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Hi Folks,
I saw these in France and wondered why we dont have them here. My reasearch has so far suggested that there is 1 retailer in the UK, and this may be due to demand???
These are a scooter-like cross between a skateboard and bicycle and tend to have a large front wheel and smaller rear wheel, platform for standing on whilst kicking (with either leg), and a nice aluminium frame.
Am I the only one out there? What do people think?
Cheers
What advantage does it have over a large scooter or a bike? What kind of people were riding them?
@dougal - there are a few
1st - Maintenance: no chains, no gears
2nd - Health - I am told that you get to work both your upper body and lower body at the same time. There is a crunching motion as you reach out with your leg to then pull and kick backwards. So you work out hour hamstrings, quads, things and gluteal (buttocks) mucsles.
3rd - Cool factor!
see more here http://modusfit.com/about-kickbike/
@dougal - there are a few
1st - Maintenance: no chains, no gears
2nd - Health - I am told that you get to work both your upper body and lower body at the same time. There is a crunching motion as you reach out with your leg to then pull and kick backwards. So you work out hour hamstrings, quads, things and gluteal (buttocks) mucsles.
3rd - Cool factor!
see more here http://modusfit.com/about-kickbike/
It seems to be marketed as quite an 'active' thing, like the cross-country skiing to everyone else's downhill.
Hmm. Not sue about the "cool factor". Funny how old ideas come around again, vis the Dandy Horse: no chain, no gears, full body workout.
That big wheel -little wheel thang reminds me of another old contraption, the Ordinary or Penny Farthing. Maybe not as safe as a Kickbike though.
Researching these at moment as it happens. Got email from here>
http://www.kickbike.nl/
Request from someone local. Did see in France too.
We'd sell at £335 for G4 Sport model if anyone is interested....
Maybe these will 'popularise' riding on the pavement? (Which is a contentious subject).
I don't 'quite get it' but sure it must work as with big wheels these will move along quite nicely...
Can we see a pic of what these monsters look like? I'm interested!
The cool factor is definitely there. I think it’s just a matter of time before we catch up with our Scandinavian cousins across in Europe.
I see quite a large number of parents riding their children’s wee scooters after school drop off and on the way to pick up, which suggests that parents are trying to use alternative sustainable means to claw back valuable time during school rush hour.
http://www.kickbikeamerica.com/mrktng/shop.html
The other legal dilemma that springs to mind is where to ride the kickbike – pavement or road? Who wouldn’t get a kick (excuse the pun) from kicking down Royal Mile on a nice day? I would.
Despite having been distinctly unmpressed at what a pain it was to scoot home when my chain broke a couple of months back, if they were more foldy/compactly-stowable I'd be more interested - there'd be some trade-off between the larger wheels of an adult bicycle versus the foldability of a youngling's micro-scootler but a little bit of reduction in frame/wheel size in favour of a wee bit of being-able-to-be-packed-up-and-carried-on-a-bus would be useful.
I seem to recall a minor craze for adult micro-scooters back in the late nineties/early zeroes. These bigger wheeled beasts seem a bit better for distance and road scooting: proper tyres for a start. Brakes too. 10kg though! Not exactly hop on a bus stuff is it?
Also, the big problem with scooters is security: the lack of any frame loop to lock through means they cannot be left alone for long.
the kickbikes come in various shapes and sizes, I just prefer the one with larger front wheels
@viper1tyme: AhhhaH! Now I see what you mean! Mibbe parents just use their kids scooter on way back from dropping the kids off (euphemism?), because it is easier than carrying it!?
My overriding concern here is the fact that Edwin's Burghe is built on Seven Hills, and it has no power assistance or gears to help in perambulating! Where do the panniers go?
Is this just another fad like the Chopper, or recumbent trikes, velocipedes, and penny farthings, and will disappear into the ether after a few random purchases have been made, I fear?
I look forward to seeing the first one residing in the Water of Leith under the Dean Bridge, along with hundreds of copies of Metro and a dead seagull!
Great machine though for molesting and terrorising peds n' dugs on the Union Canal towpath...
Fast forward a few years and all those scootering kids get their first jobs, the streets will probably be full of kickbikes... There must be a whole generation of kids growing up with one leg stronger than the other, or do they naturally alternate them?
Where do the panniers go?
Looks like you could hang a lot of shopping off the handlebars...
Mini-Greenroofer has one of these. I've just dropped her off at school. She scooted there and I scooted back on the same scooter.
I can't see the point of a kick bike - given the size of the front wheel, you've got none of the benefits of a scooter (folds flat, light etc), but none of the speed of a bike.
Haggis have over-developed legs on one side, for contouring around Scottish hillsides!
Shimano will tell you that I'm a size 8.5 left foot and a 9 right foot, so which way should I use a 'kickbike', Goofy or Flaky?
Can I use a trailer with it, and spread a ruggtomcat out?
As the nun said: 'I haven't come this way before!', so it must be the setts (cobbles in England)!
Setts, setts, how does a kickbike perform on StMary's St, Victoria St, East Market St, Church Lane (Gloucester Lane), Pitt St (Dundas St)?
I feel a 'crash test dummy' scenario coming on? We need one on the streets now to evaluate it, and let Polis view it for on street safety! Urgently!
I have one of these : Magic Wheels
It's almost impossible to use and a cross between a penny farthing and a scooter. I need to fix a spoke on it and then anyone will be welcome to give it a go!
It would presumably be easier if it had a handle, rather than just relying on resting against the leg.
When this thread popped up yesterday I wondered if it would be possible to make a load-carrying scootable device looking something like a cross between a Noomad, a shopping trolley and a Segway, with a platform between a pair of wheels and an extending handle. Perhaps a reinforced Boogie Board attached to a sack barrow.
The kickbikes are not everyone's cup of tea but you would be amazed at home much you can do with them
Shopping is also made easier, maybe a trip from Lands End to John O'Groats?
Having looked at the Highway Code I would argue that they can be used on both pavement and road as the law is unclear. Any legal gurus out there?
At the link Laidback provided, I found these images of the Sport G4. Seems there are braze-ons on the front fork to take lo-rider rack or fix a porteur rack if you wish.
Also found an image of a sporty looking gent scooting along with a fair amount of luggage in (presumably given the state of undress) hot sunshine.
If you have that much luggage why would you not get a bike?
The cool factor is definitely there.
Hmmm.
I saw a couple of these kickbikes parked at a hotel in Helsinki. However I saw no one using them. There were plenty cycling though.
I saw a Swifty Zero outside Holyrood earlier this week. The scooteriness of a scooter combined with the pneumatic-wheels-large-enough-for-rough-ground of a footbike looked useful, but is pricey. There are also pricier folding versions.
I wonder if something like a Magic Wheel would be more usable if it had a long steerer/handlebar, or if it'll always be hampered by having a fairly large and momentous wheel which isn't offset by a more massive bicycle arrangement behind it?
Frustrated by the imminent lack of wheeled personal transportation whilst staying with my parents I did some review-mining and tested the elderchild's 100kg-capable microscootler on a few trips here and there and have acquired an adult-sized folding scooter with pneumatic wheels. Seems good so far and is possibly more convenient than a bike for accompanying a scooter-enabled child around and about. Full review soon.
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