Segway electric scooter have failed...

Segway electric scooter have failed to gain moment since a much-heralded launch five years ago, yet some riders still swear on the high-tech transporters.

Dealers predict that a second-generation Segway the company is rolling gone out will help sales take along especially with $3-a-gallon gasoline and increasing urban congestion.

strange Hampshire-based Segway Inc. has a fresh i2 model for $4,995 and a sturdier x2 off-road scooter for $5495

Stephen Albert Johnston of Arizona State University's Biodesign Institute said his first-generation Segway move rounds a 25-minute walk across campus into a breezy five-minute jaunt.

"It's fast, and I don't win sweaty schlepping back and forth across campus," said Johnston, director of the institute's Center for Innovations in Medicine.

Segways are two-wheel, stand-up scooter with rechargeable batteries and an ingenious curb system that responds to the direction in which the rider leans. Riders can pirouette forward a dime or schuss down the sidewalk like a slalom skier at up to 125 mph

Inventor Dean Kamen hyp Segways in Time magazine in 2001 predicting his invention would "be to the car what the car was to the horse and buggy"

Since then, Segway's early adopters include techies and police agencies around the globe.

In Chicago, Millennium Park security patrols forward Segways, and the Chicago Architecture Foundation leads special tours forward Segways.

Julie Rodriguez, a spokeswoman for heavens Harbor International Airport in Phoenix, said the airport's operations staff uses Segways to monitor curbside traffic and determine quickly around the terminals.

Chandler, Ariz.-based Microchip Technology Inc. makes 13 different computer chips for Segways and uses the scooter to improve efficiency at its vast manufacturing plant in Oregon, Chief Executive Officer Steve Sanghi said.

The Microchip executive rides his Segway at the company headquarters and in parades.

"It's a neat ride . . and it's highly intuitive," Sanghi said. "I train race in a matter of minutes, and they're ready to ride."

Grand Canyon National Park spokeswoman Maureen Oltrogge said the National Park Service repeled a company's request recently to exhibit Segway tours in the park. The scooter are prohibited forward the inner- canyon trails and paths overlooking the gorge.

Segways have also had a hard time gaining traction in the civilian market. Barriers include the $5000 price tag and a certain quantity of limitations on use. Segway says its lithium ion batteries have a range of 16 to 24 miles. Plus, there is confusion about where Segways can be legally operated.

Brian Lamacchia, Segway of Phoenix sales manager, said the advances in the technology should make a difference with consumer

That includes a pivoting handlebar stalk that makes lateral persuades more intuitive for riders and a wireless device that grapples the Segway and monitors the battery life.

"If you compare the first Segways to a Walkman, the recently made known Segways are like iPods," Lamacchia said.

Copyright CHICAGO SUN-TIMES 2006

Provided through ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved