Much as I love my Mibo Folding Scooter my hostility to micro wheeled scooters may be undermined by this cool number: the Kickped.
This little scooter is engineered both to last and handle abusive mean street use. With an ingenious fold setup and a sturdy build if I was after a scoot to travel short distances within and about a built up area -- such as inner city travel -- well, this is da wheels.
One distributor -- NYCE Wheels in New York -- the pricing may even make it worthwhile to import a Kickped as I assume the US price for cartage is not going to be massive.
If you don't get it, I'll tell you why this scooter ticks the boxes.
- It folds easily.
- It can be carried when folded ergonomically.
- It has an elevated handle bar and front stem for tall folks like us adults.
- It's a sturdy indestructible build.
What's not to like? Of yeah, those small wheels...Not the best gauge for long distance travel or free form descent; and wheels this size make your ride accident prone due to road or pavement grit and rubble or sudden bumps. Wheels like that would make the handle bar steering a tad top heavy but at least the Kickped is a solid build from the ground up to your fingers, so stem wave would be less than what gets caused by the ultra lite alloys used in other micros.
But then the Kickped weighs in at less than 4 kgm -- so despite the lack of 'lite' this ain't heavy.(The Mibo, in comparison, weighs just over 8 kgm).
The Kickped sells for $239 (US) . If you can land it in Aus for a $100 (AUD) extra (or there abouts) this is an excellent buy if you are based in an inner city area and want quick transit about your hood and on public transport. A travel arc of 2-3 km would be a breeze on the Kickped. Longer rides would be problematical, perhaps, but then if you check this vid out -- one guy touring the Norwegian fjords on a micro scooter -- you'l be inspired.
But look at it this way: on a Kickped you'd be traveling at twice standard walking pace and matching a running option if you were commuting to and from work. So you go to work, the pub or whatever on these wheels and if you get a lift home or catch the bus, tram or train for your return journey the Kickped can be easily ported.
It converts to hand luggage.
