Gotrax Apex XL Electric Scooter

Edit: Took off another two stars because the scooter is slowly dying after I've only ridden it maybe a dozen times. Original review below, but for now two more issues with the scooter: It doesn't go near the stated speeds on the speedometer: It always registers 15.5 mph as the top speed no matter how smooth flat the road and weight of rider, I had my friend on it (109 lbs.) and still top speed of 15.5, but, in reality, after checking it with my phones gps and my other friends scootering right next to me speedometer, the 15.5 mph is in reality 13.8mph. That's it's top speed with my 109lb friend. Also, the motor keeps cycling on and off, so if I have the throttle depressed, it will go from 15.5pmh down to 14.4, or even 13.6 and back up, so the ride is not smooth or speedy, it's not quite jolting back and forth between the speeds, but it's definitely an uneven ride. I expect that this thing will be dead by the end of summer based on how it's getting worse and worse each ride. It's a piece of garbage and worth spending a few more dollars to get something that lasts more than a couple of months. Original review: I've been riding electric scooters since the early 2000's when the Zappy scooter was the only one around. I stopped for a few years, and after riding around the city on my friends scooter during the pandemic, and then borrowing a different friends scooter while they were away, I decided to get my own again for the two mile commute to work. This one was not a good choice choice for me. The biggest issue is the max height that the handlebars can go. I'm just shy of 5'8", and they are too low for me to feel like they give me the best control of the scooter. I've found that generally speaking the best level to give you the best sense of control in steering is somewhere just below waist level. Unfortunately, the handlebars are fixed on this scooter, and on me they are just at hip bone level. It feels less stable steering at that level. Also, for better control going over bumps, and in case of sudden braking to prevent endos, it's better to have your weight towards the back of the footplate of the scooter (especially with the hypersensitive brake on this thing...better hope you don't have to brake reflexively because you are going over the handlebars if so), this means that I'm steering in a weird leaning forward hunched over position because of the low handlebars and causing pain in my shoulders/back. I just rode it home from work, and sure enough, I have soreness around my neck/shoulders from the reaching. Moving on to the throttle. I've been riding my friends scooters with no issue so it didn't occur to me that throttle placement or pressure could be an issue. Unfortunately, it is. I ride about 2 miles to work and it takes me about 25 minutes. About 5 or so minutes before I reach my destination I start getting a sore thumb area from having to depress the throttle the whole time. This hasn't been an issue on any other scooter I've ridden, and I don't know if it's the amount of pressure it takes to depress the throttle or the position of the throttle, but it is not good. So, why don't I use the cruise control instead? Primarily because I'm riding in the city and generally have to stop or slowdown very frequently at intersections. Cruise control takes almost the length of the entire block to kick in, when it does decide to kick in at all, just in time for me to be slowing down. Which brings me to the third issue. the cruise control seems arbitrary. There are times when I've wanted it to kick in and it doesn't (when I'm cruising in the park and for sure holding down longer than the 10 seconds it says it requires), and, more frequently, there are times when it comes on when I don't want it to and didn't realize it came on. So just when I want to slow down because I'm coming to an intersection and I take my hand off the throttle to coast into a stop the cruise control has me going full speed until I brake. The first few times this happened I braked reflexively because the continued speed was unexpected and almost went over the handlebars. This is a dangerous feature to not be able to control. This is probably a fine scooter if you're mainly cruising long distances and don't have to stop or slowdown often, and also if you're not very tall. For me, it's not worth it because it's not worth the safety issues and soreness in my back/neck/ hands. I'll be selling this one and looking for a better fit. Also, in general for reviews on an item, for a better representation of a product, read the reviews by clicking most recent button as opposed to the top reviews default that is set on the page. It's more in line with what to expect