Amazon: Segway S1 for $299, Mistake? Getting Out of Single-Wheel Business?

[Duf]

My S1 arrives Wednesday, look for an exhaustive test video.

 

[steve454]

1 hour ago, Hunka Hunka Burning Love said:

What started as maybe a slight against Ninebot's lower performing wheel has turned into maybe a good starter or throw around wheel for some people.  It's all good.  The lower pricing might allow more people to get their foot into the sport/hobby/passion/obsession/insanity , and who knows what Ewheels upgrade they will choose soon after!  I mean, which do you choose, a $299 Ninebot brand name 14" wheel or a $300 el cheapo Chinese generic wheel?  If these were around way back when I would have gotten the S1 rather than my generic which is collecting dust downstairs.

At least with these you have the Amazon customer guarantee, easy returns, and the nice looking wheel.  You have to admit, the Ninebot S1 is a beauty in terms of esthetic design.  Too bad the performance doesn't compete with the King Song 14D, but then again the KS can't compete at this pricing!  You are getting a lot of wheel at this price considering the individual costs of the components.  I mean, a battery pack alone costs something like $150-200 USD if I recall correctly?

And there are two of them, right?  So far people are just going by the label, hopefully @Duf will take off the sides to verify that it actually is the two battery version.  The price is so low, it's almost too good to be true.  But at the same time, the price is so good I'm tempted to order one.

[novazeus]

10 minutes ago, steve454 said:

And there are two of them, right?  So far people are just going by the label, hopefully @Duf will take off the sides to verify that it actually is the two battery version.  The price is so low, it's almost too good to be true.  But at the same time, the price is so good I'm tempted to order one.

i’m sure there are two unless all of their marketing material is wrong. u can always send it back. mine with the doa packs is almost returned now and i’ll be getting a hopefully not doa replacement in a couple of days. i have the s2 and if i need to i’ve been known to cannibalize two devices to get one working. cheap parts.

you normal people that live in houses could use these s1’s indoors.

too late, just checked now saying unavailable. seems my replacement is coming from CA instead of GA, so maybe the replacement will be fresh stock.

[novazeus]

i’ll bet with a little ingenuity and some aluminum tubing, i could craft myself quite a show stopper zero turn electric wheelchair/transporter. 

i wonder if they’d let me in sam’s with that contraption?

[steve454]

1 hour ago, Duf said:

My S1 arrives Wednesday, look for an exhaustive test video.

 

Would you please take off the side covers on both sides and verify if there are actually two batteries?  I own an E+ and would like to try a good quality Ninebot with the newer technology and smaller tire.  High speed is not important, torque and features are.  Thanks in advance, your videos are very informative and that one with the alligators cracked me up!  That looks like a shi***** of alligators up there!  

I'm wondering if the two battery packs together, with almost the same wattage, are safer than the single 320wh battery of the E+.  Just saw it again.  Here buddy, it's okay, don't bite my leg off.

 

[novazeus]

i thought this was a good deal so i ordered one. if they seem to be too dangerous for me i’ll re-gift them for my least favorite humans.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/142528436426

[LanghamP]

2 hours ago, steve454 said:

And there are two of them, right?  So far people are just going by the label, hopefully @Duf will take off the sides to verify that it actually is the two battery version.  The price is so low, it's almost too good to be true.  But at the same time, the price is so good I'm tempted to order one.

Mine is arriving tomorrow, so I'll take the side covers off to verify the two batteries.

At 300, this is the best deal in EUC world. Why wouldn't you buy one even if you had bigger more powerful wheels? You could stick this in your car or at your office. 

[Hunka Hunka Burning Love]

30 minutes ago, novazeus said:

i thought this was a good deal so i ordered one. if they seem to be too dangerous for me i’ll re-gift them for my less than humans.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/142528436426

  Wow $359 for the Ninebot One E+ with free shipping?  That is a crazy good deal.  Nice find!

[novazeus]

1 hour ago, Hunka Hunka Burning Love said:

  Wow $359 for the Ninebot One E+ with free shipping?  That is a crazy good deal.  Nice find!

i’ve heard good things from y’all so at that price, might as well have one of each. s1, s2 and now e+. like having different shoes. i’m sure between all of those, including the ks-16s, one of them will probably feel easier to learn on, i’m guessing. not even gonna try the 18s until i can do the smaller ones. there’s a nice grassy closely shorn patch of grass next to the dog park. the hardness factor felt just right. softer than my pastures. plus kinda getting to know the locals there and they love Bob so i’m sure i can leave Bob unchaperoned while i flounder on a wheel just outside the dog park. there’s a wireless tower there with it’s standard 50’x50’ chainlink compound for leaning on. sb good. the dog park has turned out to be doggy crack for Bob so i’ll probably be there everyday anyway.

i’m not expecting medical assistance but at least at the dog park if i knocked myself out, somebody would find me but more importantly, take care of Bob.

i see newegg keeps dropping the price now 399.99

[Hunka Hunka Burning Love]

I'm betting you'll find the Ninebot One E+ pretty good to learn on.  The pedals are a good size, the feel at setting 0-3 is rock steady stable, and the mass keeps it fairly well planted.  Distance at an average speed of 20 kph is about 17 km over a variety of terrain for me.  You can get 10 more km but in crippled mode when speed is limited.  The tiltback keeps you from getting too crazy fast when you're learning.

It's a good all rounder wheel, and very comfortable to ride.  No calf pain here on the 9bot1!  If they only made a 9bot2 version with a stronger motor that could go 35-40 kph and modified the side parts to stash more batteries I bet it would still compete against the other brands.  It's weird that they abandoned the 16" market for so long.  It's like producing a Honda Accord for a few years then saying okay let's scrap it and move onto something entirely new!  They had a winning design.  Why not just tweak and build on it more?  For a new rider, you will surely get quite a good experience riding on it for quite some time.

[The Fat Unicyclist]

16 hours ago, Smoother said:

You know whats weird?  Just 5 minutes ago I was manhandling my 16s in order to examine the tire and the rotation arrow, in regards the discussion about the 18s tire on the video thread.  I turned the wheel on to roll it out of the nook I keep it in. and because the room is not lit well I was moving it this way and that, to read the sidewall.  I had it switched on and fully upside down, and was rotating the tire by hand, after a few seconds like this it started to spin and then went into full pedal tilt mode and eventually stopped.  I was able to reproduce it several times, and then something else interesting happened; when I laid it on its side, it took off again at full tilt back mode until it stopped.  When I stood it upright the normal way, it was completely back to normal.  Weird huh??!

Your wheel probably switched to "Australian mode" - being on the other side of the world, everything has to be configured to work upside down (including the hall sensors, obviously).

I didn't expect that any wheels would do this automatically - I know I had to switch both of mine manually - so it is impressive that King Song have this built into their firmware!

[LanghamP]

11 hours ago, novazeus said:

 while i flounder on a wheel just outside the dog park. there’s a wireless tower there with it’s standard 50’x50’ chainlink compound for leaning on. sb good. the dog park has turned out to be doggy crack for Bob so i’ll probably be there everyday anyway.

If you can get someone to ride a bicycle or some wheeled vehicle next to you while you hold their arm, then it won't take you long at all to learn.

Recently I've taught three people that way, people who weren't  athletic, and they were just fine on their own after 15 minutes, with no falls or anything dramatic.

Mounting, though, is a whole different story.

[novazeus]

36 minutes ago, LanghamP said:

If you can get someone to ride a bicycle or some wheeled vehicle next to you while you hold their arm, then it won't take you long at all to learn.

Recently I've taught three people that way, people who weren't  athletic, and they were just fine on their own after 15 minutes, with no falls or anything dramatic.

Mounting, though, is a whole different story.

if i think the girls would be safe on these, i’ll probably do something like that with them. i’m just gonna take my time and get thru it by myself because Bob would take my arm but wouldn’t be helping. i’m planning on working on mounting and dismounting a lot, using my sawhorse rails. might not be the fun part but it seems getting on and off safely, and holding the wheel are the basics.

[novazeus]

11 hours ago, Hunka Hunka Burning Love said:

I'm betting you'll find the Ninebot One E+ pretty good to learn on.  The pedals are a good size, the feel at setting 0-3 is rock steady stable, and the mass keeps it fairly well planted.  Distance at an average speed of 20 kph is about 17 km over a variety of terrain for me.  You can get 10 more km but in crippled mode when speed is limited.  The tiltback keeps you from getting too crazy fast when you're learning.

It's a good all rounder wheel, and very comfortable to ride.  No calf pain here on the 9bot1!  If they only made a 9bot2 version with a stronger motor that could go 35-40 kph and modified the side parts to stash more batteries I bet it would still compete against the other brands.  It's weird that they abandoned the 16" market for so long.  It's like producing a Honda Accord for a few years then saying okay let's scrap it and move onto something entirely new!  They had a winning design.  Why not just tweak and build on it more?  For a new rider, you will surely get quite a good experience riding on it for quite some time.

i’m not a “go fast” person. i had a couple of corvettes only because i thought they were pretty. i think the zo6 would do 200mph and i use to think how silly it was to drive a car that could go that fast but the girls like it. mainly because it was red.

if u wanna attract women, get a red sports car. that was my first one and i do believe that is true.

[LanghamP]

5 minutes ago, novazeus said:

i’m planning on working on mounting and dismounting a lot, using my sawhorse rails. might not be the fun part but it seems getting on and off safely, and holding the wheel are the basics.

You have to know how to ride in order to mount correctly.

Let me explain.

Only by riding will you figure out where your feet should be placed. Then when you mount you would place your feet in the proper (for you) position.

If you learn to mount before riding then you'd need to relearn to mount because you didn't know where to put your feet.

This is the mistake I made when I first started. Don't do it!

Mounting isn't even a skill you need because you can make friends and give nicknames to everything that's taller than 3 feet tall. You can also sit on a bench, put the wheel under your feet, then stand up.

[novazeus]

47 minutes ago, LanghamP said:

You have to know how to ride in order to mount correctly.

Let me explain.

Only by riding will you figure out where your feet should be placed. Then when you mount you would place your feet in the proper (for you) position.

If you learn to mount before riding then you'd need to relearn to mount because you didn't know where to put your feet.

This is the mistake I made when I first started. Don't do it!

Mounting isn't even a skill you need because you can make friends and give nicknames to everything that's taller than 3 feet tall. You can also sit on a bench, put the wheel under your feet, then stand up.

by using the sawhorse rails, it allows me to glide forwards and backwards unassisted or assisted so u do get a feel for proper foot position.

like in golf, the only connection to the club is ur grip as also in these wheels, the grip with ur feet and inner legs. i wish when people were shooting their video selfies, they would do a side shot showing their leg posture and feet position, instead of their face and the rear of the wheel looking forward.

i suspect like in golf, the best golfers are often the worst teachers and the not professional playing golfers are better teachers. might be different with wheels but in golf, the grip is everything. position and grip force. 

to the outsider looking at the foot pedals, u would think that centering ur foot on them would be correct but actually a little pigeon toed and hanging off the front with the knee over the balls of the feet seems to be the one most often used.

if i was trying to pimp these things, like in a store setting, i think i’d try something like this for people to get a taste.

 

[LanghamP]

OMG the wheel is so beautiful that I don't even think I should ride it. It's flawless, I went over it trying to nitpick but no, it was created by God Himself for us mere mortals to gaze upon such holy perfection. 

It belongs in a museum of modern art. Dropping this wheel would feel like breaking a stained glass window. 

This is a wheel you cruise around wearing just sunglasses but none of that helmet and wrist guards silliness. 

Or a leash <shudder>. 

You guys need to buy this wheel right now, at this price point.  

 

[kour]

22 hours ago, steve454 said:

Would you please take off the side covers on both sides and verify if there are actually two batteries?  I own an E+ and would like to try a good quality Ninebot with the newer technology and smaller tire.  High speed is not important, torque and features are.  Thanks in advance, your videos are very informative and that one with the alligators cracked me up!  That looks like a shi***** of alligators up there!  

I'm wondering if the two battery packs together, with almost the same wattage, are safer than the single 320wh battery of the E+.  Just saw it again.  Here buddy, it's okay, don't bite my leg off.

 

thinks gator, "now that's my kinda meals-on-wheels!"

[novazeus]

48 minutes ago, LanghamP said:

OMG the wheel is so beautiful that I don't even think I should ride it. It's flawless, I went over it trying to nitpick but no, it was created by God Himself for us mere mortals to gaze upon such holy perfection. 

It belongs in a museum of modern art. Dropping this wheel would feel like breaking a stained glass window. 

This is a wheel you cruise around wearing just sunglasses but none of that helmet and wrist guards silliness. 

Or a leash <shudder>. 

You guys need to buy this wheel right now, at this price point.  

 

since u know how to ride, i’m curious what u think about it’s rideability. segway does a stellar job of marketing and presemtation, comparatively speaking. that’s exactly what i thought about my batman s2. didn’t feel right just taking it out and scratching it all up. the mom of the girl i had lunch with today is a professional seamtress so we’re talking about her making me a prototype protective cover out of neoprene material. u would think segway would sell one along with snap on hard nylon pedal protectors, maybe with a rubber bumper edge. certainly make them less dangerous for the rider or bystanders in case of unintentional dismount, not that that ever happens.

[steve454]

1 hour ago, novazeus said:

snap on hard nylon pedal protectors, maybe with a rubber bumper edge. certainly make them less dangerous for the rider or bystanders in case of unintentional dismount, not that that ever happens.

That's a good idea, especially for learners or people trying to learn trick riding.  

[novazeus]

31 minutes ago, steve454 said:

That's a good idea, especially for learners or people trying to learn trick riding.  

i have no idea how to do that but i’m sure it wouldn’t be difficult.

somebody on here made a case protectot by heating some material and applying to the wheel case while warm. one sheet of that would make lots of grind pads.

[Gliderrider]

My question with the s1 is, At what speed does ‘tiltback’ occur? Is the top speed really at 12.5 mph or are you being slowed before then? I was thinking of this for my 9 year old so I can get my V8 back. lol 

[LanghamP]

It sounds just like a hard drive!

My Inmotion cost $1000. The S1 cost $300 while looking and handling about the same. Buy two of these S1's, learn on one, trick ride the other, and you'll still come out ahead.

It's an easy beginner wheel with some DIY padding since there's nothing on the wheel at all but again the price makes it a great beginner wheel. I think S1's were originally going for a $1000, I had one in my Amazon cart for the longest time at $599.

The software is much more refined, less buggy, connects instantly. It does limit you for the first km, and then you unlock ludicrous speed of 12.5 miles, which tilts back, beeps, and buzzes your phone.

Great handling on bumpy sidewalks, you could easily average 10 mph on the street.

If you were a beginner and didn't mind scratching up this wheel (there's no spare parts that I could find), then of course this should be your first wheel. It might work as your only wheel if you lived in an urban environment. 

It's crazy and wonderful that we're now at a time where this wheel of such refinement is a worthwhile replacement for a bicycle. While you could buy a bicycle for $300 with some pretty cut-rate features, this is like a bicycle, motorized, then compressed into a teeny tiny space.

 

[LanghamP]

15 hours ago, novazeus said:

since u know how to ride, i’m curious what u think about it’s rideability. segway does a stellar job of marketing and presemtation, comparatively speaking. that’s exactly what i thought about my batman s2. didn’t feel right just taking it out and scratching it all up. the mom of the girl i had lunch with today is a professional seamtress so we’re talking about her making me a prototype protective cover out of neoprene material. u would think segway would sell one along with snap on hard nylon pedal protectors, maybe with a rubber bumper edge. certainly make them less dangerous for the rider or bystanders in case of unintentional dismount, not that that ever happens.

It's like your red Corvette; you'd put up with a lot because it's so beautiful.

Rideability is fine, like all my other wheels, so long as you aren't hot-dogging it. All these wheels handle the same if you're not taxing the motor.

A big difficulty would be mounting this wheel as you cannot lock the wheel against your leg, and you can't touch it with the sides of your ankles since there's no padding anymore. I have to poke it with the front of my foot until it's roughly upright, then do a "hail Mary" leap on it, trying to land with both feet at the same time. It's as awkward as it sounds. It also means you cannot easily adjust your feet since you can't ride it one-legged (padding, remember).

I know you have a KS16. That'd be a much easier wheel to learn on, and so much better for mounting.

[novazeus]

3 hours ago, LanghamP said:

It's like your red Corvette; you'd put up with a lot because it's so beautiful.

Rideability is fine, like all my other wheels, so long as you aren't hot-dogging it. All these wheels handle the same if you're not taxing the motor.

A big difficulty would be mounting this wheel as you cannot lock the wheel against your leg, and you can't touch it with the sides of your ankles since there's no padding anymore. I have to poke it with the front of my foot until it's roughly upright, then do a "hail Mary" leap on it, trying to land with both feet at the same time. It's as awkward as it sounds. It also means you cannot easily adjust your feet since you can't ride it one-legged (padding, remember).

I know you have a KS16. That'd be a much easier wheel to learn on, and so much better for mounting.

me, not knowing anything and only mounting the ks-16s in the container, i agree. i did pad the snot out of batman 9bot, so i have a little bit more grip than stock. stock is nothing. like trying to learn on a slick dish, which it is.

my s2 cost me $700, i paid $321 for this s1 and the 9bot1 e+ that’s coming cost $359, so i’ve got my 9bot wheel avg cost down to $460.

i know what a face plant is btw, i just did that a minute ago when the front of my flip flop caught on my stoop into the container. might need to wear wrist guards all the time or ditch these flip flops.

it’s gotta be the prettiest wheel on the market.