Arm strength required

[ronzul]

Hello,

As someone with a mobility limitation I have been considering the suitability of a Segway for me. Living in Sydney means that I haven't had the opportunity yet to try one out which will really be the only way to know. (There is someone here with one, but I haven't yet been able to get contact details).

I am able to stand and balance for extended periods of time, so I'm being optimistic on that score, and the lower p series might make things easier for me as well.

My question regards what strength is required in the arms to use the Segway successfully? I have a chronic pain type condition so I'm quite limited how much I can use my arms before getting too sore.

For example, I can move a mouse (computer mouse) all day, but I can't click one all day (I use voice recognition instead). Or, I can't use a three wheeled electric scooter because the manual steering is too difficult.

So the question is how much do you actually use your arms to control the Segway, and how much effort is involved. To move forwards and backwards is most of it a shift in balance, or do you tend to push the handlebar forwards and backwards?

Has anyone modified a Segway to include some sort of arm rest that extends for example from the handlebar towards where the elbows would be?

Any ideas, subjective experiences would be appreciated. I know that in the end I have to try this all out myself, but it's good to have some information upfront.

Thanks
Ronny