(image: flickr/connortarter)
My son’s micro (metal fold-up) scooter broke last month, and not for the first time. I’m not sure what he does to them but we’ve not had one for longer than a couple of months before something or other falls off or goes wrong.
Determined to find a solution to my problem I decided it was time to spend a little more on the next scooter. I thought it would be easy to find a suitable ride with increased durability. In fact I ended up spending the best part of an afternoon trawling through various websites — both commercial and enthusiast.
I hadn’t realized there were so many to choose from. Two wheeled, three wheeled, pull along, swivel, chalking, sparking, low profile, wide handlebars… the list goes on forever. In the end I narrowed things down to focus on build quality and wheel material, the former for my wallet and the latter for my son’s scooting pleasure (he assures me that the right wheels mean you can pull off the best tricks).
I ended up choosing the Razor Black Classic Scooter. It doesn’t have too many gadgets of novelty features to break and promises it has been thoroughly tested and is “beefed up in all the right places, but still compact enough to be folded up and carried, this model is designed to take any punishment you can throw at it.”
Once it arrived I was impressed with the weight and build of the scooter — very easy to assemble and no rattles. The welds between each aluminum part are where our other scooters fell down so I was happy to see the Razor had seamless joins that (although I’m no expert on these matters) looked like they had been reinforced on the inside edge.
Although I’m still keeping an ear out each time my son returns from school for the tell tell “Dad can you fix my scooter again.” So far it’s looking very good. After around a month’s use there are none of the usual rattles or wobbly bits that our (admittedly) cheaper scooters seem to quickly develop.
My son also seems more than happy with how it rides and keeps telling anyone who will listen about its “98mm ultra pro urethane wheels” which he memorized from the box I think. Best of all for him, he now has a bit more kudos in the scooter rankings at school — and seems to take great joy at the envy of his class mates. I know, not the best thing in the world to encourage, but having put up with his brother’s hand me-downs most of his life I’m happy for him to bask in the glory of a shiny new toy.
[image credit: flickr/connortarter]
