Awkward...how do you tell them they exceed the weight limit?
 

My son's friend might be 300lbs. Is the 260 limit on a i-167 absolute, and what happens when you overload?

400 lbs
 

the TRUTH is the seg can handle TWICE the weight limit, a demo ride to someone fat (I use fat, overweight is a fake term) is fine. But if your fat I would not suggest using a seg.

Jonathan
FFP (Formally fat Person)

The limit is not absolute, but the further one goes over it, there less stability and safety.

A quick demo glide is possible, but gliding at full speed (red key) is ill-advised unless the glider has many, many hours of experience.

Also, I've demoed a couple of people at the high end of the suggested limit and found they are more prone to get into a "bucking" situation, so keep your eye on them.

Quite some time ago, it was said that Shaquille O'Neal rides a HT around inside his house, and he's well over the suggested limit.

I had a visitor to whom I offered a ride on my XT without thinking about his size (6'1", maybe 330 lbs). He climbed on, Mr. Redface started growling, and the tires bulged out until the batteries touched the floor. He got right back off without rolling anywhere and the machine forgave me, but it was an XT with big, soft tires.

Possibly, the tires are the limiters.

I take my P133 when I go to hospitals to see neurologists and pulmonologists, and I offer rides whenever feasible, but an amazing portion of the people there seem to weigh over 260. I tell them straight up that the machine can safely handle only about 250 lbs and let them decide. I haven't had anyone heavy volunteer to ride.

.
I had 300 pounders come to take my tour.
Usually, I told them the Segways is fine but the batteries won't get them thru the trip.
That is the gentle way of saying, you are too fat!

This is a tough one.

Why do people have difficulty in telling people the truth?

I cannot imagine a person that is too heavy to ride a segway being unaware that they are very large.

I used to run into this all the time as a skydive instructor. At my school, and it is an industry standard, that exit weight from the plane cannot exceed 250 pounds, since skydive gear (Parachutes (2), helmet, radios, etc) weigh about 25 pounds, we had to cap people at 225. I taught some 280 pound pro football players who were in great shape, and refused some flabby 230 pounders... There is far more involved than just the weight.

A healthy, nimble large person (Shaq) will have far less problem on a seg or any other device, than a sedate, poorly conditioned person of similiar weight. Being heavy brings up more challenges, and the very nature of being that heavy often brings with it the liklihood that the potential rider is not in good physical condition.

Each case needs to be handled individually.

The problem with exceeding the weight limit is that your stopping distance is much greater, your range is much lower, and your ability turn sharply AND safely decreases dramatically. I don't encourage exceeding the weight limit but I also don't put folks on a scale. If I think they are over the recommeneded weight, I tell them....

FYI, I have gone over the weight limit (me, two riders, and some cargo) with not problems.

My heaviest single person rider was over 350 lbs and 6'9". I've never seen a grown man turn so pale in such a short time. The machine wasn't happy when he got on (I swear it creaked!), he was petrified, and although the the ride last 5 seconds, there is no way he was going to ever get on again.

This leads me to another phenomenon that I've noticed....very tall people are uncomfortable on the Segway. Whilst I like the extra 8 inches, the are not happy at all.

Steven

This is interesting to me... But first, I often overload my seg based on weight. I ride (210lbs) with my 6 year old (50lbs) son and 3 year old (35lb) daughter alll the time, and my right bag (with fancy lights) must weigh over 20 lbs, and we often have soccer gear and water and other items with us...

My earlier comments about weighty people was more aimed at healthy condition than just weight...

Steven's comments about height is what piqued my interest... Since I am just below 5'9", the added height does not bother me at all... A very tall person may have a different perspective...

Since the machine balances on the ground and on the bottom of the tires, and pivots from the axles, less than a foot up from the ground, a person's head (And balance sensors in the ears) will move a differing amound based on their height...

If the segway requires 2 degrees of rotation (pivot of the axle) and makes corrections based on that, a short person's head (Short arm on the inverted pendulum) will move far less than a tall person's head (Long pendulum) in the same time and that may lead to a different perception of falling...

My personal experiences
 

Hi Blaze422,

I won't be the one to say that your son's friend is too heavy, or that he should loose some weight, before stepping on a segway. Why not? Simply because I myself weight 128 KG (or: 282 LBS), I don't know what your son's friend has done to loose weight, so I would say that it's better to not mention anything about it, except that he will probably have a shorter radius compared to your son when riding the segway.

I will tell you my personal experiences as a guy of 128 KG, I own a Segway HT I180 now for something like 10 months and my segway never had any problems related to my weight. Sure you will get a bit shorter radius then all the non-heavy people riding a segway, but for the rest nothing is different.

Regarding the comments about driving full speed and braking, I always ride full speed on the red key without any problem, braking goes for my personal feeling even faster then for most non-heavy segway riders, probably because I have a bit more weight that I can use in the case I need to make an emergency stop.

As long as you or your son keep an eye out on the battery level (for the way back home) there is nothing to worry about. That's at least my personal experience.

Personally, I weigh about 315 and am about 6'8" and the seg does just fine. They are made to handle it but I think the limit was set for liability purposes. I am not too sure what GeorgeM said though, I have ridden the XT many many times and have taken it through off-road courses without a problem. Even with the 4 PSI in the tires the XT still has plenty of clearance. The only problem that we have seen is once you get over 400 pounds (My wife and I on one machine) it starts slowing down a little.