Kick Scooter
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

A kick scooter (also referred to as a push-scooter or scooter) is a human-powered street vehicle with a handlebar, deck, and
wheel A wheel is a rotating component (typically circular in shape) that is intended to turn on an axle Bearing (mechanical), bearing. The wheel is one of the key components of the wheel and axle which is one of the Simple machine, six simple machin ...
s propelled by a rider pushing off the ground with their leg. Today the most common scooters are made of
aluminum Aluminium (or aluminum in North American English) is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol Al and atomic number 13. It has a density lower than that of other common metals, about one-third that of steel. Aluminium has ...
,
titanium Titanium is a chemical element; it has symbol Ti and atomic number 22. Found in nature only as an oxide, it can be reduced to produce a lustrous transition metal with a silver color, low density, and high strength, resistant to corrosion in ...
, and
steel Steel is an alloy of iron and carbon that demonstrates improved mechanical properties compared to the pure form of iron. Due to steel's high Young's modulus, elastic modulus, Yield (engineering), yield strength, Fracture, fracture strength a ...
. Some kick scooters made for younger children have 3 to 4 wheels (but most common ones have 2 wheels) and are made of
plastic Plastics are a wide range of synthetic polymers, synthetic or Semisynthesis, semisynthetic materials composed primarily of Polymer, polymers. Their defining characteristic, Plasticity (physics), plasticity, allows them to be Injection moulding ...
and do not fold. High-performance
kickbike A kickbike (bikeboard, footbike, pedicycle) is a type of kick scooter (also referred to as a push-scooter or scooter) and is a human-powered street vehicle with a handlebar, deck, and wheels propelled by a rider pushing off the ground. The kickb ...
s are also made. A company that had once made the Razor Scooters revitalized the design in the mid-nineties and early two-thousands. Three-wheel models where the frame forks into two decks are known as Y scooters or
trikke The Trikke works by shifting body weight The Trikke ( ; also known as a wiggle scooter, scissor scooter, carver scooter, Y scooter, or V scooter) is a chainless, pedalless, personal vehicle with a three-wheel frame. The rider stands on two foo ...
s.
Motorized scooter A motorized scooter is a stand-up Kick scooter, scooter powered by either a small internal combustion engine or electric Wheel hub motor, hub motor in its front and/or rear wheel. Classified as a form of micromobility, they are generally designed ...
s, historically powered by
internal combustion engine An internal combustion engine (ICE or IC engine) is a heat engine in which the combustion of a fuel occurs with an oxidizer (usually air) in a combustion chamber that is an integral part of the working fluid flow circuit. In an internal comb ...
s, and more recently
electric motor An electric motor is a machine that converts electrical energy into mechanical energy. Most electric motors operate through the interaction between the motor's magnetic field and electric current in a electromagnetic coil, wire winding to gene ...
s, are self-propelled kick scooters capable of speeds sometimes exceeding .


Models and history


Early scooters

Kick scooters have been handmade in industrial urban areas in Europe and the United States since the 1920s or earlier, often as toys made for children to roam the streets. One common home-made version is made by attaching
roller skate Roller skates are boots with wheels mounted to the bottom, allowing the user to travel on hard surfaces similarly to an ice skater on ice. The first roller skate was an inline skate design, effectively an ice skate with a line of wheels replac ...
wheelsets to a board with some kind of handle, usually an old box. To turn, riders can lean or use a second board connected by a crude pivot. The construction was all wood, with 3–4 inch (75–100 mm) wheels containing steel
ball bearings A ball bearing is a type of rolling-element bearing that uses balls to maintain the separation between the bearing races. The purpose of a ball bearing is to reduce rotational friction and support radial and axial loads. It achieves this ...
. An additional advantage of this construction was a loud noise, like from a "real" vehicle. An alternative construction consists of one steel clamp on a roller skate divided into front and rear parts and attached to a wood beam. The German ''Bundesarchiv'' for "roller" details that both homemade and manufactured children's scooters were used and even raced in Paris, Berlin and Leipzig in 1930, 1948 and 1951. They are similar to later designs. The short movie "A Trip Through the Streets of Amsterdam" from 1922 shows several children on scooters.


Kick scooter

In 1974, the
Honda commonly known as just Honda, is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate automotive manufacturer headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Founded in October 1946 by Soichiro Honda, Honda has bee ...
company made the , a scooter driven by a pedal on a lever. While it seemed to be as much effort to "kick" as a regular scooter, the novelty of it caught on and it became popular nevertheless.


Pneumatic tires

Before
bicycle A bicycle, also called a pedal cycle, bike, push-bike or cycle, is a human-powered transport, human-powered or motorized bicycle, motor-assisted, bicycle pedal, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, with two bicycle wheel, wheels attached to a ...
s became popular among children,
steel Steel is an alloy of iron and carbon that demonstrates improved mechanical properties compared to the pure form of iron. Due to steel's high Young's modulus, elastic modulus, Yield (engineering), yield strength, Fracture, fracture strength a ...
scooters with two small
bicycle wheel A bicycle wheel is a wheel, most commonly a wire wheel, designed for a bicycle. A pair is often called a wheelset, especially in the context of ready built "off the shelf" performance-oriented wheels. Bicycle wheels are typically designed ...
s were more common. Around 1987, many
BMX BMX, an abbreviation for bicycle motocross or bike motocross, is a cycle sport performed on BMX bikes, either in competitive BMX racing or freestyle BMX, or else in general street or off-road recreation. History BMX began during the ea ...
manufacturers produced BMX-like scooters, such as Scoot. Those manufacturers discontinued their scooters, but some scooter manufacturers were established in later years and remain in business. These scooters are still used in dense urban areas for utility purposes, since they are faster than a folding scooter. Some are made for off-road use and are described as mountain scooters. In addition to commuting, sports competition, and off-road use, large wheel scooters are a favorite for
dog scootering Mushing is a sport or transport method powered by dogs. It includes drafting (dog), carting, pulka, dog scootering, sled dog racing, skijoring, freighting, and weight pulling. More specifically, it implies the use of one or more dogs to pull a sle ...
, an activity in which single or team dogs, such as huskies, pull a scooter and its rider in the same way that a sled is pulled across snow. Some
Amish The Amish (, also or ; ; ), formally the Old Order Amish, are a group of traditionalist Anabaptism, Anabaptist Christianity, Christian Christian denomination, church fellowships with Swiss people, Swiss and Alsace, Alsatian origins. As they ...
do not want to ride bicycles, so they ride scooters instead. Today, variations on the
kicksled The kicksled or spark is a small sled consisting of a chair mounted on a pair of flexible metal runners that extend backward to about twice the chair's length. The sled is propelled by kicking ( or in the Scandinavian languages) the ground by foo ...
with scooter design features are also available, such as the Kickspark.


Kickbike

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, which allows for a much faster ride. The Footbike Eurocup has been held since 2001.


Folding scooters

In 1990, a foldable
aluminium Aluminium (or aluminum in North American English) is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol Al and atomic number 13. It has a density lower than that of other common metals, about one-third that of steel. Aluminium has ...
scooter with
inline skates Inline skates are boots with wheels arranged in a single line from front to back, allowing one to move in an ice skate-like fashion. Inline skates are technically a type of roller skates, roller skate, but most people associate the term rolle ...
wheels was created by Wim Ouboter of
Micro Mobility Systems Micro Mobility Systems Ltd, known as Micro, is a Switzerland, Swiss company that produces urban vehicles such as kickscooters and the Microlino, a small electric car which was first presented at the Geneva Motor Show in 2016. In the United Stat ...
in Switzerland. The scooter was sold as "Micro Skate Scooter," "
Razor A razor is a bladed tool primarily used in the removal of body hair through the act of shaving. Kinds of razors include straight razors, safety razors, disposable razors, and electric razors. While the razor has been in existence since be ...
," and "JDBUG/JDRAZOR MS-130A". The Razor was introduced to Japan in 1999, with many early adopters being young Japanese who used it for portable transport. It later became a worldwide fad and these small scooters also became popular toys for children. TurboAnt's folding scooters are known for their detachable battery designs. Its electric scooters have a range of between 18 and 30 miles.


Pro scooters

Kick scooters used for
extreme sport Action sports, adventure sports or extreme sports are physical activity, activities perceived as involving a high degree of risk of injury or death. These activities often involve speed, height, a high level of physical exertion and highly speci ...
are called pro scooters. They are specially made to withstand damage as the rider performs stunts and tricks. Numerous brands specialize in stunt scooters and accessories including lightweight and high strength parts, helmets, pads, ramps, grind wax, griptape, grips, bearings and clothing. File:Early razor scooter.jpg, Early Razor scooter with 98 mm wheels File:Early razor scooter folded.jpg, Folded Razor scooter File:Little boy on mini micro 4731291463 806be59606 o.jpg, A Mini Micro scooter with three wheels File:Xootrs at Williams jeh.JPG, Xootr scooters in the USA


Three wheels

Three-wheeled scooters similar to
tricycle A tricycle, sometimes abbreviated to trike, is a Human-powered transport, human-powered (or gasoline or electric motor powered or assisted, or gravity powered) Three-wheeler, three-wheeled vehicle. Some tricycles, such as cycle rickshaws (for pa ...
s have been produced for little children. In 1999, Micro Mobility Systems and
K2 Sports K2 Sports, LLC, known simply as K2, is an American sporting goods company headquartered in Seattle, Washington focused primarily on winter sports equipment. K2 operates under the labels K2 Snow and K2 Skates, as well as its subsidiaries Backcou ...
produced a reverse-three-wheeled scooter called "Kickboard". Micro also produced the Kickboard-like children's scooters "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 and requires design adaptation to improve its response. An example is the Mini Micro, which uses a spring-loaded system to translate lateral force on the handbars (child leaning) into turning motion on the wheels, referred by its makers as "lean and steer".


Four wheels

The early scooters, which were made with roller skates, were four-wheeled like
skateboard A skateboard is a type of sports equipment used for skateboarding. It is usually made of a specially designed 7–8-ply maple plywood deck and has polyurethane wheels attached to the underside by a pair of skateboarding trucks. The skateboard ...
s. Around 2000, a Swiss company produced a four-wheeled scooter called the "Wetzer Stickboard". The Wetzer Stickboard was a narrow skateboard with a foldable pole on the nose. In 2006, a company called Nextsport started producing a line of four-wheeled scooters, known as Fuzions. The 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 stability. Later scooters such as the Fuzion NX included smaller and harder wheels. It also included 360 degree handlebar spinning capabilities, unlike its predecessors.


Electric kick scooters

Electric models achieved popularity over their gas-powered counter parts in the early 2000. They are often manufactured for fleet rentals, such as
Lime Lime most commonly refers to: * Lime (fruit), a green citrus fruit * Lime (material), inorganic materials containing calcium, usually calcium oxide or calcium hydroxide * Lime (color), a color between yellow and green Lime may also refer to: Bo ...
e-scooters. Shared electric kick scooters have also made a certain contribution to environmental protection, because they do not emit greenhouse gases, reduce traffic congestion and reduce the need for public transportation, however they are most sustainable when they are "replacing personalized individual transport". Electric scooters are also available for personal use, with manufacturers such as TurboAnt offering models designed for individual ownership.


Safety

Care must be taken when going up or down curbs, as this can cause the scooter to come to a sudden stop, sending the rider onto the ground.


See also

* Chukudu – A freight vehicle in the
Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), also known as the DR Congo, Congo-Kinshasa, or simply the Congo (the last ambiguously also referring to the neighbouring Republic of the Congo), is a country in Central Africa. By land area, it is t ...
*
Electric skateboard An electric skateboard is a personal transporter based on a skateboard. The speed is usually controlled by a wireless hand-held throttle remote, or rider body weight-shifting between front of the board for forward motion and rear for braking. As ...
*
Freestyle scootering Freestyle scootering (also known as scootering or scooter riding) is an extreme sport that involves using kick scooters to perform freestyle tricks. This is done mainly in skateparks but also in urban environments on obstacles such as stairs, ha ...
* Wiggle scooter *
ABEC scale The ABEC scale is an industry accepted standard for the tolerances of a ball bearing. The ABEC scale is designed to provide bearing manufacturers dimensional specifications that meet the standards of precision bearings in a specified class. The sca ...


References


External links

* {{Authority control Articles containing video clips Human-powered vehicles Sports equipment Wheeled vehicles