Wife Tries To Abort And Poison Husband's Lovechild
Man Injured By Tree Limb Files Suit Against City
Charles Barron Will Run For Council Speaker
Alleged Tiger Mistress Is Unrecognizable To Dead Fiancee's Dad
New Jersey State Senate To Vote On Gay Marriage
Woe to the Segway commuter: A Brooklyn man who commutes from Brighton Beach to Midtown Manhattan has failed in his attempts to fight a $90 ticket he received while riding the contraption. Jonathan Gleich told the Post, "New York City wants to be green, but to me they're being mean. For me to get to work costs 15 cents instead of two bucks to take the subway. There are never delays, there are never strikes. There's nothing to stop me but rain and snow."
The problem is that Gleich's Segway is unregistered. He bought insurance for it, but the DMV refused to register it, so when he was pulled over on 6th and West 23rd, he got a ticket for driving an unregistered vehicle. And though City Councilman John Liu said back in 2004 that a Segway-riding ticket was probably contestable, Gleich's judge felt the ticket should stand, calling the Segway "a gas-powered skateboard." Talk about insult to injury.
The NYPD tested Segways for two months in 2004 as a possible addition to their crime-fighting vehicles -we're trying to find out if they are still used. And the NYPD captured its first Segway thief in 2003. And one state where you don't have to register Segways: New Hampshire.
add to stumble upon
add to reddit
tweet this
post to facebook
Sorry, if you want to be "green", get off your butt and ride a bike.
should be fined extra for being an obvious douche, as segway owners tend to be
it's not gas powered, it runs on rechargeable electric batteries.
I agree. Segways are nothing but attention getting devices for the fat and old. Get a bike or stand on the subway like everyone else, hell you live in Brighton Beach which means you always get a seat at least one way. Stop riding your snob mobile.
i would drive an 18 wheeler fueled by the blood of children before i used a segway. they are the most horrific invention, um, ever.
Wait, the judge called the Segway a gas-powered skateboard, but the ticket was for riding an unregistered vehicle. Uh, as much as Segways are imbicilic, how can you even compare it to a skateboard when issuing a judgement about it? Skateboards do not have to be registered. That judge is an idiot.
The ruling and the judge are both moronic, but I agree with t. I would rather drive a puppy burning steam powered train from hell before using a segway.
The guy can appeal simply because this judge plainly doesn't know what he's talking about. Not that I would want to make that commute on a Segway. It has to be close to 14 miles, which takes at least an hour, and from what I hear, riding a Segway is very fatiguing because you just stand there upright and can't change your stance or posture.
As for the other comments here, they sound more like jealousy.
those things go like 15 miles an hour tops, it has to take the dude like 2 hours to get to and from work.
that's 4 hours a day of being the douchiest guy in the city.
Why are you cyclists such jerks? Better a Segway than a car. A Segway won't kill you when you run a red light for the thousandth time.
the only thing douchy about this are the replies.
I would ride a tricycle pushed by 7 three year olds before I would ride one of this jimajami's.
What the article fails to mention is that the guy got a ticket when the Segway he owned fell off the back of his truck (that he uses to commute to work).
Even if it runs off batteries, it isn't "green" it takes energy to produce electricity it runs off of.
I would run to and from work with thumbtacks ebedded in my feet with clowns chasing after me rather than commute on a segway.
watta dick! First of all segways are worthless. What's the difference between them and those battery operated little motorcycles? Ummm first of all, you have to stand on a segway and second of all 12000.00. Those little mopeds cost like 200 bucks. Now they both basically go 15-20 mph and you have to charge them for 6-12 hours as well. So the only difference between a electric moped and a segway is the wow factor and the fact that you stand!!!!!! Now, I always thought sitting would be more of a premium than standing but I could be wrong. I mean you would rather sit on a airplane than stand right? so this segway is a real gyp. It's just a novelty for idiots.
Chuck, it takes energy to power you to pedal your bike, so I guess you aren't green either.
Segways are insanely energy efficient - analogous to a car getting 450 mpg - so please don't be ridiculous.
apparently Brightliner rides a segway
question: where do the people park their segway after they ride around them illegally in new york? I mean you go to work and then what? you lug it up in the elevator? whatta crap invention. There is no segway parking and what about rain and mud? stupid! and JAS you are being generous with the 15-20 mph. It's more like 6-8 mph. slower than walking speed.
Oh sure, I think segways are moronic too ... but since when is the DOT being choosy about what idiotic modes of transportation it chooses to register? We allow people to drive Hummers (idiotic/dangerous/irresponsible), ricers (embarrasingly idiotic), dune-buggys, and don't mind when unregistered modes of transportation, share the road (bicicyles, rollerblades).
Considering the cops were considering these things (idiotic though they may be) for patrol duty, it seems like the DOT is being *awfully* selective about how it treats them.
Personally, I the segway is a pretty moronic way to get around, but you guys are a bunch of whining misanthropes ... I somehow doubt this guy is nearly as big an asshole as some of the people posting in this article.
I would ride on the backs of a dozen legless pregnant homeless women crawling on their hands and knees, making sure I make them go over every puddle, pothole, pile of broken bottles and gum before I ride a Segway.
Honestly, I could care less if he rides his Segway.
How can a legless woman have knees?
Yeah, like the guy in the six thousand dollar suit is gonna pay this ticket. Come on!
I feel sorry for the cop in that picture. What a chode.
He (Or She??) would be better off riding those Tri-Wheeled police go-carts. At least she'll look less like a herb.
Excellant point Czech-a-roo, what I was really envisioning was the women being legless below the kness, so they would be using their knee stumps kinda like baby elephants, then "crawling on their hands and knees" still applies.
People still use the word 'herb'. Amazing!
I find it hard to support anyone who actually spends the x thousand dollars to buy one of those idiotic things. A mountain bike, vespa or even roller blades make a more efficent mode of transpotation compared to that stupid thing, so the sole reason for buying one of those segways is douchebaggery. Thumbs down.
Umm, people I am That person in the article.
a few points..
1) the picture is THE MAYOR OF NY not me.
2) 15 miles @ 12mph is 1.5 hrs from my home to work thats 1.5 hrs - the train is 55 mins, the bus is 1.5 hrs.
3) I LMAO at the comments, but I agree with the statement you guys are just plain old jealous, Sorry.
Jonathan
brightliner: I got to try a Segway in a science museum recently, and you're basically right: you have to stand upright but lean forward just a bit to get it to go. That would be hard to do for any length of time.
nick: apparently they can go faster than 15 mph - the dude at the museum said they can be outfitted with different speed limitations. I think he said the fastest is 25 mph, so definitely faster than the mileages quoted above (but still not fast compared to a car).
I once saw three douches on Segways ride really quickly up onto a sidewalk on Madison Avenue. Say what you will about these machines, but they definitely do NOT belong on the sidewalk!
what exactly am I jealous of? Looking like an ass?
What's all the hate for the Segway? Who cares? Let him ride the thing, jeez. If more people could ride Segways, bikes, scooters and other smaller things it would cut down on traffic. Why is there such a problem with everything?
He should get a ticket just for looking like a douchebag on that thing, and pay asshole tax on top of it.
The hate for the segway is because it's a nearly perfect symbol of conspicuous consumption complete with a sheen of faux-environmentalism. It is a device designed to solve a problem (non-car urban transportation) at exorbitant expense, when cheap, efficient, readily available solutions to the problem exist at fractions of the cost. So therefore anyone who chooses to ride a Segway is willfully ignoring those other solutions and choosing an obscenely expensive device that let's be honest, makes anyone riding it look like Poindexter Q. Dorkwad.
Please check out the video for "White and Nerdy" by Wierd Al Yankovic.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=-xEzGIuY7kw
Yes, Brilliant Al rides a Segway, looking like King Dork/Douchebag, @ about 1:15 into the video. I'm thinking that people that ride these things just don't know what they look like on them?
Jonathan Gleich looks like this.
And I like my bike and live in downtown MANHATTAN, very close to many subways.
Sorry, but not jealous.
meh, all I hear here is "what a dickwad" and "the guy's a douche" - it's like a schoolyard. So his Segway costs a lot? Does it harm anyone? I think people driving around the city in Cadillac Escalades and Hummers should be ticketed before someone on a Segway should. They actually cause deaths and injuries.
haha i just love that he came here! this is the best gothamist comment section ever!
The people posting angry comments are much bigger jerks then some guy on a Segway.
(Professor Frink voice) Diiiiiii resent your hostility...m'HEY!
Well, just to chime in... I use to regularly see a guy on a Segway around 16th and 5th Avenue about three years ago. I always thought to myself, "Gee, that's one lazy dude, get the hell off that thing and walk." Sorry Jonathan... good luck on your a silly ticket, and I would agree, your are caught in Catch-22 land. But... I'm throwing my hat in with the Segway naysayers.
First off if you use a bike in this city you are complete devoid of any intelligence - it is the easiest way to get hurt and most people do. Its called walking and you know what you can walk long distances in this city. If your work is too far then suck it up and use the subway. Otherwise don't complain about bike safety - because there will never be any and you should know better to ride one on the roads.
If this guy wants to use that contraption - to each there own, but he is liable to the same dangers as the bicyclists and will be hurt also.
The main question i have is if the Segway is required to be registered why did the DMV not allow him to register it?
Two legs walk
Otherwise use public transportation and keep your mouth shut you chose to live here deal with it.
Well,
I think the NYPD is still using them. I saw what looked like an NYPD cop on a Segway in Penn Station I know it was a Segway, and it really did look like a New York cop (gun, uniform and handcuffs).
He was suspiciously near the Krispy Kreme counter.
Best,
Laurel
My father-in-law has MS and the Segway has saved his life (and his self-esteem). There are tons of people who have MS for whom this is an amazing device.
My father-in-law can't ride a bike. He can't walk more than a block. If he wants to take a "stroll" with his wife, the segway is his only option.
He isn't ignoring public transportation or personal transportation. Getting up and down the stairs on the subway is next-to-impossible for him. The busses only work for some destinations but not all.
So, go ahead and be insensative assholes and prejudge everyone on a segway.
Or, open your mind a little bit and understand that the whole world isn't just like you.
I would rather peel off my skin and dive slip-'n'-slide-style down salt-covered streets than ride a Segway.
The only thing dumber than riding a Segway is knowing that you paid $5,000+ for one.
I'd rather convert to Judaism than be seen riding a Segway.
Wow! What a revelation -- hating what is different and unexperienced is alive and well on this site. I'm guessing that most of the posters are young teenagers each trying to impress the others with their rhetoric, but it's still scary. These people will vote some day -- but they'll probably not be given the opportunity to reproduce. I kept waiting to read about a guy who was so dorky he wore his pants on his hips with no underwear showing.
Anyone smart enough to reduce greenhouse emissions should be applauded, not ridiculed because he has the effrontery to look different.
BTW, Chuck, when you say a battery powered vehicle is not green, even the dirtiest of coal-fired power plants is cleaner than your automobile. And oh yeah, if you haven't noticed folks, subways use electricity. An EV which is recharged at night when electricity is going to waste is TOTALLY green -- no extra emissions.
You gotta love the recommendations to walk (14 miles each way).
I can't see the problem with riding a segway . If you want to ride one of them things then it's your business ! As long as they ride lawfully then there shouldn't be a problem . Hell it's got to be uncomfortable to ride one of them things . Especially too the city with the roadways and sidewalks in the conditions their in . Stop hating on this guy for being different and worry about yourselves ! He said it cost him [.15] too operate his contraption, As appose to riding the subway . That's money saved in his pocket . Who would be against that !
"Wow! What a revelation -- hating what is different and unexperienced is alive and well on this site."
cyclist STFU thx! =D
Riding a Segway makes you look ridiculous. Most people are not ready to look like a giant chode as of yet. Give society time to accept Segways and eventually they will be accepted, but is price of owning one make it worth buying? Now really?? Is it a glimpse into the future? Possibly. But as of now, its cheaper, more efficient and economical to ride a damn bike down the street (Or walk your fat ass down the street) then to drive one of those pathetic contraptions down the street.
I hope to GOD fat people don't turn to segways so they will have an excuse NOT to walk their ass down the street.
Look what you made me do. My hate of Segways turned into a rant about fat people. They do happen to go hand in hand you know. You WILL see obese people riding them down the streets of New York in due time let me tell you!
Anything that you plug into the wall to recharge uses electricty which in turn uses oil. All your appliances, your alarm clock, your electric toothbrush etc etc uses, in the end, oil.
The segway, while amazingly efficeint for those with the lack of ability to walk or ride a bike is not cost effient for anyone, including jonathan. Dude, pay your damn ticket ( if you can afford a segway, you can afford the ticket) and then get it registered. You have to register it by law, do it. Why fight City Hall over this?
Are you the same guy that cheaps out on paying a group bill at a birthday party? "I didn't eat any meat... I didn't drink... pony up douchebag and stop bitching... you're wasting tax payer money with this BS.
PS/ #17 yes, it takes human energy to ride a bike. I do not recharge electricly my heart or lungs when I get home from a ride.
Directed at edEx, it was mentioned in a previous article that he tried to get it registered, but the DMV classified it as an 'Unregisterable Vehicle'.
Segways are an incredible device, both physically and conceptually. The engineering that took place to create the Segway is phenomenal. It uses VERY LITTLE power (compare the distance that this man rides to work, and the amount of coal, or oil, or NUCLEAR PRODUCT used to create it, to that of a car, going the same distance in NYC.) For someone who lives far enough away from work that walking is not viable, and driving a car is environmentally irresponsible, riding a Segway is a perfectly viable solution.
As far as paying the ticket "because he can afford it," does that mean that you should pay a higher percentage of tax because you earned more, simply 'because you can afford it?" Why should this man be fined for doing the right thing environmentally?
And as far as:
pony up douchebag and stop bitching... you're wasting tax payer money with this BS.
Please, grow up.
I'm in high school, and I know that.
Jacob
Ok, here's a question, what all have you got against Segway users?
Amazingly, you can get a seat for your Segway. You do not, in fact, have to stand up all day when riding this.
Secondly, all the fat people comments. I am considered mildly anorexic, but I wish I had a Segway. Why? Because it is a environmentally friendly device. Over weight people are often overweight because of bad eating choices. This means they should stop eating at McDonald's, this doesn't mean they should stop riding a Segway.
Third, Segways can be faster then you would think. In rush hour traffic, this would get you home way before anyone else.
Fourth, as everyone is talking about bikes. They are rather unpractical in a city area. If you hadn't noticed, not many people are seen riding a bike down Wall Street.
Honestly people, do a small amount of research before you post, otherwise you will end up looking like an idiot.
-Lucy,
Another High School Student
They say that bullies lack self-respect and self-satisfaction. Because of this, bullies try to make their peers feel smaller so they can feel better about themselves.
Everyone here is acting no differently than an elementary school bully; someone in the age group between 6 and 11.
Some of you are posting comments that are irrelivant to the article. The only thing your comments and the thread have in common is that they both contain the word "segway".
Rather than bash the segway and segway users (I know several of them and they are far from douches. They have done some outstanding things in the community that you could only wish to do) why don't we stick to the topic of the article?
The segway is an invention, just like your car, your bike, and any other convenient device you may own. Just imagine the people back when Henry Ford introduced a car. Did everyone think it economical and affordable? No. But look what most of us use today. There is no reason to bash something that you haven't even given a chance.
Try one out, then see what you think.
Don't judge a book by its cover either.
edEx,
You're so short-sighted, it's not funny. You may not electrically charge your heart, but you do need more food when you ride. How do you think that food gets to you? Gasoline-fueld trucks. Diesel railroads. Container ships burning heavy fuel oil. How do you think that food is raised? Diesel tractors, threshers and other farm equipment. The human body is also a very inefficient machine when it comes to the food we use as fuel. Your personal carbon footprint is far bigger than you think.
thank you high schoolers for joining us... it's good to see a wide variety of opinions...
to answer jacob: i wasn't implying the segway takes a large deal of energy, but compared to other household items it does... it's a lithium battery, they all take some "fire power" to charge... i wasn't only answering soley the article or bashing the segway, I was mainly answering 17's comparison of green energy... a pedal bike is more green than a segway... i was also answering the 48 posts prior to mine... these articles gothamist posts are informational on a city and sometimes a tri-state level—they sometimes they take on a life of their own when the readers write their respective opinions... yes, there are some trolls, but all boards get those, ignore 'em.
as for my harsh words, you're right... i'm acting like a "high schooler". ;P
1. Segway users are nomal people not all the trash many wrote about them.
2. Enviroment friendly or not, it is a great invention celebrating modern technology and great engineering.
3. The police had the right to question the registration or lack of registration of the segway.
4. I personally think that it is like a skateboard, which does not need to be registered.
5. The judge is not qualified to be a judge if he will compare the segway to a gas powered skateboard and then turn around and say that it SHOULD be registered. That just makes no sence to me.
6. and Lastly, this article is an issue on how the law can be interpreted in different ways and how the authorities had the final say, correct or incorrect. Not on how " some people would drive and 18 wheeler fueled by children's blood". duh. Totally uncalled for.
Thankyou for your time reading this post. I hope it changes the opinions of some readers/viewers.
-lauren
edEx,
Thank you for realizing that you were in fact acting like a High Schooler. It takes a lot of guts to admit something like that. Now with that said, I just have one question. Even though it takes energy to charge the battery to a Segway, which actually takes less energy? A device carrying one person and about an extra 80lbs. up to 24 miles on one charge, or a device carrying one person with an extra ton using energy right from the power plant and gets almost no millage compared to the other. Sure, if everyone were to get a segway, charging them would in fact add up, but as of right now, which do you think actually is helping the environment better?
Sorry, if you want to be "green", get off your butt and ride a bike.
QFT.
You may not electrically charge your heart, but you do need more food when you ride. How do you think that food gets to you? Gasoline-fueld [sic] trucks. Diesel railroads. Container ships burning heavy fuel oil. How do you think that food is raised? Diesel tractors, threshers and other farm equipment. The human body is also a very inefficient machine when it comes to the food we use as fuel. Your personal carbon footprint is far bigger than you think.
I'm thinking the human body is a little bit more energy efficient than any powerplant. Plus theres the health aspect.
x-posted
chiefdelphi.com/forums/showthread.php?t=57363
gothamist.com/2007/05/07/segways_still_r.php
"Riding a Segway makes you look ridiculous."
So do a lot of things.
Like posting stupid crap like this as an argument against a damn Segway.
Tucker,
"Acting like a fool trying to raise your ego makes you look ridiculous."
And next time you say, "Like posting stupid crap like this as an argument against a damn Segway." you should really take a look in the mirror because the road goes both ways and you are not looking any better posting that.
I would let a hundred bald eagles carry me from place to place by clutching at my testicles rather than ride a segway.
If you have any knowledge of physics, and you feel like crunching some numbers and working back some (okay, quite a few) power equations, you'll find that Segways have the equivalent of ~450 mpg efficiency!
But if this was the only perk to owning a Segway, I'd never have purchased one. Unless you've ever owned a Segway (which I have for about a year now), you'd never know how much of a chick magnet they are. When I first got mine I was pleasantly surprised by the abundance of telephone numbers I was receiving, but I soon realized that many women associated owning a Segway to being intelligent, powerful, and or wealthy. ;-)
Put that in your pipe and smoke it, Sherlock. What your opinions of this matter are is of the least importance to me; I'm going back to my life.
brightliner you're right, i'll just stop eating to protest the food being brought to me in trucks... shortsighted vs your blindness.
I would love to ride a Segway once in a while. They would be greener if Con Ed used more renewable energy, which is in the works.
Just for the sake of facts -
A segway requires just over 1000W of power to fully chrage for empty, this power is consumed over a period of hours on a nightly charge. By comparison the Bunn BTX-B coffee machine requires 900W of power per typical use cycle.
Electricity produced at night is not stored by power stations but lost - much better to store in batteries for use at an approriate time.
If you choose to purchase wind generated power then you emissions are zero.
For all the avid cyclists that really do not understand the history ot their technology - the bike was heavily resented when first invented and were exposed to attitudes and comments very similar to the Segway today. It too was considered a play toy of the wealthy.
For refernce the bicycle took approx 70 years for significant uptake and to acknowledge it, the bicycle has been responsible for the most significant movement of people around the world and still is today in developing countries.
As for the cost of a Segway - how much does your Cadillac escalade or Toyota Corolla depreciate once you drive it off the lot and then what is your cost of ownership per year?
There is a great quote from Henry Ford, when he was discussing why he invented the car, He said that if he asked the public they would have wanted a faster horse - exact wording may not be correct. It takes dramatic leaps in lateral thinking to nake real changes.
It's easy to knock something - takes a bit more effort to see the benefits.
I say give it a chance, its a free country and no-one is forced to buy one. History will determine wheter it succeeds or fails.
Enjoy your coffee and think of the power being consumed for that single cup.
Hey fucksticks, Segways are totally awesome. If you've ever ridden one you would know how much fun it is. It has nothing to do with being an attention whore. How many Segway owners have you ACTUALLY TALKED TO. They are extremely nice.
FACTS:
Segways go 12.5 mph
Segways cost 1200-4500 dollars, NOT 12000.00!!!! FUCK
Segways are totally legal in other major cities.
When I am riding my segway, and someone from a car yells "douche!" at me, there is no question in my mind who the douche really is.
I can't believe I slept through all this.
For the record, I think I would rather be stripped naked and have wolverines scratch out my eyes and use their razor-sharp claws to impale me with a thousand small, deep scratches that penetrated my flesh and opened large oozing sores, then have a polar bear drag me and my thousands of open sores through his pit of excrement prior to devouring me piece by piece, starting with my legs, then my crotch, then my belly so I could be conscious for the entire experience... oh, forget it.
Speaking of which, let me "segway" to another point... this could be the dopeyest long series of posts in the history of posts. This is NY, people, where every man, woman, or child has the inalienable right to look like a tool for fourteen long miles through two boros, one bridge, and countless neighborhoods. If he wants to take a device that was designed to help the disabled and infirm and turn it into a yuppie badge of honor, then by God Jonanthan, please, carry on!
BTW, as a cyclist I can tell you, you have to get on your butt to ride a bike.
"When I am riding my segway, and someone from a car yells "douche!" at me, there is no question in my mind who the douche really is."
Admitting to yourself that you are indeed a douche is the first step my friend. The person in the car calling you a douche is a kindred spirit, showing you the way to enlightenment.
I would ride in a sleigh propelled by ten refried bean-eating douchebags lighting their farts on fire than travel to work on a Segway.
OMG, LOL, well gee I never thought I would stir such emotion from people about me, and my segway.
Just some more little tidbits for you all;
1) I weight 192 lbs
2) I travel 30 miles a day on my segway - total cost $.30 (in electric usage)
2a) If I brought my car into work - $50 for Parking, $10 for gas (30 miles), $9.00 tolls
3) I am not Lance Armstrong I am not able to bike 30 miles. I think maybe 90% of the people reading this are in the same state.
4) I would drather drive over 15 miles of broken glass, and nails, puncturing my tires and making me fall over impalling myself on the glass, gouging at my flesh with the blood running down the curb marking the area in a giant red pool then...
:)
Jonathan
You little girlie man
30 Miles a day on a bike is nothing! Do it the Lance Armstrong way. You'll save thousands of dollars, be 192 and buffed instead of 192, flabby and weak, and not to mention get the ladies. ;-)
Our precious Jonathan...
You cannot bike 30 miles because your lardass is out of shape from riding your dopey Segway!!!
Okay, now I feel better. :>)
And what exactly is a drather, anyway?
Dude, Lance is right, 30 miles on a bike is a no biggie, especially if its a 15 in and 15 back (which, granted, I'm assuming) thing. Fifteen miles on paths and greenways will take you an hour and a half - tops - if you are in any kind of shape.
From Brighton Beach, go down Ocean Parkway, through Prospect Park, down Bergen Street, across Clinton to the Brooklyn Bridge and you've done the whole trip on bikepaths or greenways. And you haven't looked like a boob.
Remember that South Park episode when everyone decided to buy Hybrids and they ended up producing excessive amounts of SMUG?
I see the same thing with the Segway. Ride it, enjoy it. Just don’t act like you’re better and more ‘enlightened’ then anyone else just because you have one.
To think so many people actually give a shit about what someone else does. Now if we could just hire a Supreme Nanny instead of having elections things would be just perfect. "Nanny!! J is riding the Segway again!!! WAAA!!!"
Grow up.
That's funny you all think Segways are expensive yet you drive SUVs and your cell phone is more expensive to own than a Segway.
[I know, it's NYC, and insulting folks is a sport]
I wonder how many of you bike 30 miles every day? I know I don't, yet I'm in perfectly good shape. How is this possible!?
I have one question ..... Too #[66] What the hell is a "Fuckstick" ?????? Were you trying to be funny ? Is it something that you thought of on a whim ? Wow the creativity here astonishes even me ! I wonder if that's even a real word ? Gonna have to look that up .
I am quite surprised at the reactions that some of you have gotten from cyclists. I have been a biker for many years and generally we feel a kinship with any one on two wheels.
Top of the line bikes cost from $5,000 to $10,000 dollars so it has nothing to do with expense. Between the bikes and specialized clothing to ride them we spend more than the typical Segway. Of course as we spend more we get less (weight wise) and most bikers I discuss Seqways with feel they are too heavy (cyclist are fixated on weight, a good bike weights on 15 – 20 lbs) and have too little range; still they are both very elegant devises. The bicycle is mechanically sophisticated and the Segway is electronically sophisticated.
As stated above both have their uses. I rode 80 miles yesterday in 5 hours, not a possibility on a Segway. I also sweated like a pig (95 degrees out) and was tired at the end. If I was doing short errands at the store (who needs to sweat), commuting to work or had physical problems riding I would rather a Segway.
The Segway is also handy because biking is really not very comfortable without the specialized clothing and sometimes you just do not want to dress up to go out. Both are among the best things you can do for the environment, but I would give the edge to the bike (less material to construct, less energy usage). The bicycle is a good exercise device and the Segway would appear to have limited value here. Both (at least as compared to cars) are minimalist devices and both are social devices (a major point with me, I like to meet people).
Right I have a hybrid car for longer trips and my bikes for short trips/exercise. I plan on adding a Segway to my stable shortly.
As for rude bikers, I assure you they are a tiny minority. The vast majority a very nice and appreciate all alternative forms of transportation that make life better for all of us.
Commenting as an outsider (DC resident), this thread doesn't paint a very flattering picture of NYC residents. So, Segway riders may, in your opinion, look like dorks. So what? Why is that any skin off your ass? What ever happened to 'live and let live'? I thought that's what NYC was supposedly famous for.
Hillman,
this is the internet.
Yes, it is the internets. But come on - Segway riders are a pretty innocuous group, by and large. What harm are they doing to anyone?
Everybody is entitled to their own opinion. If Jonathan would like to ride his Segway who is to tell him that he is wrong? As there are multiple justifications for each side of this debate I would like to share something a wise man had to say:
"Never wrestle with a pig. You'll both get dirty, and only the pig will enjoy it." - AB.
Peace.
I joined this forum just to respond to the pure IGNORANCE in this thread. I have never seen so much HATE AND PREJUDICE aimed at anything other than humans for being 'different.' I mean, "ride a bike" and "lazy, fat?" Who are YOU to tell people what their form of transportation should be? That's insane. And Mall Cop is a movie. Get over the stereotype. Do you feel that people who ride Vespas are lazy and fat? What prejudice and hatred! Wow, it's just a form of transportation! Insecurity is abound when you project some form of 'arrogance' on us. What issues did some of you have as children? Really.
1. Ride a bike - And arrive at your destination SERIOUSLY DISGUSTINGLY STINKY??!! Hair messed up, especially if you're sporting a relaxer or many hairstyles as a FEMALE. Oh, and not to mention that a BIKE is not for EVERYONE. Segways are self balancing and allow greater visibility, thus they work for SOME. Is that okay with you?
2. Fat & Lazy - And how do YOU look? Some drivers will circle a parking lot for 10 minutes to find a parking space by the door vs. WALKING a little extra. Who says that a Sewgay is a treadmill or that it replaces walking? It travels faster than walking, so maaaaybe it is used to get somewhere quicker,, and maaaaybe Segway owners, um, I dunno...ALSO WALK!! I have lived in NY for 14+ years and I have WALKED THE ENTIRE TIME. I still do that crazy thing called w-a-l-k-i-n-g. I ride my Segway to get somewhere faster than walking and/or when I want to arrive at my destination smelling and looking GOOD.
Educate yourselves.
Oh, and I am physically FIT. I have been into fitness for several years. Insecure imbeciles in here.
3. @ 19 - Pure LIES and ignorance. It travels faster than walking, in mud, rain and I park mine at any bike rack. At night, I take it into my apartment, so I save on parking expenses. Geesh.
4. @ 20 - It's not for YOU, but it works as a form of transportation for me and others. But if it's not suited for you, I guess it's "moronic." That in itself is a moronic statement.
Etc., etc, etc -- too much stupidity for me to address. *smdh* Poors Segs. They need their own civil rights movement to combat this hate-filled MOB mentality. I thought this ended in the freaking '60s. If you all are this hateful toward a form of transportation, how do you feel about people who are DIFFERENT than you? I'm afraid to know.