Segway Gives an Easy Ride, But It's the Best on Sidewalks

I took a drive the other day through downtown Washington, D.C. I started at Lafayette Park, across the street from the White House, and made my way up busy Connecticut Avenue to DuPont Circle. I continued down several streets to The Wall Street Journal's Washington bureau. I drove right through the lobby and into an elevator. Emerging on an upper floor, I sailed straight into the newsroom, maneuvering around cubicles and other obstacles.

All along the way, people smiled and pointed and shouted encouragement and questions. Many asked for rides on the unusual vehicle I was driving, the new Segway Human Transporter -- an electrically powered, two-wheel, self-balancing superscooter that is to the sidewalk what a Lexus is to the road.

The Segway has been the subject of more hype and speculation than any other recent technology product. Starting well before it was ready for production, when it was code-named Ginger, it prompted wild stories claiming it would change the world.

Its specs are impressive. The Segway can go up to 12.5 miles an hour and travel 10 to 15 miles on a single charge of its batteries, which can be recharged overnight via a standard electrical outlet. Controlling the thing involves little more than leaning forward slightly to move forward, and leaning backward to back up. It's so easy to balance you can stand in one spot without effort, and turn 360 degrees in place by just twisting the handgrip.

But how does it work in real life? Is it worth the $4,950 price? To find out, we conducted an extended hands-on review. For the past couple of weeks, my assistant, Katie Boehret, and I have put miles on a production-model Segway lent to us by Segway LLC, the Manchester, N.H., company founded by Dean Kamen, the scooter's inventor. We rode it on city sidewalks, and through parks and public plazas. We glided through hotel lobbies and shops, and tooled around suburban subdivisions, parking lots and shopping centers. We rode in the rain and even in a light snowfall, at day and at night. And we gave test-rides to neighbors, co-workers and strangers on the street.

My verdict is that the Segway HT is great fun to ride, is safe and stable, and is a truly impressive use of digital technology. It is easy to learn, and in many ways is just plain amazing. But I'm not so sure it's a practical alternative to the car or to walking, except for those who live in dense urban neighborhoods or who have a disability that makes walking long distances difficult. It's not easy to use in the suburbs.

Also, while it might replace a polluting car for short trips, it also might tempt people to walk less, cutting back on the only exercise many folks regularly get. And until the price drops, it's a luxury item.

There are two models of the Segway, one aimed at consumers and one at industrial customers. They are nearly identical, except the commercial version has special cargo containers and slightly different software. A new, smaller model is due out this summer at a slightly lower price with somewhat lower capabilities.

Since the Segway went on sale to consumers in November, through Amazon.com, the company says "several thousand" have been sold. Deliveries are slow, however, partly because the company requires customers to take a two-hour training class. Our training, in a D.C. hotel ballroom, was very well done, but seemed like overkill. It is possible to ride a Segway unsafely, or to fall if you do things like try to ride fast over rocks or fallen tree limbs. But most of this comes down to common sense.

To ride the Segway, you first start it up by inserting a colored electronic "key" into a socket on the handlebars. There are three keys, each of which sets a different maximum speed for the Segway. The black beginner key limits the speed to six mph. The yellow key lets you get up to eight mph. The red key allows the unit to reach its maximum speed of 12.5 mph, which the company says is the speed at which most people run.

The controls are simple. There's only one gauge; it shows the status of the battery and the mode you're in -- riding or power assist, in which you are dismounted and the motors help you drag the machine up stairs and over obstacles. The only controls are a red button that turns the unit off or switches between modes, and a knurled section of the left grip that you twist to turn the Segway.

There's no accelerator or brake. The genius of the Segway is that it responds instantly to the motions of your body. To make it go, you tilt forward, and to back up, you just lean back. After a few minutes, you learn to use your body to adjust speed or hover in one spot. You can stop quickly by just squatting slightly.

The hardest thing to do is turn, because that's the least natural action you perform. You have to remember to use the handlebar control, and to do so gently. Broad, gradual turns are easy; tight turns in narrow places are harder.

This is all made possible by a brilliant design, which links computers to electronic gyroscopes that take a fix on your position 100 times a second. The whole thing is designed as two redundant systems, so if one side fails, the other can take over.

The heart of the vehicle is a small yellow box called the Balance Sensor Unit, which contains five gyroscopes and two liquid-filled tilt sensors that act like the human inner ear to keep the Segway balanced. This is wired into a pair of computer "controller boards." The system works so well that I never fell off or felt unsteady even when riding downhill on a sidewalk that sloped from left to right.

If you try to go too fast for the key setting you're using, or for the terrain and slope you're on, the handlebar automatically pushes back against you, forcing you to lean back and thus slow down.

The Segway will work on grass, hard dirt or streets, but it's meant for sidewalks. The company has lobbied many cities to allow Segways on sidewalks, though some, notably San Francisco, have barred them.

In my tests, the Segway worked great in Washington D.C., which has broad sidewalks, lots of parks and plazas, and wheelchair curb-cuts at every intersection. It was easy to mingle with crowds of pedestrians without forcing them to jump out of the way. The smaller model due this summer is narrower for even easier maneuvering. My biggest problem was that so many people kept asking me questions about the Segway, or begged for rides.

If you live in a place like Manhattan, Boston's Back Bay, or the lakeside neighborhoods of Chicago, the Segway could be a great convenience. But more Americans live in suburbs, which often lack sidewalks.

In my suburban subdivision we do have sidewalks, but they're narrow. I had to stop the Segway and detour onto grass to avoid people walking babies or dogs. In addition to scanning the ground for obstacles, I also had to dodge low-hanging tree limbs that were suddenly a problem because you stand about eight inches taller than usual on the Segway.

I drove the Segway to my neighborhood strip shopping center, right into a Popeye's, where I parked next to a table and ate lunch, interrupted only by questions from fellow diners. I then wheeled into a cigar store I frequent, startling the manager. Smoking a cigar as I rode, I then moved on to an ATM and a Starbucks, where I bought an iced latte that I tucked into a pouch on a $99 optional handlebar bag the company lent me.

My trip to and from the shopping center wasn't as smooth as it was downtown. When sidewalks disappeared, I rode on the shoulder of a busy road, with vehicles whipping by as I swerved around parked cars. Riding across one driveway, I was nearly hit by a scowling woman in a Mercedes.

One big drawback is that the Segway has little room for cargo, even with the expensive add-on bags. I could pick up some small items at the store, but had to skip the drycleaners. Also, putting the Segway in a car is a chore. The current model weighs 80 pounds and won't fit into many trunks. This will be easier with the new, smaller model, but still won't be a picnic.

Still, for some people, a Segway can be life-changing. Timi Most, a 52-year-old bookkeeper in Menlo Park, Calif., has walked with a slow, labored gait since suffering a spinal injury. She found it hard to join her husband on walks and hikes. She waited a year for her Segway, and since completing her training in March has found it "fabulously liberating."

The Segway isn't for everyone, and it probably won't change the world soon. But it's a very cool new way to get around.

Write to Walter S. Mossberg at mossberg@wsj.com