Razor (scooter)
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Image:Razor Scooter.JPGThe Razor scooter was originally developed by the JD Corporation. Its design took over 5 years to perfect by a then 44-year-old mechanical engineer named Gino Tsai, the owner of JD Corporation. His inspiration came from the ease of mobility of old- fashioned scooters, but he needed something smaller and more compact to ride around his sprawling bicycle factory so he wouldn't have to walk so much. This led to the eventual design of a collapsable aircraft grade aluminum scooter. The perfect balance between weight, strength and speed.
In the summer of 1998, Tsai took the scooter to a convention in Chicago, where it caught the eye of The Sharper Image, which ordered 4,000 of them after an official from Sharper Image Japan paid a visit to the factory and recognized the immediate potential of the Razor Scooter (still called JD Razor at the time). By August, 1999, JD could not keep up with demand, so in 2000 Tsai boosted his factory's output to 1 million units [over what time period?]. The scooter became a hit in Japan, and soon wholesalers began importing the scooter into the US. Recognizing the signals of a trend, Carlton Calvin, who at the time was manufacturing and selling miniature skateboards throughout the US, decided to distribute the JD Razor. Demand mushroomed into a full blown world-wide fad and in June 2000 RazorUSA LLC was born in Cerritos, California. RazorUSA now owns the Razor trademark worldwide.
The new streamlined scooter designs consist of:
- Full aluminum and/or steel construction
- 2 x 98/100/110/125mm polyurethayne wheels with a plastic hub requiring 608ZZ skateboard bearings
- Adjustable steering column height with a quick release clamp
- Collapsable handles with foam grips
- 1 1/8" headset/fork combination with a threaded steerer tube
- Patented folding mechanism attached to a small narrow deck (where you put your feet)with grip tape for added traction
- Patented friction brake (person presses his/her foot on back wheel to slow down)
Most freestyle riders heavily modify their scooters by reinforcing almost every part to withstand the abuse of high impacts and crashes. In 2004, Razor released the A4, more commonly known as The Pro Model. It was modeled after the discontinued B model scooter, which was preferred by most freestyle riders because of its bigger size and added strength. The Pro Model built upon the strengths of the B model to become the strongest freestyle scooter Razor has ever released.
Strong demand for Razor scooters continues today. They are widely available online and offline and have become a staple for everyday life for most kids, similar to bicycles and skateboards. More experienced riders have developed a skilled repetoir of tricks and stunts that have attracted enough of a following that many skate parks sponsor events and contests throughout the US, Europe and Australia. Razor scooters are becoming more popular with the releasing of the Razor Video Magazines (RVM), which feature freestyle tricks from Team Razor. There have been 3 of them released.
The Razor Pro Team consists of a handful of active members as well as a legion of "ex-pros" who show up from time to time. The active members are:
- Chris Daigle
- Addison McNaughton
- Eddie Strzalkowski
- Matt Pate
- Josh Toy
- K.C. Corning
- Ricky Wernicke
- John Radtke
- Jesse Macaluso
- Coedie Donovan
Razor also released a full line of electric scooters as well as many other motorized transportation vehicles and toys since the release of the original scooter.
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