scooter
A scooter or kick scooter or (especially in Switzerland) scooter , Trottinette or (in southern Germany) Radelrutsch (also in the design of the Wipprollers ) is a muscle-powered, two-wheeled small vehicle with a ground-level foot board on which a person can move standing . It is propelled by pushing off with one leg (in the case of the seesaw, by weight-shifting rocking movements via a mechanical drive) and can be made of wood , carbon fiber reinforced plastic or metal (aluminum, steel).
History of the scooter
In 1817, the inventor from Baden, Karl von Drais, presented a running machine that came very close to the scooter. Based on this vehicle, it was Carl Ferdinand Langhans who developed a standing position from a sitting position and thus invented the first scooter. In contrast to today's single-track models, however, the first scooter had a two-wheeled rear axle, so the vehicle did not have to be balanced.
No scooter is shown in the Nuremberg toy pattern books of the 19th century. Only after the First World War there was a boom in scooters as children's toys.
In 1915 the autoped was brought onto the market, a scooter with a motor that became known under license in Germany as the Krupp scooter and was the first to appeal to adult users. However, the number of units remained manageable.
The classic sports scooter "Kickbike" was invented around 1990 by Hannu Vierrikko / FIN as a summer training device for a kick sled .
In the years 2000 and 2001, the mini folding scooter, invented by the Swiss Wim Ouboter , was named a fad for urban private transport and the English scooter or kickboard (these are sometimes also three-wheeled). In Germany, many visitors to the EXPO 2000 in Hanover bridged the walking distances there in this way and made the vehicle more and more popular. Before that, scooters were only used as children's toys .
While z. For example, the scooter scene in Holland is comparatively large, but the German racing scene only became more popular again in 2007.
In the middle of the 2010s, the first, compact battery electric scooters (e-scooters) came onto the market, which became popular worldwide with the launch of rental systems from 2018 and which subsequently increased sales of classic kick scooters for adults.
Model variants
A distinction must be made between mini folding scooters and larger scooters for everyday use and sports. While mini-folding scooters mostly use hard tires like inline skates , large scooters generally have pneumatic tires like those on bicycles. Smaller rear wheels are mostly used on sports scooters. The typical wheel sizes in sports and everyday life are e.g. B. 28/18 ″ or 26/20 ″ (front / rear).
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Because of the single-lane construction, riding a scooter is a suitable preliminary exercise for later learning to cycle . Due to the proximity to the ground, it is less prone to falling or accidents for children or adults to stop or brake.
Classic kick scooter (also called footbike, kickbike or kick scooter)
This category is characterized by single-track, two-wheeled scooters with a rim size of 12-28 inches and with pneumatic tires, which are based on the basic principle of children's scooters from the post-war period. There are models for both adults and children. The larger the wheels, the higher the speeds that can usually be achieved. However, smaller wheels and more compact and therefore usually lighter scooters are easier to accelerate. Therefore, scooters that are built for city use are equipped with smaller wheels. In addition, these scooters, which are often foldable, are also easier to take with you on public transport. Even a shorter wheelbase, which is automatically the result of scooters with smaller wheels, has less impact than scooters with larger wheels and a longer wheelbase, but basically the same on uneven road surfaces, as is more common in cities (cobblestones, curbs, broken roots) Ground clearance. However, the lower the footboard, the less tiring the sequence of movements when pedaling. As a rule, scooters are nowadays built with a footboard height of six to eight centimeters, for off-road use even up to eleven centimeters.
Microscooter
The mini folding scooter, also known as a microscooter, was developed in 1992 by master teacher Edmundo Duarte from an idea of his apprentices in the Sulzer training workshops in Winterthur . One of these models is now in the National Museum in Zurich . The scooter was brought onto the market in 1999 by the manufacturer Micro .
Kickboards
Unlike classic scooters, kickboards have three rollers and the handlebar is a round knob similar to the gear lever in a car. The kickboard is a combination of a skateboard and a scooter. You steer by tilting the knob sideways and shifting your weight. Kickboarding requires some practice in skateboarding.
Waveboard / Wavescooter
The properties of a wave board imitate those of a surfboard. Children should have the feeling of lightness and weightlessness on the street. Combined with an ergonomic shape that is fun for everyone, nothing stands in the way of "street surfing".
Downhill scooter
Downhill scooters (also: downhill scooters or in Switzerland (downhill) scooters) are more stable and designed for downhill travel. Monster scooters are one of them, characteristic of which are the thicker balloon tires.
As sports equipment
The compact, foldable scooter (also called stunt scooter or “freestyle scooter” in sports ) is used for tricks such as BMX or skateboarding .
With the large scooter with pneumatic tires, races such as Kriterium (circuit races), marathons or relays are held at European or World Championships. In the case of a relay, the scooter is handed over as "relay wood". Average speeds of around 31 km / h can be achieved in the marathon (42 km). The biggest racing scene is in Holland, followed by the Czech Republic, Italy and Finland. In Germany, scooters are allowed to ride in the field of inline skaters / handbikers in some marathons (mostly not yet officially listed in the tenders), e.g. B. Cologne Marathon, Karstadt Marathon, European Marathon, Damp Marathon etc. The scooter is an ideal endurance training device that is placed between running and cycling. Even long-distance journeys are possible with the scooter (Alpo Kuusisto with 84:36 h near Paris-Brest-Paris, 1200 km with approx. 10,000 meters of altitude difference or Joachim Sternal near Alb Extrem 190 km / 2800 m ascent in 10 hours (8.5 hours. pure driving time, 80 km / h downhill)). The German Scooter Cup (DTC) is popular. The DTRV (German Scooter Association) was founded in March 2010.
The current 24-hour world record was set in July 2012 by Peter Groeneveld on a 400 m track (545 km). The Dutch Hermies Koers set the women's 24-hour record in 2015. This is 430.82 km.
The scooter world championship 2012 in St. Wendel (Saarland) reached a new maximum of participants. About 300 participants were registered. The next World Championships took place in the Czech Republic (Pilsen) in 2014. The World Cup in 2016 was held in Australia. In 2018 it took place in the Netherlands. In the years between the world championships, European championships take place.
In 2013 6 strong scooter riders rode the Tour de France route. The project was called "Kickfrance 2013". They started one day before the racing cyclists and arrived on the Champs-Elysées one day before them. With it you have ridden over 3400 km and approx. 50,000 meters in altitude in 3 weeks.
With the scooter there are also dog sport races from the VDSV (Association of German Sled Dog Sports Clubs), called mushing.
As a means of transport
On the auto- and bicycle-free island of Helgoland are scooters, the main means of transportation.
According to the German road traffic regulations - if available - scooters without electric drive must drive on footpaths. (In contrast to e-scooters!) Riding on bike paths with scooters without a motor is not permitted, but is almost always tolerated, especially since the introduction of e-scooters, which, if available, only have to be driven on bike paths.
Motor-assisted kick scooters, electric kick scooters , increasingly established themselves as a means of transport in large cities around the world from 2015, mainly in the rental system . These were introduced in Germany in June 2019 and are intended to cover short distances quickly and without traffic jams.
Take it with you on public transport
In the course of the release of e-scooters in road traffic, Deutsche Bahn explicitly allowed them to be taken on their trains free of charge when the scooter was folded. If the scooter cannot or has not been folded up, a bike card must be purchased for the scooter. These rules should also apply in practice to scooters without a motor.
However, different regulations apply to local transport, especially trams and buses. In the VBB in Berlin and Brandenburg, scooters with a wheel size of no more than 12 inches, even when not folded, are transported free of charge. A bike card must be purchased for larger scooters. With e-sooters, on the other hand, the size of the wheel is unimportant; the only thing that counts here is whether the scooter has been folded up (free of charge) or not (bike card).
Austria: Scooters are transported free of charge on ÖBB trains if they have been folded. Otherwise, a bicycle ticket must be purchased. As in Germany, there are different regulations in the transport associations. In Vienna, scooters of any size are transported free of charge as hand luggage, e-scooters only when folded, otherwise not at all.
Switzerland: Only small scooters, called scooters in Switzerland, are transported free of charge and unpacked on SBB trains . Larger scooters must either be folded and packaged to be taken free of charge, or a bicycle ticket must be purchased.
gallery
Children's toys: scooters from the 1970s
Foldable scooter, kickbike clix
Scooter with extra thick tires (company ASP)
Kickboards for stage workers ( Jahrhunderthalle Bochum )
Web links
- IKSA - IKSA International Kicksled and Scooter Association
- deutschertretrollerverband.de - DTV - German Scooter Association
- ritt.at - TTVÖ - Kick Scooter and Kick Sled Association Austria
See also
Individual evidence
- ↑ The history of the scooter - inventor and invention. Accessed December 2, 2019 (German).
- ^ "From scooter to bicycle", Rudolf Lensing-Conrady and Nicola Neumann-Opitz, Verkehrswachtforum, issue 6, 1998
- ↑ Made in Winterthur . Inventions and innovations from the Winterthur region. Bookstore Obergass (sales), Winterthur 2012.
- ↑ RTV Oost: 24 uur lang steppen: a werelduurrecord voor Hermien Koers uit IJsselmuiden . In: RTV Oost . August 8, 2015 ( rtvoost.nl [accessed January 23, 2018]).
- ↑ ZEIT, March 2017
- ↑ Community.bahn.de, Can e-scooters be taken along?
- ↑ vbb.de, Conditions of Carriage
- ↑ Tretrollerverkauf.at, taking along in public transport
- ↑ online platform wien.ORF.at will, e-scooters allowed in public transport
- ↑ SBB Community, Conditions of Carriage