Kick scooter

Two-wheeled, three-wheeled and four-wheeled scooters which appeared in 2000s

A kick scooter or push scooter, originally scooter, is a human-powered vehicle with a handlebar, deck and wheels that is propelled by a rider pushing off the ground. The most common scooters today have two hard small wheels, are made primarily of aluminium and fold for convenience. Some kick scooters that are made for younger children have 3 or 4 wheels and are made of plastic or do not fold. High performance racing scooters made for adults resemble the old "penny-farthing" with much larger wheel in front.

Models and history

Early scooters

Wooden scooter with a pair of roller skates

Primitive scooters have been hand-made in industrial urban areas for at least 100 years. One common homemade version is made by attaching roller skate wheel sets to a board with some kind of handle, usually an old box. Steering is provided by leaning, or by a second board connected by a crude pivot. The construction was all-wooden, with 3–4 inch (75–100 mm) wheels with steel ball bearings. An additional advantage of this construction was loud noise, just like from a "real" vehicle. An alternative construction consists of one steel clamp–on roller skate divided into front and rear parts and attached to a wood beam.

Pneumatic tires

Before bicycles became popular among children, Two-wheeled scooters with bicycle wheels had been the most useful vehicles for them. Those are still developed today; Some are used in dense urban areas for utility purposes, being faster than a folding scooter and more convenient than a utility bicycle. Some are made for off-road use and are described as Mountain Scooters. Besides commuting, sports competition and off-road use, large wheel scooters are a favorite for Dog scootering where single or team dogs such as huskies pull a scooter and rider in the same way that a sled is pulled across snow. Some amish are not allowed to ride bicycles, So they ride scooters instead. Today variations on the kicksled with scooter design features are also available, such as the Kickspark.

Footbike

The development of the Kickbike in Finland in 1994 changed the way scooters are viewed. The kickbike has a large standard size bicycle front wheel and a much smaller rear wheel, allowing a much faster ride. The Footbike Eurocup has been held since 2001.

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  The similar vehicle had been produced by Denis Johnson in 1819
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  Photo in Diest 1936
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  Diggler mountain scooters
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  Kickbike scooter (Footbike)

Folding scooters

In the late 1990s, the "Micro Skate Scooter", a sleeker, narrower folding version of the kick scooter, was created by Wim Ouboter of Micro Mobility Systems in Switzerland. The scooter was rebadged as the "Razor" in the USA. JD Corporation, the founder of Razor USA also sold them as the "JD Bug/Razor MS-130A". In 1999 and 2000 the aluminum scooters and their copies became popular in Japan and the United States, in a wide variety of colors and styles. The three brands are still produced and are popular with children and with a niche market of young adults who use the scooters to perform stunts. See Scootering.

Large folding scooters

Folding kick scooters optimized for adults generally have more durable parts and are designed with wider decks, hand brake, and larger wheels, for smoother transportation instead of less weight and portability. An example is the Xootr Street, which incorporates 180 mm (7.1 in) wheels with a maximum load of 300 lbs. Another example is the Go-Ped Know-Ped, which incorporates 6 in wheels with solid-rubber tires with a maximum load of 400 lbs.

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  Early Razor scooter with 98mm wheels
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  Folded Razor scooter
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  MICRO scooter with 200mm wheels
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  Xootr scooter with 180mm wheels

Three wheels

Kickboard

Three-wheeled scooters like tricycles have been produced for little children.

In 1999, Micro Mobility Systems and K2 produced a reverse-three-wheeled scooter as "Kickboard". Micro also produced the Kickboard-like-children's scooters as "Mini Micro" and "Maxi Micro". The reverse design inherently provides greater stability than the standard: a standing person will tend to stand at the front of a scooter rather than at the back. However, the steering geometry is inherently weak & requires innovative solutions to provide a decent response. An example is the MiniMicro, which uses a spring loaded system to translate lateral force on the handbars (child leaning) into turning motion on the wheels, referred by the makers as 'lean and steer'.

Four wheels

The early scooters, which were made with roller skates, were four-wheeled like skateboards.

Around 2000, A Swiss company produced a four-wheeled scooter as "Wetzer Stickboard". The Stickboard was a narrow skateboard with a foldable pole on the nose.[1]

In 2006, a company called Nextsport started producing a line of four-wheeled scooters, known as Fuzion s. Fuzion scooters are typically bigger and heavier than Razor and Micro models. The early Fuzion models come with large, wide wheels, and an oversized deck for carving stability. Later scooters, such as the Fuzion NX, include smaller, harder wheels, and 360 degree handlebar spinning capabilities, unlike its predecessors.

There are also a few instances of freestyle scooter riders mounting skateboard trucks to standard aluminum style scooters to make four wheelers.[2]

Comparison with the bicycle

A folding scooter and a utility bicycle

Unlike a kick scooter, a bicycle has a seat and drive train, which add speed, cost, weight and bulk. A folding scooter can be more easily carried than a folding bicycle or even a portable bicycle. Even a non-folding scooter is easier to manoeuvre between obstacles, as there are no protruding pedals. Thus a cyclist has advantages in longer journeys and open spaces, and a kick scooter in shorter and more crowded ones. Kickers seldom have a luggage rack, so the rider usually carries any cargo on their back.

At low speeds a bicycle is difficult to control while pedaling, which is why cyclists sometimes kick their way through dense traffic or in other conditions where they cannot take advantage of the speed of their machine. Thanks to the superior low-speed stability of a Kickbike, it is usually regarded as a kick scooter and permitted on footways where riding a bicycle is forbidden.

Since the feet are nearer the ground on a scooter, it is easier to step on and off than even a step-through frame bicycle, hence the rider can alternate walking and pushing as energy and route dictate. Large wheel scooters such as the Kickbike afford a more effective cross training workout than standard bicycles as the whole body is engaged in the effort of kicking. Pushing or kicking a large wheel scooter places less stress on the knee joints than pedaling a bicycle, so it is often preferred by people with knee problems. Although the bicycle is a much more effective and efficient long distance machine, in 2001 Jim Delzer propelled a Kickbike across the United States.

Modifications

See also: Freestyle Scooters § Freestyle scooter parts

Freestyle riders are modifying their scooters with the increase in the manufacturing of aftermarket kick scooter products. This includes items such as grips, one piece bars, one piece decks, complete deck griptape, aftermarket bearings and metalcore wheels.