My name is Michael Hsu. I’m an adult. And I ride a kick
scooter. Yes, I’m aware how ridiculous I look when scooting around the city.
Baffled toddlers point and stare. Dork-averse teens snicker. Haughty
cyclists guffaw when they pass me in the bike lane. Although it’s well known
that motorists despise bikers, they hate scooter-riders even more. In the
urban-transportation food chain, an adult on a kick scooter is krill.
My scooter addiction started innocently enough. In the
beginning, I’d only ride behind my kids—a way to keep up with them as they
raced on their own scooters and bikes to the playground. But before long, I
found myself making solo excursions—a trip to the hardware store here, a
grocery run there. Before I knew it, I was hitting the ride every day. Once you
start scooting, navigating the city on foot can feel frustratingly inefficient.
It didn’t matter if I was scooting across town or just a couple of blocks—I’d
be jonesing for that enhanced speed.
While the number of adults on kick scooters hasn’t reached a
tipping point, the statistics are encouraging for riders, like me, who’ve
always felt like an outcast. In 2013, Micro’s most popular grown-up-oriented
model accounted for 14% of the company’s global sales; last year, that number
jumped to 24% and has already hit 29% this year to date. Meanwhile, sales of
the Razor A5 Lux this year are double what they were during the same period in
2014.
So what’s the harm, you may ask, if a few shame-resistant
adults want to scoot around town? It’s a free country, after all, and we’re not
hurting anyone. The problem is that a scooting obsession can easily turn dark.
Not long ago, I’d find myself staying up into the wee hours, searching YouTube
for instructional videos on “modding” my ride. There were guys on the
Internet—full-grown men like me—drilling aluminum tubes to lengthen their
scooters’ handlebars for better stability, jacking up the brakes to accommodate
bigger wheels. A scooter is inherently simple—that’s part of its appeal. But
that doesn’t mean you’re not always looking for ways to eke out a little more
speed.
SCOOTING TAKES some getting used to. You’re going to
feel the bumps in the road, and your legs and core are going to get a workout.
But the right kick scooter can make your journey a lot more comfortable. I
recommend sticking with a folding model that has a low deck and large tires
that will roll over cracks instead of stopping cold, as small-wheeled scooters
can. Although some models have suspensions and air-filled tires that smooth out
the ride, they require more effort to propel. Riding one can feel like scooting
on sand. My top picks are Razor A5 Lux, Micro Black and XOOTR Roma.
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here to access the full article on The Wall Street Journal.