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The Ryno: Why two wheels when you need just one?
- relaxman 14y agoI have seen that before.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hXO4Ki8qsvk http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hXO4Ki8qsvk
- unwind 14y agoNo front wheel. Makes you look even sillier than when on a Segway. Lame.
- davidcollantes 14y agoI do not see anything silly on this. It is not the "Segway killer" but, for many, a nice alternative. If it sells at the foresee price it will have good market.
- unwind 14y agoYeah, not impossible, of course. I was being a bit silly. I don't feel that the Segway has been a huge success that "needs" to be killed. Granted, the way that verb is commonly used in tech writing is a bit ... weird. I guess the Ryno looks interesting, although I failed to find the price (or availability information). I'm not at all sure about all the revolutionary talk, that sounds a bit too much like the pre-Segway hype with talk about how city planners will adopt this, and how it will help get people do more face-to-face communication.
- stunr69 14y agoSome details: http://rynomotors6.files.wordpress.com/2009/11/spec-sheet-single.pdf http://rynomotors6.files.wordpress.com/2009/11/spec-sheet-si...
- andreasklinger 14y agoInteresting fact - in the gallery is no picture of actually someone riding on it http://rynomotors.com/gallery/ http://rynomotors.com/gallery/ ps: Couldn't open the link by OP - maybe there is one. (seems down)
- ximeng 14y agohttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0wTfQiGFAKE http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0wTfQiGFAKE
- stunr69 14y agoWell here is one picture of someone riding it. http://rynomotors6.files.wordpress.com/2009/11/ryno-down-town-portland.jpg http://rynomotors6.files.wordpress.com/2009/11/ryno-down-tow...
- bostonpete 14y agoHe's so bundled up he looks like he may be wearing body armor...
- stunr69 14y agoOne more here: http://www.likecool.com/RYNO_one_wheeled_Segway--Bike--Gear.html http://www.likecool.com/RYNO_one_wheeled_Segway--Bike--Gear....
- pkulak 14y agohaha. No way this is the next iPod.
- freehunter 14y agoNormally I think "Product X Killer" is kind of a ridiculous statement to make, but in the case of the Segway I would double that. For a competitor to kill another product implies that product is wildly successful and without any real competition. The Segway was hyped as "as big a deal as the PC" and "more important than the Internet". Instead it's fairly useless and banned in the places it would be most useful (ignoring the medical devices using gyroscopic technology). The Segway Killer is called your legs and a bicycle. The Ryno isn't even a Segway competitor. You might make the bold claim that it would be a motorcycle killer, but even then... I mean, it's a one-wheeled motorcycle. Let's be practical here: the Ryno goes 20mph with a 20 mile range, can't be used on sidewalks or pedestrian areas, and only really exists to draw attention. It's not competing with the Segway, it's not competing with motorcycles, it's barely competing with scooters or bicycles. Hype it up because it looks interesting and has some neat tech, but don't make the claim that it will revolutionize transport just because it can stand up on its own.
- droithomme 14y agoI agree. At first I wondered if the claim was a joke or if it was supposed to be a mercy killing of something that was barely alive anyway. But now I see that the inventors of an different product are trying to ride upon the brand name recognition of another product, without clearly thinking through how badly this approach might backfire. Clearly this is a motorized unicycle being marketed, through pictures of tough and hip looking riders with leather jackets, to motorcycle enthusiasts who are also wealthy and interested in high tech gizmos. It's a very different marketing approach from the green and easy approach that Segway attempted. Distancing themselves from the Segway market segment rather than trying to "take it over" might be a better approach.
- pkulak 14y agoExactly. No way is this competing with legs or a bicycle. Legs can go on sidewalks and are free. Bikes are way more portable, cheaper, have a higher top speed (for most people), don't make you look like a goober (depending on your lycra addiction) and have no range issues.
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- mvkel 14y agoThis looks like a step backwards, applying traditional vehicle mechanics, where the Segway has already graduated from them. Also, the Segway was always pitched as a _walking_ replacement, not a _driving_ replacement.
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- stunr69 14y agohttp://www.engadget.com/2011/11/02/ryno-motors-self-balancing-single-wheeled-scooter-test-ride/ http://www.engadget.com/2011/11/02/ryno-motors-self-balancin...
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- omegant 14y agoIt certainly looks cool, but I'll love to see an emergency braking with no front wheel..
- dons 14y agoAh nice. I've seen a guy on one of these in Brooklyn -- it certainly stands out.
- kmfrk 14y agoThe Segway gets a lot of flack, but it's actually catching on as a tourist device. People who would normally exhaust themselves completely - or who wouldn't be able to do a tour of a place at all - now have the option of purchasing so-called guided tours on Segways. The problem with the Segway was and is that it felt like an answer to a question no one had asked. We might still see a lot of Segways - or their equivalent.
- Kilimanjaro 14y agoPeople is lazy, they rather rent an electric (wheel)chair or a golf cart. Standing is not an option and that's the segway's failure point. Now, put an electric engine and a joystick on a La-Z-boy and you got a winner.
- walru 14y agoThe segway started as technology for wheelchairs (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBOT http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBOT). Dean Kamen was looking for a way to give those who were chair bound the ability to 'be taller' so they could reach items on shelves. It also allowed the user to go up and down stairs and even the ability to go over sand, if I recall. It seemed like it was on the path to allowing those with disabilities the ability to gain some freedom back. Sadly, and probably due to the cost of the chair, it looks like they are no longer being produced.
- roc 14y agoThe real problem with the Segway are two primary things you're glossing over: 1. Gee-whiz technology, with non-trivial downsides, that could be obviated with a third wheel. [1] 2. Everyone-will-want-one marketing for a device with deal-breaker-level problems that are trivial to identify. [2] The Segway was pitched as solving a problem that was clear and known: bicycles are great, but they're only appropriate and convenient for a certain range of riders and situations. And, in short, the Segway just doesn't present a better solution for most of those situations or riders. [1] You mention people taking assisted tours. But how much larger would even that market be, if it included people who could stand, but couldn't risk going over the handlebars while learning to ride? [2] A device of most interest in relatively population-dense settings that not only has no solution to, but actually amplifies the problems of a bicycle? e.g. stairs, parking. (by being massively more expensive and heavier)
- srram 14y agoTo call product X a killer of product Y, Y must have a substantial presence in the market. Segway does not. Even in Ryno delivers, killing the segway is not going to make headlines. A better comparision IMO is to the mini-farthing YikeBike (www.yikebike.com), but I don't think that product has set the market on fire either
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- thechut 14y agoLots of haters here, just because the OP said Segway Killer in the title. I think this could have a legitimate market to replace things like gas powered scooters. Details seem thin right now, but if it works well and the price is right they could definitely sell these beyond the high end consumer market.
- freehunter 14y agoBut what benefit does this give over a two-wheeled electric scooter? A two-wheeled scooter won't need to use its batteries to keep itself upright.
- ctdonath 14y agoIt's cool. Take my money already!
- freehunter 14y agoI will give you that. It is cool.
- calciphus 14y ago20 miles at 20mph. What is this going to replace again?
- yumraj 14y agoUm... how do you kill something that is already dead?
- relaxman 14y agoHumm.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x2DgwY5QQBk http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x2DgwY5QQBk
- robertfw 14y agoA few years ago, Bombardier showed off a concept that's very similar, but with a small retracting pair front wheel used at low speed. http://www.gizmag.com/embrio-one-wheel-concept/2350/ http://www.gizmag.com/embrio-one-wheel-concept/2350/
- andryharyanto 14y agoIt's as if the maker of Ryno read Paul Graham's post on Segway and implemented his suggestions. http://www.paulgraham.com/segway.html http://www.paulgraham.com/segway.html "So there may be a way to capture more of the market Segway hoped to reach: make a version that doesn't look so easy for the rider. It would also be helpful if the styling was in the tradition of skateboards or bicycles rather than medical devices."
- oldskool503 14y agoGizmoduck approves
- swdunlop 14y agoI thought the Segway killer was the cost and confusion about how to integrate it with traffic codes. The Ryno doesn't appear to solve either of these problems.
- eswangren 14y agoHow can one kill that which is already dead?
- its_so_on 14y agoThis is some pretty risky naming. It makes me think, "Cause of death: thrown trying to ride a Ryno." That would work if it were an energy drink - but this thing will be in traffic, which really is a major cause of death. I mean it doesn't exactly say stability and easy of riding, does it? (Which are the main reasons that people who aren't being gimmicky don't choose unicycles over bicycles.) With a name like this it would attract a suicidal/desperado crowd, which usually doesn't invest in its future long enough to have much money at any one time. (i.e. you can't target early adopters at a premium price with this naming/branding, which is usually the key to marketing something like this successfully and getting it adopted widely as you learn how to make it better and roll out on scale.) I would change the name.
- lsc 14y ago>It makes me think, "Cause of death: thrown trying to ride a Ryno." I mean, it won't appeal to the sort that will buy something that only goes 20mph, but you just wrote the advertising campaign for the thing.
- its_so_on 14y agoIt's terrible branding, because it helps give the wrong impression. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1YoCfm7nxU&t=4m0s http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1YoCfm7nxU&t=4m0s It's a great tagline - if you're 15-19. Who wouldn't want to show their daring trying to ride a Ryno! Answer: any of the people that would be actual early adopter buyers for this expensive new product. (Middle aged rich people.) Segway did it a lot better here, and Ryno needs to do like them.
- lsc 14y agomeh, look at who buys the high end BMW and HD brand motorcycles. They are almost entirely limited to the over 40 crowd. I mean, that's mostly due to the expense (just like the Ryno) but clearly, The 'death machine' mystique isn't limited to the young.
- 14y ago