Mongoose174; Force 3.0 Scooter - Multiple Colors

This scooter was a Christmas present for my grandson. It is a huge hit!

A bit bigger scooter and smoother ride than the razor so this was great

Not a good quality to buy. One of the pin brook like a wood it is not safe for kids to ride it.

PREFACE: This scooter I've snapped pictures of here has a clearly different hinge design than the one available normally in online outlets like eBay and others. Mine has a lever which cams a locking pin under spring pressure to unlock the scooter as is seen to be common on folding scooter designs. The one you see up above has a weird pull thingy which evidently does not work so good. Also on mine is a convex spot on the front wheel bracket, maybe they improved the design that way too. Only got the one I got. Look at those welds.This update is something to note on the Force 4.0, too, from what I see on Kohl's (check out the weight increase! 8.7 to 9.48!).Note also that mine had chafing of the back wheel against the deck. I tried all sorts of things from a big wrench to sandpaper but then I removed the wheel and found some value in the oversized bolt-holes--these wheels have some excess from the factory which sticks out on one rim touching the polyurethane. Shaving off that plastic and then some would be a complete fix, but it's negligible aside from the chafing issue. Something to look out for.I found mine sitting on the shelf all alone at a Target. I don't use scooters, but the main thing I was looking out for was a folding scooter with largish wheels and a strong construction. The box didn't indicate aluminum construction. That's because it's made of steel--well, steel and "alloy" according to the Kohl's listing. I haven't bothered to find out what "alloy" is. Anyway, steel beats aluminum any day in my opinion, so if anyone's interested in some steel on wheels you've found some. Make sure to maintain it. This one's held up to 50-100 pounds shy of the 220-pound limit, but I'll make sure to update this with info about how it wears or breaks. If I don't I'm either too busy having fun or died in a horrific accident. Safety first.Addendum 1: Sidewalks and roads feel great, but in the case of a shabby inroad job with rocky asphalt, I can't tolerate the shock and the jerking. Maybe I'll try out railroad ballasts later. There's also a spot in my suburb where a root pushed up a sidewalk panel to about the height of the scooter's deck. Be careful out there.Addendum 2: Darn, didn't expect to have to report this but this thing, even now, has a design problem. So if you read the manual, it recommends checking the bolts for tightness before every ride. This is generally a good thing to do with any vehicle. Unfortunately, if you have a look at the neck, there are 2 bolts that are completely inaccessible due to being covered by a bar in the joint. This is pretty critical, and should alone be enough to discourage. However, there's another flaw where every bolt you see holding the neck to the deck is not associated with a nut. That's 4. The threads engage right into the chassis, which means if they strip out, everything will come right out and no tightening will save you unless you can nut those bolts. Mine ended up stripping out because I'm not that careful. I don't exactly understand why it comes like this, but the fix should be easy enough. The real problem is that this is something that can really jump out of nowhere and cause catastrophic failure where the steel wouldn't fail you normally. I may be lucky mine didn't do such a thing, but it's definitely on the bench until I can fix this flaw. Pending a successful trip to the hardware store.

I bought one of these at Target. It collapsed within 5 minutes of riding by a 60 pound child, pitching him forward to the sidewalk. I exchanged for another one, same model, whose steering was rough and grindy right out of the box. I have learned my lesson and will never purchase any Mongoose product again. These should not be on the market and there is clearly no quality control in the manufacturing process.

!!!! DANGEROUS. !!!! In use by a 10 yr old for less than a day and ALL FOUR screws that hold the thing together stripped out. Since I am pretty handy I went to put it back together thinking it was just poor quality at the factory but they are actually stripped. Not one but ALL. This could be catastrophic for your child - down a hill, off a curb, or even just in the driveway...

Overall, I love this scooter. I use it for school going from the parking lot to campus. The only thing that I dislike, in the slightest, is the fact that the button to collapse the scooter is a bit hard to push, but that will probably get better as I use it more. Also, when you are unfolding the scooter make sure that you hear a *click* to ensure that the scooter will not collapse on you while riding it. I highly recommend for college students who want a faster way to get to class