Boing Boing Boing
Oscar Morgan - Bo CEO - July 2025
Airdeck is the Bo anti-vibration solution: zero moving parts, minimum weight, maximum comfort.
While I’m as open to the idea of a Porsche 911 as anyone, the reality of my life is that I optimise for comfort. Happiest driving in a Land Rover, sleeping on a Tempur mattress, and jogging in a well-cushioned shoe. So it does seem odd that Bo is a premium electric scooter without big suspension.
But that’s the thing: the aim was never just to “fit suspension”. The question we kept coming back to was what actually makes a great ride?
Our Segway Had Suspension — It Didn’t Help
Although our Segway GMax had suspension, riding it felt like riding a pogo stick - bouncy bouncy bounce down the road. That’s not to single out Segway; we tried other “suspension e-scooters” too. Kugoo, Dualtron, Inokim, we found they all had the same issues.
At the heart of the matter we realised scooter suspension was set an impossible task: deliver comfort and reliability, over a short travel (motion) for riders from 50kg to 150kg.
This is as if a car engineer was asked to set up the same suspension for cars weighing between 1 tonne and 3 tonnes; it would end up far too stiff for the lightest car and far to soft for the heaviest one. If you've ever driven a van you may have noticed this - when empty it's a bucking bronco, then when fully laden it wallows and flops over bumps.
One symptom of this was that the short travel suspension pre-load was never quite right for our weight. The result? Wobble, sway and a general sense of standing on a balance ball at speed.
Suspension Made Other Aspects Worse
We noticed that to make room for suspension travel, the GMax had been jacked up. We had both a Gen 1 Segway (no suspension) and a Gen 2 Segway (with), and parking them side by side made the difference obvious.
While the Gen 2 was technically smoother, it now felt tall and unstable — a bit like tottering around on stilettos. Better in one way, but as a result noticeably worse in others.
Inspiration From Motorsport
Inevitably when we started work on Bo’s riding dynamics, we looked beyond scooters to the Bo team's background in motorsport. The best ride in performance cars is often achieved without complex suspension. A vehicle feels great to drive when you achieve a combination of minimal body movement, and keeping the contact patch - the tyres - connected to the road.
No bounce; just grip, control, and poise.
Tyres First, Then Vibration
We ordered every tyre that would fit our wheels - over 30 in total - and rode a test course with accelerometers strapped to the deck. The standout performer was a proper balloon tyre. It removed most of the big hits - kerbs, potholes, speed bumps - whilst also being grippy and tough. This solved the first part of the equation.
Next, we needed to address the small, high-frequency vibrations - the road buzz that wears you down after 10, 15km or more.
Nike Innovation Meets Bo
That’s where Nike came in. Not officially (we’re not quite in that league yet) but an individual from Nike’s Innovation Kitchen heard what we were doing and decided to help.
The result: Airdeck™, an engineered elastomer inspired by the sole technology that makes Nike shoes feel good after 24 miles. It’s designed to smooth out surface-level vibration and buzz from rough road surfaces.
The Bo Ride: No Bounce, No Compromise
With balloon tyres absorbing the big impacts and Airdeck™ removing the road chatter, Bo delivers serious comfort with zero moving parts, zero maintenance, and none of the weird geometry compromises we saw on scooters like the Segway or Kugoo.
The result is a unique feeling: not over-smoothed, but controlled and confident. You still feel the road, but it’s solid, planted, and predictable.
Comfort Isn’t Just Softness
The truth is, comfort has several components. Smoothing bumps is one. But if that comes at the cost of stability, predictability or precision, then the experience still sucks.
Bo gives you that 911 feeling; you know the bumps are there, but you also know exactly how the vehicle is responding to them.
There is a Caveat
Bo isn’t designed for serious off-road. Most of the miles we actually rode were on tarmac, so we optimised for the real world. If your commute involves rough gravel or mud trails every day, a big-suspension setup might still be the right tool for that job.
That said, we did test several Bo-compatible off-road tyres, and the results were surprisingly solid. You can see for yourself on YouTube:
🔗 Watch the test
What Is This Series About?
This post is part of an article series where we’ll look 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:
- “Best electric scooter UK 2025”
- “Segway GMax vs Bo”
- “Electric scooter with hill power”
- “Alternatives to Pure Electric, Carrera or Haiboy”
- “What’s better than Segway GMax?”
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Link to Bo Model-M: https://bo.world/pages/bo-m
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