Kickbikes :Ø)

[EckyH]

Thank you for your story.

This may also sound a bit new age-y, but one sense I have of scooting is that it - literally - connects you more with the ground you are travelling through than cycling does. No longer are you hovering a bit above the road, track, or path, but right in touch with it - and it’s so easy just to get off and walk or stop in a way that is that bit more cumbersome on a bike (well, for me anyway).

That's very comprehensible for me. The easier it is to stop the more I'd do it for "lesser" reasons.
Additionally the lower speed of scooting is less dangerous than cycling and more important other people probably perceive scooting less threatening.

E.

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

Anyone know the legal status of a "kick Bike" or whatever

Are they counted as a vehicle like a bike - and hence should be on the road

or are they "something else" (what???) and are legally allowed on the pavement?

 

[EckyH]

Anyone know the legal status of a "kick Bike" or whatever?

Only for Germany.

The following paragraph contains my knowledge about applicable legal german stuff which may cause serious headaches. You have been warned!
A non-motorised scooter juridically is a toy, independently from it's size. That means that scooterists are legally pedestrians. That implies that we have to use the pavement where a pavement is. The maximum allowed speed on pavement is walking speed which isn't defined anywhere in an actual german law. Another implication is that on roads without pavement outside of built-up areas we have to scooter on the left side of the road.

And now for something completely different.
Earlier this afternoon my wife (B.) and I (E.) had the following conversation:
E. *carrying something out of the basement into the hallway*
B.: "That's huge!"
E.: "It's a racing scooter. Sabinchen with her small wheels and we browsed classifieds..."
B.: "So she was searching for a partner?"

And here it is - this huge something:

Apart from some cosmetic blemishes it's nearly new. The rims and the brake pads don't show any sign of wear and the grips and bar ends look like unused.
The roadmap for changes is done already: wider tyres (30mm wide tyres should fit in the fork and much more on the rear wheel), better brake pads, mini V-brake for the rear wheel, a bullhorn time trial handle bar, time trial brake levers, a fork for disc brake, wheels for disc brakes and mechanical disc brakes, compressionless brake housings.

E.

 

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There’s absolutely no hope for you now!

 

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They had just been announced by Yedoo when I got my Kickbike frame. I might have had buyer’s remorse, but the Kickbike has proved to be pretty tough and very stiff. In any case there is no competition scene in the UK and it’s just fun to ride!