UL no longer matters..

[Brett .]

..now that Segway has released their trail-rider. ;) This guy is carrying a bottle of water and a sleeping mat.
http://www.segway.com/personal-transporter/model_x2_Adventure.html

[Mike Barney]

I rode one of these last month. It was pretty impressive. I expect that you don’t want to outrun the battery in the hinterland, otherwise being 12 miles away with a dead $5K, 120 lbs unit might take some of the fun out of the adverture. You also have to make sure the pathways are accessable and wide enough to use one of these.

A horse might be a better deal…

[Adam Rothermich]

I rode one of those once…. It was pretty neat and really easy to get used to, but I definitely wouldn’t use it on the trail. Definitely takes all the fun out of it. Looks a way for lazy people to get farther into the woods and get into trouble… or leave their trash…

Adam

[Roger Caffin]

> I rode one of those once…. It was pretty neat and really easy to get used to

Horse or Segway?

[paul johnson]

That fella’s on something that we call a “path” or footpath around these neck of the woods.

It would never make it on some of our “trails” (even the “tracked” model) with all of the rocks, roots, deadfall, and generally uneven terrain, not to mention the lack of switchbacks in some places would probably cause the fella to topple over backwards when ascending 30-45 degree slopes.

However, it can make some areas more accessible for those with certain types of physical disabilities, and to my way of thinking, that’s a good thing.

[Laurence Daniels]

Dude…Adam…

If you are lazy, you haven’t even heard of one of these. I agree with PJ that Segways are generally used by folks who have limited mobility and thus can’t get to places, like down the paved sidewalk to the store, without difficulty. The model shown is probably marketed to a specific and very small number of folks in our world, the least of whom are couch potatoes by choice.

[John S.]

The battery range is only 12 miles as Mike mentioned.

[Vlad Putin]

Ive fallen but cant get up!

LOL HAHAHAHAHA!!!

Vlad

[David Lewis]

Well… it would probably be less damaging than an ATV anyway… although I don’t see the typical ATV owner being interested in a scooter. Hard to say who this is aimed at. Maybe good for park rangers?

[Mike Barney]

Off all the places I’ve hiked (exo-urban) and willing to bet all the places you’ve hiked, I can’t think of any where this would be a net positive, just from the width of trails and rocks in the road. Can anyone think of a place where this would work?

[David Wills]

It would be fun to try to ride down Mt. Alberts southbound side on though (a low level rock climb).

I hate trail horses.

[paul johnson]

From my first Post in this Thread, you can see that i think the idea is basically nonsense. However,…

generally speaking, not any specific location in mind, where i hope that it would work would be from the parking lot of a nice State Park somewhere to a designated camping ground with an easy access water source a couple to three or four miles away along a nicely “manicured” non-challenging footpath.

This might allow a person with some type of physical disability to enjoy a weekend camping.

Like i said, precisely where this location might actually be, i haven’t got the slightest clue, but it would be nice if it could be reserved ahead of time and rented by someone in that physical category.

At least it doesn’t drop any “road apples” on the path/trail, or in the sole water source available anywhere within the next 20 miles, nor make as much noise or damage the trail like an ATV.

Just some thoughts.

[Aaron Sorensen]

By the way, this is called the Segway XT. Here is a link to watch it on youtube.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=ALu3KhLGnTY

I’m not sure were this fits in the outdoor segment. It does make more sense than a horse on lite trails though.
It would be nice to see some tour companies have segway tours for the fat and lazy. It certainly is better for the environment and it does get people out who would otherwise do nothing, (not want to ride a horse, bike or walk).
It would also be cool to see some rich spoiled yuppies soup them up and race them, (if only to watch them crash and burn).
The hard thing to witness would be that these things go faster than a hiker, so most of the trails they would be on, you would have to give way.

[Doug Johnson]

Aaron-

Thanks for sharing that link- the video is great!

I can’t see these on most of the trails I hike (too long and technical) nor can I see it replacing my mountain bike (not nearly as capable) but it’s amazing what this thing can do.

And don’t worry anyone- if the success of the street Segway is any indication, I don’t think anyone’s going to need to worry about hiker/Segway trail conflicts. :-)

[Author]

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