For the longest time I had hoped I could get away with just using my e-bike for all traveling. If that wouldn’t be enough I could probably just get a foldable (e-)bike for trips where the train doesn’t have a proper bike compartment or I’d need to take a regional bus. Turns out, I really don’t feel comfortable on foldable bikes. I tried some but given my body height none of them felt right.
So, in the end, I decided for my self that I’d get an e-scooter for such scenarios. I have a very mixed relationship with these devices. While I think they are awesome conceptually, at least here in Austria, many folks riding them are just irresponsible drivers. It’s very rare that I’ve met one where I didn’t curse inside at least once. There are also lots of scooter on the bike lines with their speed restrictions disabled. More than once someone overtook me on an e-scooter making north of 40km/h while only 25km/h are permitted by law. I also just really like bikes but I guess it cannot be helped for some scenarios.
Now, two days ago my new scooter arrived. It’s a Segway/Ninebot F3 E which I picked because I wanted something that could also do some climbing, has suspension, indicators, regenerative breaking and more. It was really a tough decision against one of the Trittbrett scooters, but in the end I still went with the Segway since it fit better into my budget. And yes, I feel bad about it, so no need to comment on that, thanks 🤪
Given how much I’m used to riding a bike, it will take me probably quite some time to get fully comfortable being on a scooter. Surprisingly, breaking isn’t the issue but accelerating smoothly and using the indicators. Today I did my first longer ride (10km in total) and in the end I think I finally got close to using the acceleration lever properly. Doing that while trying to find the right indicator button was still a challenge, though. I will need to use the scooter next weekend for the first time in earnest so expect me for the next couple of evenings on various bike lanes in Graz. I’m sorry 😅
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