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The Rise of the Electric Scooter

blog.codinghorror.com

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Re: The Rise of the Electric Scooter

#271

Post by journalctl »

6gvONxR4sf7o wrote: post #259
Symbiote wrote: post #190

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In Copenhagen it's often the opposite: the rest of the group came by bike, they're within 20m of the current bar, the person on foot will have to turn up later. Or we all walk. (Also, the suburban trains and taxis carry bikes for free.)

Is that the case in the winter too? I just started bike commuting in SF and have been wondering how it works in bike oriented colder countries when it starts raining/snowing.

Places with good bike infrastructure take care of it (e.g. plowing).

Re: The Rise of the Electric Scooter

#272

Post by stallmanite »

ses1984 wrote: post #26
TulliusCicero wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For rentable escooters, the consumer doesn't really have to worry about them being stolen. And they're easier to park than bikes.

What makes a rentable scooter easier to park than a rentable bike?

Because you just leave them wherever.

Edit: Not voicing approval for this practice but that’s how it seems to work in my city at least.

Re: The Rise of the Electric Scooter

#273

Post by mips_avatar »

geddy wrote: post #135
mips_avatar wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's why you need bigger better wheels. I agree that going above 15 on a Xiaomi scooter is terrifying, but on the Boosted Rev, it's smooth as butter.

Not only bigger, but inflatable rubber wheels. The small, hard rubber wheels that we used to rip when Razor Scooters were huge in the 90s were great if you didn't value your face.

I broke my arm on one of those as a kid.

Re: The Rise of the Electric Scooter

#274

Post by grogenaut »

lkbm wrote: post #203
abakker wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

rejoinder to the helmet point: if the speed is the same, and the places traveled are the same, the need for the helmet is the same.

If the speed is the same, and the places traveled are the same, and the likelihood of an accident is the same... Can you imagine going to a car dealership, and coming across a car with 10x the stopping distance and a center of mass twice as high as a Civic and the salesman telling you "it's just as safe so long as you're traveling the same speed and same places"? Would you buy that claim for a second? I've avoided nu…

Most people really can't run much over 7-10 mph. A bike and a skateboard both easily go faster than this. Eject and run is not really an option unless you want to face plant or do a skilled tuck and roll.

This gets more true the further you are from sprinting on a regular basis. And really unless you have practice you're not going to match speeds with the ground anyway

Re: The Rise of the Electric Scooter

#275

Post by com2kid »

NewsAware wrote: post #235
com2kid wrote: post #205

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Depends on the speed limit. Around here, on larger streets the speed limit is 35 mph. Riding a bike is considered a rather dangerous activity. Drop the speed limit to 20 mph and maybe sharing the road becomes possible. Seeing how other countries do it though, true separated bike lanes are the best. I agree that studies show painted bike lanes are actually more dangerous, but a physical barrier between cars and bikes…

The dangerous place is not the straight road, but crossings where cars turn right and hit cyclists going straight. So the way these spots are handled is way more important than painted line vs fence.

This is true, but putting the stopping line for cars back a few feet largely fixes this. (Source: HN post a few months ago ;)

Re: The Rise of the Electric Scooter

#276

Post by umvi »

aveni wrote: post #194
umvi wrote: post #176

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It was easily 4-5 times faster than walking I can walk a mile in 20 minutes which is 3 mph. This implies these scooters can maintain 12-15 mph? Am I just underestimating how fast you can get going on these things? That seems kind of fast unless you are going downhill both ways.

I ride an electric scooter approx. 4 mi each way Caltrain work everyday. I regularly maintain 15mph+ trip average.

Right, and the guy I was replying to was claiming that speed on a non-electric "Xootr".

Re: The Rise of the Electric Scooter

#277

Post by mikestew »

luu wrote: post #270
mikestew wrote: post #165

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That all said, 25mph on scooter wheels sounds terrifying. Meh, you work up to it. Time and place, though; I tone it down through the downtown part of the trail. What's your stopping distance at that speed? Faster than my car or motorcycle. And that's just using the regenerative braking of the motors. I've never tried a full-on-drop-anchor stop with both the mechanical disk and regen brakes.

> > What's your stopping distance at that speed? > Faster than my car or motorcycle. And that's just using the regenerative braking of the motors. I've never tried a full-on-drop-anchor stop with both the mechanical disk and regen brakes. Do you have a heavily modified scooter or something otherwise unusual? I looked up braking tests for cars, motorbikes, and e-scooters, and couldn't find a single e-scooter that's be…

Better brakes. The Xiaomi’s stopping power isn’t even close to the Boosted Rev, mainly due to weak regen braking on the Xiaomi.

But you caught me, it’s all been measured on the seat-of-the-pants dyno.

Re: The Rise of the Electric Scooter

#278

Post by [deleted] »

crimsonalucard wrote: post #85
tick_tock_tick wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You have the deal with the bike afterwords. Go for brunch in the mission and your friends are going back to the outer sunset with a scooter just fold it up and put it in the car with a bike either hope it's there when you get back, bike all the way, or go home then head over alone.

Get a brompton.

[deleted]

Re: The Rise of the Electric Scooter

#279

Post by hombre_fatal »

novok wrote: post #234
lkbm wrote: post #203

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If the speed is the same, and the places traveled are the same, and the likelihood of an accident is the same... Can you imagine going to a car dealership, and coming across a car with 10x the stopping distance and a center of mass twice as high as a Civic and the salesman telling you "it's just as safe so long as you're traveling the same speed and same places"? Would you buy that claim for a second? I've avoided nu…

Skateboards are slower than bikes unless you're really pushing it or bombing down a hill. Skateboarding is a skill and you can do all sorts of maneuvers to stop quickly, such as a side stop. I think the main reason why skateboards are worse injury wise is many of them try to do tricks constantly, while most bicyclists are not in that category. Also the small wheels are more sensitive to potholes.

> the main reason why skateboards are worse injury wise is many of them try to do tricks constantly

Surely it's simply because of scenarios like a small rock's ability to insta-stop your board, basically guaranteeing your injury. Pretty much every time I've ever been knocked off a skateboard during my commute would be something you wouldn't even think/care about if you were on a bike. Not even close. One is a bike, the other is a heavy, tall pole (you) on a low, rolling platform. One is far more precarious, like keeping a reverse pendulum balanced.

Hell, the most common injury I've seen on a skateboard is just someone stepping onto one, misplacing their center of mass, and the board just rocketing out from under them, and then bruising their tailbone/wrists. Even an inexperienced bicyclist doesn't have a fail case close to that.

Re: The Rise of the Electric Scooter

#280

Post by pmontra »

smashah wrote: post #116
Blackstone4 wrote: post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree that it’s sad that e-scooters are banned in the UK. I take the train to work and I have ~20mins of waking either end (1 hr 20 mins per day total). An electric scooter could save me ~40 mins per day.... Why are electric scooters banned when e-bikes are fine? What if they were capped at 20mph? Below the 25 for bikes

Ebikes are technically restricted to 15mph here. The micromobility laws in the UK are a complete joke and driven by car and tier 1 manufacturers lobbying (e.g Bosch via EU). EBikes and scooters are hands down the best solution to London's pollution issue yet people are getting fined for using them. There is a complete lack of logic in the rulings. The reason why escooters are illegal whereas EBikes are not: throttle.…

Don't know about the UK but in Italy the law is that (traditional) bicycles don't need any registration and helmet, ebikes are the same but the engine must be on only if the rider pedals and shuts down at 25 km/h. If not, it's a motorbike and needs driving license, helmet, registration and insurance. After all who cares if the engine is petrol or electric.

Escooters are about to be regulated. They should be motorbikes IMHO, but the slower speed and the way people use them make them something different. After all we want less cars around and escooters are a way to that goal.

But please, ban them from sidewalks. Having something fast moving among pedestrians is dangerous. Same for bicycles (and I'm a cyclist), only bike lanes and roads. Furthermore sidewalks are full of obstacles and have way worse pavements than roads.

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