My Boardy Scooter





My impression and review of my Boardy scooter.

I also own a Razor A5 Lux and Xootr Mg.
I enjoy long distance "exploring" over varied terrain. In one day, I have scootered over 30 miles on my Xootr and on another day over 32 miles on my Boardy.
I also enjoy scooting for fitness, pushing the scooter at sustained speeds. 
I don’t want to use a bike rack on my car to carry it to my scooting locations. My scooters must fit in the trunk of my small car (Mazda Miata).


Pros:

It's smooth over rough pavement, dirt roads. One of the reasons: it uses 12” high pressure, pneumatic tires. I keep the air pressure high to make the tires as firm as possible. It offers less rolling resistance, but still absorbs shock. Another reason it rides smooth is that it has a "flexy" wooden / fiberglass deck. Absorbs even more shock. Feels kinda like a skateboard. It can get a bit bouncy, but I think it's groovy. The deck is made of layers of wood and fiberglass. It's seems flexible but very strong. 

It's fast / glides well. Faster than I thought it would be. I had heard / read things that pneumatic wheeled scooters were slower and harder to push than hard polyurethane wheeled ones. From my experience with the Boardy, this doesn't seem to be the case. Maybe it's because of rotational inertia and larger tires? In any case, once I get moving (and that doesn't seem to take any extra effort) it seems to keep on gliding like my other scooters.

It has a bike-like caliper hand operated brake. A brake lever on the handlebar is much easier to engage than a foot operated rear fender brake.


I got the optional mudguard to prevent getting "painted" by puddles and mud patches

It folds and fits in the tiny trunk of my Mazda Miata. 'nuff sed. 

It has good ground clearance AND low deck height. The actual board / deck of the Boardy is only 15mm thick. Strong yet far thinner than most decks of other scooters which are constructed of thicker metal, steel or aluminum. Because it's so thin, the Boardy can have a low deck height and still maintain a relatively high ground clearance. 

It's lightweight. This is relative of course. It's heavier than my Xootr or Razor A5, but lighter than larger kick-bikes / foot-bikes. Light enough to pick up with one hand and walk into a store. 


It has a "parking" brake lock. Okay, this is a nice little bonus. There's a little button on the brake lever. When you press it, it locks the front brake so the scooter won't roll away. A seemingly trivial thing. But engage the lock and the scooter won't roll away and subsequently fall over when you lean it up against a wall, a tree, a fence. You get the idea. Cool!

It looks cool. Well, I think it does anyway.


The Boardy JUST barely fits in the trunk of my Miata. I have to be very purposeful on "how" maneuver it into this space. "Hold it here, move this piece in first, then the other side will fit, next slide it to the left and forward ...". Positioned this way, the front tire sits tall enough that the trunk lid JUST BARELY closes. 

Fitting the scooter in my trunk is an experience that kinda reminds me of one of these puzzles ...



Cons:

It's expensive. About $550. Razor A5 is about $90

The grip tape is too grippy. It's harder to do the pivot-switch technique of swapping out feet when the grip tape is so ... grippy. 

It's heavier than my other scooters. Compared to my Razor A5 and Xootr Mg, this is a heaviest scooter I own.

It's larger than my other scooter. The Boardy BARELY fits in the trunk of my car. It's a tight squeeze (see above) and doesn't leave room for much else in my trunk.

I only has a front brake, no back brake. Although it seems to work just fine, I wish there was an option to have a back brake as well. I got the optional "brake" booster. This reinforcement support piece boosts brake efficiency by adding rigidity to the brake mount. 


It's cumbersome compared to my Xootr. I can’t carry like a suitcase with one hand (unless I use an optional Ken-strap). Bringing it into a store or convenience-mart seems a bit more "intrusive". 

The usable deck space is actually a little shorter than my Xootr. The front end of the board curves up reducing the overall usable space.

It can get a flat tire (polyurethane wheels can't), therefore I need to carry extra gear: A patch kit, tire levers, wrenches and a pump. 


Overall:

Although my PU wheeled scooters have their place (they are SO light, nimble and can't get a flat), I LOVE the Boardy scooter. It's near perfect for my typical needs and intent. It fits in the trunk of my car, can cruise over rough pavement and is fast enough to keep up with my swift, long distance adventures. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

How to Scooter Using BOTH Feet

Image
This essential "trick" will allow you to go further and faster on any scooter. You NEED to push with both  feet (not at the same time though ... heh heh). Here's why: When you only push with one foot (i.e. push with your left, while your right is planted on the deck), your planted thigh muscles will quickly tire. Your pushing leg will also get tired, but it's using different muscles. If you can alternate your pushing and plant legs every few strokes, you can give both of your legs a " rest " when you change the muscles being used.  Here's how it's done (see the video at the bottom) Push with your left foot while your right is planted. Push about 5 - 10 strokes. Pivot on your right heel and at the same time plant, and put weight on the deck with the toe area of your left foot. Pivot your left foot, on your toes, to straighten it and at the same time take your right foot off. Push 5 - 10 strokes. Now, left heel pivot, right toe plant Right toe pivot,
Read more

Review - Scooters I Own

Image
Summary review of scooters I own: Pros and Cons I love scootering and own several kick, push, manual (not electric) scooters. They’re nimble, excellent for low impact exercise and are a great way to get around to find Geocaches. As I've mentioned in a previous article , I think scooters are a great solution to quickly get around (a location you might otherwise walk). They're almost as fast as bikes, but don't require a cumbersome bike rack to transport them. You can fold and fit several in your trunk. Get to your destination, unfold them and you're off! Skateboards are just as nimble but require a bit more training. Because of the brakes and added stability that handlebars offer, most people have the confidence to give scooters a go and quickly learn how to scoot.  I am, by no means, an expert regarding kick-scooters, but I have spent a lot of time riding scooters and have logged many miles doing so . Over time, I've come to own a handful of scooters. Each one was
Read more

Scooting over 30 miles around San Diego Bay

Image
click on the image for a larger view of the map March 13, 2021, I scootered over 30 miles around San Diego Bay San Diego Bay is a natural harbor and deepwater port located in San Diego County, California near the U.S.–Mexico border. The bay, which is 12 miles long and 1 to 3 miles wide, is the third largest of the three large, protected natural bays on California's 840 miles of coastline. The highly urbanized land adjacent to the bay includes the city of San Diego (eighth-largest in the United States) and four other cities: National City, Chula Vista, Imperial Beach and Coronado. San Diego Bay is one of my favorite places to hang out. As you might expect for a large bay connected to a large metropolitan city, a major portion is a "working seaport", replete with cargo ships, air craft carriers and various warships. Still there are large parts of it that are well designed for recreation. Here's a link for more info on recreation at San Diego Bay Growing up in San Diego,
Read more

Belmont Park to Palomar College - 35 Miles

Image
 Over 35 miles on a kick-scooter (not electric / motorized) from Belmont Park  to Palomar College . Don't miss the video below Even in a large city like San Diego, there is still something special about the early morning hours. It's the coolest part of a hot summer day. There are less people around. It's quieter and less hectic. I started my scooter ride around 6:30AM on a Saturday morning. I had planned a route that would take me about 35 miles on a generally uphill climb. The news had predicted that it was going to be a hot day, so I wanted to get going before things started really cooking.  The night before I prepped all my gear to be ready for the early morning drive. I got food and drinks ready and made sure all my batteries were charged. The next morning, I got the food and drinks out of the fridge, collected the things being charged and pumped the tires to max press.  The scooter I rode is a SwiftyONE . You can read about my purchasing adventure HERE . My starting p
Read more