Me and my i2: photos and videos

[carlotaglia]

Hello everybody! :)

I hope you will enjoy some photos and videos about my Segway riding experiences.
I use it everywhere, in every weather conditions, in every seasons and it is a phenomenal machine, that can help me transporting many kilograms of photographic equipment, during events or during my journeys through hills, mountains...

Thank you i2! :)


http://www.juzaphoto.com/shared_files/uploads/fotop_1694.jpg

http://f.cl.ly/items/3M2y1V0V3z382e3h0w2i/DSC_2183.jpg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=onUKnKv2Wlw

[PaulDV]

Excellent video Carlo!

It definitely shows off the handling of the i2 in the snow - somehow I didn't think it would handle anywhere nearly as good as that.

[JPM]

Those were great pictures and videos! Thanks for sharing! As the previous poster mentioned, this really does show how well the Segway can handle in the snow. You were doing some pretty quick and intense maneuvers and the Segway (apart from maybe one or two times) didn't slip or fall at all! That was great to see, actually. I'm not yet an owner but have been obsessing over owning an i2 for a few years now. One of the reasons I'm a tad hesitant is that it snows frequently where I live, in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, and I was a bit dubious about how well it would handle it. You proved to me that snow shouldn't be a problem!:)

[Bob.Kerns]

My experience in snow has been with much deeper snow, with any pavement or other solid service being many feet below.

It really did quite well, so long as it wasn't soft enough (think afternoon sunshine) to sink in too deeply -- an X2 would do better in that regard. I've sunk in deep enough into soft sand as well. Rule-of-thumb -- if you sink in deeply enough the platform rests on the surface, you can't move until you step off and get it back on top of the material first.

The other area is that on snow you can't climb nearly as steep a hill as you can on solid ground. This isn't surprising, of course.

I was never able to do the sort of sharp turn-and-slide shown here -- with the deeper snow, I had too much sideways traction!

Great video; fun to watch! Thanks for sharing it.

[KSagal]

Yes, those hard spinning turns would normally be called 'drifting' I believe, if he were in a car. I had not wanted to actually post that he was drifting in the drifts of snow as it was a bit too much of an alliteration for even me.

[Bob.Kerns]

Yes, those hard spinning turns would normally be called 'drifting' I believe, if he were in a car. I had not wanted to actually post that he was drifting in the drifts of snow as it was a bit too much of an alliteration for even me.

Exactly why I didn't use the word! :)

[carlotaglia]

Thank you to all of you! :)

When I made that video, I mounted two Michelin cross tires, but the day after I tried to make the same "drifts" with standard Segway tires and it was really amazing!
You can slip for over two or three meters and if you try to make a curve at "high" speed or a lot of short but hard maneuvers, you can feel how the stability control effectively works.
Now it's snowing here, so I look forward to make another video, using even standard tires :) .

[carlotaglia]

Here is another picture.
That uphill is very hard to ride, even for all moto-cross or off road cars drivers, in fact, once I was photographing at the top of that hill, so, a moto-cross rider stopped close to me and asked me (with a shocked expression on his face, hehehe) how could I been there with that "robo" (an italian word that we usually use to indicate something strange).
Without laughing, I answered "Why? There's nothing weird on that!", hahaha.

http://f.cl.ly/items/2L390M172i470w0i2O0w/_DSC5044.jpg

[carlotaglia]

As i promised, here's a new video: I also tested i2's standard tires along a slope with snow and mud and it was really amazing!
But I don't want to anticipate anything...enjoy the video (also HD 1080p)! :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3EQ0i8L2v0

[SKPeterson]

Being a non-owner, I can't speak to any actual gliding experience, but everything I've read up until now would have had me believe the Segway WAS NOT very stable on slippery surfaces. Perhaps it was when the difference in traction between the two tires is different, such as between cement and wet grass. In this case, traction between the two tires remains pretty similar.

Great video!

Stuart

[Bob.Kerns]

Being a non-owner, I can't speak to any actual gliding experience, but everything I've read up until now would have had me believe the Segway WAS NOT very stable on slippery surfaces. Perhaps it was when the difference in traction between the two tires is different, such as between cement and wet grass. In this case, traction between the two tires remains pretty similar.

Great video!

Stuart

It's stable, right up to where it can't produce enough force.

If you drive it carefully and gently so it doesn't require as much force, you can traverse pretty slippery surfaces. He was riding pretty aggressively.

As a rule of thumb, if you have trouble doing something on foot, it'll be marginal with the Segway but may outperform you on foot. When I first got a Segway, I went up a dust-covered steep path, until I lost traction. When I tried to get up, I slid back down that same hill, on my hands and knees. This was stock tires, and they out-performed my shoes or even hands and denim (which wore through, and I made a mess of my knees as well as my hands).

[KSagal]

Carlo makes it look easier than it is.

Clearly, he is very good at riding and controlling a segway. I could be wrong, but I suspect he is pretty fit, pretty able to control other items well also. If I had to guess, I would say he may be able to ride a bike or in line skates, possibly better than average as well.

A segway is a conveyance. It is not too much like others, and it is very advanced regarding its ability to self stabilize, but it also is like others in that it is easily controlled, and either over controlled (most common) or ridden well. In this video we see that Carlo can control it well enough to actually add to its control.

This is not unlike other things. Some people can drive better than others. Anyone who has seen any Parkour (I suggest you You Tube it) will see that some people can clearly walk, run and jump better than others as well.

Most of what is in these videos I have seen done before on Segways. Carlo is not alone in his skills. He is however, a very good operator, and very good at the video that shows this. Good for him.

Next time I am in Italy, I would love to glide with him. However, I may not keep up all the time.

[carlotaglia]

You're right Karl!

I forgot to translate in English what I wrote at the beginning of the video (the two automatic voices of my mac are ironic) and in its description on Youtube.
Basically, I wrote that you don't have to try this at home unless you are an expert driver.

Segway standard tires are dangerous on snow, the traction that those tires can offer is almost inexistent, in fact you have to perfectly know how to brake and turn, but with other cross tires (two years ago I found this interesting page on Segwaychat's archive http://forums.segwaychat.org/archive/index.php/t-15256.html ), you can drive almost safely in every conditions: also, if you switch on the beginners mode, you will find that you can start without problems on snow and that you can brake very safely (you just have to pay attention with ice).

Karl, it would be interesting to see other videos: I know that I'm not alone and I saw just this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=edmeLXXwTwU .
I know that here in Italy there's a Segway dealer that two years ago organized a "Segway slalom challenge" on wet grass: unfortunately I don't have much time (now I'm relatively free for one week more, so I think that this will be the last video of this winter :( ), but, seeing photos of that event, it was amazing!

If you will came to Italy, it would be a pleasure to visit a city together with our Segways! :)

[KSagal]

Carlo,

I do like your tires, and agree with your statements about them and traction.

Years ago, I made similar discoveries.

I used to sell Chen Shin tires to the segway community. I believe that MadSegs used a set of these tires at the first MAMS and did very well in all venues.

http://forums.segwaychat.org/gallery/albums/userpics/11814/normal_super_kets.JPG

A friend of mine called these tires I was selling as KETTS (Karl's Extra Traction Tires.) He called the ones on the left as Super Ketts.

I use the ones on the right as my standard tire, and run them all the time.

Currently, on my i2, I run the KETTs tread pattern, but in a slightly oversized tire. It is only 1 inch bigger (about 2.5 cm) but it gives me a bit more speed, and does not take away enough torque.

Have fun. Next time I plan a trip to Italy, I will surely look you up, and invite you to do the same if you come to the northeast part of the USA. (Boston area)

Have fun. Glide more.

[Bob.Kerns]

I know that here in Italy there's a Segway dealer that two years ago organized a "Segway slalom challenge" on wet grass

I wrote a long post suggesting wet grass as a training ground, before trying winter conditions. I deleted it because it was too disorganized...

Just don't go tearing up local parks, or the authorities might not be too happy with you. :)

[carlotaglia]

...
Just don't go tearing up local parks, or the authorities might not be too happy with you. :)

Hehehehe, I know :) .
Last time I was in a little park near a local torrent, but there isn't grass, just mood: there are a lot of events in summer, such as a "medieval recall" (http://www.canoniani.it/forum_forum.asp?forum=4&section=72&post=497341), so, it isn't a problem to have few tire traces (just with Michelin Starcross tires, because using standard "slick" tires you have to slick like a devil to leave some traces :) ).

[Bob.Kerns]

Hehehehe, I know :) .
Last time I was in a little park near a local torrent, but there isn't grass, just mood: there are a lot of events in summer, such as a "medieval recall" (http://www.canoniani.it/forum_forum.asp?forum=4&section=72&post=497341), so, it isn't a problem to have few tire traces (just with Michelin Starcross tires, because using standard "slick" tires you have to slick like a devil to leave some traces :) ).

You might find the US Society for Creative Anachronism interesting.

http://www.sca.org/officers/media/images.html

[AltRiders]

Great pictures man! :D

[tomshaw]

cool i2 man keep up the good work :)

[khosango]

how long batery low?