Selecting an Adult Kick Scooter for Sightseeing

Pick your kick scooter for sightseeing by taking into account your weight, height, and shoe size.

All scooters are rated for body weight. While you can usually stretch their specifications a bit, a 275 pound person should not scoot on a scooter rated for 220 pounds. The lower weight rating on scooters often indicates that they are better suited for short people.

Your height, not your weight, determines whether you can properly stand on a scooter. Ideally, a  kicks scooter's fully extended handlebar should at least reach your waist. If, when you stand upright on its floorboard, you bend slightly to touch its handlebar, the kick scooter is too small. If you must "make do," you can usually have a longer handlebar/poll crafted at a bike shop, but the new length might alter some other feature that the kick scooter provides,then you need an electric scooter for adults.

While children often scoot on smooth asphalt playgrounds, sightseers cannot pre-select uniform scooting surfaces. More likely, you'll find yourself traveling from smooth to rough surfaces, such as those found in San Antonio's glorious Riverwalk. If your push scooter doesn't fit your body type, rough areas will be very uncomfortable, cause imbalance, and possibly be dangerous due to poor shock absorption that's stressed by your weight.

Scooting techniques: Take the time to learn your scooter's navigational behavior. Speed control, for example, is exceptionally important. Keep in mind that it is very easy to travel at speeds far faster than walking. Dragging your kick foot along the ground for speed control is not enough to suddenly stop it (especially when rolling downhill) without pitching forward.

I prefer an alternate-leg pushing technique because it equalizes the pressure on my hips and can greatly extend the time spent traveling. To execute this maneuver, however, the floorboard must be long enough to rest two feet. The picture below shows that I can execute the alternate-leg push on my beloved Original Kickboard (a 3-wheel scooter), but just barely when wearing size 9 woman's athletic shoes. Small feet on this kick scooter rule.

No matter which pushing technique you use, you need enough room on the floorboard to position a foot near the back fender brake without continuously resting it on the brake itself. Overall, when rolling (or "cruising") having the ability to place both feet on your scooter's foot-board makes sightseeing and the distances covered during it more pleasurable.

Carrying and packing a scooter: An adult kick scooter takes up less floor space than a bike, about the same space as a portable shopping cart, and less space than a baby stroller. This means that unfolded scooters can be pulled in areas used by carts, strollers, and bike-accessible areas.

When folded, my preference is to roll my kick scooter like a shopping cart. Not all scooters allow this, although adjustments can be made. No matter what, minimize your need to haul a folded scooter.After all, the object of this portable transportation device is to scoot. Click for a quality selection of adult kick scooters.