If you take a stroll through any major city around the world, you'll notice electric scooters everywhere. They have become a staple on sidewalks and footpaths. We were well aware of this trend long before we created the first special E-Scooter lock for ABUS. But our expertise in scooter technology goes back to the days as university students, where we conducted a scientific research project on urban mobility and its connection to sports. Inspired by classic authors like Bette et al., we developed our own fun and allday use scooters. After completing our research and finishing the diploma with prototypes, we were thrilled when Puky, a children's scooter company, showed interest in our work. They purchased our designs and patents from the bat, but had no interest in foldable scooters at the time. They wanted us to focus on different projects, as they didn't want their non-foldable scooter market to be disrupted further. Meanwhile, Wim Obouter was making waves with his Swiss brand Micro by distributing free construction drawings of foldable scooters to various manufacturers in China. This led to a flood of low-quality foldable scooters saturating the market, with everyone copying each other and undercutting prices. Understandably, Puky wanted to distance themselves from this scrappy competition as much as possible. Understandable. Years later, in 2014, Puky approached us again with a new request: design a scooter that would differentiate Puky from the established market while allowing them to enter the scooter business cautiously and test the waters. Our research revealed that kids' scooters are rarely folded despite being marketed as such. It was an interesting paradox - folding capability was deemed necessary but seldom utilized by consumers. However, this insight aligned perfectly with our idea of creating an ideal and super stable scooter for commuting between home and school with enhanced safety features such as larger front wheels. We also aimed to set ourselves apart from the low-quality market by ensuring that our scooters were as quiet as possible - no rattling or scratching noises; only the sound of the smooth-rolling wheels. A revolutionary take in the aftermath. We quickly developed a new and patentable folding mechanism that was intended to minimize packaging. The scooter's proportions allowed it to accommodate even adult riders, which turned out to be an added advantage. After some back and forth with Asian producers, they finally understood that we were serious about our construction requirements: no noise, no rattling, no excuses! The first models were released in a special paint edition, with a name inspired by one Puky had already secured - SpeedUs. We tweaked it slightly to give it a positive spin: SpeedUs. Speed us up! Now, 20 years after our initial foldable scooter patent, this is our second attempt at entering the foldable market. The SpeedUs One is now available, and we are confident that this is the perfect scooter for commuting to school - offering top-notch quality and minimal noise disturbance. But we still have some ideas left in this category - and we do not want to wait another 20 years. So watch this space - or talk to us.
