Street vs Park Pro Scooters | Definition, Differences & Tips

What is a pro scooter?

A pro scooter is an upgraded form of a traditional kick scooter. Key benefits include added durability, smoother rideability, and upgradeable replacement parts. Overall, pro scooters do not fold or collapse - even the height is custom cut to size for each specific rider. Because these scooters are so customized for each rider, it’s important to know the difference between a street setup and a park setup. In this article, we will go over the differences between these two styles of pro scooters and what purposes they serve for tricks and stunts. Whether you are looking for better performance or added durability, pro scooters are the perfect upgrade from your traditional big box scooter.

What is the difference between a street scooter and a park scooter?

A common misconception is that only park scooters are for riding in skateparks, and this is simply not true. Both street scooter and park scooter setups can ride around urban or park areas, but they are optimized for different riding, trick, and stunt styles. If you want to fly off large ramps and have maximum control in the air, you definitely would want a park scooter setup. On the other hand, if you’re going for lots of grinding and not necessarily as much air time, you would want to check out our street scooter setups. Keep on reading to find out the subtle differences between these two styles of pro scooter setups.

What is a street scooter?

Street scooters are the kings of durability. These scooters are designed to be able to survive after clearing large staircases and being ground down day after day - not to mention riding on harder and more uneven surfaces.

Street scooter Decks

The first thing that makes a street scooter is the deck. Squared or “boxed” ends are almost a requirement for street scooters nowadays. These boxed ends are like built in pegs and are typically designed to be extra thick and durable to give you a super solid surface to grind on. Think of grinding a rail or ledge like sandpaper wearing down the bottom of your deck little by little. You will even find street scooter decks to be multiple inches larger than park scooter decks. This added size gives you a larger surface to grind on for maximum balance and stability. Now obviously you don't only grind on the back of your scooter, so you want the whole deck to be extra strong and durable. When you look at the weight of street scooter decks they are usually a little heavier because they are made out of more dense material to combat the wear of grinding.

Street scooter wheels

Another subtle thing that’s a little different about street scooters is the wheels themselves - specifically, the urethane. Street riding is commonly done on rougher surfaces like concrete or asphalt. This can take a huge toll on your wheels. In order to combat that we recommend finding wheels that are labeled “hard” or “88a urethane.” Harder urethane allows your wheels to last much longer and can hold up to the quick stops street riders will do via powerslides.

Street scooter forks

You’ve had to have noticed by now, durability is the number one thing in street scooters, and the fork is no different. When you are grinding it is very common for the fork to rub against the surface you are grinding on. Because the fork is a relatively thin piece compared to a deck, it is totally possible to grind completely through your fork until the axle falls off. To combat this, we recommend extra beefy forks. The extra material will give you more surface to grind through before it becomes a problem - your fork can last twice as long like this!

Street scooter clamps

Standard compression system or SCS is almost a requirement for a street scooter setup. SCS was patented by Proto Scooters and was a game changer. This style of clamp makes your scooter so much more durable because it leaves your handlebars fully intact. You will very rarely need to get a new clamp, they don’t take much wear and tear, but this small accessory can save you from replacing your handlebars time and time again.

Street scooter handlebars

Handlebars are one of our favorite scooter parts, they really tie a setup all together. Street scooter riders are notorious for jumping over large gaps and staircases. When you land these jumps it's super common to pull back on the handlebars and overtime this can lead to bending, cracking or snapping. Our favorite choice of street handlebar material is chromoly steel because it is extremely durable and relatively cost efficient. There are a handful of street riders that choose to go with titanium or aluminum handlebars because they are more lightweight, but chromoly steel is our go to. Another thing about street scooter handlebars is that they are typically T shaped. Many riders choose T bars because of the look, what many people don’t understand is that T bars typically don’t have any “backsweep” or angle to them. By having handlebars that are straight you end up with a more comfortable and more vertical ride, making it easier to control your scooter when grinding.

What is a park scooter?

Park scooters are for flying. These scooters are designed to be smaller and lighter weight to give you maximum control when you’re soaring through the air off a ramp. There’s something about park riders that are eye-catching like watching an acrobat fly through the air - this style of riding definitely puts on a show.

Park scooter decks

When picking out a park scooter setup you want something ultra lightweight, and that starts with the deck. Park scooters typically have smaller and lighter weight decks. By eye, the easiest way to tell if a deck is made for park riding is the back of it. You’ll notice park scooter decks almost always have a pointed deck instead of a “boxed” deck. This slight reduction in material can definitely lower the weight of the scooter. Next thing is the size, park scooter decks are generally an inch or two smaller than street scooter decks. By having a smaller deck you not only reduce the weight of your park scooter; you also make it much easier to control the scooter when you are trying to flip, spin, or twist it through the air.

Park scooter wheels

Fast, smooth and light - these are the keys to a good wheel for a park scooter set up. Fast traveling wheels and bearing allow you to accelerate and maintain momentum from ramp to ramp allowing for the highest quality lines of tricks and stunts. Because you spend a lot of time in the air when riding a park scooter you also spend a lot of time landing. Soft and smooth wheels make landing a lot easier because you’ll experience less bounce and maintain better traction. Finally, as with all park scooter parts, light weight is king. It’s not uncommon to see “hollow core” wheels for this very purpose of removing the core material. Root industries even went as far as developing their honey core and lotus core wheels which have a hollow core AND cut outs on the side plates to reduce weight even more!

Park scooter forks

Because the fork takes much less strain when riding park style instead of street, the fork isn’t an overly important part. Just make sure your fork is lightweight and fits the wheels you want and you should be fine. It is worth noting that most park scooter setups use forks compatible with internal hidden compression or IHC. By using IHC forks you are able to use a two bolt clamp which can significantly reduce the weight of your scooter compared to an SCS clamp.

Park scooter clamps

Like we just said: two bolt clamps with an IHC is the way to go. Two bolt clamps weigh significantly less than four bolt SCS clamps - giving you maximum control through the air. When looking at two bolt clamps you will probably notice many of them have cut outs to reduce the weight even further. Brands are always competing to make the lightest clamps for park scooter setups. So no matter what your favorite brand, look, or color is - there's an app for tha…. I mean… there’s a clamp for that!

Park scooter handlebars

Titanium is the G.O.A.T. In terms of light weight and durability, nothing competes with titanium. If you’re ever watching a professional park scooter rider, chances are they are using titanium bars. Now titanium is a great upgrade for any park scooter, but it isn’t cheap. For this reason, if you're looking at complete scooters, they will typically be running aluminum bars with an extra thick material width. Aluminum is pretty lightweight but less durable than titanium. This means that they have to add extra material to the handlebars to make them extra strong. Unfortunately, this increases the weight of your scooter… but it can save you a ton of money so we are all for it! Lastly, park scooter setups typically come in a variety of bent and braced shapes referred to as Y bars. Y bars tend to allow for more back sweep (angle) which makes for a more comfortable riding experience.

Should I get a park scooter or a street scooter?

This is a question we get asked all the time. There’s really no black and white answer, but we have some advice. If you are new to the sport of pro scootering we definitely recommend asking your friends at your local skatepark what they ride. If you guys all ride the same general type of scooter setup it will make it much easier to learn new tricks and stunts together as a team. Now, if you have been scootering for a while and have some tricks down then you need to do some soul searching. Think about your current pro scooter set up. Think about what tricks you know. Think about what tricks you want to know. Based on those details, pick a pro scooter setup that best suits your goals.

What about a hybrid pro scooter setup?

Hybrid is awesome, tons of people run hybrid pro scooter setups. There’s many ways you can choose the perfect hybrid pro scooter setup for yourself. Some of the things we tend to see are people trying to make the lightest weight setup possible while still allowing for a fairly wide scooter deck with boxed ends, wheels of choice, and the lightest most durable bars you can find. Hybrid is definitely our favorite style of riding here at United States Pro Scooters because it opens the limits of any one riding style and allows you to succeed at the tricks and stunts you excel at.

What Park Complete Scooter would we recommend?

If we were to jump on any scooter and start learning park style tricks and stunts it would have to be the Ethic DTC Complete Erawan Brushed. Ethic makes extremely high quality and very lightweight pro scooter parts. At $219.95 this complete is an amazing bang for the buck. Check out this and all our other complete pro scooters here.

What Street Complete scooter would we recommend?

There’s a big variety of price points and features on different complete scooters for street riding. If we had to pick one it would be the Envy Prodigy s9 Street Edition. Once again at $219.95 it is everything you could need at a great price. The Envy Prodigy S9 Complete features a 4.9” wide deck with boxed ends and aluminum T bars - making it a great entry point for street riders to get into the sport of pro scooters. Check out this and all our other complete pro scooters here.