# Are Segways a Flop? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 19, 2019, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-segways-a-flop/829860 "2019-02-19T23:46:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2019, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-segways-a-flop/829860/21 "2019-02-20T22:02:14Z")
Our community policing section has to ride on them at various public functions. The rest of us point and laugh. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2019, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-segways-a-flop/829860/22 "2019-02-20T22:09:27Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > Our community policing section has to ride on them at various public functions. The rest of us point and laugh. For which we can blame [this guy](http://i.imgur.com/Pgie7vg.jpg). ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2019, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-segways-a-flop/829860/23 "2019-02-20T22:11:30Z")
I wouldn’t have been surprised if the Segway had taken off, despite me seeing no purpose in the things, but fortunately this seems to be one where I was right. You can buy a bicycle for ten times less, and you can haul supplies around in a basket or the back of your vehicle. Given that, it’s not real clear why you would get a Segway. On the other hand, the one-wheel devices are pretty useful. They’re hard to learn to drive but, if you’re alright with that, they’re cheap enough to compete with bicycles, spare you having to propel yourself up a hill, and you can put them under your chair at a restaurant or movie theater - no parking concerns. The learning curve does keep it from being super common, but I think they’ll continue to slowly gain a following among the general populace while the Segway might stay confined to a few small niches like mall patrol and tourism. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2019, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-segways-a-flop/829860/24 "2019-02-20T22:22:59Z")
The security guards at my nearby mall use them, and there’s a local company that does riverside tours of various landmarks via Segway, weather permitting. I’ve never done it, and I suspect that most of the people who do it want to be able to say they’ve ridden a Segway. I’ve seen people using hoverboards a few times, all of them teenagers. I see no advantage to them, especially because they are dangerous in so many ways. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2019, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-segways-a-flop/829860/25 "2019-02-20T22:27:49Z")
> [@Ranger\_Jeff](#): > > This might be where the Segway lost its appeal. > [@BrotherCadfael](#): > > This may have been the thing that finally did them in I think the original publicity for the Segway Human Transporter is what did it in. You _can_ recover from an acronym like that, but you better have a seriously awesome product to do it with. They didn’t. ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2019, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-segways-a-flop/829860/26 "2019-02-20T22:37:16Z")
It wouldn’t be a corporate team-building event without Segways! They are fun, that 12mph seems plenty fast when you are on one. Not so practical for any sort of serious use though. ---
**Author:** ![Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/marvin_the_martian/32/2898_2.png) [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marvin_the_Martian)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2019, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-segways-a-flop/829860/27 "2019-02-21T00:36:50Z")
Cops at Philadelphia International Airport use them. Haven’t seen them much anywhere else except for group tours. When they first came out there was a lot of attention in the engineering community. Some really advanced control system engineering is involved, which as others have said has lead to other self-balancing devices. Saw a guy using a one wheel last week in Belgium, obviously for commuting (he was actually carrying a briefcase). Reminded me of a character in the comic strip _B.C._ ETA: I just looked at the Onewheel website and saw that you stand on it fore and aft. I could have sworn the guy I saw in Belgium was standing with one foot on either side of the wheel, but maybe I just didn’t get a good enough look at him. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2019, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-segways-a-flop/829860/28 "2019-02-21T00:50:57Z")
My big problem with them is that you stand on it. My feet don’t get tired from walking; they get tired from standing. If I’m going to be on a vehicle to increase convenience over walking, I want to be sitting on it. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2019, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-segways-a-flop/829860/29 "2019-02-21T01:00:08Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > My big problem with them is that you stand on it. My feet don’t get tired from walking; they get tired from standing. If I’m going to be on a vehicle to increase convenience over walking, I want to be sitting on it. I think it might be fun to just try one some time just for the hell of it. But like you, walking is no problem. If I have to stand still or in a line or something for a half hour, my back gives me a real problem. I could never do a job where you have to stand in one place. A long line that I have to wait in is torture for me. ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2019, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-segways-a-flop/829860/30 "2019-02-21T01:07:36Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > My big problem with them is that you stand on it. My feet don’t get tired from walking; they get tired from standing. If I’m going to be on a vehicle to increase convenience over walking, I want to be sitting on it. That’s fair. Although if the vehicle gets you there much faster, a lot of the time you can sit down there. Most of the reason I don’t walk 2 miles to go somewhere isn’t that I get tired from walking 2 miles, it’s that it takes the better part of an hour to walk 2 miles in the city. ---
**Author:** ![Littleman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ccd318/32.png) [@Littleman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Littleman)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2019, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-segways-a-flop/829860/31 "2019-02-21T01:42:18Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > There’s also where you’re going to ride a gizmo and how it will interact with the users of that space. > > Nobody’s going to ride a Segway on the road, and it’s not a good fit for pedestrian spaces that get a lot of foot traffic. > > IMHO, it’s hard to see how _any_ metal gizmo that takes you noticeably faster than a walking pace is a good fit for sidewalks that get a lot of foot traffic. They just come up on people too fast, and a collision between a pedestrian and a moving metal object is way more problematic than when two pedestrians bump into each other. > > So ISTM that these various alternatives really have to either fit in on the road with the cars, or just be used in off-road places that don’t get much foot traffic either. That was always the problem, even for non-powered wheeled vehicles. Even heelies. Segway just added another element, and how they were legally classified could be different anywhere. Some places they are motor vehicles, some places they are bicycles , some places motorcycles etc etc. Almost nowhere were they actually strictly legal for pedestrian areas. You have the same issue with bicycles with helper motors…city to city they could be motorcycles or bicycles or mopeds , to exacerbate the problem , police usually don’t even know the real classification. ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2019, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-segways-a-flop/829860/32 "2019-02-21T02:40:39Z")
didn’t the place that was licensed to make them get in trouble for financial fraud? I always wanted one because I cant physically ride a bike I tried an electric scooter but it wasn’t wide enough for me to stand on with both feet but I couldn’t find one under 1k ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2019, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-segways-a-flop/829860/33 "2019-02-21T03:40:43Z")
Yeah, its just an overpriced scooter. Originally they were $8000, and that was something like 20 years ago. Nowadays you can buy a hoverboard for $100 that does the same thing, and even those aren’t too common. Yup a flop. ---
**Author:** ![Petrobey\_Mavromihalis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bcef8e/32.png) [@Petrobey\_Mavromihalis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Petrobey_Mavromihalis)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2019, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-segways-a-flop/829860/34 "2019-02-21T05:50:17Z")
[eBikes](https://ibikes.wordpress.com/2016/10/22/china-leads-the-e-bike-revolution/)are taking over here in China, and are indistinguishable from petrol powered scooters and motorbikes by looks alone. In newer bits of cities they have their own lanes. Mine is styled like an old Italian moped, can do 45 kph and gets me to work and back on a single charge (24 km round trip). Plus I can charge it at work for free. Cost me under $250. The only issue with them is they are nearly silent, which can be a problem for pedestrians, especially as going the wrong way down the road is fairly normal here! ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2019, 6:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-segways-a-flop/829860/35 "2019-02-21T06:29:34Z")
As I mentioned elsewhere, I’ve recently seen a Segway-style two-wheel electric wheelchair, and was impressed. By the maneuverability, small footprint, and particularly by the fact that it leaves your hands free. > [@BobLibDem](#): > > I’ve seen Segway tour groups in DC, looks like about the best use of them. Funny to see a herd of people on them all heading the same way. Last time we discussed Segway here, I said something like “I think they might work for tourists in DC” 🙂 > [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](#): > > I just looked at the Onewheel website and saw that you stand on it fore and aft. I could have sworn the guy I saw in Belgium was standing with one foot on either side of the wheel, but maybe I just didn’t get a good enough look at him. Somebody makes those: I saw one in Singapore. ---
**Author:** ![mixdenny](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mixdenny/32/2962_2.png) [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2019, 7:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-segways-a-flop/829860/36 "2019-02-21T07:02:48Z")
I don’t think I have ever seen a Segway driving around in Ohio except for the rentals at Put In Bay. And didn’t one of the company execs veer off course and go over a cliff a few years ago? That should put a damper on sales. Dennis ---
**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2019, 7:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-segways-a-flop/829860/37 "2019-02-21T07:40:25Z")
> [@enipla](#): > > I think it might be fun to just try one some time just for the hell of it. But like you, walking is no problem. If I have to stand still or in a line or something for a half hour, my back gives me a real problem. I could never do a job where you have to stand in one place. A long line that I have to wait in is torture for me. Hopy crap YES. Those pictures of people tooling along standing up make me tired just looking at them - I can’t think of any sized trip that wouldn’t be easier for me on a bicycle, even if I do have to peddle it myself. And when I get too old and decrepit for peddling - ebikes! I don’t believe I’ve ever seen a Segway in the wild, though I would have thought Melbourne would be perfect for them, since we have bike paths coming out our ears. Perhaps they’re more use where there are serious hills? ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2019, 8:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-segways-a-flop/829860/38 "2019-02-21T08:28:27Z")
> [@iamthewalrus\_3](#): > > Maybe. I think the scooters have a lot of promise at replacing mid-distance car travel. > > Like, no one’s going to take those little scooters on a 10-mile trip. And few people are going to walk more than about 3/4 of a mile (in most cases). > > If we could replace many of the 1-5 mile trips that people take in cars with scooter trips traffic, fuel use, environmental impact would all be lower. It’s not lazy to not want to walk 3 miles. Yes, that’s true. I was being harsh there. It’s because my bias is for human-powered bicycles in such situations. The e-bikes mentioned by \*\*Dag Otto \*\* have failed (at least in L.A.), probably because they don’t have motors. They could have been the answer to those 1-5 mile trips. The scooters are being used more by kids who hack them on their way to school, rather than by would-be drivers or commuters. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2019, 11:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-segways-a-flop/829860/39 "2019-02-21T11:24:00Z")
> [@Dag\_Otto](#): > > E-bikes are also taking off, though not in way of the Bird or Lime business model. I have yet to try an e-scooter, but with those tiny wheels I would guess that stability and braking would be worse than a bike with bigger wheels and disc brakes. Of course, you still have to pedal an e-bike, but it’s much easier. E-bikes may be “taking off” where you live, but here in Tel Aviv, they’ve completely overrun the city. You can’t throw a stone without one of them hitting you. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2019, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-segways-a-flop/829860/40 "2019-02-21T23:28:40Z")
> [@Aspidistra](#): > > Hopy crap YES. Those pictures of people tooling along standing up make me tired just looking at them - I can’t think of any sized trip that wouldn’t be easier for me on a bicycle, even if I do have to peddle it myself. And when I get too old and decrepit for peddling - ebikes! > > I don’t believe I’ve ever seen a Segway in the wild, though I would have thought Melbourne would be perfect for them, since we have bike paths coming out our ears. Perhaps they’re more use where there are serious hills? I think they work better in open pedestrian areas. They don’t mix well with fast traffic, they are wider than bikes and not as fast. No particular advantage in crowded pedestrian areas. They would have worked well on the old Swanston Street, but there was never anything to do on the old Swanston Street. Paris, DC, and any natural park with wide empty pathways. Having used one, I formed the opinion that they have a natural slot somewhere between walking and a bike or m/c. A big advantage is that I have to dress appropriately for a bike or m/c. I don’t have to dress for a Segway: just whatever raincoat or overcoat and neat casual clothes I’m wearing anyway, No more effort than standing up, which is good when you want to go a mile without running. edit: and it’s not like standing still for 15 minutes. It’s not heavy exercise, but it did NOT make my back or feet hurt like standing in one place. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-segways-a-flop/829860.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-segways-a-flop/829860.md?page=3)