e Scooter Part 2- Selection Sonic 600 from Black Sheep Trading (ChCh)
I started looking at an alternative to my Motor Bike and thought eScooters would be interesting to explore. I live at the top of a 200m hill and its steep. I thought about an eBike but I’m pretty unfit so didn’t want a heart attack on first trial of it.
So after testing an eScooter at the waterfront in Wellington I could understand some of the issues on YouTube videos about eScooters.
After reviewing my options for eScooters in Wellington NZ (minimal) I started to see the appeal of the Zero 9 Scooter. I initially looked at the Zero 8 as there is a shop in Christchurch that does an equivalent, of what I thought was the Zero 8 and then found an on-line shop in Auckland for Zero scooters too. Both were of similar prices, the branded Zero 9 was 79$ more through the Auckland Shop than the Black Sheep Trading Sonic 600.
I thought the following review was good for the Zero 8 as I was considering buying the Sedgeway G30 Max as I could purchase that from PB tech in Wellington. About the same price but limited speed, no suspension and I’ve had issues with PB tech service department in the past being a bit unhelpful, they are computer oriented, not eScooter oriented.
The Zero 8 was good but had a solid back tyre that is not as good for braking in wet (it tends to skid more). The Zero 9 has air filled rear tyre so better in the wet and has a front & rear brake, much better for going downhill.
I thought the following video made a lot of sense to me :
A much better bang for the buck than the G30 Max, although there was no IP rating for the Sonic 600/Zero 9 but it is a good durable build (from video).
I put an order in to Black Sheep Trading Co on Sunday night, and Monday morning looking at their website I saw that there is a Queens Birthday sale on (10% discount) so I asked if I could hold off purchase until the following weekend. I reviewed the Fair Trading Act (NZ) and their Terms of Service and they need not have refunded but they did, so I’m very keen to purchase from this company, as they’ve shown me some consideration in the matter.
I knew that I would not get a scooter to climb Mt Vic (actually I could get a 2400v model that would most probably do it) but I wanted an all round eScooter. Items that were important to me on the choice of scooter:
- Would not get bored with easily. I tried the waterfront ones and they did 15km/hr, fun but would be boring after a while, the G30 Max did 25km/hr and the ES45 model did 30km/hr. All adequate but would not be very interesting, so the Sonic 600 does up to 45km/hr.
- Comfort. Suspension was an appeal for a mid range scooter. I got a bit of a sore back from the Waterfront scooter trial, so the more adjustability and suspension the better. The Sonic 600 has a telescopic handlebar so you can adjust for personal height preference, whereas G30 doesn’t.
- Weight important when folded. Sonic 600 is 18kg, so about same as G30, so a reasonable weight to lift. I accept more weight for more power/distance than the cheap beginner range scooters.
- Good braking. I was a bit wary of the Zero 8 as it had the solid rubber back tyre and only one back brake (front generative). So was pleased with Sonic 600 that has 2 brakes as going downhill will need a lot of braking (it was scary on Roller blades).
- Fold up and put in car for taking Jess for walk & Bus/Taxi back from Courtenay place up hill to Mt Vic. The foldability of Sonic 600 makes it easy to put in boot of car or take on bus and handlebars collapse too, so can carry closer to body (I think- I’ll have to test this).
- Can use off-road as well as commute into town. This is not ideal but it has capability.
So based on those criteria the Sonic 600 looks good. Other accessory item I’ll consider getting
- Helmet- For sure
- Padlock (bar horseshoe type seems to be favoured type)
- Gloves (already have)
- Slime (in case of puncture)
- Spare inner tube ($20 & P&P from BST)
- Front light for handlebars (for night riding) – Maybe head torch instead? Need to throw a beam a lot more forward to see what’s coming (eg manholes/potholes/painted lines)
- Back light for high up ( on back of helmet or pack)Maybe head torch instead?
- Phone bracket for handlebars
- Bell. This is good courtesy for others
- Carrier wheels (BST)- this seems quite a handy thing to have, so you can drag
So with light, phone bracket, bell there is a lot of hardware on the handlebars, so I may have to see what works over time.
End comment
One video made a good comment about a scooter for all seasons. You’ll not get one that does all you want. So if this is a good scooter for some features and I enjoy it there is no reason I can’t purchase another to do different things like off-road and rugged.
Maybe later down the track I can consider an eBike for fitness too.
Well, I’ll have to wait a week before putting in my order, so I won’t see the bike for a couple of weeks, most probably enthusiasm will die down by then.
I’m keen to see about traveling to say Lake Ferry or other places in the car (Kaitoke Park) and then getting out and taking Jess for a trot.
