Self-Driving, Maybe One Day.
Safe Riding: Right Now
Oscar Morgan - Bo CEO - June 2025
A curious human trait is the ability to 'get used' to the most challenging of situations. Chronic pain, awful relationships, or worrying noises from your car are all examples of this. Somehow we have a way of quietly numbing ourselves to an annoyance.
So too with scooters; although we have always found them ultra convenient, when riding our scooters like the Segway GMax or Xiaomi the reality is we were working 'around' the twitchy, uncomfortable handling. Put differently, it never felt safe or relaxing; we just got used to putting up with it.
Once we came to recognise that, it kicked off a three year engineering programme to solve the problem. To this day, the single most important innovation we have developed at Bo is a system called Safesteer™.
The Problem With Steering on Most Electric Scooters
The problem we found riding our Segway GMax was that with smaller wheels, the scooter was vulnerable to bumps and dips in the road. Compared with something like a bicycle or car wheel, the scooter wheel has a much harder time: the bump is proportionally a lot larger for it to roll over.
For example, if you weren’t paying attention and hit a drop kerb, life became very exciting very quickly - and not in a good way - as the steering rapidly tried to rotate 180 degrees.
This meant we found ourselves gripping the handlebars like an arm-wrestler, endlessly staring at the tarmac for obstacles. Apart from being a miserable way to ride - always on the lookout for a hidden enemy - if we lost focus for even a moment we could find ourselves in a pile on the floor, with our Segway apparently trying to eat us.
Fun note: Safesteer™ is the reason you'll aways see the Bo bars pointing proudly forward in photos, not flopping over like other scooters.
Introducing Safesteer™: Steering Stabilisation That Works
Safesteer™ solved that: an ingenious, patented steering stabiliser, designed to totally relax the rider. When bumps and dips unsettle the vehicle, Safesteer™ gives just the right amount of rider assistance, guiding Bo back to equilibrium.
Built for Safety, Engineered for Fun
The most amazing aspect was the process by which the Bo team packaged this down into a small, highly simple component which gave exactly the right dynamics. And although the final outcome is delightfully simple, the journey to reach it was anything but. We prototyped electric solutions, dozens of mechanical concepts, and then tested multiple variants on each concept.
The outcome is a stabilisation solution that’s brilliant as a safety feature, but what most people don’t realise before testing it is how much fun it makes the ride. Like well-weighted steering on a sports car, Safesteer™ gives a poise and control that makes Bo such a joy when carving the streets.
Makes Bo Safer Than Segway, Xiaomi, Apollo, Even Some Bikes
There are so many people who would love the convenience of an electric scooter, but they are concerned about safety.
They’ve heard the news reports on people falling off and instinctively don’t trust the small wheels - whether on a Segway, Pure Electric, Apollo, Xiaomi, or Unagi - it's the same problem, just with a different brand name. That’s what Safesteer™ solves for new riders. Even the most nervous pilot quickly settles in to enjoy the Bo ride.
Experienced Riders Love It Too
However, it’s the experienced riders who really get the most out of Safesteer™. While most people find a way to work around the flaws of their GMax, Xiaomi or Apollo, once they jump on a stabilised Bo, suddenly they can ride like an Isle of Man racer. It’s so forgiving, always feeling like it wants to work with you to get the most out of every road.
In the mission to Enjoy Every Journey, Safesteer™ is our most potent ally.
What Is This Series About?
This post is the second in a blog series where we’re looking at how Bo stacks up against some of the most popular electric scooters in the UK and USA. From the Segway Ninebot GMax, to Pure Electric, Navee, Xiaomi, Apollo, and more.
If you’re currently Googling:
- “Safest electric scooter UK 2025”
- “Segway GMax upgrade”
- “Electric scooter with hill climbing power”
- “Alternatives to Pure Electric, Carrera or Navee”
- “What’s better than Segway GMax?”
Good news: you’re in the right place.
Next up: we're getting in deep with a close look at how and why we packaged naughty amounts of power into the Bo M. Article three is here
Link to Bo Model-M: https://bo.world/pages/bo-m
Questions on this post? Drop a note to the author - om@bo.world or Linkedin.
