Superpedestrian LINK Scooters

We’ve all succumbed to the inevitable fun that E-Scooters bring us (adults and kids alike). Bird paved the path and Lime was a commendable opponent. Uber and Lyft then came in like the corporate wrecking balls that they are and, well, they were an upgrade but they hit different. Missing parts and rattling handle bars, numbing you from a mere mile-scooters ride, started to dismantle, literally the scooters game. Customer support fell through the cracks and rules didn’t seem to matter to these path-pavers. Enter Link and, coincidentally like the hero that strives to save Princess Zelda, they conquer the scooter realm. Everything about these scooters addresses all previous qualms I’ve had with previous companies. Handle bars are strategic and motorcycle-esc. Brakes and handling are award worthy and, the cremé de le cremé, a suspension system that feels like a cruise on calm seas. Ride Link. End of Story.

I live in Seattle and the Link scooters are the better of the two available. However, this app is an absolute wreck and simply does not work. The first few days I was using it, all was well. I don’t know if an update hastened or what, but the app has absolutely stopped working. The app hangs on the loading screen far too often, it cannot complete whatever the “firmware check” stage is and scooters simply won’t unlock for me because it hangs in the firmware check stage. At the same time, the in-app scooter locating map only works about half the time (often the map is just empty or blank) and about half the time it also hangs while trying to process my payments through Apple Pay or it simply drops the transaction and I have to restart. All in all I’m able to use the app successfully about 1 out of every 20 tries. If you can avoid it, don’t use this service. I rely on the scooters to get around day to day and I simply have had to give up with LINK. It’s not with the headache. Update - wow for like a hot minute this app got better but now it’s literally entirely unusable on an iPhone 12 Mini. Lame.

My overall experience with my first ride I’d say was a 7/10. First off you get zero instructions on how to start riding the device or operate it safely near pedestrians and vehicles. The idea that people who may have never even rode a bike are zooming on side walks is pretty terrifying. The safety geo fencing is a nice feature however it’s far from perfect. You get a nice beep when you enter a speed controlled area or when your out of bounds but guess what!? you are paying the whole time for the ride you are out of bounds and you have to push it manually !! The “bell” is also a joke. I’ve got a louder bell on a mountain bike and trying to hear the included bell in any urban area is unrealistic. The device itself was great (First weekend the service was available, Hartford CT) great acceleration , top speed, handling and breaking. The lack of training for safely operating the scooter is unfortunate , even a 2 minute video before it lets you ride would be great and I’m amazed the service is able to legally operate without it. Seems like a lawsuit waiting to happen.