Segway + scooter = ???

July 25, 2007 7:14 AM

What was this thing I saw on the road the other day? It looked like a scooter except it had two smaller wheels in front, Segway-style. And what would be the advantage of that design?
posted by smackfu to travel & transportation (7 comments total)

The new Piaggio 3 wheeled MP3
posted by Gungho at 7:15 AM on July 25, 2007

My wife is looking at scooters and I saw Gungho's link the other day. It looks awesome but I'm not sure of the advantage. Possibly stability but I don't see how it could be any better than the standard 1-in-front 2-in-back 3-wheel scooters.
posted by monkeymadness at 7:35 AM on July 25, 2007

The Piaggio's suspension is much better than a standard trike. The wheels tilt into the turn, making the bike much more stable. Traditional trikes (and some quads) do no such thing. So one has to ride them much differently than they would a 2 wheeler. The Piaggio can be ridden almost like a two wheeler.
posted by Gungho at 7:55 AM on July 25, 2007

A trike with the two wheels in front is more stable when braking in a turn.
posted by exogenous at 9:59 AM on July 25, 2007

exogenous - interesting. I read somewhere that 2-wheeled vehicles are nearly always more stable then 3-wheeled vehicles. Any idea if that is true?
posted by Afroblanco at 11:07 AM on July 25, 2007

I haven't heard that, Afroblanco. It seems to be that in a common accident-avoiding maneuver, braking while turning, a two-wheeler might be more likely to highside that a "tadpole" trike.
posted by exogenous at 12:03 PM on July 25, 2007

edit - "it seems to *me*"
posted by exogenous at 12:04 PM on July 25, 2007