I live only a mile or two from my workplace but have been driving my car back and forth recently because I have to come home on my 30-40 min lunch break to walk my dog. I used to love walking or biking to work before I got my dog, but my bike broke down and when I looked into getting a new bike, a good quality one seemed so expensive, like close to $1000!!. Plus I would get sweaty biking to work, struggling up small hills, and could never wear skirts if I was biking. I hated using my car for 2 round trips a day for such a short distance, so I researched "adult" scooters and this one seemed like the best! It was SO easy to "unbox" and assemble, I would almost say no real assembly required, it was so minimal, basically just unfold and snap into place! My main fears/concerns before purchasing the scooter were 1) How fast could I really go and at what effort/sweatiness level would that require?/How would it compare to biking or walking for effort level vs. speed/efficiency? 2) How manuverable would it be on sidewalks and around turns for me as a total newbie? 3) How safely could I brake and slow down with the rear fender brake, esp since there are a few moderate hills on my route? I will say this, all my concerns/fears are at ease after trying it out!! I do think it is important to wear sturdy shoes. If you are commuting (I hate to say scoomuting) to work, it would prob be best to wear tennis shoes on the scooter and change into you work shoes once you get there unless you can wear relatively sturdy shoes to work anyway. 1) On my route with a few small up and down hills, I found it very easy to make the trip in a faster pace than prob even biking, and it's very easy to coast at a relatively high speed without continually kicking as long as you're not going up a slope. Up a slight slope you're going to be kicking more. Flat or down a slight hill it's effortless and you glide! I have a few sections of short but slightly steeper uphill, and for those I just walk the scooter cause it's easier and less effort. 2) For manuerverability, I would say it is very easy to turn and feel safe about it, even for me just starting out. Dips in sidewalks between driveways, bumps in asphalt, just be a little careful til you get the feel for it, but it was very able to handle the bumps with the large wheels! 3) Lastly, the braking... for sure you cannot stop this thing as quickly as you could a bike with hand brakes, that is for sure. For me it was easy to go down a relatively steep neighborhood downhill and just hold the rear fender brake down to slow my speed (though it could not actually stop the scooter's momentum), and then just step off when I needed to because in my case it was a stop sign and turn at the bottom of the hill. In an "emergency braking" situation like a squirrel runs into your path, it's gonna be harder to stop short quickly, but for your own safety the good news is that it's very easy to slow your speed by tapping/planting your free foot on the ground repeatedly, and/or just hop off the scooter. It felt very safe to me even on downhills or in situations where the brake didn't feel effective enough, just to tap/plant my foot to help brake and slow the speed quickly. I think if anything, since it's not an electric scooter, you will prob never be in a position where you can't just stop or slow your speed under your own power once you realize that you can use your free foot to slow down or hop off (and therefore quickly come to a stop). Overall, I feel very safe and comfortable riding this scooter, and for my situation it seems like a better non-car commuter option than a bike, unless you already like biking for longer distances.
