Unboxing
I started my morning like any other review morning, with a giant box on my front porch. While I was obviously expecting a large scooter, I was still shook at the size of the box; I’m gonna need another coffee before dragging this beast out back.
I’m not exaggerating, this thing is heavy at over 90lbs! Cutting open the box reveals… another box. This double boxing strategy did seem to help prevent some damage from reaching the interior, but the Gallop just does not want a dramatic reveal, with the scooter entombed inside a fortress of foam blocks. After excavating a mountain of Styrofoam, the scooter itself appears to be almost fully assembled, and is truly a sight to behold.
The Ausom Gallop is definitely not a toy, but a finely crafted machine showcasing an attractive blend between a stylistic scifi appearance, while still retaining a practical design.
I take a quick glance over the user manual to check what needs to be setup, and proceed to unfold the handlebar mechanism. It uses a quick release knob, with a larger screw-in crossbar as the primary locking lugs. It’s not only quick and easy to unfold, but feels secure with zero play once tightened.
Next up is the only true bit of assembly, which is to secure the handlebars to the stem using four bolts. I use the included tool set, which was actually shockingly nice… I’ll probably actually keep this. The same can’t be said however about the included cheap plastic air pump. It’s nice that they include one, but I will opt for my own battery electric pump.
Finally, I plug the scooter in to charge. The 2 amp charger means I’ll be waiting a while, but the scooter does feature dual charge plugs, so if you are impatient like me, you can order a second charger to get up and running in half the time. Optionally, the locking deck flips up to reveal the battery compartment, allowing for easy removal of the battery to charge externally.
The battery itself uses the same dual plug charging system, and locks securely under the deck using a built-in combination lock when installed in the scooter.
Overall, the Gallop was extremely quick and easy to get up and running.
Features
The Ausom Gallop is a striking blend of functionally stylistic machinery. The black and yellow trim is complimented by the yellow clearance lights which accentuate the edges of the spacious deck. Dual matching hub motors rated at an impressive 1200 watts each are coupled with 140mm hydraulic disc brakes and grippy all-terrain tires shrouded underneath oversized plastic fenders.
This scooter is BIG. I own a KQI2 and a Razor Icon, and the Gallop weighs more than both of them combined. While the scooter is extraordinarily large, it does still fold up, leading to a scooter that’s… well, quite frankly still very large and extremely heavy. I generally think of a scooter as something I can fold up and whip into a car trunk, but the Gallop is a bit less cooperative in this regard vs the less performant scooters.
On the plus side, I’m a fairly large guy at 6ft tall and 195lbs, and this scooter feels downright spacious thanks to the tall handlebar stem and the extra large deck.
Controlling this beast of a scooter is comfortable thanks to the tall stem and comfortable contoured grips. Electronic controls for lights, blinkers, a somewhat lame horn, the display, and mode select switches are laid out in a way that makes controlling all this intuitive without having to constantly look down at what you’re doing.
The scooter isn’t just tuned well for my size, but my weight as well. The shocks do have adjustable preload, but the stock setting seems very appropriate for my weight, with me only barely able to bottom out the shocks by jumping on it with my full weight.
The suspension design on this scooter honestly looks a bit crazy, and the bulky front swing arm had me feeling like I was staring down at Bumblebee’s head any time I looked down.
So why the swing arm instead of forks? Having experience with front motors, I know that they tend to cause forks to lock up under power. The swing arm places the force of the motor on the pivot point instead, lettings the shock do its job. I was a bit concerned about adding a joint between the bars and the front wheel, but the Gallop utilizes very sturdy oversized bearings and pivot axles which don’t contribute to slop or a loss of steering precision.
Okay, so let’s actually turn this thing on and… hm… Maybe I’m just dumb, but I had to look at the manual to learn to press and hold the mode switch in addition to the key to start it. This make sense once you know it, but I felt awfully dumb trying to flip the on/off switch for the lights thinking it was the ignition.
Speaking of the lights, they aren’t the brightest I’ve seen, but the highly focused beam makes them appear brighter than they are. Compared to my typical 250 lumen bike light, they appear about twice as bright. The focused beam and especially the low angle means that they excel in highlighting hazards in the road, casting long shadows from even small bumps.
The running lights, blinkers, and tail lights are also quite bright, but may be difficult to notice in bright sunlight. The display does notify you when your lights and linkers are on, which is helpful. I also appreciate that battery percentage is shown both in bars, AND in voltage, which is great to see how much charge you have at a glance, but gives realtime voltage for your tech nerd like me.
As far as controls go, and the thumb throttle is much more responsive than what I’m used to on cheap e-bikes. With almost instantaneous response and very little dead-zone, it feels extremely precise, making it easy to limit my speed when putting around. Pushing the throttle a bit more unleashes the real power, and in dual motor mode, it’s hard not to accidentally spin the front wheel. Likewise, the hydraulic brakes feel very precise while still providing tons of stopping power when needed.
I quickly realize just how powerful this thing is, and decide to suit up with some proper riding gear before any more test rides. I highly recommend a full-face helmet while riding a scooter like this, and other gear such as a padded jacket and armored gloves aren’t a bad idea either.
Test Rides
I went to a local park to practice on a relatively low-traffic loop. Despite my inexperience, this scooter handled great, taking curves and turns effortlessly. At low speeds, it handles far better than any scooters I’ve ever ridden, and the suspension makes casual bumps or seams in the road feel like nothing. After a while, I picked up the confidence to start taking turns a bit more aggressively before moving out to the road to try some higher speed runs.
On my first few passes, I was able to take the scooter between 25-30mph, but backed down as I felt the scooter would get upset or start to develop a speed wobble. While the scooter felt nimble and extremely stable under 20mph, higher speeds felt a bit too twitchy. With how well designed this scooter is, I figured it must be a “me problem”, and found I really need to lean into this scooter and shift my weight low and forward. With this knowledge and a bit more practice I found the confidence to push the scooter, and yes, it does indeed hit 41mph.
The bulk of the time, however, I rode between 20-25mph, where it really feels comfortable and reasonable in traffic. I go this fast all the time on e-bikes, but knowing that I have the ability to tap into additional power is confidence inspiring. While I’m pretty happy with the current setup, it appears there is a mount for a steering damper, so subscribe and maybe I’ll try to source one in the future to see if it improves high-speed stability
Speed on the flats is one thing, but how does it handle hills? I don’t have many steep hills near me, but I went to the biggest one I could find, with around a 10 degree incline. Unsurprisingly, this scooter lugs me up the hill at 20mph, which is more than fast enough compared to the lower wattage e-bikes I’m used to.
Power and Range
Finally, the most asked question about any electric vehicle is range, and as always, “It Depends^tm”. The battery in this scooter is huge at 52v and 23 amp hours. The spec sheet for this scooter is one of the more honest ones I’ve seen, listing actual test conditions used to get their 50 mile range estimate. Of course, nobody is actually going to ride this scooter at 9mph, so what kind of range do *I* get?
I find myself usually keeping the scooter in dual motor level 2, which tops out a bit over 20mph. This feels like a comfortable speed without burning the battery too quickly, while still having tons of power. Riding like this, I generally use around 1/3 of the pack for every 10 miles, so around 30 miles for the whole pack. On the other hand, if you’re the type of thrill seeker who needs to ride wheelies or pull full throttle runs all day, the dual 1200w motors are fully capable of dumping the 1200WH pack in a half an hour. Mind you, a half and hour at full throttle would still get you between 15 and 20 miles of range, which ain’t too shabby.
Problems
The only mechanical problem I had with the scooter was a flat tire, which wasn’t fault of the scooter, but rather some trash in the bike lane. This was a bit annoying, but it gave me the opportunity to get a closer look at the beefy dropouts and torque washers required to keep this motor in place. The tire was very easy to change thanks to the quick connector on the motor, and the split rim design, meaning I didn’t have to wrestle with tire levers. I know some riders prefer tubebless tires and rims, but I far prefer this setup for ease of maintenance.
Conclusion
So, do I recommend the Ausom Gallop?
I am personally more of an E-Bike guy, but the Gallop is seriously appealing. If what you are looking for is raw performance, and you see pedals on an ebike as a legal loophole more than another power source, you will absolutely get more performance for dollar out of this scooter vs a comparably priced E-Bike. In fact, you will probably get more value out of this scooter vs a comparably priced scooter. Looking around, it seems like the Gallop is really trying to break into a level of performance and quality that was previously a bit hard to find at this price point.
I had a hard time trying to find any real complaints about this thing. All the parts are well constructed and solid, all the joints are oversized precision assemblies, and the performance is outrageous compared to what I’m used to. The large size means it’s not as portable as your typical scooter, but it’s certainly more compact than a bike. The Ausom Gallop presents itself as a wonderful entry to high performance scooters, with enough performance to have fun while still being very affordable, comfortable, and practical.
I have yet to test extended off road or snow capabilities, and I’m curious to see how this holds up over time, so if you want to hold off and see my followup, be sure to subscribe. And if you’re as excited as I am about this, and want one for yourself, check out the links in the description where you can use offer codes to get exclusive discounts starting this Black Friday. I have personally wanted a performance scooter for a long time and I know I’m not the only one, so if you’re looking for the perfect over the top Christmas gift for the weird thrill seeker in your life, this may just be it.
With the holidays coming up shortly, and performance scooters being more affordable than ever, the Gallop would make an amazing gift for the tech-minded thrill seeker in your life. Visit Geekbuying.com and use offer code "AGallop" for the lowest price available on the Ausom Gallop!
Helmet Featured: https://amzn.to/3uvl4GN
