Razor EcoSmart Metro Electric Scooter Chain-Driven Motor

Got this back in September, 2017 and it's still kicking it. It was easy to assemble and didn't take much beyond the included parts and tools to assemble. This thing is really fun, and perfect for weaving in and out of traffic here in SF. Yes it's super hilly here but I've made due. First, the range. Really hard to fully be accurate because there is many different factors. I've taken the scooter from Potrero Hill on SF and can make it to 25th and Geary with low battery. That's about 6.1 hilly miles that it did fairly well. When I just take it to Market Street and hang out around the ferry building, it can get 9-11 miles on flat land. It definitely suffers going up steep hills, and I live on one of the steeper ones. If I have enough energy I can typically zig zag across the way back up and that does the trick. I have an extra AC capable generator I bring with me to give me extra juice when it's sitting around. If it's on yellow, 'walking' the scooter up with your hand on the throttle is effective too, requires walking up hill but with no weight on the scoot it easily throttle up besides you. This thing is almost 80 pounds so manually walking it is a pain up hill. The only time I've near killed the battery I scooted on it for while it charged off the gen and it ain't too bad if you're desperate. I do worry some hoodlum will try and break the motor off, but so far so good. I don't think anyone trying to jack this will figure out the switch in time. The basket is very useful, I use it for doing side deliveries with Postmates, and could a decent amount of stuff. I will personally however try and upgrade and add a lid to mine, as I got all the stuff I had in it stolen last week. I wiped out one time and luckily it didn't cause too much damage. It can actually handle the rain, but wet grounds on top the 3rd world level roads in SF caused me to fall off going on a turn. Luckily folks rushed to help me and it wasn't too bad getting it off the road. I got the extended warranty, and after I lost yet another vehicle tire to the Mission, I called in just to see if I could get someone to check the bike and install a new tire. The guy sent me a whole new wheel and it was super easy to replace, totally worth it especially cause electric items fail, this has SLA batteries* so it's inevitable. *It doesn't cover consumables, but the guy had an extra tire and the motor could fail most likely. So far so good though! Improvements I'd like -Two brakes next time... I get I'm not supposed to go down steep hills a lot, but one brake I have to adjust once and a while because my hill gives it a beating. -Razor needs to take this product more seriously as an adult transportation alternative. I get with kids products you just want simple choices for the parents to make, but I would have loved the option for a more powerful battery group, motor, 2 brakes, built in lights etc. Everywhere I go people ask me how much it is, the range, etc people really like this concept. A set of lithium batteries with a 750W motor would have been awesome. I know I can upgrade it myself, and I probably will, but Razor could make a killing! -The battery light... seriously it's either green or yellow(low)/... Imagine if your car just had a full or empty indicator for gas... yea that can be annoying and makes exact measurement of performance near impossible. Going up hill cause the light to be yellow earlier than when on level surface, which I understand the implication, it would be much more useful to have a more precise gauge. -Not compatible enough for the bus rack or smaller cars. I know I can screw off the seat plus a few things, but it's awkward shaped and painful to transport, no doubt. Otherwise for the cost this is an amazing and fun little device. I do my groceries with it, I make side money and I can get to anyone's place pretty much, if they have space for it anyway. A peddle assist bike is probably more versatile, but this just makes it so effortless to get around. I have a 30w solar panel for my generator, so I try and be as green as possible. I'll answer any questions Read more

An update. It's now almost 5 years later. First some of these reviews are so laughable it's sad. I think your average American has even had a sixth grade science class. One guy says the batteries are not replaceable which shows he has zero electrical skills. I've replaced my batteries five times unfortunately. First it cut the wire off the battery and replace it with battery clips that it should have came with already. Then when you change the batteries every point in the future you just slip the clip on the battery post. Not really a rocket science actually more like third grade science but Americans now think men can get well I won't go into that. We also learned in science the sun controls the environment not a little ant called man. The batteries is the weak point on this machine. It's not razor's fault. I moved off the grid 2 years ago and forever I tried to get batteries to power my air conditioner without having to run a generator. Until the lithium batteries dropped in price it was an impossible feat. Lithium is the game changer on people who want to be green or just more like me be cheap. it comes with a 7 and 1/2 amp lead battery that means you only get roughly 3.5 amps for battery a total of 10 amps for travel. That's by the stats in reality you probably only have seven amps for travel so you're out of the three batteries you're using 7 amps. Once the lead batteries get older than a few months you're probably down to 4 amps. The only time I've ever gotten 12 is with brand new batteries and that lasted for 2 to 3 months. You can get lithium batteries quite cheap now. I ordered three for $100. Considering I spent close to $500 on lead batteries over the years it's quite worth the investment. These are 10 amp batteries means I'm going to have 30 usable amps instead of about seven. That should increase my range roughly 3 to 4 times. 12 mi to more like 30 to 40. I'm off the grill the nearest store is 11 mi away. That was a one-way trip with the lead batteries I should be able to make a round trip now. The main reason I bought this was the ease of fixing things on it standard 16-in tires and get a kid's tire anywhere. Outside motor not built into the hub where you have to replace the entire wheel. And the things built like a tank. If I was to do it today again I would go with a mountain bike with a lithium battery that's about 500 bucks. However I was not willing to shell out 500 more dollars. So for $100 I might be able to get my razor which is 5 years old to the 30 mi range. Razor should sell these with lithium batteries in it with no change to the cost. Then they would have something but they're about to get overwhelmed by the $500 mountain bikes. I will update this again when I get the new batteries installed in a few tests. In theory I shouldn't have to buy batteries for another 10 years. That's my number one beef on this model. But it's the lead batteries sold Dang, should have waited. I got mine two months ago. Rough start. Charged for 24 hours light still showed it was charging. Pulled it off and see if it had some charge. Chain came off in one minute. Blah....Put it on charge, slept on it and pulled chain cover and put chain back off and left cover off. I have a motor bike with a chain tensioner so it was an easy fix. Never had come off since. 3rd time it charged, it charged all the way. No problems since and ride it daily to work about a three mile round trip. People laugh at you but they are walking or worried about their gas bill. I have bought zero gas in the last two months. At this price, do not wait! It is not your 30 mile electric bike with lithium batteries! Replacement batteries are about 60 dollars and not 300 every year or few. Kid bike tires, cheap. I took the seat off my bike and used it and the lights. Nice on sidewalks small width for moving in through doors ETC, heavy though! 2nd floor people might hit the gym first! So not one problem after the first few days and still give five stars. Read more