Scooters

hampshirebabe

I want to buy a couple of scooters for my daughters, aged 2.5 and 5.5, but wondering whats best. Several people have said its really worth spending the extra to get micro scooters, but do you agree, are there any cheaper ones just as good?
The other question is what size for my 5 year old, a min one for up to 5 year olds, or would the one for a 6 year old be much too big for her, shes an average 5 year old height.

fly_dragon_fly

everyone i know uses the micro scooter which are great but i don't like them as i can't ride it home! haha but really it's worth spending the extra for the quality it will last

go_cat

We bought our 5.5 son one for £9.95 from John Lewis. It's ideal for a first scooter and to be bashed around dropped on the floor etc. IMO you don't need to spend loads for this age group.

pinkclouds

You can get tons of accessories for the micro scooters - and you can use some of the accessories on any old scooter. So you can get a few bits e.g. bags, bells, lights, etc and cheap scooters and then transfer them to an upgrade, assuming they are still into scooters after a suitable period of time.

Janepig

DS had a JD Bug scooter for his 6th birthday last Boxing Day. Not cheap (I think I paid about £50-£60) but the shop I bought it from sells loads of accessories so in theory you don't have to buy another scooter when they're older, you can upgrade the wheels, etc.... But for a 2 year old I'd just by something cheap and cheerful.

Jx

flea72

i think microscooters are worth the expenditure, and the mini ones sell for £30+ 2nd-hand on ebay and maxi for about £50, so you can recoup some of the cost

once kids hit school age, they tend to move onto the maxi microscooter, so at 5 your DD should just be Ok with the bigger one

F

building_with_lego

Get your daughter onto a Sprite, basic aluminium one from Micro but it takes weights up to 100kg (16 stone- ish) and then you'll be able to ride it home

May I recommend getting a couple of their knog locks? They're not cheap but are brightly coloured and can twist around the stem and handles so don't need to be carried. Thus a trip into town becomes less stressful in terms of children scooting headlong, at speed, into a crowd of oncoming tourists as you can lock them up at a bike rack and walk round (Can you tell we are a scooter-laden family? We have four between me and the two children, plus all manner of bells, lights and locks, bottle holders etc.)
Have fun!

Edit: My DD was desperate for a Maxi and got one for her 6th birthday. Almost immediately others in her class were moving onto two-wheeled scooters and she was less keen to use it, which is why I suggest the Sprite. (DS upgraded to the Maxi when he outgrew his Mini aged 4, and the Mini got me £38 on ebay...)

Sid_Wolf

Personally i dont like microscooters, the wheels are so hard and small that anything bigger than a small stone means that the child can be knocked off wshen the wheel hits it and it stops dead. Also the wheels are skinny so when grass is even a bit wet they sink into the ground and are useless.

I'd go for one with larger foam wheels, much safer and better for all terrain

daska

I used to recommend micro-scooters but no more. DS1 had one of the original micro-scooters from the age of 18 months and despite being dyspraxic took to it very quickly (I had to get one in order to keep up LOL). But the current 2 wheeler ones are not height adjustable!

DS2 (5, also with coordination problems) had a mini-micro and never managed to get the hang of it. But he did manage on a two wheeler one as soon as we found one that was the correct height. He now has a 2 wheel one and has been bombing around on it for a year now.

There are other robust scooters that will do the job and are height adjustable, as far as I can see the mini-micros and the removal of the adjustable height feature are simply a way for micro to maximise revenue.