HOT, HOT WHEELS PUSH SCOOTER'S THE LATEST CRAZE IN TRANSPORTATION, BUT WILL IT LAST?

Byline: Sandra Barrera Staff Writer

Sergei Virov coasts along Ventura Boulevard on what may be the hottest set of wheels this summer - the push scooter.

And he means business.

Zig-zagging between cracks and fast approaching a dirt planter in the sidewalk, the Studio City 13-year-old catches air on his shiny chrome scooter and lands safely on the other side. He's been practicing.

``Me and my friends like to find places with stairs that we can jump off of,'' says Virov, explaining, ``I can do a 180 and a bar spin.''

All tricks of the trade for any kid pushing a scooter around neighborhoods, school yards and in sporting-goods stores - where managers are trying desperately to keep them in stock.

No doubt, the scooter is back - and in a big way - thanks to a host of U.S. and international companies, who have reinvented this time-honored childhood favorite once slapped together from a 2-by-4 and pair of old roller skates.

Today's scooters have sleek, shiny metal frames and hard plastic wheels not unlike those on in-line skates. Add totally extreme names like the Razor and you've got the makings of a summer craze. Will the fad last beyond the first Monday in September? Some people say it will, touting the scooter as a great way for kids to get to school.

``I don't know what it is,'' says Harry Suh, general manager at Sport Chalet in West Hills. ``Once one kid on the block gets one, every kid has to have one.''

Suh says he easily sells out of his monthly supply of 750 scooters. It's been that way for the past three months, especially with the scooter called Razor.

``At the rate people have been asking for the Razor, they might end up calling them Razor in general,'' Suh says. ``They're very finicky if it doesn't say Razor.''

Jack Havens, 10, and Kyle Manning, 9, of Westlake Village, meanwhile, play around with the Razors on display in the store.

Manning says they usually ride their scooters at school.

``We do tricks like the bunny hop, where you just go like this,'' he says, bouncing the scooter in the air and adding, ``It's easy to do.''

Sport Chalet sells the Razor for $99.99, which is about the average price for the scooter. Suh says the store had carried two other brands, but then decided they were not as safe as the Razor. Sport Chalet also sells a Razor with springs on the front wheel for $129.99; the Fox, a multicolored scooter for the younger set for $79.99; and the California Chariot, which has larger wheels and two foot platforms for better balance, for $179.99.

One hundred dollars or more for a child's toy? Well, these aren't your grandpa's or even your dad's scooters. Their frames are built from aluminum or steel, and fully welded, then polished or painted. Many sport metal rails on the bottoms, so kids can slide along the curbs.

Handlebars are a conscious part of the design - not like those skateboard scooters that were just a skateboard with a metal post bolted on. In fact, handlebars in many cases are fully collapsible and manufacturers market tiny backpacks and other accessories to take your scooter with you.

Dennis Davis, who owns Europa Bicycle Center in Van Nuys, says he does not get many requests for the accessories. Right now, he says the kids just want the scooters.

The more popular brand at his store is the Razor knock-off called the Ninja. It retails for $109, he says. He also gets a lot of interest in the Dyno GT, a no-frills scooter that sells for $119.

``We've even been dabbling in the motor scooters,'' Davis says. ``But the kids don't want those, they want the kind you push.''

The cost of the motorized scooters is prohibitive. The Charley motorized- scooters sold at Europa for $795 and $1,795. And some Valley cities are now enforcing a California code that states motorized-scooter riders must wear helmets and be at least 16.

Rosemary Plodinec insists her 10-year-old twins Aubree and Matthew wear helmets to ride their push scooters around Balboa Park in Encino.

``They're trying jumps. They kick them out and they go in a little circle,'' she says. ``I don't know what you call it.''

While local cities don't typically require push-scooter riders to wear helmets, it's a good idea in case of a tumble.

The new scooters are sturdy, but even the sturdiest of things can have problems, considering the way kids beat them up.

Phillip Sutton of Hidden Hills had to bring his son's Razor in for repairs at Sport Chalet. Says 7-year-old Jeffrey, ``My baby sitter folded it, but it just broke by itself.''

Sutton finds his son's interest in the scooter ironic: ``When we were kids, we had one,'' he says.

So, will the scooter's popularity last this time around?

``It's really interesting because everything like this goes in waves,'' says John Pope of the online lifestyle magazine Singe.com. ``They kind of surfaced for a while and then (in-line skates) came in. Now in-line skates are down and scooters are big.''

Tastes change, Pope says - and, just like the yo-yo, which has earned a spot in school administrators' hearts as one of their most-confiscated toys - the scooter may one day peak.

``It could be huge this summer, but by this fall it could be over,'' he says. ``You just never know.'' <Staff writer Theo Douglas also contributed to this story. < Skates that make your feet fly

Shoes that double as skates? You know people are going to want to get their hands on a pair of these babies.

The Street Flyer, which debuted in December, could be the next big thing. It differs from your run-of-the-mill pair of skates because the wheels spring into action from the bottom of the soles when you want to skate. When you're done, a flip of the switch hides the wheels back in the rubber sole.

At Toys R Us in Woodland Hills, one of two major retailers in the area selling the Street Flyer, store manager Andrew Russell says the hybrid is outselling all other brands of skates.

In its first month, Russell says he sold 25 of the 60 or so pairs shipped to the store.

``We still have a lot more,'' Russell says.

The skates retail at Toys R Us for $99.99, about the same as a regular pair of skates. At FAO Schwarz in the Glendale Galleria, the skates retail for $135.

Store manager Marie Hidalgo says she's been carrying the Street Flyer since Christmas.

``The kids really like them because they look like a tennis shoe,'' Hidalgo says. ``It's the cool, trendy thing along with the scooters that are out now. They really love them.''

Hidalgo says FAO only carries the Street Flyer for the holidays, and doesn't expect to get any in until late August.

``We have three or four pairs right now,'' she says. ``Those mostly have been returns from other stores.''

No need to worry, though, says Eddie Greenstein, a sales manager at IMT Accessories, the company that markets the Street Flyer. He expects more stores will carry the skates in the future.

``It's very fashionable,'' he says. ``This novel idea of pulling out a pair of wheels from your shoes is fascinating.'' - Sandra Barrera

CAPTION(S):

7 photos, box

Photo:

(1 -- cover -- color) The wheel deal

When it comes to getting around, scooters are the new comback kids

(2 -- color) Lauren Anselmo, 9, visiting from Mississippi, shows how simple it is to carry a scooter once it's folded up and thrown over the shoulder.

Michael Owen Baker/Staff Photographer

(3 -- color) Sergei Virov, 13, of Studio City, gets some serious air riding his Razor scooter on Ventura Boulevard. Kids of all ages love the scooters for their versatility.

(4 -- color) Ten-year-old twins Aubree and Matthew Plodinec wear helmets while riding their push scooters around Balboa Park in Encino.

Tom Mendoza/Staff Photographer

(5 -- color) Michael Couverley, 13, of Newbury Park does a bunny hop on his stylish scooter.

(6 -- color) no caption (Scooters)

Tina Burch/Staff Photographer

(7) Street Flyer skates, with their retractible wheels, are selling well, even with a price tag of $100 or more.

Phil McCarten/Staff Photographer

Box: Skates that make your feet fly (See text)