BIKE/BOARD

Jessica Vs. LaScoota Skate-X Pro

February 17, 2023

There are tons of e-scooters out there, and some are a bit lackluster while others put some real effort in. The Skate-X Pro from LaScoota is definitely one of the latter.

Unboxing & Assembly

In comparison to unboxing and putting together an e-bike, the process of getting the LaScoota Skate-X Pro ready to ride is super straightforward.

After wiggling the styrofoam out of the box and unwrapping the plastic, there is honestly very little left to do: basically, attach the handlebars with the included tools. There’s no height adjustment to the stem, and you simply need to flip that stem forward and lock it into place. This bending point is where you can fold the scooter back up for (relatively) easy transport into an indoor storage setting.

Overall Impressions

While, yes, the basic design and approach to an e-scooter is the same across the board, LaScoota at least adds some fun little tweaks to the form with the Skate-X Pro.

First off, there’s the obvious part of the skateboard deck. It’s a Bustin Boards (E)Core deck custom-built for this scooter, and it’s a darn nifty feature. It’s nice and wide, so you don’t feel like you have to squeeze your feet in when standing on this scooter. It also comes with a TON of grip on the surface – another nice touch that keeps this feeling like it’ll get you through various city settings easily. Add in the concave construction, and you won’t feel like your feet are in any danger of slipping off.

The wheels are basically 10-inch fat tires to help with traversing the occasionally rugged terrain you’d face in a real urban setting. And as for safety, it comes with rear turn signals, a brake light, a headlamp built into the stem, and side reflectors to make riders visible on the streets.

Speed

The Skate-X Pro comes with two speed settings: Eco, which can take you up to about 14-15 mph if you press the throttle down all the way. But if you switch to Sport mode, you can get up to 22 mph as your max speed. We couldn’t quite manage 22 mph on a first ride (we could manage 21 mph on a smooth downhill), but by the second ride it was zipping along just fine at 22.

To slow to back down, the single brake on the left handlebar is smooth – no sudden, jerky braking that’ll make you feel like you’re going to get thrown off the thing.

The Ride Itself

This thing has a way better suspension than those crappy e-scooters you can rent in the city, that’s for sure. The fat tires help smooth out some uneven surfaces, and the suspension itself has some nice squish. In fact, to test out how well it can handle more adventurous terrain, we took it out to the older part of a city where the streets are all brick.

While you can still feel the bounce of the bricks, it doesn’t feel like your teeth are going to vibrate out of your mouth and your spine doesn’t feel like it’s going to shatter into a million pieces. So, basically, this is grumpy 40-year-old approved.

It tackled slight inclines easily, never feeling like it was straining to get uphill. It also handled some significant corners on paved park paths quite well (in Eco mode – we may like adventure, but we don’t have a death wish).

The basic LED display on the top of the stem shows your speed, battery level, and which mode you’re in. Not much room to mount a phone if you need help with navigation, though – so maybe have your route memorized first.

Final Thoughts

Overall, the LaScoota Skate-X Pro is a fun street scooter that should turn a few heads due to the unique design. It feels sturdy enough to handle a variety of urban environs, and that 22 mph top speed is nothing to scoff at. You won’t look like Tony Hawk while riding this, but it still feels pretty cool.