I rode a Segway

[john_childs]

I got to take a quick spin on a Segway today. I was riding my unicycle at Gas Works Park in Seattle. I come around a corner and Phillip (http://www.bookofseg.com) was giving a demonstration of the Segway to about six people. Suddenly they were more interested in my unicycle than the Segway. They wanted to know if the "unicycle guy" could ride it so Phillip offered to let me ride it. The first time that you step on to a Segway it feels like you're standing on a small sailing boat. It starts moving to keep you in balance and the best way to describe that feeling is to compare it to standing on a small boat. That feeling goes away in like 15 seconds and the Segway feels stable. After that I took it for a little spin of about 6 feet forwards and then 6 feet backwards, then a few circles. It was a quick test ride, but it was fun to find out what the Segway actually feels like. It was fun, but I'll keep my unicycle for transportation.

The good news is that Phillip expressed an interest in learning to ride a unicycle. I told him about unicycle.com. Just imagine if the people where he works saw him riding a unicycle to work instead of the Segway.

Check out Philips web page at www.bookofseg.com (http://www.bookofseg.com/)

[UniBrier]

Sound like fun.

As I'm reading your post Andrea is watching the Gas Works segment of UNiVERsE, did you try any urban trials on it?

[john_childs]

I had my trials uni. I didn't jump on any of the machinery like they did in UNiVERsE. But there are some terraces or steps that are about 10-12 inches high that I was jumping on. There are also lots of stairs that I was hopping up. And a few low walls that I can ride. But it was wet (well just misting) so I didn't get too aggressive. Gas Works Park is a fun place to ride.

[evilewan]

does a segway stay upright if you let go of it?
would it be possible to do a 180 segway spin?
can you get off roads tyres?
they look pointless but i'd like to try one some day.

[john_childs]

There are some models of the Segway that can stand upright when you step off of it and let go. The model that I saw would fall forwards after a few seconds if you stepped off of it and let go.

The front handle would certainly get in the way of doing a 180 or 360 spin.

It might be possible to do a handstand on it. That would be cool.

I don't know about off-road options or capabilities.

It doesn't look like the Segway is built for trials. For example if you want to go up stairs with it you have to get off, put it in power assist mode and push it like a powered hand truck up the stairs. Doing drops off a loading dock would probably void the warranty.

Interestingly, the tires on the Segway looked to be about the same size as my Monty trials tire.