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Joined: Nov 2001
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I've been spending the weekend over at Charlotte Motor speedway for the races. Today - at a booth for Michilan Tires, they had those Segway Devices.... and if you signed away your life with a waiver and wore a helmet, you could drive one. ( I guess they made the tires, hence the promotion).

If you're not familiar with this device, it's a two wheel device that you stand on, which uses a gyroscope to keep balance. You lean forward = you go forward. You lean backwards=you go backwards. You can stand and turn on it in place.

It was definatately an odd sensation at first. You stand on it and it jiggles back in fourth, constantly "correcting" for you leaning forward/backwards etc...

It definately was difficult to put the Trust into it, without feeling like you were going to fall down. But after a minute or two of "coaching" with someone helping me, I was off and running, do laps on my own.

The most difficult thing to grasp was to not try to overcorrect my standing position. Let it do the correcting and keeping of balance. In other words, if you've ever seen a segway just stand there, it stands to reason that a 2 wheeled device can't balance on it's own. It needs to constantly kinda move it's wheels back and fourth (in tiny bits) to keep it upright. My tendancy was to try to correct my standing position.

So if it leaned forward, I'd lean backwards, but meanwhile it was already correcting for itself. So me leaning back and fourth just amplified the movement. Once I put full trust into it and felt comfortable leaning forward and backwards on the thing, it was as natural as standing and walking.

Basically you leaned forward slightly to make it go forward. So it's almost as "instinctive" as "thinking" you want to go forward. The further you lean, the faster it goes.
There's a thumb switch on the left landle to turn it left and right. If you're stopped, you can spin right around in a circle.

It was very cool, a definate highlight.

I'm going back tomorrow, and if it's not too busy, I might try it again.

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When I was in Paris a few weeks ago, they had whole tours conducted on segways, there must have been 15-20 of them. Kinda like a walking tour, but cooler What was odd was the tour was still going on well after 9pm and plenty dark.

I haven't ridden one yet, but they seem pretty cool. There's a store at the galleria in houston that sells them.


- Allen wavey
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Yeah, I'm not sure how the guy thought it was a "world changing" invention, but cool nonetheless.

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Well - I just saw the "world changing" part a few weeks ago at Disney World. It's not on the market yet, but just received FDA approval a few months ago.

There's a 4 wheel version of the segway (called the iBOT ), which is equipped with a seat. It's for handicapped people. The 4 wheel base can rotate around so it's standing up on 2 wheels. The base can continue to rotate and it can climb stairs. So it's a handicapped device, which can go up and down curbs, stairs and turn on a dime. When elevated up so it's only standing on the two wheels the rider is eye level with people who are standing and/or can reach items in kitchen cabinets etc....

In the demo I saw, she wasn't able to push it over, so it's that strong. If it's up in the two wheel mode and you push it really hard, it'll "panic" and revert back to the 4 wheel mode. So it can't be tipped over.

This is the part of the Segway technology which will be world changing for those who cannot walk.

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Sounds like a great toy.. How much those cost?

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Found them on amazon..

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The i series is like $4500 on Amazon.

The new FDA approved wheelchair thing will cost about $29,000 which they say is less than some other motorized wheel chairs.

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how much was the tour? Sounds like there is a good market for this type of tourism activity.

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I'm not sure about the cost, it's probably online somewhere. We weren't in Paris long enough to explore other tours, tho it looked like it would have been fun. Definiteyl would have saved us a lot of walking that night, it's amazing how far the eiffel tower is from the louvre when you aren't familiar with the streets. We stopped and asked directions a couple times and the people were surprised we were trying to walk that far. I guess it was a couple miles if you knew the direct paths.


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[]AllenAyres said:
I'm not sure about the cost, it's probably online somewhere. We weren't in Paris long enough to explore other tours, tho it looked like it would have been fun. Definiteyl would have saved us a lot of walking that night, it's amazing how far the eiffel tower is from the louvre when you aren't familiar with the streets. We stopped and asked directions a couple times and the people were surprised we were trying to walk that far. I guess it was a couple miles if you knew the direct paths. [/]

:rofl: Oh yes, Paris is a pretty big city. I found myself not wanting to venture on the bus or taxi with my non-existent French, so I walked everywhere with just a tourist pocket map. If I had one of those step counters, I swear I did 10 miles that day. It was painful

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We had reason to be skipping

We did stop about halfway at this little cafe and grab a bite to eat: []http://www.praisecafe.org/gallery/members/Allen/paris/bon_appetite/Paris4_24_04_medIMG_0349.jpg[/]


- Allen wavey
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Yeah, you were hearing birds chirp and love was in the air. Allen's proposal puts some romantic movie's to shame.

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One of the best things I've ever done, I recommend it to everyone, but she's taken now


- Allen wavey
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I proposed on our used apartment couch, while Jay Leno was on in the background, lol

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Here's the picture they took of me.

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Lookin' like a segway pro

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Yes, can you race those things? It'd be like the infamous electric scooter chase scene in Seinfeld


- Allen wavey
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LOL
Something like that.

There are 3 keys - the beginner one (I used) only goes 6MPH. The yellow key goes 8 MPH and the red goes 10 MPH. It's rumored that Dean Cayman (the inventor) has a special "key" color which goes fastest. But it's not publically available.

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The all-new Humvee-style Segway

[]The makers of scooter-slash-robot Segway are apparently testing a new prototype with four wheels that can take its riders off-roading, ATV style. The prototype, called the Centaur, could replace such pesky activities as hiking over rough terrain using the same stabilization technique as the two-wheeled Segway. A spokeswoman for the company says the Centaur is still undergoing "rigorous" testing and won't go on sale immediately. Why not? Based on Segway sales, we're sure that...tens of people would rush out and buy a Centaur right away.
[/]



- Allen wavey
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LOL

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[]JoshPet said:
Here's the picture they took of me. [/]

Hey where's your fanny pack man!?!

Don't make me Photoshop one in now

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Who needs the fanny pack with a helmet like that.

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[]JoshPet said:
Who needs the fanny pack with a helmet like that. [/]

no comment.


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You just need a black leather jacket and you're all set lol

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Oh the humanity...


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Sounds like a cool toy.


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