INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Did you know Segway is making a pair of self-balancing roller shoes It is! The company has been tinkering with all sorts of new form
factors since it was acquired by Ninebot in 2015, from half-sized Segways to kick scooters
Next up: inline… shoe… platform things.
Called the Segway Drift W1s, they sorta look like what would happen if you took a hoverboard (as
in the trendy 2016 hoverboard-that-doesn&t-actually-hover &hover&board, not Marty McFly hoverboard), split it in two and plopped one half
under each foot.
It released a video demonstrating the shoes a few weeks back
Just watching it makes me feel like I&ve bruised my tailbone, because I&m clumsy as hell.
Pricing and availability was kept under wraps at
the time, but the company has just released the details: a pair will cost you $399, and ship sometime in August
Oh, and they&ll come with a free helmet, because you&ll probably want to wear a helmet.
A new product page also sheds some light on a few
other previously undisclosed details: each unit will weigh about 7.7lbs, and top out at 7.5 miles per hour
Riding time &depends on riding style and terrain,& but the company estimates about 45 minutes of riding per charge.
I look forward to trying
these — then realizing I have absolutely no idea how to jump off and just riding forever into the sunset.