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The best tricks win prize money, crucial since many of the top street EEC 50 Scooter riders backpack across the country for months at a time. But what’s more important than money is the opportunity to put faces to Instagram names. After the jam, kids gather in a warehouse to watch the premiere of a scooter film, buy scooter art prints and mosh to a performance by Atlanta rapper KZ, whose Instagram features as many photos of him on a scooter as in the studio. There’s a rebellious spirit to the gathering, and half the young riders seem like the type to sneak cigarettes between classes – but good luck asking any of them for a lighter. After all, this is the vaping generation.

Skateboarding’s roots lie in 1960s surf culture, but push scooters originated as much more of a kids’ toy. The image started to change when Razor launched its insanely popular “Pro” model in 2000. The founder owned a toy company and saw that scooters had become trendy as transportation for Japanese businessmen in Tokyo, thus the brand’s initial retail partner: The Sharper Image (sticker price: $149). They sold at a pace of one million units per month for the first six months.