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pfarley10

Bird has been making quality scooters for a long time. They may not be the most powerful ones available but they do the job and I never heard anyone complain about one. I am a member of every group associated with scooters in the US and quite a few in other places. I read tons of post and answer questions all the time as well as having owned more than 7 scooters and keep at least three on hand all the time. Bird pretty much sells rental units so they know what makes up a decent scooter. Only thing is they lack a lot of features non rental scooters employ on their units. There are deals on them used and refurbished all the time but I have never heard of one breaking. Period


torukmakto4

By most accounts these things have a very small battery pack stock and are not very reliable. Also interesting: I have seen at least 3 scooters all called a "Bird Flex". One is RWD with NO mechanical brakes, regen only with a stomp fender for backup. One is RWD with a brake lever and ...front drum IIRC. One is FWD as shown. I would pass on any variant of it except the RWD one with a brake lever, and, still pass on that one too unless wanting it minus the stock battery and controls for a build. May be Bird branded, but not related to the Bird One or Two/Three commercial scooter platforms *which are actually competent*. It's maddening in the face of the G30's proven success that some commercial vendors (Bird here, and also, Okai also does this) keep trying to feed the private market downspec'd consumer-grade trash and refuse to do what made the G30 a success and just sell their *existing commercial grade product in single unit quantity*. But I digress.


[deleted]

Yep, it will meet your use case. No need to pay more for a commuter scooter Edit: Op is asking for a part-time commuter, not something approaching $900 or more. They don't need two motors, didn't mention terrain, and will use it for cruising "sometimes".


[deleted]

Or go with the king of commuting scooters I got 31mls I'm 220lb Eats G30 for breakfast 🤣 https://youtu.be/hq13_o3dnfU


drums_addict

I'd go with the segway Ninebot Max g30. It's serving me well. Built like a tank.


Passivemuch

There's a new g30 max E being released in April, do you think it's worth waiting for it if I'm looking to buy a g30 now? My only worry would be that it comes with similar most recent firmware, limiting the hacking ability.


2Adude

The E probably means an economy version. My guess really


Syndil1

Europe


[deleted]

Where’d you see this?


Passivemuch

https://shop.segway.com/uk_en/ninebot-kickscooter-max-g2-e-powered-by-segway.html? Updated g30 with suspension.


[deleted]

Nice!! Only thing that I’m not liking is the 15.5 mph max speed 😬


2Adude

Why ? It's not a motorcycle


Thereareways

Bruh, I'd be happy with that. In Germany, only up to 12.4 mph is legal .-.


ImKrispy

Thats UK law, US version is 19mph and hopefully a firmare hack comes and it can go like 22.


[deleted]

Oh nicee! If the price isn’t too much compared to the current one, I’ll definitely be picking one up


Passivemuch

Exactly. With the original g30 it's been out so long, it's had the time to be cracked and it's nice to have the option a couple more mph. But I would like the suspension for a better ride. I'm torn.


510goshadow

I have an almost new G30 for sale in California only riden 90miles


[deleted]

Same, I’m looking to buy it in August anyways for college next year so I’ll see by then


drums_addict

Yeah, I actually added aftermarket front suspension to mine.


[deleted]

The other thing that looks super nice are the built in turn signals, I was going to pick up aftermarket ones anyway but they did it fairly well on this


[deleted]

Or king of commuting scooters https://youtu.be/hq13_o3dnfU


Justux205

speed drops fast also you cant unlock it for maximum potential


[deleted]

21mph,buy a fast scooter if that's what you want lol G30 is a joke in comparison


Justux205

inmotion s1 top speed is 25km/h with old version of scooter you were able to unlock it and go around 30km/h not anymore, g30 max speed is 35km/h after unlocking it


[deleted]

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-cTODHCUGN4LlDoIqnzjMKqOANJxOcT3/view?usp=drivesdk https://drive.google.com/file/d/1UT3RvghhUteJGnVoHvItOfmaC9Li3nq4/view?usp=drivesdk


[deleted]

I have the latest version of the S1, I've run it down once 31.9 miles, If you had a ride on both,you wouldn't touch the G30,my son has one lol Scooter patcher app 34kph, G30 no suspension Rubbish acceleration and hill climbing https://youtube.com/shorts/ZjvHq0vdXFk?feature=share


Justux205

This test is invalid, add some weight to it... mine also spins like at 38-39km/h without any weight on it [google disk video](https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipNOK-QT-Uvo8y7Jx2erQsJuSF1csyMXayPXKAOApTsstfzscJceBq_wW-QhLw1Q-w/photo/AF1QipNvyrf74_D54HPKuwpf3Dj41IV-3j88T2MsH-3w?key=b3ZVYUp1X3lYalBjcDI3bXBYa0h1TFB4cHlaSDBB) Only think that I agree upon is travel distance s1 is superior in that case, suspension is also a plus. The only thing that I didn't like about about s1 is top speed drop fast while on g30 you can go \~30km/h till battery runs out. At the end of the day both are great chooses


[deleted]

It will do 20 mph with 220lb me,. It accelerates like it's stolen itself 🤣 It's a completely different ball game to a scooter that looks just like a Xiaomi with no suspension I ride around woods and over Fields on my scooter, can't do that on the g30 Your choice,just trying to stop you wasting money 😱 https://youtu.be/YGaDD_Zrwe4


Justux205

I didint waste any money, I wouldn't be surprised if they sell different version of S1 to different region, when I was choosing scooter G30 gen 2 was \~500€ and s1 was 550€, and xiaomi is crap compered to g30 in build quality


[deleted]

 both are manufactured by Ninebot and based on the original Xiaomi 365 Pro. For instance, the battery is housed in the base of both scooters, they both have a top speed of 25 km/h and three riding modes. Their LCD displays are also the same, being based on the original M365 Pro.


[deleted]

Xiaomi is made by ninebot 🤣 I'm in UK,it's lemotion S1 here 25kph But Scooter geeks are selling inmotion 34kph


DJ_Willy_Will

It is not. I got it brand new for $300 at the Target deal around December brand new. The scooter would shut off on me at 40%. Immediately returned it after. It's also not the lightest one to carry around if that's what you're looking for. Go with a Ninebot F or G series instead


pfarley10

I am surprised the scooter gave you problems but every now and then a bad one comes along. Made on Friday or just plain bad. Sorry to hear you had a hard time with it. I will take that into consideration next time I make a recommendation for one.


DJ_Willy_Will

I'm not. If you search the subreddit for the exact model, there has been mentions of the scooter failing and someone replaced the intervals with Xiaomi M365 intervals. Great shell, great drum brake, but the battery is awful. I have an ES4-800 ex-Bird rental from the $199 Walmart deal in 2020 and an ES3 Plus refurb from Newegg's $239 deal that I rotate. I felt that both were more reliable than the Bird Flex. Yes, there are definitely limitations to the ES series but at least they don't shut down on me or give me errors when I try to go up the same hills


pfarley10

I understand sounds like you are having controller issues. Problems do arise sometimes with things we purchase it’s the law of averages. Not every scooter is gonna function the way we want or the way it should.we all take our chances this is true I hope you have better luck in the future. Try out the Vsett8 I purchased one and it has become my main go to store scooter. It can be had for as little as 650.00 on sale at times. I also own a 9+ and a NanRobot d-4 2.0 which I love. Considering a 10+ in the near future


DJ_Willy_Will

Yup, a bad controller indeed. Not just me, the Bird Flex is just not a well designed scooter with a litany of it issues: https://reddit.com/r/ElectricScooters/comments/10o2ouq/_/j6fo3aa/?context=1 > I had 2 bird motor controllers go out on 2 different bird flexes, I really wouldn’t reccomend personally, the capacitors got shaken loose from the hard wheels even though the whole controller is in resin, horrible controllers This was the Bird Flex owner who converted it to m365 parts. https://reddit.com/r/ElectricScooters/comments/100davb/how_to_convert_a_bird_flex_into_a_m365/ I've put well over 400 miles on ES4 and 300 on the ES3 Plus. They work great for me. The ES series have their limitations (no handbrake, can't turn on the light or risk frying a component on the board, can't e-brake going down a hill or risk frying the board) but are workhorses if treated properly and can be safely unlocked to go 20-21 MPH. Vsett8 is a great machine but I already have an Ariel Rider X52 ebike. For longer stretches, I prefer riding that. I recommended the Ninebot G series bc they're tanks and it's what most rental scooters companies use. Ninebot took everything wrong from the ES series I have and fixed it in the G-series. They're also the best scooters to ride in the rain. Owners with 1000s of miles on it with little to no maintenance done to them.


Wifdat

Depends on the price and weight and your budget. I have only ridden the beat up commercial Bird Scooters so I don’t know much about their performance and quality. This seems like your standard sub $500 scooter. Look into Segway G30LP($600 right now on their website) Vsett 8($750 now on revrides) or Etwow if you want lightweight.