Scooters-Spartan Sports Electric Scooter-Christmas Gift Idea
Written: Dec 06 '05 (Updated Dec 06 '05)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: 30-day full replacement warranty.
Cons: Heavy at 35-40 pounds. Battery takes longer than four hours to fully charge.
The Bottom Line: If you are going from point A to point B it is nice. If you are going to points in between, you might look elsewhere.
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| PhoenixFlight's Full Review: Spartan Sports Electric Scooter |
My recent opinion on another scooter and its and why I didn't buy it made me think that I would like to continue advising members and potential customers about my search for a motorized scooter to scoot me around the beach cities I live in and near. With summer over and the tourists all gone the bike path is a wide open speedway between cities that one must take advantage of.
And then of course it is the giving time of the year.
My experience with the Spartan Sports Electric Scooter, model FS101, was a little better than with the Zappy scooter but just a little. Let me cover some of the basics of the Spartan for you shoppers before I get into my experience with it.
The Spartan Sports FS101 is made from Hi-Tensile steel, an extremely strong metal as well as a durable one. It has a 24V electric motor that gets its kick from a 12 Amp battery. The 3000-RPM motor reaches speeds up to 15 MPH that is fast but not to fast. The throttle assembly is a twisting type located on the right side of the handlebars while the break lever is located on the left.
The Spartan Sports FS101 comes equipped with air filled tires, front and back. It features a belt drive that is in my opinion superior to a chain for two reasons. It is quieter and does not require messy oil to keep it lubricated. The FS101 can handle a heavier payload than a lot of the scooters available, the factory pronouncing a 300 lbs limit. The factory also proclaims that the Spartan Sports FS101 will go anywhere between 15-20 miles on a battery charge. A stated charging time of 4 hours to get fully charged and back on the road comes from the factory as well. The FS101 comes with anti slip grip tape that almost covers the entire rider area. Like most scooters available today the Spartan Sports FS101 features a folding handlebar stand that when folded acts as a carrying handle. Unlike most scooters available today the FS101 comes with a tool kit containing all the tools necessary to work out any kinks in the unit. The battery charger also comes with the FS101.
Onto my experience with the Spartan Sports Electric Scooter.
Once again I found that the manufacturer’s claims on distance and charge time fell woefully short of what were stated. The unit that I borrowed from Ron’s Bike Shop in HB never got the mileage reported on a four hour charge and barely got 15 on a six hour charge. Trying to be fair to the people that build these scooters I can say that in getting from point A to point B the Spartan Sports FS101 does the job fairly well. My problem is that, for me at least, there are a lot of places to go in between A and B and the charging aspect of the FS101 didn’t seem to me like it was going to work for my needs.
The riding area was superior to a lot of the units I have seen so far and I really liked the anti slip grip tape. No matter where I placed my feet I found them to be firmly planted and going nowhere. Once again though, as with the Zappy, the Spartan Sports FS101 features a twisting throttle assembly. I just don’t feel this is a safe mode of powering a scooter for inexperienced riders. You’re supposed to hold the handlebars and twist at the same time to apply throttle. This just isn’t in my mind safe and I reiterate that the person that thought this one up did not think this one out. Either an inside thumb throttle or an outside finger throttle seems to me to be more appropriate for novice and beginners. I found the kickstand for this unit to be a little flimsy and wonder how long it would take before it fell off or you are forced to take it off for safety reasons.
In the end I returned the FS101 to my friend and thanked him for the use of it but chose not to purchase this unit. The price is definitely right at $250, considerably less than the Zappy. But once again for a variety of reasons stated here I found that the Spartan Sports Electric Scooter just wasn’t what I needed.
I would think that the Spartan Sports Electric Scooter would be a great get-around for someone with skating, surfing, or snowboarding experience of at least a few years. It would not be a first time scooter at least not in my mind. The FS101 had nice power and decent speed once you got going but seemed sluggish off the line.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 250.00-275.0
Age Range of Child: Kids to Teens
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Epinions.com ID:
PhoenixFlight
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 - Top 500 |
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Member: Robert
Location: The Beaches of Sunny Southern California
Reviews written: 286
Trusted by: 104 members
About Me:
A Sharp, Snappy, Sophisticated, Scintillating, Sassy type of guy.
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