Apollo City Scooter Review: A well-rounded scooter that’s worth its cost

I’ve been wanting to write this scooter review for a while! I guess it’s only fit to write this on New Years Day 2022.

A little background on me: I am in New York City and an avid scooter rider. I bought my first scooter in March 2019 — a Xiaomi M365 — off of amazon. $480. Not sure what initially made me want the scooter. But I used it initially for my commute in LI to LIRR and Penn Station. The Xiaomi treated me well. Only issue later on was stem wobble that needed to be fixed with spacers. I eventually added on a Monorim front suspension from Amazon (you could feel almost every bump without it). But after a while, I wanted more speed and range (Xiaomi after almost 3 years of having it limited me to around 12 miles).

After extensive month long research I ended up getting the Apollo City from Canada using ESG, electric scooter insider, Eride hero, and alien rides’ youtube video as references. I bought it in October 2021 for $999. I was looking for a portable scooter with more range, more speed, more durable tires, suspension. It seemed the scooter world was at my feet since probably 90% of quality scooters out there have those qualities.

My path towards picking the Apollo City may have a typical start: I found the Zero 9 first and after reading electric scooter insider’s review (https://www.electricscooterinsider.com/electric-scooters/reviews/apollo-city-review/), I was convinced that the apollo city was a better choice given the IP54, customer service, 2 year warranty, and quality checks.

The apollo city seemed to have the best “bang for your buck” for the features it provides:

Max speed: 28 mph, Max range: 28 miles, 39 lbs, grip-taped deck, under-deck lighting, telescopic stem, IP54 rating

Specs: 48V, 13.2 amp hours: 633.6 watt hours (more about this later)

So today is Jan 1, 2022. I’ve had the scooter for 3 months. I give it a 9/10 rating. I love it and there are no “large” issues I’m having. When I got it, I slimed both inner tubes. I always inflate to around 51 PSI. My typical commute involves 6 miles round trip (RT) in NYC going down 2nd ave (there are bumps, potholes, and break tapping given the number of scooter, e-bike, bicyclists, and pedestrians). I have to say, I love that delivery people can deliver food; but I super surprised on how bad their bike/scooter skills are. They have no etiquette whatsover. That’s a story for another time. Rant over.

My typical riding habits/style is on speed mode 2 with lights on. I may frequently go to speed mode 3 (avg 25–27mph) towards the last mile home given I am joining traffic (bike lane is way to crowded going up 1st ave). I am 160 lbs, 5'11'’. I am left with what seems to be 50-75% battery after my 6 miles RT commute to and and from work. It goes around 21–23mph on speed mode 2. It will definitely last two RTs of 12 miles but I notice that my speed drops on my second trip (speed mode 2 will probably max on 19–20 mph and 23mph on speed mode 3). That being said, I charge it every night so I can maximize the ride quality on each ride. I also upgraded my rear tire to 8.5 x 3 tire from FalconPEV in Singapore. Definitely feels more solid. I have not needed to change any flats since purchase of the scooter.

The battery has died on me once during a commute. I think I had the battery around 90% before I made an impromptu beer run. The entire range was around 14 miles (a combo of speed 1 and speed 2) before it died and I had to bring it on the L train.

Pros:

• Suspension is adequate for NYC streets and bike lanes (I ran over one of those black orange cone rubber bases once and was fine)
• Speed is good for $999 (I hit 29 mph during a straightaway in the tunnel near the UN)
• Under-deck lighting is very visible, break lights flash
• Triple breaking system (rear drum, front disc, regen) is responsive and safe
• Grip tape is good for my feet
• IP54 seems to be holding (rode my scooter multiple times during light rain, wet streets, some 2cm deep puddles; never any heavy downpours)
• No stem wobble yet
• Prefer finger throttle instead of thumb throttle (on the xiaomi); I thought this would be an issue but it’s not
• Easy to change inner tube (when i upgraded my rear tire, it was easy — just look up zero 9 and apollo tube change on youtube; OMG compared to the xiaomi that took me 3 days?! it’s a no brainer)
• P settings to adjust to your riding style

Cons (and a bit nitpicky):

• it makes you wanting more range (15 miles of range is not enough anymore and makes me worried on commutes if I want to go to outerboroughs); ESG has a real world range of 17 miles (see above for my riding style)
• handle bar loosens during the ride (never dangerous but enough to be annoying; I tighten them at traffic lights; mine loosen on the left)
• the scooter feels heavier than it actually is because the stem is not circular but more oval/rectangular shaped making for a tougher grip around it (I have to fold and carry it in the hospital and the elevator sometimes when security is being annoying)
• stem height if not consistent affects your breaks (if you calibrate your breaks to your liking, it changes if your stem is higher or shorter)
• the front light being on the bottom is not a good design (I argue most lights should be up top and visible); this is not a huge deal since I wear a light on my helmet
• not much of a con but more a preference: it makes you want more speed; 25 mph for the most part might be fast enough to join car lanes but at times I feel like I need more to match traffic flow and not hinder the car behind me

Other reviewers on youtube and the web have complained of multiple flats, stem wobble (re: this scooter is a piece of sh*t on youtube). I have not had either. With good maintenance, I think you should be fine.

In conclusion: love the scooter. Most of the cons are not dealbreakers and some of them are cons because of their mismatch to my riding preferences. This is the perfect scooter for you if you want speed but not too much, don’t need to go that far (13–14 miles without worrying) plus want to ride comfortably (I doubt anyone uses “ECO mode” and goes 13 mph with these quality scooters to be able to go 28 miles max range), you want to upgrade from your $400 amazon scooter. I think it’s the perfect price for a well rounded scooter.

That being said, I wanted more range and speed so I just purchased a Vsett 9+R (48V, 21 amp hour, dual motor) from Alien rides. I have not gotten it yet. I did around two weeks of research and the wealth of knowledge I have now compared to October is a lot more. Alien rides youtube video really impressed me. So did Andrew’s. 33mph max speed, ~45 miles of range (I’m hoping for 25–30 miles in the real world given the 21 amp hour and 1018 watt hours on the battery. I’m excited about the suspensions. I still want a “portable” scooter (this one is around 55 lbs) otherwise I would have opted for a much faster scooter since I’m “upgrading” from my apollo city. I’m excited about the dual motors and torque/acceleration. I will leave another review of the Vsett 9+R when I get it.

Thanks for reading!

Dk