MongooseTrace Lightweight Folding Kick Scooter, For Kids 8+ Years

I was planning to try to assemble this myself, but my brother happened to be in town on just the right day and put it together for me, including greasing the wheel bearings. He used to be a bike mechanic for quite a few years, so I was fortunate to get free, expert assembly. I had also ordered a kickstand for a 12" wheel bicycle, but my brother said the axle wasn't long enough for it. I ended up getting a scooter stand just for storing it upright in the garage, and it's working great so far: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08H5MZ4PGThis scooter is a lot of fun to ride for both my almost 10 year old son and for me (much older Mom LOL). I'm 5'4", and we raised the handlebars a bit. He's about 4'9". The height works fine for both of us. The brakes are not super strong, even with proper adjustment, but they work.

On delivery brakes were attached to wrong handle. This was fixed but because of the many points of contact in this scooters design, brakesare ineffective even with full and proper adjustment. The convuleted wiring simply sucks up any power that is finally applied to the brakes.It does not give confidence at speed or on hills. I am a shortish adult, and would be loath to let a child ride this sadly.Otherwise, scooter is sturdy and looks good.

I'm a 5'8" tall adult weighing about 170 lbs. This scooter with the air filled 12" tires is to replace another scooter I use to ride along with my grandkids. A scooter with smaller hard rubber wheels is hazardous when the sidewalk is uneven. Tree roots often push up part of a sidewalk, and a 1" difference in elevation is not fun. The more you weigh, the more difficult it is for the wheels to "make the jump." My other scooter also had a rear disc brake which is very nice.As an adult, I found it difficult to find a kick scooter with big wheels and hand brakes tall enough for an adult. After much research, I chose this Mongoose.I've been maintaining my own bicycles since the 1970s. One would think a scooter is a piece of cake to assemble! And it should be...except it's not!This scooter is sturdy, nicely painted, the wheels are nice, although I would have preferred a slightly taller handlebar. The difficulty is with the caliper brakes.The instruction manual points out how the left brake handle is for the front, and the right one is for the rear. So far so good. However, the actual hardware appears to want to accommodate both breaks from either handle.Being made in China, maybe the Chinese do it differently. But Mongoose literature says they hail from Madison Wisconsin.So, I've about finished with the front brake. After I removed a "double cable" and stretched the proper cable to the handlebar brake lever. However, the rear brake cable also has a "double cable" and the single cable from the rear caliper is not long enough to reach the right brake lever.I shall try and contact the manufacturer tomorrow. Lucky for me, I happen to have a collection of brake cables from my years of home bicycle maintenance to make it work. But I should not have to do that.Hopefully, Mongoose will get together with their Chinese manufacturer and straighten this out for future buyers. Might I suggest they move their manufacturing to Wisconsin where they hail from. They might also consider revising their instruction manual for more clarity.ADULT USER UPDATE:I've come to find out that this is a "Trick Scooter" as in circus. The twin rear brake cables allow for the handlebars to spin in 360 degree circles while "riding." I don't expect to use the scooter in this fashion.Customer service was friendly and attentive. They shipped me a missing lock nut (in the mail) and noted by observations about the brakes. Although the brakes are fully adjusted, they require an unusual amount of hand gripping force to lock the wheels. I believe this is because the length of the caliper arms from the pivot point to the rim pads is exceptionally long. In my opinion, it is a design issue. There is a wide gap between the top of the tire and the single mounting point of the brake calipers. Therefore, the mechanical advantage to stop the wheels from spinning is very weak. This problem is compounded with speed and the weight of an adult rider. I would not ride this scooter on a steep hill. I believe a rear wheel disc brake would be a fine solution. That, or modify the frame design to enable installation of high leverage rim brakes.As my purpose is ride and supervise young grandchildren and riding on mostly level sidewalks at low speeds, I will probably keep this scooter despite its shortcomings. But I should not have to settle for this due to lack of choice. An adult kick scooter with 12" pneumatic wheels and hand brakes without an electric motor is difficult to find.

Took a while to put together , brakes don’t work And are broken - no good

My grandson has minor balance problem with bicycle. Loves new scooter