My kickstand finally gave out after 6 months!

[Sleepy]

I'm sure the early adopters already know about this, but I thought I post this for the new owners out there.

After 6 months to-the-day, my kick stand finally gave out! I've been extra-careful with my kickstand since I got my Seg, but I use it almost daily. I've never abused it or even accidentally stepped on it while deployed. But last night I rocked the Seg back, deployed the kickstand, and slowly rocked the Seg forward like I always do. But it just kept going. I finally realized I had a problem when the platform got back to horizontal and I still didn't feel any resistance. The plastic leg broke right at the bend.

I called up tech support this morning and they're sending out a new assembly-- no charge. They also re-assured me that the new one, although still a break-away stand, is much more durable than the original.
Their tech support is awesome!

-Alex

[statmed]

I'm at 6 months and 1 day right now and use my kickstand all the time.

No problems yet, but it's nice to know Segway will replace it at no charge when it does happen.


H.M. Stern
statmed@optonline.net

I Love It When A Plan Comes Together (Hannibal Smith)

[stevew]

I tried to lean my seg forward at the Fest to get the serial number and heard a loud Snap! Dang, forgot to raise the stand, I thought I'd broken my first stand right at the Fest after 6 months.
But when I looked at it had just gone over-center and when I retracted it with the handle it seems fine! Lucked out I guess.

[q]

the only one who ever
used my original kick-
stand was the "division
one" trainer. it even-
tually broke when some
anonymous "lookie-loo"
put it down. i never
noticed because i never
used it, prefering, in-
stead, the one from
kcaps.com.

llc sent a replacement,
but it'll just sit in
my box of seg parts.

kthxbye.

q.

http://www.pcisys.net/~qwhew/segway/jpg_segway_sfest_08312003_sunday_3e.jpg

//

[Peter iNova]

Mine broke from being deployed over and over in about month #2. But at SegFest, while they were updating my software, Jeff Brown, master SegTech, plopped a new one in place of the broke one. What service!

-iNova

http://www.glidewalk.com

[Sleepy]

Even with all of the negative press on SC about the kickstand, I think it's actually a pretty cool design. I just wish it was a little more robust. I still plan on using my new one just as much as I did before. I think it's very convenient being able to prop it up anywhere you want. There isn't always a wall where you need one.

-Alex

[q]

quote:Originally posted by Peter iNova

Mine broke from being deployed over and over in about month #2. But at SegFest, while they were updating my software, Jeff Brown, master SegTech, plopped a new one in place of the broke one. What service!

-iNova

http://www.glidewalk.com


//

..."shweet"!

btw, was it _before_ or
_after_ you enriched all
of our lives with your
gem, "...how many brothers
and sisters do we have?"

kthxbye.

q.

http://www.pcisys.net/~qwhew/segway/jpg_segway_sfest_08312003_sunday_3a.jpg

//

[Cruzan Glider]

I have heard so many stories about broken kick stands that I have stopped using mine. When not in use my seg sits in a corner of my family room. On carpet and leaning gently against the wall the seg stands there with no problem. I save my kickstand for those times I have to park it in a public place. Maybe I can nurse a few extra months out of it and give Segway LLC time to develop a proper kickstand.

[Stewbonz]

I undersand that a new design is in the works. Instead of breaking , a piece pops out, and can be pushed back into place.

JEFF JARVIS
Carmel Valley Ca

[wwhopper]

I was sure that we would lose ours at SegwayFesT - but they made the trip to Chicago and back to DC.... With stops in Indy! But I know it is a ticking time bomb. Next week in NYC and at a Mercedes Benz racing event in VA - they may not make it through that.... But hopefully they will hold on til just before the end of the warranty...

Will W Hopper,IFDA
Washington, DC, USA

[ryanvasan]

Mine finally broke, as if we're all expecting it to happen sooner or later, when someone decided it would be a good idea to stand on my seg when I had left it locked to a bike rack on campus. I came back and my seg was no longer in the normal kickstand vertical position, and the funny thing was that I couldn't even find the broken part - I think the guilty party took it with them either to hide the evidence or maybe as a little souvenir.

-Ryan

[gotseg]

Im sorta confused as to why they have made the kick stand a break away, anyway. Seems like they would have wanted to keep with the robust design, but went a bit loopy on the kickstand.

gotseg?

[segwayowner]

i have had my seg for about 8 months and i never use my kickstand and i dont think ill break it ever!

DES: Segway owner

[ElectraGlide]

I had an "i' model for over 5 months and never had a kickstand problem. I would almost jump when catching glimpse of some stranger preparing to mount the machine when it was parked knowing the stand would immediately break. I used the stand whenever parked and I really miss not having one on my "p" model . The kickstand , or should I say "lack of" a kickstand is my only complaint concerning the "p".

Steve

[pam]

quote:Originally posted by gotseg

Im sorta confused as to why they have made the kick stand a break away, anyway. Seems like they would have wanted to keep with the robust design, but went a bit loopy on the kickstand.

gotseg?


The original concept around the breakaway was because if you took off with the kickstand deployed, it would "trip" the machine and cause you to fall. It's a safety feature.
Pam

[gotseg]

Ahh ok, thanks pam. Maybe in future versions of the segway a sensor will be added to detect if the kickstand is up or down. Then instead of going into balance mode, it just gives you a red face untill you pop the kickstand back in. Who knows...

gotseg?

[opti6600]

Gotseg, that'd actually be a neat idea - you could even do something funky with magnetics (stick a little neodymium mag on the kickstand and a sensor on the inside) so you don't have to bridge the powerbase. The trick would be to, say, rig it into firmware so that it won't turn on (like a rider detect problem) unless that sensor is active (i.e. the kickstand is up).

[tomamil]

For all of its design problems, the Segway-supplied kickstand has an absolutely valid rationale. I used Wayne's spring-loaded kickstand, which has no safety breakaway feature, quite happily (Wayne's design concept is definitely more convenient than the Segway version), until I nearly broke my neck trying to ride off on my Segway before retracting it.

Take my word for it, someday you too will forget to retract. And you too will have one of those very exciting experiences that Segway LLC spent a fortune trying to prevent.

Wayne's add-ons are generally excellent and I don't want to discourage him from designing accessories nor the Segway community from purchasing them. But think long and hard before you install that kickstand.

Tom A. Milstein

[pam]

quote:Originally posted by ElectraGlide

I had an "i' model for over 5 months and never had a kickstand problem. I would almost jump when catching glimpse of some stranger preparing to mount the machine when it was parked knowing the stand would immediately break. I used the stand whenever parked and I really miss not having one on my "p" model . The kickstand , or should I say "lack of" a kickstand is my only complaint concerning the "p".

Steve


I don't have one in front of me, Steve, but aren't the motors the same as on the 'i'? If so, you could probably use one of Wayne's. With the difference in the height of the platform, it will probaby cause the 'p' to lean backwards a bit, which would (I'm guessing) be sufficient to cause your awareness of the need to retract it.

Pam

[stevew]

In talking to engineers at the FesT, verified the 'p' motors are same diameter as in 'i' but shorter, thus less powerful. I believe they are lower voltage since the batteries are 48 cells instead of 60 as in the'i'

Still not sure why my kickstand went over-center instead of snapping, maybe because I didn't actually stand on the HT but leaned it forward while rolling it away from the wall. A happy accident that saved the stand.

edit: After re-reading your post Pam, I think I misundersood, Maybe you meant the gearboxes, where Wayne's stand attaches, I do believe they are the same size.

[pam]

I was speaking of the actual physical size, since Wayne's kickstand uses the holes under the plugs in the motors - or gearboxes, if I've called them incorrectly - sorry.
Pam

[q]

quote:Originally posted by ElectraGlide



__snip__

The kickstand , or should I say "lack of" a kickstand is my only complaint concerning the "p".

Steve


//

i agree. i'll probably get a
"p" series before too long.
i'm sure i'll have to make
some sort of "kickstand" for
it, though. (a seg takes too
much space, horizontally; and
it just doesn't look "right."
ymmv. yeah, i could lean it
against something, but, in
principle, it should be "self-
sufficient.")

kthxbye.

q.

http://www.pcisys.net/~qwhew/segway/jpg_segway_sfest_08312003_sunday_3d.jpg

//