Energy Efficient or Exhausting?

Apart from the in-line scooter craze of 1999, the use of scooters in our society has been almost totally non-existent. Many would-be scooter riders have observed that it can be much less tiring to ride a bike for mile than to ride a scooter for the same mile. While this is true, it is also false! How can something be both true and false? Well, if you ride that mile at 12 MPH, the bike may be less tiring, and you will finish the ride in 5 minutes. But if you ride that same mile at 6MPH, it will take 10 minutes and you will find it less tiring on a scooter.

With the scooter, you don't need that uncomfortable bicycle seat, the oily chain, the mounting and dismounting, and the extra weight of the bicycle. The scooter is simple. Even if you think you are not going very fast, the walking pedestrians you passed a few seconds ago will be way behind the next time you glance back at them. The key to energy-efficient scootering is to resist the temptation of going full speed and instead just letting the vehicle glide along. Using fewer, longer strokes and changing your body position and switching feet, you are not stuck in one position, as you would be sitting on a bike with pedals. At low speeds, it can sometimes seem as if you are getting an effortless free ride, compared to the hapless pedestrian.

This brings up the other reason that scooters never took their share of our transportation needs. We remember the toy scooters that we had as children. They often had hard solid tires on loose wheels that had primitive pin axles and the rolling resistance of an upside-down sheep. (Don't ask me how I know that). The old scooters just coasted to a virtual halt and all your energy was wasted in restarting the momentum with each push of the leg. There was a glimmer of hope in the 1980's when the BMX scooter almost became a good seller, but then the scooter vanished again.

And then suddenly there were the folding inline scooters of the late 1990's. The skate bearings had a low rolling resistance, but the wheels were so tiny that you lost energy to the bumps, and the vibrations of the ride were subtly exhausting to the rider. Just like inline skates, the Razors and their many imitators were superbly portable and great fun on shiny smooth concrete, but a hard and potentially catastrophic ride on bumpy asphalt and uneven pavement. Even the high-end small-wheelers, the "Xootr" and the "Know-Ped" were bumpy, tiring, small-wheeled challenges to ride for any distance.

The Obvious Solution: Big Wheels!

Enter the scooter with bicycle wheels. Looking like a bicycle with no seat or pedals or gears, this bare bones vehicle has a lot in common with the ancient bone-rumbling ancestor of the bike, but with a reasonably light weight and a reasonably low rolling resistance, these bike/scooter hybrids are at last the perfect answer to efficient low speed travel.

The large wheeled scooters have been quite popular in Europe for some time but have found the American market to be a tough nut to crack. So where did they come from? Scandinavia is a snowy place, and about a century ago, Kicksleds became popular. Basically a scooter with parallel runners instead of wheels, the Kicksled remained almost uniquely Scandinavian until Finn Hannu Vierikko refined the design in the 1980's and the modern Kicksled was born. Hannu then developed the Kickbike so he could train for his Kicksled when there was no snow on the ground.

Soon the Kickbike inspired other makers such as Sidewalker and Diggler to market large wheeled scooters and their use began to spread from Finland, to Europe, to Australia and to other small pockets around the world. The original Kickbikes inspired organized sports and riders now compete in international competition just like cyclists. Americans, still recovering from spending a huge sum of money on unused inline scooters, have yet to realize how fantastic the large wheeled scooters can be, but it's only a matter of time until more scooters hit the streets of the US. If you ever rode an inline scooter or skated in the street, the difference on a large-wheeled scooter will astound you. Obviously it's a much larger item, but there is no comparison between the experience of riding a Sidewalker or a Kickbike versus riding on a Razor or Rollerblades.

Unlimited Range.

Electric scooters have enjoyed very limited success because they run out of charge in well under an hour and that simply is not enough for an afternoon out and about. Plus, the wheels are still much too small on most designs. No, if you want to enjoy a whole day of low speed outdoor fun, you can teeter around getting your tender butt kicked by a hard bicycle saddle, or you can buy yourself a good push scooter with big wheels. Kickbike athletes have ridden mind-boggling distances on their twenty-pound mounts and many enthusiastic owners have pushed their range to dozens of miles in one day. Once again, there are two approaches to this. Fast and tiring, or slow and easy.

The KickbikeUSA website has published details of the first ever US coast-to-coast human powered scooter run. In Summer 2001, Jim Deltzer followed a 3,100-mile Northerly route over bad roads and mountains, and through snow and headwinds. It took him five weeks to travel from the Pacific to the Atlantic, and a diary of this record setting run is on the Kickbike.com site.

In late 2001, Dan Nielsen rode from the beach on the Pacific coast to the beach on the Atlantic coast, following a much shorter 2,378-mile Southerly route, he made the trip in just three weeks and a diary of this record breaking run is on the KickbikeUSA site.

vu-test: Kickbike vs. Sidewalker.

To illustrate the reasoning behind this discourse, which at first may sound unconvincing or indeed downright crazy, the-vu decided once again to put it to the test. Purchasing a Sidewalker City from SidewalkerUSA.com, and also a Millennium Kickbike from KickBikeUSA.com the road tests began in August 2003, in and around the former "roller-skating capital of the world", Venice Beach, California.

Price

The Sidewalker City was $299 including free shipping. The Kickbike Millennium is the same price, but does not include shipping, which makes it $45 more.

Shipping time

The Sidewalker was shipped from Canada on a Saturday and delivered in Los Angeles, CA, USA on Wednesday. Not counting Sunday, that's three days. At the time of writing, SidewalkerUSA do not charge beyond the $299 price for shipping, but you could say it's built in. The Kickbike was shipped on a Tuesday and arrived three days later on the Friday

Packing

On the side of the Sidewalker box is the first indication of where the scooter was made, Taiwan. I was originally wondering if it might have been born in an Austrian factory, since Blauwerk, the maker of Sidewalkers, is ostensibly Austrian, but I suppose Austrian labor does not come cheap, and who'd buy a $900 scooter? The scooter was alarmingly free within its thin and torn cardboard box, but arrived in perfect condition. Seemingly missing was the rear reflector, and the longest included bolt at 1" was not long enough to go through the fork to attach the front lightweight plastic fender. The Kickbike's box was no more substantial, but arrived undamaged and the contents were wedged in tight to prevent movement.

Assembly, tools, accessories and documentation

With the Sidewalker, there were no instructions, and there was no booklet, no video, no invoice and no tools. Eying a bag of bolts, I decided immediately to take the scooter to a mechanic and pay to have it assembled, which turned out to be very simple. It was just a matter of knowing how to turn a wrench and how to adjust brake cables. If you don't mind the occasional spray of dirty water on your legs, It may be worth omitting the fenders from your Sidewalker assembly. They are so light and flexible that they are constantly moving themselves towards the sidewalls of the tires and catching your swinging foot.

The Kickbike shipped with a small pile of accessories including a VHS videotape, a spare front tube, a wrench, a double hex key, a double screwdriver, a mini pump with bracket, a simple manual, a "letter" from the inventor and 2 promotional stickers. Before you even receive your Kickbike, their website has a simple photographed step-by-step assembly guide, but KickbikeUSA also recommends professional assembly. The Kickbike's brake cables are already connected so you basically just insert the handlebars into the fork, adjust the brakes and you're done. The very solid, chromed, rear fender is preinstalled and there was no front fender in the box. Was it missing or is the front fender an optional extra? I emailed Kickbike USA and Herb Seres explained that they no longer include the front fender because the Kickbike is almost universally preferred without the front fender installed. The frame keeps the ground water off the rider anyway. In all the Kickbike photos you see online, there are almost none with the front fenders installed. Also missing: a front reflector. Without the front fender, a bike mechanic can assemble the Kickbike in about five minutes.

Weight

The Sidewalker City weighs 26lbs (11.8 kg) and the Kickbike Millennium weighs 19.84lbs (9 kg). Each vehicle is considerably lighter than any normal bicycle. There are some rare bicycles that utilize expensive and rare metals, carbon fiber and plastics and end up weighing less than a Kickbike, but we're unlikely to find them in a normal bike shop. Pedals, gears, chains, crossbars, seat posts and saddles add a lot of weight, which has to be pedaled around by a seated bicycle rider. Both of our full size adult scooters can be considered very low in weight compared to any normal bicycle. And weight is very important. Just as the extra weight of that big off-road SUV you use as a station wagon means you burn more gasoline per mile, a heavier scooter means your body has to output more energy per mile. In use, the Kickbike feels much lighter than the Sidewalker, and it also has a lower rolling resistance, but that's a high standard and the Sidewalker is also light and easy rolling.

Portability

The Sidewalker's 26lbs is easy to lift and carry with two hands, but a bit heavy for a one handed hold, and with just the front wheel removed it slips nicely into a mid-sized sedan's trunk with the back seat folded down (a Dodge Stratus). With both wheels off you can use the trunk alone. Fully assembled the Sidewalker City seems like a giant. I am 5' 7" but I feel small beside this scooter. At 19lbs without the front fender, the Kickbike is much easier to lift or carry and the smaller rear wheel just seems to keep out of the way. The huge 700 front wheel is ultra light and the thin tall tire makes it so easy to pop on and off without unhooking the brakes.

Which one to keep, which one to sell?

Having purchased one of each to test and play with, I am faced with the choice of which one I should keep for myself and which one I should consider selling. Different people would of course have different criteria for picking their favorite from these two great devices. But my extensive testing leaves me with little doubt as to which is the ultimate vehicle; it's the Kickbike.

There is an exception though. For the older or less athletic rider who wants to cruise on the sidewalk and go at lower speeds in a comfortable, relaxed, upright manner, the Sidewalker City would be a much better choice than the Kickbike. For the speedster, or for someone who just wants to look cool, get a Kickbike Millennium Pro Racer, ride it daily, and don't let it out of your sight!