Advice on big wheel e scooter?

[qlqlqlp]

I'm looking for an e scooter like the Argento active Bike Electric scooter which has a 20" bike type wheel and disc brakes. However it's motor and battery are wimpy. I was wondering if it is easy to upgrade or maybe I could just buy a kick scooter with a 20" wheel (I found osprey one on amazon although this only has cantilever hrakes) and diy it with a decent front wheel ebike motor kit and 48V battery.

Does anyone know of an alternative decently powered 20" wheel e scooter with decent (disk) brakes so I can avoid DIY? I've seen element bondi and dualtron city but they're both too expensive for me at around £2000.

Or can anyone suggest any better ideas or alternative donor kick scooters that are available in UK?

I was thinking of just putting the battery on the deck and standing on it. Are they strong enough for this? I weigh about 100kg and I'm 196cm tall.

I'm based in the UK so options limited... Especially now we're out of the EU so can't even ship for free from there any more

Thanks!

 

[calab]

Lace a geared front hub motor into a 20" rim.
Handlebar battery bag is an option, or a backpack battery.
204mm front disk rotor, actuated by cable not hydraulic oil.

 

[Chalo]

What's wrong with using a bike? By the time you use something bike-sized but stand-up only, the only thing you gain is ability to hurt yourself.

You're too big for kids' toys. Put on your grown up pants.

 

[glennb]

No idea what you might have available locally, but thete’s plenty on alibaba.

I obviously don’t know the poster’s reasoning, but it’s possible they’re stuck with having to decide between 250W bike or unlimited power kick/foot scooter. A 250W (nominal) mid-drive bike you can live with, but for tandem and cargo vehicles the scooter is an attractive option.

 

[Chalo]

I obviously don’t know the poster’s reasoning, but it’s possible they’re stuck with having to decide between 250W bike or unlimited power kick/foot scooter. A 250W (nominal) mid-drive bike you can live with, but for tandem and cargo vehicles the scooter is an attractive option.

The scooter the OP references is a stand up only, 20" front/16" rear, 350W nominal e-scooter. On the basis of its larger than typical wheels, it's probably slightly better than average in terms of likelihood of going to the emergency room. But high power in a package like that, especially with a very tall person aboard, is a recipe for trouble.

The unbraced decks of most tube-framed scooters are not good for bearing high rider weight, so that's a separate issue that seems to apply in this case.

Here's another data point from the seller's own product information page:

Electric scooters are not legal in the UK, they are not to be used on any roads, footpaths or cycle lanes.

 

[ganzey]

The ospreys are pretty tough, i beat the heck put of one for a year or so, 35h hub up front with a votol em30 set to 40A. I jumped it, sunk it in mud, id guess 75% of its life has been off road and/or WOT. That being said, its like a bmx bike comfort wise. If you are crouched down a bit with one leg on the board and the other hovering off the side, for balance while locking up the rear tire around turns, its the perfect size (i have a crussis cross as well and it feels like a boat compared to the osprey).

I did bend the dropouts on the fork, side to side, multiple times. I have torque arms on both sides, never spun the axle at all. The tire was just rubbing the inside of the fork. I bent them back 3 times before cutting off the head tube and welding on a 1 1/8" head tube, and put on a dual crown fork. Switched to a rear hub, and really regret it. The motor up front was weirdly perfect. I ran a 16" dirtbike tire up front, 16" street tire on the rear. On dirt/gravel I could lock up the rear tire and swing it around while also going WOT and the front hub would pull me through the turn, drift scooter ftw.

But it feels weird riding it on pavement, im only 5'10" and feel hunched over standing straight up on it.

 

[Roy!]

The ospreys are pretty tough, i beat the heck put of one for a year or so, 35h hub up front with a votol em30 set to 40A. I jumped it, sunk it in mud, id guess 75% of its life has been off road and/or WOT. That being said, its like a bmx bike comfort wise. If you are crouched down a bit with one leg on the board and the other hovering off the side, for balance while locking up the rear tire around turns, its the perfect size (i have a crussis cross as well and it feels like a boat compared to the osprey).

I did bend the dropouts on the fork, side to side, multiple times. I have torque arms on both sides, never spun the axle at all. The tire was just rubbing the inside of the fork. I bent them back 3 times before cutting off the head tube and welding on a 1 1/8" head tube, and put on a dual crown fork. Switched to a rear hub, and really regret it. The motor up front was weirdly perfect. I ran a 16" dirtbike tire up front, 16" street tire on the rear. On dirt/gravel I could lock up the rear tire and swing it around while also going WOT and the front hub would pull me through the turn, drift scooter ftw.

But it feels weird riding it on pavement, im only 5'10" and feel hunched over standing straight up on it.

Hey, I built two from scratch. First one was an oak one with 12" tires and a 2000 watt motor and the other is a plate aluminum one with 16" wheels off a Jetson ebike with a 3000 watt motor, almost finished with it. I am 6'1" so I made a taller stem.

 

[ganzey]

Hey, I built two from scratch. First one was an oak one with 12" tires and a 2000 watt motor and the other is a plate aluminum one with 16" wheels off a Jetson ebike with a 3000 watt motor, almost finished with it. I am 6'1" so I made a taller stem.

Very nice! I bought all the materials to build one but havent found the time yet, still designing the rear suspension, which is taking longer than i thought.
so in the meantime i picked up a crussis cross that is much more comfortable for long rides, but you cant just whip it around like the little osprey. Still a lot of fun, 45h "3000w" hub and a 3shul c350 really makes it go.

 

[Roy!]

NICE!!!

 

[glennb]

Great scooters ganzey and roy, well done.

Roy, does the skinny downtube on your aluminium decked scooter flex much? It was smart to punch the big cable entry hole in the top rather than the side of it.

 

[qlqlqlp]

No idea what you might have available locally, but thete’s plenty on alibaba.

Not the big wheel ones as far as I can see... it's hard to find them via search... for me anyway, maybe I'm missing a trick

 

[qlqlqlp]

Wow, cool! Way beyond my skills though.

 

[qlqlqlp]

Hey, I built two from scratch. First one was an oak one with 12" tires and a 2000 watt motor and the other is a plate aluminum one with 16" wheels off a Jetson ebike with a 3000 watt motor, almost finished with it. I am 6'1" so I made a taller stem.

Wow, cool! Way beyond my skills though.

 

[qlqlqlp]

Very nice! I bought all the materials to build one but havent found the time yet, still designing the rear suspension, which is taking longer than i thought.
so in the meantime i picked up a crussis cross that is much more comfortable for long rides, but you cant just whip it around like the little osprey. Still a lot of fun, 45h "3000w" hub and a 3shul c350 really makes it go.

Looks fun! I'm really tall so I think this/the osprey will be too small for me. I'm looking at the swifty scooters in UK. V expensive though. They do e scooters but wimpy motors and 36v batteries so they won't cut it for me

 

[qlqlqlp]

Lace a geared front hub motor into a 20" rim.
Handlebar battery bag is an option, or a backpack battery.
204mm front disk rotor, actuated by cable not hydraulic oil.

Yeah that's what I was thinking. Why cable and nit hydraulic?

 

[qlqlqlp]

The ospreys are pretty tough, i beat the heck put of one for a year or so, 35h hub up front with a votol em30 set to 40A. I jumped it, sunk it in mud, id guess 75% of its life has been off road and/or WOT. That being said, its like a bmx bike comfort wise. If you are crouched down a bit with one leg on the board and the other hovering off the side, for balance while locking up the rear tire around turns, its the perfect size (i have a crussis cross as well and it feels like a boat compared to the osprey).

I did bend the dropouts on the fork, side to side, multiple times. I have torque arms on both sides, never spun the axle at all. The tire was just rubbing the inside of the fork. I bent them back 3 times before cutting off the head tube and welding on a 1 1/8" head tube, and put on a dual crown fork. Switched to a rear hub, and really regret it. The motor up front was weirdly perfect. I ran a 16" dirtbike tire up front, 16" street tire on the rear. On dirt/gravel I could lock up the rear tire and swing it around while also going WOT and the front hub would pull me through the turn, drift scooter ftw.

But it feels weird riding it on pavement, im only 5'10" and feel hunched over standing straight up on it.

Hehe that looks really cool. Love the upgraded front end. Where does the battery go? I was wondering if I could just put it on the deck and stand on it? Probably bad idea! But yeah I'm too tall then... Unless try to get someone to make an extra long stem...

 

[glennb]

Not the big wheel ones as far as I can see... it's hard to find them via search... for me anyway, maybe I'm missing a trick

You can get Sobowo ones there.

And others. E.g.

https://www.aliexpress.com/i/3256805722011000.html?

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005004128299551.html

https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256805587020477.html?

https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256805039033468.html?

 

[ganzey]

Hehe that looks really cool. Love the upgraded front end. Where does the battery go? I was wondering if I could just put it on the deck and stand on it? Probably bad idea! But yeah I'm too tall then... Unless try to get someone to make an extra long stem...

Battery is attached in a couple of the pictures, on the down tube. Ive tried it up high and down low, definetly keep it as low as possible. Hose clamps and rubber hose to mount so i could easily swap them out, as this was used as a test mules for several batteries. You probably could put it on the deck, but yea it would be awkward. Ive found that you really want your feet below a line between the axles or it feels weird, but that might just be me.


Have you looked into Gravity scooters? A bit pricier, but they look pretty dope. They sell scratch n dent models or bare frames for a pretty decent price.

 

[Amati]

I'm looking for an e scooter like the Argento active Bike Electric scooter which has a 20" bike type wheel and disc brakes. However it's motor and battery are wimpy. I was wondering if it is easy to upgrade or maybe I could just buy a kick scooter with a 20" wheel (I found osprey one on amazon although this only has cantilever hrakes) and diy it with a decent front wheel ebike motor kit and 48V battery.

Does anyone know of an alternative decently powered 20" wheel e scooter with decent (disk) brakes so I can avoid DIY? I've seen element bondi and dualtron city but they're both too expensive for me at around £2000.

Or can anyone suggest any better ideas or alternative donor kick scooters that are available in UK?

I was thinking of just putting the battery on the deck and standing on it. Are they strong enough for this? I weigh about 100kg and I'm 196cm tall.

I'm based in the UK so options limited... Especially now we're out of the EU so can't even ship for free from there any more

Thanks!

Might look at the Kickbike electric, if they’re sold in the UK. Don’t know what they might run cost wise…

 

[uPET]

Here is my "Super Scooter"



It is built from an Osprey Apogee:



It's a very cheap 26" front 20 inch rear scooter. Electric scooters are illegal in the UK, so I bought it there and brought it with me to Scandinavia, where electric scooters are legal and did the conversion. Ospreys are cheap for a reason, almost all of it is made from really low grade parts. Much of it you will end up discarding.

I got into electric scooters about a year ago when I moved location to another country. At first I thought they were useless death traps, but everyone here rides them and I saw one going cheap and thought I'd give it a try. I found it to be great experience, but long rides were always a drag. A lot of vibration etc at the handlebars and there was the inevitable face plant when the small front wheel went into the mud. But I love the simplicity and convenience compared to an e-bike. So I had this idea to make the "Super Scooter", ie electrify a big wheel manual scooter.

I replaced the front forks for suspension forks, added disc brakes to the front with a 250 W front wheel motor. The kick stand I replaced with a standard one from a normal bike, just drilled some new holes in it to fit the bracket on the scooter. The battery bolts onto the frame bottle holder. I kept rim brakes on the rear, but replaced the callipers with Shimano Alivio. I laser cut a rubber mat to go on the foot plate to improve grip. Tyres were replaced with 2" wide puncture resistant Schwalbes.

The front sus forks and disc brakes make it an amazing ride, very comfortable on or off road...even in the snow (I am running Schwalbe studded winter tyres at the moment). I love the way it rolls compared to a small wheel scooter.I still need to 3D print proper mounts for the controller and tidy up the cables, but I use it every day for a 25 mile round trip commute.

Important tip! More recently, I have found that stability can be significantly improved by fitting the steering stem back to front, so the handlebars are behind the steering tube. This means your stance is more upright and the centre of gravity is shifted back significantly. In the conventional bicycle configuration there is a tendency to lean forwards over the front wheel, but this is really bad. On a scooter you need your weight to be further back. Otherwise the light rear end can lift and tip you over onto your head if you encounter a sudden deceleration event. Also, this configuration reduces the maximum possible steering angle. With the handlebars ahead of the stem the steering can easily go through extreme angles, causing the front wheel to lock up suddenly.

Without electrification, these big wheel scooters are quite hopeless. But once motorised, they are awesome!

 

[glennb]

I love your scooter. That’s a great conversion.

Keeping your weight back is interesting. I can see why you’d reverse the stem. It’s pretty extreme though. I don’t suppose you first tried a short stem with swept back bars and found that insufficient?

 

[uPET]

I love your scooter. That’s a great conversion.

Keeping your weight back is interesting. I can see why you’d reverse the stem. It’s pretty extreme though. I don’t suppose you first tried a short stem with swept back bars and found that insufficient?

It's a thought, but I didn't want to spend money on parts if I could avoid it! I did it as an experiment to start with then it worked so well I left it alone. It looks weird, but it's a massive improvement. Probably with optimal parts it could be made to look better.

Keeping your weight back is very important on uneven ground. On loose packed semi compressed snow that has been churned into ruts by cars and then refrozen, I lean right back with my backside sticking out as far back as it will go That way you can use your body as a counter weight and avoid moving the steering too much and also make it more difficult for you and the frame to lift and rotate over the front wheel. There is also more weight over the back wheel, so it is less likely to lose traction and slide out.

 

[uPET]

I also forgot to mention, I attached a tow hook to the back so I can tow a trailer with it. Then I can go to the shops and take the recycling away without having to use the car.

 

[uPET]

What's wrong with using a bike? By the time you use something bike-sized but stand-up only, the only thing you gain is ability to hurt yourself.

You're too big for kids' toys. Put on your grown up pants.

These are not kids toys. Electrified big wheel scooters are proper transportation devices for grown ups.

The great thing about them is their simplicity, there is so little to go wrong. No gears, no chain, etc etc. I have several e-bikes and they are great, but I have to be constantly adjusting stuff and fixing things. The big wheel scooter just goes when all else in the garage isn't working.

I also think they would be great for delivery people who have to keep jumping on and off.

I commute a 25 mile round trip every day. I attach a trailer to go to the shops or when taking away the recycling. They are so much safer than micro scooters with their tiny wheels. I also use mine in the winter when there is a lot of snow on the ground and it's minus 18 C outside. I often find the e-bike's gears freeze up and you get stuck in too high or too low a gear. That doesn't happen with the "Super Scooter".