This is the first time that I've owned a scooter. I've used Lime rental scooters down in Seattle. And I've always enjoyed them. But I wanted something for use at home in Vancouver.
I was worried about the scooter I bought being able to haul my fat butt up the hills in the West End.
After doing some research online I decided to pick up a Segway GT2.
The GT2 hasn't let me down.
The GT2 has lots of power, but the traction control keeps the power under control on wet pavement and wet leaves. And with the various modes it's alway possible to dial the machine in to the right settings for the conditions.
You can switch the scooter from 1 wheel drive to 2 wheel drive, but honestly the scooter is probably going to stay on 2 wheel drive most of the time. The torque and acceleration with both wheels powered is a force to be reckoned with.
I still haven't removed the 32 km/h speed restriction. Once the weather gets better I'll probably take it off on the backroads.
The cruise control is interesting. Get the GT2 up to the speed you want, tap cruise control, and the scooter will maintain that speed no matter how hilly the road in front is.
The brakes are very good and don't seem to have any issue with fading or glazing. The pads look easy enough to replace and see to be based on Shimano pads.
The suspension is great and has preload and dampening rate adjustments. Due to the size of the tires, the suspension, and the mass of the scooter, it has absolutely no problem eating up the bumps in the road and giving the rider a very plush ride.
The turn signals are a nice touch, but it would be nice if the auto-cancel was longer. Just means that you have to remember to keep flicking the turn signal if you're waiting at an intersection.
Locking the GT2 up isn't as problematic as I thought that it would be. A u-lock will fit around the front frame and most bicycle racks and parking meter posts. The scooter also has a built in immobilizer that is armed and dis-armed using the app on your smartphone. When armed, the scooter will make annoying noises if it's disturbed and more importantly the scooter will electrically lock the wheels to make it very hard to roll away. Even though the GT2 is over 100 lbs, two rubby-dubbies could easily pick it up and carry it, so always use a physical lock.
The GT2 has easily replaced my 650 Suzuki for trips around the downtown core and to the north shore.
Charging is fairly simple. The two supplied chargers will take the batter from 30% up to 80% in a few hours. I have the maximum charge for my battery set to 80%. The maximum charge percentage is set via the app on the smartphone. Setting the maximum charge percentage is a trade off between maximum distance per charge and the longevity of the battery pack.