Latest Segway Products for 2015!

[Tritium]

http://blog.segway.com/20150224take-...ikes-4569.html

[JohnG]

Cool, e-bikes. For Europe. No details about specs and no pricing.

Meh.

[JohnM]

Specs - http://www.segway.com/segway-resourc...ly_cycling.pdf

250w motor - kinda puny, top speed 25kmh(15.5mph), the European legal max. USA max is 20mph.

Nothing new and innovative. Kind of stock e-bike with a Segway sticker.

[Civicsman]

This means that JohnM, with his knowledge of bicycling, and point of view that e-bikes have many advantages over the current self-balancing products, now becomes SegwayChat's defacto expert on these new products!

Personally, I don't know squat about e-bikes, but perhaps the new products will provide an additional revenue stream for the company.

Hopefully, Segway got their marketing analysis right with these products, but the sales brochure asks the question:

Why Segway e-Bikes?, and answers with:

Segway is well known throughout the world for its prowess in designing and distributing personal electric vehicle solutions. ... Our new offerings will deliver the flexibility you expect of an e-bike paired with renown Segway reliability and quality.

So Segway chooses the "You should buy our new product because we're good at design and distribution", rather than promoting specific competitive product features and advantages. I'm not saying that they didn't provide a list of features, but those look like a laundry list of third-party products, which presumably other e-bike manufacturers use too. ARE there advantages over competing products? I note that "manufacturing" is not mentioned. What is Segway's value-add in these bikes? Where are they built (and by what company)?

Unfortunately, only a tiny minority of people have ever seen a real, live Segway in the wild. According to some sources, there are still LOTS of people who have either never even heard of Segway, or forgot in the decade plus since the original introduction. I travel to Europe and across the US, and live close to a major US city (Freedonia), and have seen exactly ONE other individually-owned Seg in the 13 years since they were introduced. Given that no more than 100,000 total people, worldwide, have had an ownership experience with "Segway reliability and quality", this marketing approach may not "play in Peoria", or Munich.

[JohnM]

Originally Posted by Civicsman

This means that JohnM, with his knowledge of bicycling, and point of view that e-bikes have many advantages over the current self-balancing products, now becomes SegwayChat's defacto expert on these new products!

If nominated, I will not run. If elected, I will not serve.

I am disappointed that Segway has done nothing to set themselves apart in an already crowded European market. Both Trek (1,700 North America dealers) and Cannondale will have 350w Bosch powered bikes in the US this year, so "the leader in personal, green transportation" has missed that e-bike boat, too.

[JohnM]

Ok, something I like: The wide Schwalbe 62-584 Super Moto-X tires on the U-series Roadsters. The TF-series bikes have a worthless/heavy Sun Tour front shock and narrower, but ok, Schwalbe 40-622 Energizer Life tires. The wider Super Motos are extra durable, puncture resistant, cushy without needing a shock, all weather tires that are remarkably fast for their width. I ride Schwalbe Marathon Extremes, similar but with a more pronounced tread, as my go anywhere tire. Love them. Not cheap.

The 584 diameter rim, aka 27.5, aka 650B, is also inherently stronger than the 622/29/700c rim on the TF-series.

[Tritium]

John M is actually posting legitimate complaints about this pretty weak Segway Sauce.
Honestly, the 250w motor, non integrated battery, and overall generic design and material is quite a sad introduction into a market that Segway is going fairly blindly into, head first.

I'm sure that if Segway actually put out a great product and design, John M would be happier, as would I.

[Civicsman]

...into a market that Segway is going fairly blindly into, head first.

If you're suggesting that Segway doesn't have a good handle on the market, I'd have to say they have experience with this. Or, at least the predecessors of the current employees did.

The majority of those original employees are long gone. Even all the people I worked with on Gen 2 (executives, engineers, purchasing, QC, etc.) are long gone. i wonder if there is any "corporate memory" of The ancient history of their foray into a new market. At least, e-bikes is a market that actually exists.

[JohnM]

"New market"? Maybe for Segway, but last year there were 410,000 e-bikes sold in Germany alone. The market is well established and Segway is arriving a little late. Besides a name associated with a quirky US scooter, what is Segway going to bring to the European e-bike market that will set them apart? I'm not seeing anything so far, just mid-level stock parts bolted to a stock frame. Maybe they have a trick up their sleeve that I'm missing.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/19/bu...in-europe.html

[Civicsman]

"New market"? Maybe for Segway, but last year there were 410,000 e-bikes sold in Germany alone. The market is well established and Segway is arriving a little late. Besides a name associated with a quirky US scooter, what is Segway going to bring to the European e-bike market that will set them apart? I'm not seeing anything so far, just mid-level stock parts bolted to a stock frame. Maybe they have a trick up their sleeve that I'm missing.

Yes, new for Segway.

I agree that the market is established. Perhaps market growth will allow for some percentage for Segway, but your view that it's a mid-level entry, without a real advantage over other competitors which are already established, is not a positive thing. Bicyclists do not seem inclined to be impressed with Transporters, and I wonder what applying the Segway logo to an otherwise capable machine, and trying to sell it only at a Segway dealer, might do to sales.