How I moved from roller skates to electric skates

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Electric skates are scary but also a lot of fun

When I shared at work that I’m a big roller-skating enthusiast, I didn’t know it would lead to me testing out a pair of Segway’s Drift W1 Electric Skates. But here we are. And I’ve been having so much fun. 

Having never used a hoverboard or any kind of Segway rideable at all, the idea of standing on motorized shoes felt nothing short of terrifying.

The W1 skates have been out for some time — CNET published a first take back in 2018 — but until now we haven’t had a chance to really give them a try and share the full experience. I’ve been using them for a couple of weeks now and I’m sold. I won’t throw my roller skates away, but their electric siblings are way more fun than I expected. 

The skates are like individual, identical hoverboards. They self-balance on a big wheel and you can move them back and forth through the pressure of your feet. They are completely independent of each other, which means that there’s no left or right, but the coordination is all on you. This kind of technology is not new, but controlling two little boards instead of one single device adds a full level of complexity. 

The Drift W1 were intimidating at first and using them was challenging, but it only took about 10 minutes before I was rolling along reasonably well. After a couple of days, I was doing some simple spins. Segway says you should use them on flat ground — up to 100 degrees, which is actually quite steep — and to avoid bumps or obstacles. They can handle a reasonable amount of cracks and pebbles once you get used to them: You can’t take them on a dirt road, but a well-maintained paved road is fair game. 

Marta Franco

If you find it difficult to keep your balance or if they start beeping often for no clear reason, you can recalibrate them by turning them off, placing them upside-down on a flat surface, and turning them back on. You’ll see the wheels spinning, and you can power them off before turning them back on. 

The skates feel well-constructed and handled a fair number of crashes when I was first trying them. Silicone bumpers on the back and front help with that. Segway added handles to carry them more easily which is good because they’re not exactly light — each one weighs around eight pounds. While that’s not a lot for an electric device that can support a person up to 220 pounds, it’s not something you can casually carry around. The company says the battery can last up to 45 minutes and, while I didn’t perform a proper battery test to put those claims to the test, my sessions did not feel too short. 

As a nice touch, Segway has added multicolor lights to the skates, which give them a cool and futuristic look. 

If you want to try them for yourself, they’re $500, but you probably can find them for less than that because they’ve been out for a while. They may not be the most sensible transportation system, but they may be one of the most fun.