happyhappy 0 Posted April 9, 2005 Share Posted April 9, 2005 http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/4409649.stm It was supposed to revolutionise transportation as we know it, so why is the Segway Human Transporter nowhere to be seen on the streets of Britain? If you believed the hype, the world's first motorised, self-balancing scooter was going to revolutionise personal travel when it was introduced into the UK two years ago. ---- I mean, would you do this: Link to post Share on other sites
Error404 0 Posted April 10, 2005 Share Posted April 10, 2005 You mean the C5? Come on, these are marginally better than the C5. You'd still look a right dork though. Link to post Share on other sites
sweets87 0 Posted April 10, 2005 Share Posted April 10, 2005 haha they have these in vancouver. they never really caught on. they are suppose to be impossible to fall off of because of the crazy balance system but guess who actually fell? bush Link to post Share on other sites
Ocean11 0 Posted April 10, 2005 Share Posted April 10, 2005 And me. They're extremely easy to fall off of. Take the thing up to top speed, lean too far back when stopping (lay a little rubber), overcompensate forwards, and bang! your face is planted in the concrete before you can say Oh sh... There's an exquisite moment when you feel the little gyros give up on their effort to stop you going forward. Your hands are not ideally placed to prevent you smashing your face into the ground. Those little helmets won't do any good because they don't have a chin guard. I realigned my front teeth (I popped 'em back into their sockets but they still hurt) and split my top lip. This was at an environmental technology trade fair in Matsuyama. A Danish punter was there determined to get the thing to turn on only one wheel, a supposed impossibility. He managed it easily (indeed, without punching out of the envelope as spectacularly as me). The Segway rep must have been quietly going "****ing foreigners! Next time we'll have a sign saying NO ****ING FOREIGN RIDERS ALLOWED". There's a reason why Segways haven't caught on. They have a deadly competitor. It's called the 'push bike'. Link to post Share on other sites
scouser 4 Posted April 10, 2005 Share Posted April 10, 2005 haha, funny that. They're a touch more expensive than pushbikes as well aren't they. Did anyone ever buy a C5? I bet they're worth 'a fortune' now. Link to post Share on other sites
sweets87 0 Posted April 11, 2005 Share Posted April 11, 2005 haha thats fabulous. props to u. i have no idea what a C5 is Link to post Share on other sites
Ocean11 0 Posted April 11, 2005 Share Posted April 11, 2005 I'll have two please! Link to post Share on other sites
sweets87 0 Posted April 11, 2005 Share Posted April 11, 2005 hahaha omg i would rather drive a golf car then that thing Link to post Share on other sites
Ocean11 0 Posted April 11, 2005 Share Posted April 11, 2005 A friend who heard about my Segway adventure gleefully told me about the latest machine in the lineup - the Off-road Segway. I'd like to watch somebody (my friend perhaps), riding it down a steep, rock-strewn slope. Now that would be entertaining. Link to post Share on other sites
thelovelyjen 0 Posted April 11, 2005 Share Posted April 11, 2005 Those c5s were such a beautiful idea! just look at the state of that thing! Link to post Share on other sites
Dims 0 Posted April 11, 2005 Share Posted April 11, 2005 I'd feel like Davros wheeling in the C5. Especially with that funky rainwear. Even the model looks pissed off to be in it. Link to post Share on other sites
Ocean11 0 Posted April 12, 2005 Share Posted April 12, 2005 You wouldn't feel like Davros in a C5 because Davros moved about through the sheer force of his own alien evil. In a C5 you have to pedal, and those lead-acid batteries aren't light. A quick glance at the Segway website suggests that they've identified precisely the design flaw in their original pogo stick that I demonstrated with so much elan. They're now planning a 4-wheeler that should help yahoos keep their front teeth in proper alignment. If they keep at it for another 10 years, they'll develop the mountain bike, then we'll all be really modern. Link to post Share on other sites
brit-gob 9 Posted April 12, 2005 Share Posted April 12, 2005 Hilarious. That C5 thing looks magic. Where can I get one. (Does it come with the rainwear). What in the world was Clive thinking? Link to post Share on other sites
brit-gob 9 Posted April 12, 2005 Share Posted April 12, 2005 This guy looks much happier Link to post Share on other sites
brit-gob 9 Posted April 12, 2005 Share Posted April 12, 2005 It seems as though there's a real "c5 Otaku" group out there. Check this out http://www.sinclairc5.com/my_c5/my_c5_story.htm Link to post Share on other sites
brit-gob 9 Posted April 12, 2005 Share Posted April 12, 2005 "Over the following few weeks, we disagreed several times over the requirement for C5" Sorry, this is cracking me up Link to post Share on other sites
grungy-gonads 54 Posted April 12, 2005 Share Posted April 12, 2005 Well. This business man looks well chuffed with his C5 and is going to work in it. Don't some of you Tokyoites wish you had one of these babies to get round in. (Not too sure I fancy doing 1000 miles in it though, Clive.) Get one on ebay brit-gob http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=2192&item=4541408902&rd=1 Link to post Share on other sites
NoFakie 45 Posted April 12, 2005 Share Posted April 12, 2005 I can't remember where I saw it, but I saw someone online make a very passable imitation of a Segway for about a tenth of the cost using not especially flash programmable electronics and ordinary motors. So much for super high-tech. The ability to come to a sudden stop without falling forwards, an art perfected by Roadrunner, could possibly be realized by a single front wheel, as in Sir Clive's prophetic design. "The world's first practical personal transport powered by electricity." Times may change, but its interesting to see that the advertising industry was coming out bullshit back then too. Electric cars were relatively common in the early days of motoring at the beginning of the 20th Century. And they were a damned site more practical than the C5. During an infamous test drive on the BBC program "Top Gear", William Woolard got out halfway after being passed by a double-decker bus. He looked terrified. Link to post Share on other sites
big-will 7 Posted April 12, 2005 Share Posted April 12, 2005 Thats more than bullshit it is downright lies! Who can come up with the most fun caption for that photo with the woman and the dogs taking a walk and noticing the guy on the c5. How about "what a ****ing loser" Link to post Share on other sites
Ocean11 0 Posted April 12, 2005 Share Posted April 12, 2005 "Jimmy, put your tricycle away and come in, it's nearly teatime!" Link to post Share on other sites
js 0 Posted April 12, 2005 Share Posted April 12, 2005 'Look Darlings, a motorised speed-hump. What will they thunk of next!' Link to post Share on other sites
oblivion 5 Posted April 12, 2005 Share Posted April 12, 2005 "I bet he feels like a right knob" Link to post Share on other sites
Ocean11 0 Posted April 12, 2005 Share Posted April 12, 2005 It occurs to me that you could have more fun on that hill with a Carve Stik. It would also be cheaper and you could probably skate (or run) back up the hill faster than matey on his Shinkansen tricycle. Link to post Share on other sites
oblivion 5 Posted April 12, 2005 Share Posted April 12, 2005 "He sure looks one" Hey but you'd save on parking. Having said that, where would you park? Link to post Share on other sites
Ocean11 0 Posted April 12, 2005 Share Posted April 12, 2005 > where would you park? Under a bus. Link to post Share on other sites
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