Explore or Ghost for hills and bad roads?

Cattitude

I’m trying to decide between the Apollo Explore or the Ghost, and I also have some questions about the Ghost.
I live on the top of a big hill, the slope varies but it’s at least 20 degrees. No matter which direction I go, the way home is up a long incline, at least a kilometer. There are steeper hills in the area as well. So I need a scooter with power to handle the long hills. Also, I weigh 195 lbs so it will have to be good for a heavier rider.

The roads here are poorly maintained, especially near the curbs. There are plenty of cracks, potholes and humps. From riding a moped scooter, then a pedelec ebike, I know which roads to avoid. But I need a scooter with suspension that can handle the bumps.

I’ve been going over the reviews and information for both models of scooter. If it weren’t for the hills it wouldn’t be a difficult choice - since I’m not experienced with scooters I’d have chosen the Explore. Or, I might have ordered an Emove Cruiser (rather pricey since I’d be ordering it from Canada and paying shipping fees).

I was thinking of the Ghost because it has two motors and more power. However, I’ve read that it has stiff suspension (it can be adjusted but not by much) and sometimes it bottoms out. I’ve also read that when braking, the rear end lifts up and/or twists sideways. Apollo is now taking pre-orders for the Ghost with hydraulic suspension, would this help the braking?

Portability isn’t a consideration for me. I have good Abus locks if I have to park it somewhere, and I only need for it to fit in an apartment building elevator.

I like both models, but I want to make sure I end up with the scooter that best meets my particular needs.

By the way, if you’re from Canada, Apollo is having a sale on their website, $300 off the Explore and the Ghost (but that’s not why I’m considering them).

Cattitude

Cattitude
I just noticed Apollo’s Canadian website is now out of the Explore, so they just made my choice for me. They have no date for when they’d be taking pre-orders.

I looked hard at the Ghost again, particularly the suspension. I checked a number of other reviews and videos and everyone who tested it seemed ok with the suspension and the fact that it can be adjusted. So I took the plunge and pre ordered one with hydraulic brakes. I also ordered a thumb throttle upgrade, as I sometimes get cramps in my right hand and I’m used to thumb throttle on my former e-vehicles.

I know this model is a bit much for a novice, but I also know I can ride it in single motor mode and limit the max speed for a while until I get the hang of it. I’m going to be spending a lot of time puttering around in parking lots and residential streets until I’m comfortable riding it in traffic. That’s exactly what I did when I got my first moped style e-scooter. I’m expecting a motorcycle helmet to arrive in a few days and have already found some decent padded motorcycle jackets that have removable liners for three seasons.

I also took advantage of Apollo’s $300 discount code. They’re shipping the hydraulic brake models of the Ghost at the end of March.

ItsAqua

I’m glad you found a scooter that fit your preferences. Personally for me I would’ve waited and try to find more scooters that would’ve fit my needs but that’s just me. I honestly don’t know much about Apollo scooters because I’m personally not a huge fan of what they have to offer. That’s just me I mean no offense

Cattitude

ItsAqua
No worries, I’m not offended. I did look at a lot of other makes and models of scooter. I’ve spent hours poring over videos, reviews, even Reddit posts by owners. I found a few “runner ups” from Vsett, Zero, Inokim and Dualtron among others. Unfortunately I’m in Canada and most of the scooter models that met my needs are on back order, not shipping until April-May, and I don’t want to wait that long. One advantage of Apollo for me is that they have a store that’s not far from where I live, so if I have questions or issues they’re nearby.

I thought I might have better luck ordering from the US and looked at Vovo Motors, particularly the Emove Cruiser which I almost bought. But I can’t justify spending $200 on shipping fees as opposed to putting it into a scooter. I also read a few negative reviews of their service, from other Canadian buyers.

dvosknyc

Apollo Ghost a much better choice for hills then the explore

ItsAqua

Cattitude did you check out the Varla Eagle One?

Cattitude

ItsAqua I just found out about the Varla a couple of days ago. It looks like a good scooter and reviews seem positive. I checked their website, they do ship to Canada but again I’m looking at a $200 fee (more if they ship by UPS). Unfortunately Canada is like a remote location, there are many things that are available in other countries but not here, or not unless we pay huge shipping and customs fees. I wasn’t able to find any Canadian distributors either.

Grandstuff

ItsAqua I just started in the market for 1 and thought of going with the Varla Eagle 1 but the reviews of issues on it were so bad I looked past it. If they have fixed them I’ll definitely put them back on the list.

ItsAqua

Cattitude international shipping fees suck. I think Apollo scooters company is a Canadian company. Also Apollo scooters are releasing a brand new 2022 Apollo city

PaulN

Cattitude,

You will be happy with your choice of getting the Ghost. It has all the features you need at a decent price. If I am not mistaken a Varla Eagle one up until recently was almost the same design as the ghost. Very similar scooters. If you need help when you receive it, I am not far from you, i can ride down and get you started if you are unsure of anything. Hopefully Apollo will honor their promised delivery date to you. My Apollo was delayed for quite some time as they had supply issues all through 2021.

ItsAqua

PaulN That really sucks how you got your scooter delayed. You and Cattitude should start a group ride

Cattitude

PaulN
I’m looking forward to getting it whenever it arrives. The Apollo website says “March 31 or before” so I’m hoping they’re already on the ship from China. One of the reasons I started looking into getting a scooter in late February was to avoid more shipping hassles caused by this “war” that’s going on in Europe. There’s a website based in Burlington that has a huge selection of scooters and other electric vehicles. I ruled out and didn’t order several brands they had because they’re on pre order until April-May, but I expect they could be weeks or months later than that.

Re getting started, there’s a church around the corner from my building which has a big and freshly resurfaced parking lot. When I got my vespa scooter and then my e-bike I took them there to practice before taking them on the road. Both times the pastor saw me out the window and came out to see what I was up to. He didn’t mind when he knew what I was doing, and we had a nice chat the second time. He will probably recognize me again when I go there to practice with my kick scooter.

I’m already used to two kinds of throttle (twist and thumb) and I ordered a thumb throttle for my Ghost. I’ve also learned the hard way to make sure the power is shut off before trying to move the scooter around. I plan to start off slowly by kick scooting it without the power until I get a feel for the balance etc. I also know I can start it in first gear at a slower speed, and adjust the acceleration as well. I’m used to doing 32 kph on my other vehicles, so that should flatten the learning curve a bit.

PaulN

ItsAqua
I have suggested it + hope we will when he is ready.
The Apollo Phantom is a nice ride, However their overall service in my personal experience was quite poor. I believe they have attempted to improve this, I follow them on LinkedIn and saw they were hiring over the winter. It’s the reason I have two power scooters instead of just the phantom. I gave up on their service and bought the Kaabo until they were able to fix my issues. So now i have a second scooter to alternate ride days with. The Mantis is dialed up a little higher in the P codes. The Apollo more the steady cruiser for all terrain rides.

ItsAqua

PaulN I’m so sorry to hear you had a horrible experience with their service. I’m currently testing out Hiboy customer service. My battery needed to be replaced and my brakes. Took them about 2 weeks to send me replacement parts they just shipped it out today after I kept emailing them about it since it was past 5 days when they were originally suppose to send it out. Slow response time but they did their best to help me so I think they’re improving their customer service. I did get a free motor for some reason when I just asked about my front tire needing to be replaced.

PaulN

Cattitude
That “expected delivery date” just kept changing for me for 2 months…
When I asked for an update I got mostly silence and occasionally an apology.
My Apollo story is on the board if you search in more detail, plus other issues like the neck brace etc. My overall experience. Epic Cycles by the way has scooters as well. A very helpful staff, and 2 nice locations in the GTA. I had two very good customer interactions with them. I have used both finger and thumb throttles, Both are fine to me. You get used to them. You can set a P code on the display so you have to be moving before the drive kicks in. I use it it just in case. I think it defaults from factory like that.
Don’t worry in gear 1, single motor, NOT in Sport mode, the scooter is really slow. You will have no issues when you start out. You will be changing gears and experimenting in no time at all.

Cattitude

PaulN I looked at your story. I get the impression that the first release of the Phantom had major problems and they were swamped with requests from upset customers. I also read about the issue they had with the necks and that they had to send kits out to fix it. Unfortunately it seems that Phantom customers were hit with a perfect storm - supply chain issues plus unanticipated defects in the design of a new product. It reminds me of my 25 years of tech support. Tech support and helpdesks are expensive to run, so companies usually have less support than they need. Then when something unexpected happens, they’re screwed. And if it’s something outside of their control, like supply chain issues, they end up with irate customers who just want things to work. Now I understand why they’re sending V2 update kits to their V1 customers.

I looked at Epic Cycles as well. I was intrigued by their Cobra scooter which is essentially a fatbike but with a deck instead of pedals. However, at six and a half feet long there was no way it was going to fit in the elevators in my building. I also looked at their Kaabo scooters and almost bought the Mantis. I decided I wanted a scooter with some water resistance in case I run through a puddle or get rained on, and I also read that the stem is a bit iffy (can get wobbly). I admired the Wolves but decided they were too much for a beginner and it would be a shame not to be able to ride one at higher speeds in case I got pulled over. It would be like buying a Lambo and using it as a mobility scooter.

I downloaded the manual for the Ghost but haven’t had a chance to read it yet. I already know it can be set on first gear and that one of the motors can be turned off. Apparently it can be “geared up” while riding but not “geared down” otherwise there’s a braking effect that can cause a wipeout. I do intend to set it so that it has to be kicked off before the motor will engage. I was once almost dragged into traffic because I left the power on while moving my twist throttle vespa scooter. By the way, I got an email from Apollo today about a shipment, at first I thought it was the scooter but it’s just the thumb throttle I ordered.

ItsAqua

Grandstuff I thought of getting the Varla Eagle one but there are way better scooters out there. The Varla Eagle one is suppose to be a copy of Zero 10x I think or the Zero 10. Varla literally only sell 2 scooters the Eagle one and Pegasus so I don’t know why they can’t improve their scooters like all of the other companies