Review on Upgrade Your Commute With Hikole'S Adjustable Height Scooter For Adults And Teens - Dual Suspension, 8" Wheels And Shoulder Strap Included by Bill Kodba

I'm a 60-something adult who needed a scooter to get around while recovering from an injury that limited my ability to take impact on one leg. My experience with scooters prior to this was limited to when my kids had the early Razors a couple of decades ago, and, while I ride a bike regularly, it's bolted to the floor at the gym. But this injury was going to take months to recover from and would seriously limit my ability to get around, so I had to do something.I tried one of those stunt scooters with little skateboard wheels (it was at Walmart, and it was cheap, and yes I was stupid): my first time out I caught the front wheel in a pavement crack and broke a rib (mine, not the scooter's). So after checking out the available offerings and their reviews I ordered this Hikole from Ebay. Here are my impressions after a few days' hard use.Regarding issues noted in previous reviews: It arrived on time, in a sturdy, oversized Ebay carton, with the manufacturer's carton and contents inside showing no sign of shipping damage (some previous reviews cite flimsy packaging--not the case here). There are instructions for assembly but they're in tiny print so I ignored them as well as the tiny little tools so thoughtfully provided and had the thing unfolded and ready to go in under a minute; I'm maybe more experienced than average at putting things together, being a homeowner and parent, but I make up for that by being clumsy, so I suspect my experience here is typical; other reviews noting difficulty with setup strike me as being outliers.The most common problem people seem to have had with this scooter is with the handlebar locking mechanism, but I found it pretty straightforward, with a few minor (and necessary) caveats. There are two levers involved, one of which is a secondary/safety to prevent the thing from folding up on you if you should accidentally trip the main lever--can't see how this could happen, but it's a nice touch, and doesn't significantly complicate anything--it's just a friction-clamp lever. The trick with closing the thing up is that you trip the main lever until it clicks, then push the handlebar stem counter-intuitively *away* from the footboard (i.e., as if you were trying to open it still more): there's a clearly audible click, and then the thing folds easily. There are text/graphic instructions for this on the scooter as well as in the printed manual. I think the point of this kind of mechanism is to prevent spontaneous collapse of the handlebars while you're riding, so it's probably worth getting used to it, even if it might be a little confusing the first time you use it--and I hate to see the company taking grief for what is actually a necessary design/safety feature. I did see one review that described a painful injury from getting a finger caught in the mechanism. Having done this kind of thing to myself in a variety of other settings (I'm looking at *you,* folding futon frame!), my sympathies to the writer, and thanks to him for posting a necessary warning. But the warning isn't really about this scooter per se: I don't see anything about this device that makes it especially likely to grab you when it folds up. It's *always* a good idea to keep parts of yourself out of the pinch zone. Opening the scooter up is simpler than folding: trip the main lever, spread handlebar stem from footboard at the hinge until you hear a (clearly audible) click, then snug down the secondary/backup lever. Bottom line with folding/unfolding: it's easy once you've done it once or twice, and a fair amount of design work seems to have gone into making the mechanism as easy as is consistent with sturdy and safe.Design and Build: The scooter gives an initial impression of strength and thoughtful design, which use bears out. It is sized appropriately for an adult. Max passenger weight, per specs, is 100 kg/220 lb, which I haven't quite been able to test. Handlebars are adjustable to three different heights covering a pretty wide range--I'm a medium-sized adult and the middle setting works fine for me, so I imagine anyone up to 6'2" and possibly taller would be able to stand comfortably upright with the bars at the highest setting. I think most kids 12 and up would do fine with the shorter setting (but I don't have one of those around any more to test that hypothesis). The height adjustment felt sturdy, with a single, beefy, spring-driven button snapping securely into place. It takes some force to push that button in to change the setting, so I don't think you have to worry about it suddenly changing on you. The handgrips install/remove from their sockets with a similar spring-loaded button mechanism. Once removed, they remain tethered by a length of shock cord so you won't lose them; to keep them from flailing around like nunchucks, you can snap them into a sturdy plastic clamp that holds them parallel to the handlebar stem; this also minimizes the profile for storage or carrying. The shock cord is the only thing about this scooter that struck me as less than robust--it's basically stretchy string, a little too floppy and long (you kind of have to stuff it back into the sockets when remounting the grips), and looks like it will break under minimal strain--Hikole could upgrade this for about five cents a unit and I'd change my rating for sturdiness to 5 stars. There's a little bitty kickstand which you have to install yourself (two small bolts, two small nuts, maybe two minutes if you have two thumbs); I installed it, but haven't used it, because, really?Which leads to what I like best about design: there's an adjustable strap included, which clips onto the front of the handlebar stem top and bottom. You can snug it up so it doesn't flap around while you're riding, but once you close the unit up for carying (assuming you're shortening the handlebar in the process), there's enough slack that you can sling the scooter easily over your shoulder without any other adjustment. The sling is also a little on the lightweight side, so if you're planning on using it daily you might consider replacing it with something sturdier--any luggage strap you have on hand will likely fit. (Depending on your luggage, it will also probably look stupid, but then you're an adult riding a scooter.) Folded for carrying, the scooter is maybe twice the size and weight of the original Razors my kids had years ago, but I find I can sling it just fine (even with a cracked rib, which makes other activities, like breathing, painful) and hop up and down onto the city bus without any trouble. It's lightweight enough that it's easy to shove it up on the luggage rack if your bus has them, or you can just hold onto it. When I get off the bus, I unsling the scooter, click, snap, snap, and it's ready to ride in about ten seconds. I work on a large university campus and find that having the scooter handy makes getting around a lot smoother. It's a half mile from my office to the gym, for instance, long enough that there have been times when that seemed sufficient reason to skip it, but now the trip, and others like it, are faster, easier--and fun. The fundamental requirement of good design is that using something shouldn't be so complicated that it constitutes a barrier to use--this scooter passes that test brilliantly. In a few days the thing has become practically an extension of myself, so I'm not thinking about it--I'm just using it. More than that, it's allowing me to do things I would otherwise avoid.Performance: OK, I'm an aging office worker with a bum leg, so I'm not looking to do stunts. Which is OK, because the manufacturer warns against attempting to stunt with this thing as well. What there is to talk about here is: it scoots. It scoots easily and smoothly over concrete sidewalks and asphalt. Steering, to the extent that this matters, is easy to control. You can oversteer any scooter, of course, and wind up flipping yourself onto said asphalt, but that's not a performance issue particular to this machine. The steering bearings feel very smooth and solid. At 8" diameter, the wheels are huge compared to the skateboard wheels that tried to kill me previously: despite repeated attempts, I haven't yet been able to catch the front wheel in any concrete sidewalk seam that wouldn't be a threat to a bicycle as well. The tires are some miracle plastic--smooth, high-friction, with just enough elasticity to help cushion the ride but without adding rolling resistance. I haven't managed to lose traction while leaning into a turn at speed, but since the width of the bearing surface is maybe half an inch, I'd avoid patches of gravel, mud, sand, etc. if you're going to ride like that. I can't speak to durability with the wheels yet, but after twenty miles or so of mostly sidewalk travel I took a sponge to them and it's hard to tell they're not right out of the box. The wheel bearings do what they're supposed to do, so I haven't noticed anything about them, but based on the overall quality of the build I have no reason to suspect they're a weak link in an otherwise sturdy machine. The front and rear suspension, of which the manufacturer is reasonably proud, does a good job cushioning shocks through a pair of beefy (if a little theatrically mounted) springs, without any hint of mushiness in the handling. You don't notice the suspension doing any work at all until you're riding over, say, seams on concrete sidewalk, and then you're glad it's there. The footbed flexes appropriately in use, enough to contribute to the rider's proprioception without becoming distracting. The bed is wide enough to give some leeway in where you put your weight vs. where you're pushing off from, and long enough that I can change feet while coasting by sliding my trailing foot forward from the brake while angling my leading foot out of the way; this while wearing size 9 running shoes. The bed height is a reasonable compromise: as (I suspect) with any scooter, you're going to notice the first few times you're out on it that pushing requires a fair amount of up and down, flexing at the knee and hip and giving the quadriceps and glutes on whichever leg you're standing on a significant workout. But you want the bed to be high enough to allow you to lean into turns. I haven't bothered to check the specs on this and compare with other models, but in practice it seems Hikole has found a reasonable compromise for an urban/commuter scooter. And I have quads like an ape now. What else? Oh, yes: there's a brake. As on the early Razors, the brake doubles as a rear mudguard, a function I haven't had a chance to test since this is summer and I'm not looking to get wet, but other reviewers report that it keeps your backside dry on wet roads. As a brake, I love it: it's just a sculpted curve of flexible plastic that hugs the top of the rear wheel when you press down on it. It's stiff enough to rest one foot on while coasting, while, in use, it's surprisingly responsive: I wasn't riding long before I found I could control speed on a range of downhill slopes well enough to keep pace with someone walking beside me. The brake will get hot with continued use, an issue while handling the scooter immediately after a ride, but I haven't seen signs of anything melting. I don't know how well this device will stop you if you've lost control on a steep downhill and I'd rather not find out: this is why hospitals have emergency departments. Should you wear a helmet and pads? Well duh. Are you going to? Probably not. Just make sure you're clicked the "organ donor" option on your driver's license and you'll be OK. Bottom line: it scoots, it steers, it absorbs shocks, and it stops.Overall, I couldn't be more pleased with my purchase. Value (it was less than twice what I paid at Walmart for the Ribbreaker 9000) is excellent. It's delightful to use while incorporating valuable safety features, easy to transport and store, and does everything I expected from it and more.