Reviews
Gotrax G Pro 3 review: The best 3-wheel electric scooter you can buy
This is the comfiest ride you'll find on three wheels.
Gotrax is a company that seemingly came out of nowhere a few years ago, but now covers a ton of ground in the personal mobility space including electric bikes and electric scooters.
Today we’re taking a look at the company’s latest electric scooter, the G Pro 3 wheel.
In short, this thing is a beast. It weighs 52 pounds, which might sound heavy, but what you get in return is one of the most plush, comfortable rides you can get in this form factor.
Specs:
- Range: ~24 miles
- Top speed: 16 mph
- Weight: 52 pounds
- Wheels: 10-inch front, 8.5-inches rear
The ride
As noted in the specs, the G Pro 3 has a large, 10-inch pneumatic wheel up front, and this thing eats road vibrations for breakfast, even without any kind of suspension. In the back there are two smaller wheels, but these do have a basic form of suspension that compensates for vibration.
This thing eats road vibrations for breakfast.
Together with the extra-wide foot area, what this adds up to is a very stable and very comfortable ride. Like really comfortable. In my hands-on with Specialized’s Turbo Como I compared it to riding a Buick, and Gotrax’s G Pro 3 is similarly cushy.
This is somewhat difficult to describe, but the G Pro 3’s tilting action is key to its stability. In the image above, you can see both the deck and the rear wheels tilting. Not only does this maintain equal traction on both rear wheels, it also allows the G Pro 3 to make tighter turns. This sounds like a small thing, but when you’re navigating multi-level ramps, a tight turning radius is very nice to have.
Luxury tank
The handlebars on the G Pro 3 are pretty tidy. The display is large and easy to read and the interface is extremely simple, which is good for first-time or inexperienced riders. There’s a button cluster on the left with the power button and a set of plus and minus buttons. The throttle is the only thing on the right-hand side, and the handlebar grips are relatively slim and low-profile.
Turning the scooter on requires a quick press of the power button, but I should note that in order to get the scooter to actually go you have to manually propel yourself forward a bit, then hit the throttle. This really confused me at first, but I actually liked this feature once I figured it out. My DIY electric bike has a live throttle and I accidentally bump it all the time.
Once you step onto the deck, kick off a few feet, and give the G Pro 3 a little bit of throttle, you’ll take off with a bit of gentle force. By default you’ll be in “Mode 1”, which tops out at around 10 miles per hour and has a very gentle acceleration curve. This is great for your first time on the scooter, but once you’re actually going somewhere, you’ll want to put it into “Mode 2” right away. This tops out at around 15-16 mph and gives you a bit more oomph.
Some people will want more than 16 mph of speed, and those people should probably look for another scooter. As I said in the section above, the ride is comfortable. The sturdy frame, 10-inch front wheel, and rear suspension really make the G Pro 3 into a tank. A beautiful, luxury tank.
What kind of rider?
Here at Input we have a tendency to review the baddest, meanest, most high-tech transportation devices out there, but the G Pro 3 is different. This is something that’s simple enough and sturdy enough for people who are brand new to personal transportation.
My partner is one of those people. He grew up in New York City and didn’t learn how to ride a bike until he was 18. For him, riding in the street produces a lot of anxiety, and it’s not hard to understand why. If you’re wobbling on a vehicle you can barely control, keeping an eye out for extremely aggressive drivers is simply too much for one mind to handle while also having a good time.
I asked him to try the G Pro 3, and while it didn’t completely assuage his fears of riding on the road, he was able to start riding in protected bike lanes almost instantly. Again, this is someone who has basically never balanced on a moving object before, and that confidence is what you get from the three wheels and sturdy build on this scooter.
There is one thing we should come back to, though, and that’s weight. At 52 pounds, the G Pro 3 is heavy. Specifically, if you have to take this scooter up and down a few floors of subway stairs, you’re not going to be having a good time. A lot of this is the battery — the range is quoted at 24 miles, and I found that to be pretty bang-on. This thing will get you from upper Manhattan to midtown and back with plenty of battery to spare.
To its credit, the G Pro 3 is designed to be locked up outside. There’s a very thick metal loop in the front for attaching a lock, and while that does provide some peace of mind, I still wouldn’t leave this scooter outside overnight in New York City. So just to be clear, this scooter is great if your building has an elevator, but if you’ve got a fifth-floor walkup, I might consider something else.
Niceties
Before we close out, there are some features on the G Pro 3 that weren’t essential to the experience by any means, but were really nice to see. The first and most important, in my opinion at least, are the disc brakes on all three wheels. With a scooter this heavy, you want ample stopping power, and Gotrax absolutely delivered here.
Next up are the lights. While I think they could be a little bigger, I’m glad to see brake lights and headlights on a scooter like this. I think for first-time and older riders, you can’t be too careful about safety, and a lot of people aren’t going to add after-market lights (even though they totally should).
For heavy commuters, this scooter has an automatic cruise control mode which pins your acceleration until you brake, just like a car. This is super handy for commutes with long continuous stretches of road, and it probably saves a bit of wear on your throttle as well.
Finally there’s the walk-along mode, which a lot of bikes and scooters are incorporating these days. You simply hold down the minus button and the scooter will slowly accelerate beside you for easy transportation up ramps and on sidewalks.
Should you buy it?
Gotrax’s G Pro 3 costs $899, and that is pretty pricey when you consider that Gotrax’s cheapest scooter is $299. I honestly didn’t get it until I opened up the box and looked at the G Pro 3 in person. When you see it, right away you realize that this machine is going to be someone’s primary mode of transportation. The solidity and finish of the whole thing is very car-like. This is a vehicle, and it feels like it’s meant to be ridden every day.
The solidity and finish is very car-like.
In the promotional images on Gotrax’s website, they show off the G Pro 3 chilling in some rainy scenes, and while I would never recommend riding anything in the rain, I do think if you were caught in the rain on your commute home, the G Pro 3 is the exact scooter you would want. The back wheels are positively planted. So does it live up to the price? Yes. If you ride this thing every day in place of a car or public transportation, it pays for itself quickly.
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