Inky went out and got himself a new toy, and I’m just so pleased with it I’ve got to get the word out. Go-Ped’s --those little Wiley Coyote-esque motorized scooter-boards you see the neighborhood kids zipping around on-- well go out and get one now because they are just SO bitchin!
First off, I’d like to mention that when I first saw folks shooting around on these things my first reaction was to say “Damn, that looks like a great way to bust open your skull”, but now I realize that was a little bit of my dad talking. I’ve since come to the conclusion that you can do just as much damage to yourself (if not more) on a bike. A dumb rider is a dumb rider-- period.
So anyway, they’re really easy to learn, run forever on a gallon of gas, fold up so you can easily carry them on the bus or a BART train, oh-so trendy among the dot-communist crowd and basically are just a total blast to ride around a city on. Also, if you live in a congested city like I do they are the only way to fly.
So, for all you parents out there, get ready for your kids begging and pleading for one of these little rocket-boards. Prices start at just under $300, but they are rugged little things and last forever.
These things are the work of the devil. They are LOUD. They are much louder than any car or other vehicle I’ve ever heard go by my house, and they do so several times a day.
They appear to have sufficient power to go as fast as (or even faster than) a bike, but not sufficient wheelbase to stop suddenly without pitching the rider off. How is the braking performance? I’m sure a dumb rider is a dumb rider, but a dumb design for a vehicle is a dumb design for a vehicle - this appears to me to be a case of too much power for the design of the vehicle. Please let me know how you can do more damage on a bike than on one of these hamburger carts.
They stink with their two stroke emissions. It smells like Kathmandu when they go by my house.
What is the policy of BART and the transit authorities in your area concerning transporting flammable liquids on their vehicles?
Grrrr. In short, other than not getting sweaty, I can’t imagine anything you can’t do on a bike you can do on one of these thingies. If size is an issue, there are foldable bikes. If you must have non-human propulsion, there are other quiet alternatives: Electric bikes, Electric go-peds.
OK, sorry to rant so much. These things just piss me off, or maybe it’s just the one guy who rides by my house every freaking night at 11:30 PM.
Gas powered? How much do these things weigh? Is it really fun to lug one of these things onto mass transit? My laptop is about 7 pounds and it is bordering on too heavy.
Well Douglips, I have to confess the noise might be more pronounced in the 'Burbs rather than my beloved and constantly noisy city, but they’re WAY quieter than lawnmowers and leafblowers, and nobody’s bitching about THEM.
And, no, unmodified they don’t go faster than bikes and are no problem to stop.
OK, ‘no problem to stop’. I still think I can stop quicker on my bike. Do you live in the Bay Area? Perhaps we can have a Straight Dope Science Experiment right here in California - I’ll bring my bad self and a bicycle, and you can bring your go-ped, and we’ll have speed tests and braking tests.
I still am wondering how you think you can do more damage to yourself on a bike - just because you can go faster (can you on the flat?)
Finally, I get an engineer’s shudder when I see how low to the ground the axle of the front wheel is and imagine trying to stop on a downhill.
Be safe, I don’t want to have to call you Inkspot.
These GoPeds and Razor scooters are gonna start becoming statstics in my neigborhood. Anytime these kids go past in these things, whole mobs of (Very Italian) neighborhood get these wonderfully taught and intensely angry faces. I can’t wait to see the small gang we already have in our area of scooter boys get jumped and beaten. Five kids riding around in motorized scooters and all they do is ride around the block 500 times. If I’m ever outside and catch one coming by you can be sure there’ll be a few rocks following the obnoxious things.