When the Segway first came out, there was a lot of fanfare regarding how it will be the future of personal transportation. Well, I'm here to declare that that's not going to happen soon. Besides being too expensive, and a little too heavy to carry around in a pinch, it is also a hazard on outdoor surfaces. The only practical application for it are within indoor settings like offices or warehouses. It'll handle nicely on smooth concrete outdoors, but even then there are caveats.

First, the cool stuff. This thing rocks! You lean forward, it moves forward. Same with backwards. The model we use can't turn when you lean - it relies on a turning knob on the handlebar, but you can make it veer left or right by using your weight. After about a week, I was hauling ass on this thing and absolutely comfortable with it. It turns on a dime and stops on a dime too. The fact that you brake by leaning backwards takes some getting used to, but pretty soon it wasn't too hard to get used to going from 8-12mph to nothing by leaning backwards hard. If there was anything close to a magic carpet, this is it.

Now for the cons. There's no doubt that Segways are priced beyond most ordinary folks. Currently, the models start at around $4K and like Harley Davidson's, you could customize/accessorize them to your hearts content and spend a pretty penny. They are promoting them as rentals and that will certainly hook some people, if they don't hurt themselves first.

At around 80 lbs, the Segway is not as easy to carry around as a regular bicycle. If for some reason it stops working or you run out of juice - good luck. It's never happened to me, but for the Berkeley study, the contingency is to contact the program coordinator, and she'll pick you up wherever you are in her SUV <insert ironic laugh here>.

Finally, we come to the most important reason why this will never fly as popular personal transportation device. It's a hazard to your health. The first thing that you are cautioned on during training is to lean with the turn. At slow speeds, that's not really an issue, but when you're thundering down a straightaway and you suddenly decide to hang a right without leaning hard, you could potentially throw yourself off the device. The way to turn a Segway (with our model anyway) is to turn a knob on the left handle. Turn it towards you and the device turns left, away and it goes right. It'll turn when it's stationary, so you can imagine what it can do when you're doing 12 mph.

The fact that your hand rests on the turning knob is another issue, but more on that later. On mildly rough surfaces like asphalt, riding the Segway takes some getting used to. Because it has no suspension and the tires aren't exactly thick, the Segway wobbles as it encounters the bumps. This puts your feet on double duty in that they're helping your body lean forward to move the thing and also trying to maintain your balance as it moves around. Your hands on the handlebar act as additional stabilizers, and that's where I have the issue with the turning knob. If for some reason you have to grab the handlebars hard (because you hit a bump), you may accidentally turn the Segway, and well...you can imagine.

Most sidewalks in California are of the smooth concrete variety that the Segway travels well on. However, they also have paths cut into them for cars to access the road and for the wheelchair bound to cross intersections. This results in a height transitions on the sidewalk near the roadway. For a bike this is not an issue, but for a Segway, you end up off kilter and thereby leaning to compensate. For a coordinated guy like me, this is not a problem, but for others it could be disconcerting and at higher speeds, it could be downright dangerous. Likewise for other surface anomalies like speed bumps or in the case of parking lots, those very low concrete bumpers that demarcate the front of a parking space. Hit one of those and you'll be doing a hard gravity check. Also, ever veer off the road in a car and end up with a set of wheels on gravel and the other set on the road? You know you'll have to be careful when you transition back, especially if there's a major height differential betwen the two surfaces. It's the same with the Segway, except now you only have two wheels.

I could go on about all the ways things can go wrong while navigating in a Segway, but I'd like to also put in a word on (dis)comfort. This thing is not an easy ride after 10 minutes. First of all, you're standing. Secondly, you have to lean forward to move it. You can imagine what your back feels like after a while. I took this thing to Walnut Creek from my office, about 20 minutes one way, and let's say I'd rather get there in a car or bike. I've seen a mod for it where you can put a seat for $700, but I don't know how well it works and how safe it is.

One last thing. Most municipalities will require you wear a helmet which I feel is an absolute necessity, but will also relegate you to instant dorkdom. The culture gods have not seen fit to anoint hipness unto a Segway rider adorned with a bicycle helmet. In addition, some cities will outright ban Segways, simply because of the liability. This is the case in downtown Walnut Creek, which is probably an ideal environment to Segway on.

There you have it - the Segway is a neat, expensive toy that could also give you a backache, if not lead you to your demise. I certainly hope it has a future somewhere. I've seen security guards patrolling malls and parking lots with them. Word is Boeing uses them in their warehouses and hangars, and I also see other situations where they can be applicable Our hang gliding instructor certainly could've used them while chasing us up and down the hills, albeit a golf cart would've been just as good. It has a nice footprint and is an overall fantastic ride, as long as the road is smooth enough.