What to consider when buying a mobility scooters for adults?
The first thing you should ask yourself isn’t what to buy but for whom. Specifications displayed in the vehicle are often similar, as mobility scooters tend to fall within a certain set of law regulations. There are of course small differences, like maximum carry weight, dimensions, motor power etc. Before considering the scooter, let’s focus on the user.Weight of the mobility scooter user
One of the most important aspects is to think about the carry load. With users on the heavier side, a more lightweight vehicle with big carry capacity would be the best option. A heavy-duty scooter might look nice, but one should think about managing slopes. Obviously, the bigger combined weight of the scooter and the user, the harder it will be for the engine to deal with those. This is definitely important, as in the United Kingdom, the maximum speed of those vehicles is only 8 mph. On the contrary, the lightweight users should think about picking a heavier vehicle. While all mobility carriages are medically certified, they aren’t error free. Living in a high area with strong winds might prove to be difficult to deal with on a daily basis.Mobility scooter tyres
At velobike, we always recommend pneumatic air tyres. They are more reliable and offer greater amortization when riding on uneven roads. There is a single exception to this though. For someone who lives in a bigger town with lots of flat surfaces and loves to frequent bars? Definitely solid tyres, as riding on a broken glass isn’t a good choice for any vehicle.
As mentioned though, it is an exception as we don’t really recommend purchasing solid tyres. While the scooter won’t shake off the user, after a bumpy road on uneven terrain, lots of pleasure from the ride is taken away. In our expert opinion, it is not worth getting them.
Motor power
Sometimes, customers think that more equals better. We couldn’t disagree more with this statement. While certainly a more powerful motor might have easier time dealing with some road situations, it has its drawbacks. One of the main reasons is that a more powerful motor drains the battery charge faster. As such, the range is significantly limited. The perfect motor for the mobility scooters should always be adequate to the needs of the users. On top of that, if a bigger motor means faster battery charge consumption, it also means bigger costs of more frequent recharging.Battery type
Speaking of charging, a type of battery for a mobility scooter will also be important. There is a recent popular trend in picking the lithium-ion batteries. Sure, their main selling point is that they can be removed and charged at home. Is it worth it though? Only if your garage or the shed where you store the vehicle doesn’t have the electric output. Otherwise, this is just an additional cost for a fancy option that would be highly redundant.