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Thanks to the lovely folks over at Massdrop, I recently had the opportunity to spend a few days with a fun little electric scooter called the Chic Smart. It’s a self-balancing “Segway” type of vehicle… think Segway without the handles. Let me say again…no handles. You need to actually learn how to ride it, sort of like learning to skate or ski. Your body becomes an integral part of how you move the vehicle about. But once you get the hang of it, you will be feeling like a real life “Marty McFly”!
With that said, let’s talk about riding it. It’s absolutely addictive to jump on and hoover around. I tested it indoors on a flat smooth surface and that’s where it shines. I also bought it to the office and it’s a total blast scooting around the cubicles and getting from one end of the building to the other. Now outdoors is a whole different ball game. Due to the fact that your body controls your direction, any slight bump or road variation has the potential for causing you to lose control and fall. Another thing that I noticed was, when outdoors in a wide-open space, you get a feeling of not being able to grab onto something and it causes instability and panic. Maybe its just psychological but it happened to me. I was also going slightly downhill and although the scooter will warn you of too much speed, it won’t actually slow you down. I lost control and crashed in the middle of the street and got slightly injured. Its all-good comrades, it was all in the name of science.
Now who is the buyer of this? I would say a Gadget junkie who loves to have the latest cool and fun technology around. It’s definitely a conversation starter and a ton of fun when used indoors. Very dangerous outdoors! I could not recommend using this outdoors in an urban setting due to the risk of injury. If your thinking that it’s a toy for kids, it is not. This is a serious vehicle that takes focus and I would not recommend it to anyone under 12.
Being that I fit into said category "Gadget Junkie" I will likely be keeping my Chic Smart around...
Go Back To The Future… Today… On the Chic Smart self balancing electric scooter. But be careful because you do want to see tomorrow Marty McFly!