Zooming with the Emicro One

Hi all,

A few days back I had the chance to go and see with the new
Emicro One from Micro Scooters, one of the sleekest designed scooters for grownups in the market. Thanks to late trains I didn't get a chance to have a try them out, but from what I saw I was very impressed.

From a design standpoint many electronic scooters are large, clunky and look unattractive, whereas the Emicro One has been skillfully engineered by Micro Scooters innovation team to take the fundamentals of a scooter and add electronics while reducing the bulk found with many others yet improving the looks so it looks like a traditional scooter. I think the Emicro One looks extraordinary and could be a seen as an unparalleled method of transport for adults while all the kids will be wanting it.

While comparing it to other scooters, weigh
What defines this from other brands it its unique motion control sensor allows riders to start and control their speed through body movement. Micro Scooters say this is a world first as the motion control also reduces battery consumption and allows the Emicro One to run cable free.


Weighing in at 7.5kg, it is the world’s most lightweight and compact electric scooter to date with all the style of an adult scooter. (The girls think it's an awesome stunt scooter)

As for the battery, there’s a fast charging high capacity battery which can be fully charged in just one hour and has an average lifetime of 1000+ charging cycles and to aid battery life the Emicro One comes with regenerative braking to keep it topped up while on the go and has the option of 3 different ride programs – eco, standard and sport mode – make it easy for riders to control their speed and battery usage, perfect for beginners and the more experienced riders out there.





The specifications are as follows

·         WEIGHS ONLY 7.5KG/16.5LBS (THE LIGHTEST ELECTRIC SCOOTER IN THE WORLD)
·         BATTERY LASTS UP TO 12KM WITH 60 MINUTE RECHARGE TIME
·         COMPACT WITH AN EASY FOLD DESIGN
·         3 RIDE MODES - ECO, STANDARD & SPORT – FOR SPEED CONTROL
·         REGENERATIVE BRAKING FOR SHORTER BRAKING DISTANCES AND BATTERY RECHARGING
·         INTEGRATED HUB MOTOR - PRODUCES 500 WATTS OF POWER & 4 NEWTON METERS OF TORQUE
·         DUAL CORE FRONT WHEEL - SHOCK ABSORBENT SOFT CORE & HARD OUTER SHELL
·         SLOPE SUPPORT – HIGHER POWER AND TORQUE WHEN RIDING UPHILL
·         AUTOMATIC ON/OFF - REDUCES BATTERY CONSUMPTION
·         LED COMMUNICATION DISPLAY- SHOWS SPEED SETTING AND REMAINING BATTERY CHARGE

Hopefully I'll be going back to see the team at Micro Scooters to come and have a play with this in the next few weeks to be able to post more about the Emicro One, but for now click here for more information.

Paul

Schools in (err, what?) #SchoolPedal

UPDATE - Vee's finally riding confidently, doing her first #SchoolPedal on the 8th Feb - Vid will be embedded below!

I know, we're meant to say school's out these days but for a group of bloggers school is definitely in.

Especially when it comes to sustainable transport. A group of bloggers and parents were talking via twitter and it caught my eye due to the subject of cycling and the school run and the fact next to nobody run's it unless you're late in the afternoon and the school will be miffed again! (we've all had those weeks? *bugger* Just me then?)

The school run is comprised of getting the kids to school in a decent time, (dejavu?) and doing it in a manner that stimulates your children for the fun or busy day of learning and fun ahead and to be fair it can be pretty boring strapping the kids inside the car or sat in the child trailer in my case, especially when it's too small now. That makes me really sad but it's progress i suppose!

See, I've gone off on a tangent again - Muppet. I joined the twitter chat for a while which seemed to last for days, while on and off it's gone from a let's get the kids to school without an engine to the #SchoolWalk #SchoolPedal and #SchoolScoot a way to promote cycling and scooting to school with the children, be it you scoot, cycle or walk. no matter who's riding it's still a fantastic way to get out and about and take in the crisp and fresh autumnal air, even if the air quality locally is worse than some parts of London thanks to the A5 but anyway ;)

GrampsBike - En Route to the Keech Star walk 2014 completed
that night, the last part arrived that afternoon!
And no - 7 lights is not overkill! ¬_¬

What makes this awesome for me is how I've just become a Sustrans volunteer with the CBC Travel Choices service, with the aim to start a school based cycle scheme for parents and including children once my training is completed to a higher level and as such I want to use the #SchoolWalk #SchoolPedal and #SchoolScoot ideas to create parent controlled group rides from set destinations to school,

for instance for children at School A have a set group who come from one side of town and another who come from the other side of town so 10 parents get together and arrange for children to scoot and pedal with the chain starting with the parents farthest away and the chain increases from there with parents joining at set points closest to the most convenient route. Similarly set on the way back.

While this will need future planning and risk assessments and health and safety input to ensure child and parent protection I see it could work fantastically well as a project to get more people using their bikes and scooters. Especially with Bikeability and Scootability courses designed for both children and adults and the possibility of other community based goodness too if all goes well!

One thing I will add is to ensure you've bright and have lights, even a front silicone one on a scooter at the least for the darker days and nights coming around the corner, my friend Liska at New Mum Online has some reviews on the clothes Aldi sent her as well as info on lights and special cyclist friendly deals at Aldi from the 25th, (I'll be popping in to see what I can buy tomorrow. my old speedo was from Aldi and I took it over the mileage clock twice. working out at around 20,000 Miles on one bike and I stupidly left on my old GT bike when it became a money pit.)

On thing I worked out last night was the savings riding, scooting and walking to school can quickly rack up, while I can only comment on public transport over driving it's still a large amount.

For instance, a Luton and Dunstable Arriva day ticket costs £4.30, A weekly ticket is £17.00 Whereas a HipHop Day ticket (use on all Arriva and Centrebus services and some Grant Palmer services) is £4.60 for a day ticket and £18.50 for a weekly ticket.
For clarities sake I've not included monthly and yearly tickets yet as I want to confirm the prices and any proposed increases before working them out. They will come soon.
Now if you use the bus 6 days a week, all year it will cost a maximum of £1341.60 or £1435.20 for a hiphop day ticket.

Similarly weekly ticket costs come out to £884 and £964 throughout the year.

Potential savings of £800+ are not to be sniffed at in my opinion, and that includes maintenance of bikes or scooters.

If you want to join in with the project let us know in the comments, with blog posts I'll happily share with everyone and add to the post also. Also If you can't scoot or pedal to school we can help find bike confidence courses for all levels to complete learners to advanced riders who need to wind their necks in a bit (oh wait, that's me again)