The i2 Good To Be True?

[Florida Ever-Glides]

First of all I rode a i2 for several hours today in all types of riding terrain and I had a great time with billy Kirkland of Segway of Sanibel. He is a great guy with a great Segway business. Ten times better than my local dealer. When a customer was at his store interested in buying a new i2, Billy offered to let the customer take home a I180 until the new unit came in. A class act all the way.

By the way I rate the new i2 as a 4 out of 5 overall. For my particular tour business I will prefer to use the Gen 1 models for as long as I can. Billy agreed, that it might have been a little premature to totally discontinue the Gen 1 model. But hey, I had a great time skiing today. It reminded me of skiing the moguls at Sun Valley, ID, my previous home.

Have you guys seen the new Segway Gen 2 brochure. It is the BEST piece of marketing literature that Segway Inc. has put out thus far. Only one thing that caught my eye. On page 14 some statements describing the uses are pretty remarkable. Maybe it's a hint of Gen 3...

The page goes like this:

Minimalist Design, Multitude of Uses

The perfect synthesis of form, function, and fun the i2 lets you glide through your daily commute or zip from errand to errand without worrying about parking. The i2 can take you 24 miles/38 km or up to 480 city blocks on a single charge, powering itself smoothly up or down stairs and curbs, and keeping you in control as it handles steep grades. Need to use more than one form of transportation? The versatile i2 can be easily stowed in the trunk of a car or carried onto many modes of public transit with permission.



When I first read this I had to do a double take. You and I know that the PT does NOT go up or down stairs and curbs, but what will the reader think? And, I haven't seen one thread here saying the i2 can easily stowed in a trunk. Having to remove the leansteer, and lift the base into the trunk, and lift it out and reinstall the leansteer is not exactely 'effortless'. It was impossible for one of us to lift in onto a truck tailgate. It took two people. And, the brochure implies that the PT can be 'carried' onto many modes of public transit. Has anyone carried one on yet.

I think that the i2 is a fantastic piece of machinery, but this page of the brochure makes it appear that it can do things that it simply can't. You and I know what they are trying to say here, but will the average guy/gal who has never seen one, know? It is just wording symantics, but people will be confused, as I was. And, I've been around the block once or twice...

On page 5, Pam has a nice quote. Thanks Pam.

[KSagal]

Tom,

It appears to me that you may not be too familiar with marketing, based on your comments.

Would you rather it say, it can be placed in the trunk of a car, providing you are not too whiny and have some help lifting it?

Maybe instead of saying it can power up stairs, it should have said that only people who never go up stairs or curbs are allowed to buy.

IT was a sales brochure!

Now... I have lifted my seg into car trunks. It can be done. And an in tact PT will fit inside a trunk of a car. I have had my e-167 in my trunk of my Bonneville more than once, and I did not have to take any hardware off. (I removed the side bags, which are only held on by sliding them over a metal ring and a single band of velcro. I left all the hardware including the lower cargo structure on.)

I have lifted my i2 into either my Buick Rendesvous or my wife's Jeep Liberty, though technically they are not trunks, but the back of SUVs.

I do prefer to use ramps or a lift that I am creating, but I can and have lifted them.

I also have taken i2 machines up stairs, the very first time I had my hands on one. (At the dealer's meeting) It was not hard at all.

I have seen threads on this forum where people have stated that they prefer to use balance mode rather than power assist. It is a different technique, but not harder. I obviously have take both machines up and down stairs and curbs more than once.

I did not find anything you quoted to be inaccurate in my case, nor hard to understand.

I agree with you that it is a good piece of marketing. It is not a critical analysis piece. It was not intended to be. That appears to be what you have chosen to be...

[teekay]

Pam, you do a great job here, and I thank you for that.

Can you or Sal, help to make a place called "The Sandbox" where they can play all there egos out, without impacting Segway Chat?

Love you guys, but keep it real, I have been a part of this family for a couple of years now, and think you need to grow up, please keep it real.

[Desert_Seg]

Tom,

Glad you finally got to glide on an i2.

Yep, the marketing brochure is a nice piece of marketing work (after all, it is a sales brochure) but I disagree with you on two points:


1. I easily put my i2 in and out of my SUV on a regular basis. Last week I did it four times in one day and while it does get old it is not difficult. FWIW, I'm only 5'9" and average build so it's not as if I'm terribly buff!

2. I do take it up and down stairs regularly (daily up three steps when I get home) as I do with curbs. Longest up-stair climb was two flights and while I didn't do the same climb with an Gen 1 I would say that it is slightly harder (emphasis on the slightly).

Anyway, what I'd like to see is you take a couple of your units and swap them out for i2 and hear the reaction.

Steven

[Florida Ever-Glides]

The New Brochure Implies You Can Ride The Segway Up And Down Stairs!! And, Putting A Pt In The Back Of A Suv Is Not The Same As Easily Stowing It In A Trunk, Or When Has Anyone Tried To 'carry' A Pt Onto Public Transportation...

[pam]

OK, Tom, putting my 167 into a truck would require 2 people, or a ramp. Yes, the i2 is heavier, but they are both heavy. However, they're doable. That's why ramps and haulers are sold. My guess is that my personal trainer could lift the gen2 alone, but I certainly couldn't. I can do my gen1 alone (but not into a truck) but I have to dismantle it and manipulate it up onto my thighs and swing it into the seat, allowing the thighs to take the weight. I don't consider that a negative, just the way to do it.

It does seem as though you keep picking, picking, picking at what you perceive as negative things. Others don't see the same things that way, and then you seem to have to go overboard to "prove" your points. Others have managed steps on the i2 - yes, it's not an ibot, and it requires different things than the gen1, but it's doable. And some steps are easier than others,

Maybe all this picking is to justify to yourself your decision to keep using your gen1s for your tour. Tom, what you do with your tour is your choice, and should be. It does't need justification. You don't have to go around trying to downgrade the gen2 just to make your decision to remain on the gen1 "right" - it's your business, whatever you do is right and fine for you.

Pam

[william collins]

BRAVO -BRAVO PAM ,Well Put

[Desert_Seg]

The New Brochure Implies You Can Ride The Segway Up And Down Stairs!!...

You can

...And, Putting A Pt In The Back Of A Suv Is Not The Same As Easily Stowing It In A Trunk

True but keep reading....

, Or When Has Anyone Tried To 'carry' A Pt Onto Public Transportation...

I have, see below....

.......

I have ridden BOTH a Gen 1 and a Gen 2 up a curb. To be clear, in each instance, I was on the Segway, it was in balance mode, and we "climbed" the curb one wheel at a time. This is much easier with a Gen 2 than a Gen 1.

I have ridden BOTH a Gen 1 and a Gen 2 down a series of stairs. Again, to be clear, I was on the Segway, it was in balance mode, and we rode down the stairs, happy as can be.

I have yet to ride up a flight of stairs but that doesn't mean I won't try. (will any of y'all visit me in the hospital?)

I have taken a Segway onto public transportation, but not a Gen 2, only a Gen 1. Of course the taxi (this is public transport mind you) driver thought I was nuts but I have met your criteria...

My staff have put both Generations into the cars. The smallest car is a Toyota Corolla and it is owned by the smallest person in our office (she is about 5' tall) can get the i2 into her back seat alone, although we don't normally let her do it. We do, however, have to help her get either model in her trunk. However, we all do it alone, regularly.

I own a Porsche 928. I just went out and put the i2 into the rear. Please note that this has a much higher lip than an average automobile so if it can be done in a 928 it can likely be done in almost any other car. Oh, and in case you are wondering, I did this all by my little lonesome and did NOT take off the LeanSteer.

So, if I read this correctly the only thing I have not done is ride up a flight of stairs and I'm of a mind to go out and try it. I have ridden up a curb so you can ride it up "things".

Are you still going to pick on this one little item or are you going to find other things to pick on? Pam beat me to it and I urge you to heed her advice!

Steven
(who just scratched the tinting on his dang car!)

[Florida Ever-Glides]

My sincere apoligies folks, apparently the Segway is designed to ride up and down stairs, I guess thats why the need for power assist was removed. I just never thought the PT was designed for stair riding up and down. I haven't seen the new safety video and thats where I probably missed the part about safely riding stairs. Again My mistake. And since I don't live anywhere near a train station how was I to know that the PT could easily be carried onto a train. Sorry for being the stupid one here...

The i2 is great, and I am not picking on it. I had questions prior to riding it, and all of them have now been answered. Peace everybody....

[amturnip]

The i2 can take you 24 miles/38 km or up to 480 city blocks on a single charge, powering itself smoothly up or down stairs and curbs, and keeping you in control as it handles steep grades.

Yes indeedy, "powering itself" takes unfair advantage of the gullible, riding, as it does, in the slipstream between "can take you" and "keeping you".

Tip o' the hat to Mr Everglides for this positive, original, and fact-based observation.

Discussion of marketing is germane, and discussion of the application of borderline marketing technique to this honest, unpretentious type of product is especially interesting.

Herewith, a respectful request to the Moderator to move discussion of Mr Everglides' reputation as an eeyore to a separate forum, so it won't continue strangling the threads here.

[gbrandwood]

I agree, Tom does have a point. The blurb is easily misconstrued. However, it is a sales document, and as such, everything other than specifications can be taken with a pinch of salt. You can't safely ride a segway up and down stairs, but you can power assist it (so-to-speak) using the riderless balance mode. I feel it is safe to ride (whilst on the machine) up and down small curbs. Bigger ones with more practice but you very quickly realise larger curbs require the rider to be off the machine. How many dealers advise user to ride up and down curbs and stairs?

You can also do the same to get a seg onto public transport. I've power assisted my segs onto trains, which has sometimes included the need for some lifting, but never "carried".

A seg won't fit into most of the trunks of saloon cars I've tried in the UK - hatchbacks fayre much better, and an i1 was heavy and tricky for me, and I expect the i2 to be more difficult because of it's extra weight. Possible, but never "easy". A skateboard easily fits into the trunk - the seg doesn't, in my opinion.

[polo_pro]

Herewith, a respectful request to the Moderator to move discussion of Mr Everglides' reputation as an eeyore to a separate forum, so it won't continue strangling the threads here.
My segway (also named Eeyore) resents being lumped into the same group as Tom! 8^) 8^) 8^)

(And technically Eeyore is a mule, not an a s s.)