$1299??? Apart from the GPS and "Free Rides Package" and "Bird Service Center", what's the value added? I could just get a Segway Ninebot ES4 for less than $800?
The Bird Service center would be actually extremely useful. I bought a Xiaomi M365 (which is what Bird initially used) and dealing with tire punctures is really difficult. The first time I changed the tube, it took me a week to finish it. The bolts on the holding wheel are extremely tight from the factory and tire is such a tight fit too, I broke and bent multiple tire levers trying to get it on. I tried bringing it a couple local bike shops, but none of them would look at it.
There's your problem right there... Why make a scooter with tyres instead of solid rubber with suspension? That's what Segway did with the Ninebot, and their scooters are great. So confused right now.. Tyres are meant for the low end/cheap scooters, not the high end stuff.
I've heard this statement a lot, but does anyone have a source? First I heard they were manufactured by Ninebot, then I heard that they were just designed by Ninebot. The build quality is actually quite different between the different brands.
I see people riding by on Boosted Boards and sometimes think that I want one. I never think that when I see someone on a scooter. I like to ride the scooter now and then, but I don't want to own one, nor do I want to carry one into my home or office.
I'm absolutely in love with the Onewheel: it may seem gimmicky, but having a massive, air-filled tire means you can go over serious obstacles and off-road (off-sidewalk) very easily.
Having a single wheel also means the wheelbase/turning radius is extremely small - you can turn in-place with enough skill.
I have a boosted board and I have been wanting to exchange it for a onewheel.
I am a bit more worried about the OW failure states though :
For example what happens if the battery dies ? since the OW balances itself, I fear it would be worse than a boosted (for which you are already potentially in a tight spot but you might be able to slow down manually) .
I've ridden the OW to 0% battery: you have plenty of warning before it gets dangerous.
The OW has a feature called "pushback" - when the battery is nearly-depleted or you are going too fast, it will aggressively adjust the angle of the board backwards, forcing you to slow down.
In the event of a low battery, you'll end up traveling at extremely low speed until the back end of the board touches the ground, forcing you to stop.
I live in Miami but am going to the Bay Area for a week or two at the end of July (lived in Oakland, SF, and Redwood City from mid 2014-early 2018). I'd love to try it while I'm there. I'll send you an email :)
How difficult are they to use if your balance isn't necessarily optimal? I tried to ride a cruising board back in college and.. well, broke my wrist when I fell (shrug).
I have fine balance normally so I've always wanted to try a Boosted because it'd be handy when I go into our SF office or when I do stuff in San Jose.
I rode a skateboard (badly) when I was in middleschool so I'm not sure how hard it is for a completely new person. I'm not super athletic, but I find it pretty easy.
The trickiest part of skateboarding is foot breaking and pushing, with the boosted board you really don't have to do either so it's generally a lot easier. I'd guess given a couple hours and a week cruising around a bit you'd be comfortable going pretty fast.
I wear a helmet and sometimes wrist guards depending on how risky I'm feeling. If you're in town and want to try it let me know.
Pushing the board accounts for a lot of the opportunities to lose balance. I don't have much experience with a powered board but I think it would be easier for me to keep balance on it.
A scooter's handlebars help but not as much as a bicycle, and I think it lulls you into a false sense of security.
In my experience learning to ride a regular longboard takes about 10 hours of practice across 5+ sessions. Learning to ride a boosted board to the same level of competence is a half hour endeavor. Really, the hard part of skateboarding is pushing, not standing.
On a boosted, I can go to the other side of my city, but I cannot do the return trip.
I can do the 6 miles to go there (since there are slopes, we are far from the theoretical and inflated max range)
Spend several hours .. and I would love to be able to go back on my skateboard afterwards.
That's unpalatable for most people, and probably unpalatable for everyone if you consider the wear on your joints. I'm not an expert but I think that even if you feel fine you're probably setting yourself up for osteoarthritis. Running a full marathon on a single day is more dangerous than running two half marathons on different days, and riding that far has gotta be sort of like running a marathon in terms of moving the joints.
My main worry on an eskate is to fall and gravely injure myself. Even if you are extremely skilled, you might still miss a pothole one day or a car might do something very stupid.
As far as wear on my joints .. I dunno .. most of the riding involve no shocks, the only fatigue is to have to stay on a slightly bent position.. your calves are the muscle that fatigue the most during eskating.
If it runs out battery, you can still push a boosted board manually. It's technically true of a scooter but it's impractical and I think the boosted board is lighter.
There are even cheaper options that are just as good.
The xiaomi m365, for example, is one of the most commonly owned electric scooters, (I am pretty sure it used to be the model that Bird based their scooters off of), and you can buy them for ~425$ or so.