Electric Scooter 2021

manac

manac

Pre-takeoff checklist
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Manac
Looking for something for my wife and I to get into town/hotel from the local airport.
2-6 mile trip.
Uber/Lyft/Taxi/rental are all possibilities but 6 miles would be a huge radius from so many airports.

Any actual experiences with the current offerings? <- Key part of the question.
 
Read it.

"Maybe consider walking? You may actually gain some useful load if done enough..."

WTF

Any actual experiences with the current offerings? <- Key part of the question.
 
I ran into a guy the other day who had just bought a couple of Jupiter Bikes (X5) to put in the back of his Mooney. I didn't ride it, but I gave them a pretty good once over while I was there chatting with him. I guess the only way I could make this work is if my wife and I use only backpacks for our luggage, or we're not staying overnight.
 
My girlfriend and I ride onewheels. Specifically we have the Pint which I find to be enough. One of the best things to enjoy in our free time and even better for short distances to/from the FBO’s. We recently used them on our key west trip and it couldn’t have been more fun

facts: cost is 950 for the pint, 1750 for the longer range XR. Pint will do 16mph at an advertised 6-9 miles, their figures are very conservative and my girlfriend and I typically get 11-12 miles on ours. The XR advertises 19mph for 12-18 miles.

pros: super fun to ride, both hands free which is a big benifit over other offerings. Easy to transport around, just flat out looks cool.

cons: the range is relatively short compared to other electronic scooters or the like, speed is also a bit slower.

I would recommend one but bear in mind some people don’t like not having handle bars which I understand. If you really need speed and long range this isn’t the play. If you want to have fun and solve your mission this is the way to go.

See the pic in my post below to see what they are! It wouldn’t let me edit to add it here
 
JustinD said:
My girlfriend and I ride onewheels. Specifically we have the Pint which I find to be enough. One of the best things to enjoy in our free time and even better for short distances to/from the FBO’s. We recently used them on our key west trip and it couldn’t have been more fun

facts: cost is 950 for the pint, 1750 for the longer range XR. Pint will do 16mph at an advertised 6-9 miles, their figures are very conservative and my girlfriend and I typically get 11-12 miles on ours. The XR advertises 19mph for 12-18 miles.

pros: super fun to ride, both hands free which is a big benifit over other offerings. Easy to transport around, just flat out looks cool.

cons: the range is relatively short compared to other electronic scooters or the like, speed is also a bit slower.

I would recommend one but bear in mind some people don’t like not having handle bars which I understand. If you really need speed and long range this isn’t the play. If you want to have fun and solve your mission this is the way to go.

See the pic in my post below to see what they are! It wouldn’t let me edit to add it here
Click to expand...

I've seen them. How are those things in a panic stop? To the uninitiated, they reek of 'potential fail."
 
Sac Arrow said:
I've seen them. How are those things in a panic stop? To the uninitiated, they reek of 'potential fail."
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Yeah, I would have fun with that, but my wife can barely stand still without falling over, there's no way she's riding one of those.
 
Sac Arrow said:
I've seen them. How are those things in a panic stop? To the uninitiated, they reek of 'potential fail."
Click to expand...
Yeah, I would have fun with that, but my wife can barely stand still without falling over, there's no way she's riding one of those.
 
There's really no problem with cargo on a bicycle, even a folding one. It's electric now, but that just means the handlebar bag is now a battery.
IMG_0027 (1).JPG DSC_0004.JPG
 
Sac Arrow said:
I've seen them. How are those things in a panic stop? To the uninitiated, they reek of 'potential fail."
Click to expand...

So as fair as a "fail" as you mentioned I don't really think that's a common problem at all. Looking at the odometer data I have, I have ridden mine for 450 miles, and my girlfriend has ridden hers for 251 miles. Neither of us have had a failure due in part to the board that caused us to fall. I have fallen a few times and so has my girlfriend, but each time it was due in part to our riding, not the board failing.

In a panic stop it is quite good, they advertise "stop on a dime" I can go from full riding speed to a full stop in just several feet, it is very good at stopping. Let me say though that my girlfriend and I are both surfers, skateboarders, snowboarders etc so a board sport like this is fairly natural to us. For someone not as versed in boardsports it could take some riding to get used to but the board is very stable and the self balancing tech in it is amazing.
 
JustinD said:
pros: super fun to ride, both hands free which is a big benifit over other offerings. Easy to transport around, just flat out looks cool.
Click to expand...

I'm trying to understand the hands-free benefit here. Are you and your lady friend riding these around and firing bows and arrows at enemies like some sort of one-wheeled neo-mongolians? :D

We have several riders of these in my neighborhood. I imagine the learning curve hurts, but core strength must benefit tremendously once mastered. I'm a bit jealous, but spend most of my time contemplating Dualtron scooters for us.
 
manac said:
Looking for something for my wife and I to get into town/hotel from the local airport.
2-6 mile trip.
Uber/Lyft/Taxi/rental are all possibilities but 6 miles would be a huge radius from so many airports.

Any actual experiences with the current offerings? <- Key part of the question.
Click to expand...
I just got a couple of these from costco for $300 each.
https://ridejetson.com/products/bolt-pro-electric-bike-refurbished?variant=32381463461971
They have a 15-30 mile range (depending if you assist with the pedaling) and fit nicely in the back of the skylane. On the flats they're great, up decent hills my 200 pound self has to pedal to keep up with my 120 pound wife (who doesn't need to pedal). While there are much nicer electric bikes on the market these are pretty comfortable and do the trick well for a 5-10 mile round trip. I'm really happy so far.

Jim
 
schmookeeg said:
I'm trying to understand the hands-free benefit here. Are you and your lady friend riding these around and firing bows and arrows at enemies like some sort of one-wheeled neo-mongolians? :D

We have several riders of these in my neighborhood. I imagine the learning curve hurts, but core strength must benefit tremendously once mastered. I'm a bit jealous, but spend most of my time contemplating Dualtron scooters for us.
Click to expand...

hahahaha we are not that cool! Just a benefit to being able to hold bags, drinks, food, and so on!
 
schmookeeg said:
I'm trying to understand the hands-free benefit here. Are you and your lady friend riding these around and firing bows and arrows at enemies like some sort of one-wheeled neo-mongolians? :D

We have several riders of these in my neighborhood. I imagine the learning curve hurts, but core strength must benefit tremendously once mastered. I'm a bit jealous, but spend most of my time contemplating Dualtron scooters for us.
Click to expand...
Think selfie sticks

In all honesty I'd like to try a one wheel, but they're so expensive, and it looks like quite a commitment to become proficient enough to be useful as transportation. The LAST thing I need is another expensive, time consuming hobby.
 
The Onewheels are freaking awesome...I own three now and run a OW repair and mod shop. Juts got back from a 15 mile mountain bike trail run and the are a great transportation tool to toss in the plane. Best part is once you get to a destination you can just carry it to the hotel/restaurant/store and are not suck with dealing with a rideable you have to lock up somewhere.

Yeah, there is a bit of a learning curve but we have one rider here in town that is in his 70s and just likes to cruise around.

They fit amazing in the back of the plane. Biggest benefit of the hands free riding is the ability to stop at Cold Stone and then still keep cruising with you cup of ice cream in hand!

For scooters, the Segway Ninebots are pretty slick. Got a few of those from Costco for work but I only use the Onewheel now.
 
In just circled the US flying into small airports. I have a light sport airplane so a combo of light weight and endurance was key. I was also on a budget. I settled on the Hover One Journey. It folds up very compactly, especially if you disconnect the handle bars (takes about 30 seconds).

I used this regularly over a period of 3 weeks and it worked out great.

There are better ones out there if weight and budget are less of a concern.
 
Shawn said:
The Onewheels are freaking awesome...I own three now and run a OW repair and mod shop.

Yeah, there is a bit of a learning curve..
Click to expand...

How reliable are they and what’s a common repair?

Is learning to use the OW much harder than learning to ride the (original) Segway?

I saw a guy, with wife and kids walking next to him, using a OW last month while on vacation and complimented him. He offered to let me try it but I, relaxing with ice cream half eaten, declined. Maybe that was a good choice as it avoided providing entertainment to his kids.

I’ve been thinking about getting a foldable bike or electric scooter, but maybe this OW thing is an option to consider.
 
We are considering some transport for three situations.
1. Lunch run from the airport into town. E.g. recent stop in Line Bluff WY, if the courtesy car is not there you have a couple mile walk into town to get lunch.
2. Around town
3. To a hiking area, usually requires going on streets with cars, and I carry my camera backpack (30-40 lbs depending on if I pack lunch also) with me.

I fly a Cirrus SR22 and want to put the bike in storage area. The door is nominally 20in by 20in.

So any suggested ebikes besides the Jupiter X5, based on folded dimensions is slightly too tall?

(As interesting as OneWheel is, I just do not see it working well for my balance challenged wife, or going along streets with a heavy camera bag, just too risky)

Tim

Sent from my HD1907 using Tapatalk
 
Thanks all. One wheel looks cool but the wife said NO. Leaning towards a Segway Ninebots Max. I’ll see if she likes and will use it (her horse is at a barn that’s only 3 miles away).
If it works I’ll get something larger and setup a little trailer for a bag.
 
TrueCourse said:
How reliable are they and what’s a common repair?

Is learning to use the OW much harder than learning to ride the (original) Segway?

I saw a guy, with wife and kids walking next to him, using a OW last month while on vacation and complimented him. He offered to let me try it but I, relaxing with ice cream half eaten, declined. Maybe that was a good choice as it avoided providing entertainment to his kids.

I’ve been thinking about getting a foldable bike or electric scooter, but maybe this OW thing is an option to consider.
Click to expand...

in my view very reliable I’m almost at 500 miles on mine, my girlfriend is around 250 miles, and I have several friends with higher mileage ones as well. No mechanical malfunctions to my knowledge. Most of the issues you see are from people getting them completely submerged, or trying to modify it and messing something up if they don't know what they are doing. Overall it's a very reliable product, they are all hand made in California. maintenance so to speak is straightforward, there really is none other than making sure the tire is properly inflated every now and then. The tire lasts roughly 1000 miles before it needs to be changed out. There are bearings and other things but those last for many many more miles and would likely be years down the road for the average user. To give a price example, for $100 onewheel will cover shipping both ways, a new tire, tire change, and a tune up and cleaning of the internal components. There are plenty of people who do local repairs and mods too if you wanted to do something else or save a few bucks.

As for the learning curve. The pint has some assitances to help you stop and get off which is the most challenge part, as far as riding, it would be similar to standing on a skateboard, snowboard, surfboard etc, but easier to balance. The biggest issue i see is people trying to counter the device to balance themselves. When one understands the device is literally designed to take all your balance imperfections and balance itself then you'll be good, every motion you do to try and "balance" yourself is actually further throwing you off balance hence why people get wobbly on self balancing devices, you really need to trust it to do its job. That last statement is true for any self balancing device, segway, onewheel, EUC etc.
 
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TrueCourse said:
How reliable are they and what’s a common repair?

Is learning to use the OW much harder than learning to ride the (original) Segway?

I saw a guy, with wife and kids walking next to him, using a OW last month while on vacation and complimented him. He offered to let me try it but I, relaxing with ice cream half eaten, declined. Maybe that was a good choice as it avoided providing entertainment to his kids.

I’ve been thinking about getting a foldable bike or electric scooter, but maybe this OW thing is an option to consider.
Click to expand...

Totally agree with everything posted above. While some can hop right on, in reality it takes most a few days and about 100 miles to get “comfortable” on them which is why a “hey, can I try that out” hop on trial ride is not always great.

Little to no Mx other than once people get proficient they often swap out the stock tire for a better ride and performance which is easy if you are mechanically inclined or most OW shops charge $50-$65 for a swap.

I ride with guys that are truly pushing the limits of the devices so we are in a constant state of repair and mods, but for the casual rider you can get literally thousands of miles out of them right outta the box with zero issues.
 
The Segway Ninebot Kickscooter Max (what’s in a name) arrived.
Liz loves it, she was tooling around on the grass runway getting used to it.
19mph, 30 mi real world range.
I’ve ordered an Apollo Ghost, we’ll see how it rides.
 
manac said:
19mph, 30 mi real world range.
Click to expand...

Note they ship in a slower mode, you need to activate a full speed mode in the app...took us a while to figure that out as we were completely underwhelmed right outta the box...we also didn't read the manual so there is that!
 
“ship in a slower mode” ya, you have to go into the app and take the tutorial to get out of eco mode. The speed modes are stupid, they limit power not speed. You can stall out going up a hill because your in a lower setting. With full power it will take you up a steep hill though. My son absconded with it and took it to the steepest hill around, he said it had no problems. It fit right in the 182’s baggage compartment. We’ll see how two do. I’m impressed with it.
 
manac said:
I’ve ordered an Apollo Ghost, we’ll see how it rides.
Click to expand...

Have you received and ridden the Ghost yet? I’m considering it. I’ve read about it but am interested in hearing your thoughts on its weight and how easy it is to load into the plane.
 
Got the Ghost. I’d recommend it. Took some setting up in the controller to get it the way I like it. Scary fast, hard not to spin the tires on startup. Will zip up steep hills here (17% grade).
Haven’t had it in the plane yet, should fit fine. The Segway isn’t much smaller and it’s easy.

These scooters are custom branded for the company’s. The Apollo Phantom is the same as the Varla Eagle One. I’d probably go for the EO today. The Electric Scooter Guide web site is pretty good. It doesn’t mention the company that actually makes the scooter though.

We took them to the airport and the zipped into town for lunch the other weekend.
My wife had fun!

Some pictures of the Segway.
257DC6C3-71F0-468A-953E-5540AF080B68.jpegFE98C2A1-D93F-468D-82C5-03D614377563.jpeg
 
manac said:
Got the Ghost. I’d recommend it. Took some setting up in the controller to get it the way I like it. Scary fast, hard not to spin the tires on startup. Will zip up steep hills here (17% grade).
Haven’t had it in the plane yet, should fit fine. The Segway isn’t much smaller and it’s easy.

These scooters are custom branded for the company’s. The Apollo Phantom is the same as the Varla Eagle One. I’d probably go for the EO today. The Electric Scooter Guide web site is pretty good. It doesn’t mention the company that actually makes the scooter though.

We took them to the airport and the zipped into town for lunch the other weekend.
My wife had fun!

Some pictures of the Segway.
View attachment 99224View attachment 99225
Click to expand...

Longaberger?
 
My challenge with all of these is picturing myself riding one along the side of a country highway for 5+ km into a town. I can't think of anything that won't look comic with a 240 lb middle-aged guy perched on top of it.
 
I've bought two on account of this thread already. :D Returned the ninebot back to costco for insufficient performance in the hills of Tahoe. Rocking a minimotors mini 4 pro now -- "scary fast" is definitely the phrase.

Took it on a 10 mile run to costco and back last week (so 20mi round). Fun as heck. I'm sure I am an 11 on the dork meter, but I don't care.
 
We have the Bird Air...Its about $400 at Target. Thing is fast and stable and folds up pretty small. Been happy with it for the last 8 months of pretty heavy use between me and my son. 18mph and 15mi range I believe
 
manac said:
Got the Ghost. I’d recommend it. Took some setting up in the controller to get it the way I like it. Scary fast, hard not to spin the tires on startup. Will zip up steep hills here (17% grade).
Haven’t had it in the plane yet, should fit fine. The Segway isn’t much smaller and it’s easy.

These scooters are custom branded for the company’s. The Apollo Phantom is the same as the Varla Eagle One. I’d probably go for the EO today. The Electric Scooter Guide web site is pretty good. It doesn’t mention the company that actually makes the scooter though.

We took them to the airport and the zipped into town for lunch the other weekend.
My wife had fun!
Click to expand...

There are two things I’ve read about the Ghost that I like. The suspension and its uphill capability with the dual motor. I’ve read they have sold a ton of them. So one can get a Varla Eagle One for $100 more than the Ghost, and it’s actually a Phantom? That’s good to know. But, yikes, it’s 77 lbs!

Edit: The Phantom and Eagle One actually look different and have different motor output, amount other things.
 
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David Megginson said:
My challenge with all of these is picturing myself riding one along the side of a country highway for 5+ km into a town. I can't think of anything that won't look comic with a 240 lb middle-aged guy perched on top of it.
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You’d be having the time of your life. Just don’t gun run over.
 
The Phantom and EO are higher model than the Ghost. All three are made by the same factory in China.
Segway G30P is 42lbs, Ghost is 62lbs. Didn’t realize the Phantom/EO are 77.
42 is light, 62 is pushing it. Don’t know if I’d want to muscle around 77lbs.
Longaberger?, Peterborough Basket Co NH.
“I can't think of anything that won't look comic with a 240 lb middle-aged guy perched on top of it.” Try 260
 
We're thinking electric bicycles; had a recent experience with them at Mid-Ohio racetrack, due to the long distances involved. Two full-sized ones would eat up the back seats on a Cessna single (with front wheel removed) but the folding ones cost more. We had Magnums.
 
Kenny Phillips said:
We're thinking electric bicycles; had a recent experience with them at Mid-Ohio racetrack, due to the long distances involved. Two full-sized ones would eat up the back seats on a Cessna single (with front wheel removed) but the folding ones cost more. We had Magnums.
Click to expand...
I agree with the bicycle notion. Finding folders to fit... That's another story...

Best is the Brompton... But I don't travel enough to warrant the coin.
 
Just looked it up. Both scooters are made by Titan in China. The Varla EO = Apollo Pro = Titan Unicool T10 DDM. Apollo claims LG batteries in the Pro.

The Ghost is a Unicool VDM 10. I’m not sure if Varla’s support is any better or worse then Apollo.

When I bought the Ghost I thought it was only available through Apollo.
I was a little miffed that all they are doing is designing the decals to be slapped on the scooter. It doesn’t mean it’s a bad scooter and Apollo has a good reputation for service.
 
Yea, when I’m looking at all the electric bikes it’s the same thing. They look similar and you know they are made in China. The Jupiter X7 looks appealing and can fold just haven’t taken the measurements and compared to the baggage door sizes yet.
 
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