What Is It?

Freerider is a company that manufacture mobility scooters, in particular The Luggie Mobility Scooter, which is designed specifically to be quickly packed away and stored whilst on the move. It is supposedly ideal for travel purposes and can be taken on-board any form of transport with ease.

The Freerider Luggie Mobility Scooter, incorporates a practical, sleek, design without substituting functionality and as a result, is considered to be ’The Worlds Most Compact Scooter’, according to the manufacturers website. The scooter is powered by a lightweight Lithium battery (the same technology currently used in electric cars) and offers up to 12 hours of usage.

Owners/Users Perspective

Stuart Colquhoun (a Blackwood Housing tenant) bought ‘The Luggie’ (as he refers to it) 3 years ago, as a long term investment alternative to renting one whilst holidaying abroad.

He recognised the cost effectiveness of owning a mobility scooter himself (although expensive upon purchase) after experiencing first-hand the amount of money spent on renting one every year.  He also experienced the lack of choice available that could be tailored to his specific needs; ultimately as he puts it, ‘I wanted something to travel away with’.

Ideal For Travelling Abroad

‘I used to take scooters with me when travelling abroad, but they were always damaged’, Stuart said, referring to the impracticability of most mobility scooters on the market today, instead, he settled on renting, which is fine for the casual holiday-maker, but isn’t always ideal for every situation encountered. This was highlighted, when Stuart mentioned that whilst holidaying on-board a Cruise Ship with his ‘Luggie’, ‘passengers were forced to leave their scooters outside of their cabins, because they were too big to fit through the doorway’, whereas ‘The Luggie’ in contrast, was able to manoeuvre through most spaces on-board with relative ease because of its its thin frame.

In addition to this, ‘The Luggie’ provides a more resilient and practical solution, it can be folded quickly and packed into its own suitcase, thus avoiding the potential damaged sustained to baggage, when travelling by air and sea.

Cons

Although Stuart is satisfied that his purchase has been worthwhile, he did manage to identify some negative aspects as well. They feature below:

•         Can be difficult to steer around tight spaces, because of the long handlebars.
•         The seat sacrifices comfort for practicability.
•         Because the frame is very lightweight, it is often the case that the user may feel unbalanced,                 without a sense of sturdiness.
•         Battery life cannot be be sustained for up to 12 hours (as stated on the manufacturers website).
•         Battery must remain in scooter in order to charge.
•         Additional accessories can be expensive, (referring in particular to an additional charger and               new battery).

To Buy, Or Not To Buy……

Ideally, ‘The Luggie’ is a great second scooter for holiday-makers, comfort is not its strong point and for everyday usage, it is not going to appeal to everyone, not to mention the high cost of purchasing one. However, for the frequent user, who is interested in the practicability of a scooter (whether home or abroad), this could be a worthwhile investment.