’t, making me worried it will fold up while riding. That same person had to return his for some persistent error code that I am not getting. I thought Segway was going to be the premium brand for support but their call center was apparently closed early on during the pandemic. Hmm... I opened a ticket online and was promised a response within 24 hours. All I got after a few days was a message about how the person helping me will be out of the office and they need a couple more days. Not enthusiastic about their support.
Yea, this, I have an E-bike, it goes 18 MPH no insurance and it's fun. I had to put a new controller on it last april the new one has an odometer, just running small errands and such 475 miles in one year, that's a lot of short trips my car didn't have to make and driving any car just 3/4 of a mile is a horrible thing to do to it.
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