If you’ve checked out our Scooter Comparison Tool, you may have noticed two impressively cheap electric scooters; the Megawheels S1 and the Megawheels S10. The S1 is the most affordable scooter on our list (of 573 models), priced at just $119, while the S10 is the 12th cheapest at $219. If you opt for the seller-refurbished model of the S10 (which I did), its price drops to the 2nd cheapest currently listed at $134 on Ebay. As a fan of budget-friendly scooters that offer great value, I purchased both of them and have extensively tested them over the past 2 weeks. This review will focus on the S10, and I’ll publish a review of the S1 in the near future.
Overall, the S10 is an extremely impressive scooter given its price. It comes in two versions; one with a 5Ah battery and one with a 7.5Ah battery (I tested the 7.5Ah version). It currently is sold in a number of places besides Ebay, such as Eridehub (link here), and Electricridesonly.com (link here), but I wasn’t willing to pay an extra $150 just for a 6-12 month warranty. I was most impressed by the minimalist build quality and the excellent e-braking despite having no brake levers, and I was most disappointed by the tiny handlebars and lack of suspension system. Keep reading for the full review!
Click here for the current price of the Megawheels S10 (7.5Ah version)
Click here for the current price of the Megawheels S10 (5Ah version)
Click here for the current price of the refurbished Megawheels S10 (7.5Ah version)
Specifications Overview
Price: $219 ($134 for seller-refurbished)
Speed: 15.5 mph *15 mph Freshly Charged Certified
Range: 15 miles *13.89 miles FCC with 140lb rider
Weight: 26 lbs *28.6 lbs FCC
Acceleration 0-10mph: 2.68s FCC
1/16 mile (330ft): 16.78s FCC
1/8 mile: 32.12s @ 14.66mph FCC
Max Rider Load: 265 lbs
Motor: 250W
Water resistance: N/A
Tires: 8.5″ honeycomb (solid)
Suspension: None
Brakes: Foot brake, regen brake (both rear)
Battery: 36V, 7.5Ah (270 Wh) *alternate version has 5Ah battery, 180Wh capacity
What I Love About The MegaWheels S10
- Grippy deck
- Cool-looking integrated front/rear light
- Folds into itself, easy to carry
- Thumb throttle
- Dedicated regen brake throttle
- Regen brake is very strong
- Bright display
- Memory of last speed mode
- Decently powerful for 250W motor
- Kick brake
- Box/packaging very light
What I Dislike About The MegaWheels S10
- Kickstand set at a poor angle
- Tiny handlebars
- No room on handlebars to attach extra light, phone holder, etc.
- Handlebar height not adjustable
- Handlebars constantly come unscrewed while riding
- Front light is laughably dim, can’t even tell if you’ve turned it on
- Push to start
- Display is way too bright at night, almost blinding
- No way to remove speed limiter (I opened the deck and checked)
- No suspension
- Solid tire
- Speedometer doesn’t read past 15 (even if going downhill at 20+ mph), Free spin speed is limited to 15mph
- Grip tape peeling away already out of the box
- Significant throttle delay
- Front tire, handlebars require assembly
- Charge port is tiny
Deck
The S10 deck is covered in nice-looking grip tape, and the deck dimensions align with what I’d expect from an entry-level scooter. Large enough for comfortable short rides, but after riding for 10+ miles, a bit more feet-wiggle space would be appreciated. Though, with the range of the scooter being just shy of 14 miles, you won’t find yourself in that position too often. When unboxing the scooter I found the grip tape peeling near the front, and after a few days of use, the grip tape near the rear started to peel off as well. During an attempt to access the battery compartment, removing the grip tape resulted in some sticky paper adhering to the deck wood. In summary, the subpar quality of the grip tape stands out as a significant drawback for the S10.
Lights
The S10 has integrated front and rear lights, which seems impressive for a $200 scooter until you realize that the front light is so dim that even at night you can’t tell whether you’ve turned it on until you stick your head over the front of the handlebars to check. If you want your path to be visibly lit up at all, you’ll need an external light, like the Ovetour Bike Light I recommended in my recent article on PEV winter gear. More on that later.
Portability
The S10 gets top marks for portability. Even the box it came in was light, and I had no problem carrying it up the stairs to my apartment to open the scooter. The folding mechanism is great, and the stem folds down and clicks neatly into the rear kickplate, and at 26 lbs (mine weighed 28.6 lbs) it’s super easy to lift with one hand.
Power
Although it has only a 250W motor, the scooter has enough power to carry even heavier riders up to 15mph. There is an acceleration cutoff when you hit 15 mph, implying that there is a speed limiter, but when I opened up the deck I couldn’t find one. It can tackle moderate hills, but was unable to tackle the official (steep) Freshly Charged hill climb.
Braking
This is the first electric scooter I have ridden without mechanical brakes. There is a regen throttle and a rear kick brake, (which technically can be called a mechanical brake) but there are no brake levers. However, with the scooter being as light as it is, you don’t need one. In fact, I rarely found myself using even the kick brake, since the regen brake was so effective at bringing me to a stop. After riding 50+ miles on the S10, I used the kick brake less than five times. This is a huge positive, because brakes are the main thing that require maintenance on scooters, and eliminating them saves a lot of time, money and hassle further down the road.
Tires
Speaking of maintenance; the second most common component on scooters that requires maintenance is tires; and the S10’s solid tires eliminate this concern entirely. However, the 8.5-inch honeycomb tires do a terrible job of absorbing bumps of any size, and the lack of any suspension makes the S10 a markedly uncomfortable ride. I would not recommend purchasing this scooter if you intend on tackling anything other than perfectly smooth pavement.
Handlebars
The handlebars are the one thing that has given me the most to gripe about with this scooter. They are tiny, forcing you have to ride with “T-Rex arms,” and they constantly rattle loose and begin unscrewing from the stem. After nearly every ride, I find myself needing to re-tighten them. The handlebars are also so small that it is impossible to attach a phone holder, external light (which is badly needed) or any kind of external gadget. The only place to attach something is the handlebar grips themselves, which is impractical unless you like one-handed riding (not recommended).
Display
The display is very bright, which is great when riding during the day, but at night it is just blinding. The display is so bright at night, in fact, that it significantly decreases the visibility of the road in front of you. I started carrying duct tape with me at night so I could cover the display with a strip of duct tape. The display is pretty useless anyway, since you will nearly always be traveling at 15mph. Even when going downhill, the display still reads 15mph regardless of how fast you are actually going. I’m confident I got it to at least 20mph a few times when going down hills, but the display still read 15mph.
Kickstand
The kickstand is another thing that has caused me major headaches with this scooter; it is angled so close to the ground that the scooter will only stand up on its own if the terrain is perfectly flat. It won’t even stand up on my carpet – since the tires sink into the carpet and the kickstand does not, it tips right over.
The Freshly Charged Take
Overall: I would recommend this scooter to anyone looking for an ultra-budget friendly introduction into the world of scootering. I was initially hoping that I could add my the S10 to my permanent scooter collection, and just store it inside and use it for short trips (especially during the winter when going into my shed/garage is cold), but the lack of suspension or pneumatic tires, and inconvenience of the handlebar design are simply too difficult to ignore. Instead, I’ll be selling it and looking for something a little further up the price scale for my true last-mile scooter option.