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Segway is a name many associate with futuristic personal transport, and for good reason. Founded in 1999 in Bedford, New Hampshire, the company earned its reputation as a pioneer in self-balancing, electric personal vehicles. After merging with Ninebot in 2015, Segway-Ninebot became a global force in intelligent short-distance transportation. With a footprint in over 100 countries and leadership in e-KickScooter sales, the company is now setting its sights on the ebike market with the launch of the Segway Xafari.
The Segway Xafari is one of the company’s first full-sized ebikes to hit the streets, and it doesn’t arrive quietly. With a sleek, futuristic design and a feature list packed with smart tech, this bike is clearly meant to make a statement. It promises a blend of rugged capability and intelligent connectivity, aiming to redefine what riders expect from an ebike. But with all that innovation, the real question remains: is it a breakthrough or an over-engineered curiosity? Let’s find out.
Unboxing and Initial Setup of the Segway Xafari: Embracing the Digital Age
Segway took a unique swing at packaging with the Xafari, aiming to make the unboxing process as painless as possible. The box features plastic push locks that release the top half, giving you full access to the bike without having to wrestle it out. In theory, it’s a slick, smart system. In practice? Only about half of the locks survived shipping. Still, even with a few casualties, it’s one of the easier ebikes to unbox. The bike itself was well-secured and arrived unscathed.
You crack open the box, and the assembly? Standard dance. Twenty-five minutes, a few Allen wrenches, and boom, you’ve got a bike. But then comes the digital handshake. Marrying this metal beast to its smartphone app. Another fifteen minutes of Bluetooth pairing, account creation, firmware updates. Cool features, for sure. You’ve got your digital key, ride stats beamed straight to your phone, over-the-air updates that make you wonder if your bike is going to suddenly develop sentience. But sometimes, you just want to hop on and pedal, feel the wind in your face without your phone buzzing with notifications from your bicycle. If you’re eyeing a Segway, you’re signing up for this digital tango, so you’d better be ready to lead.
The Foundation: Built for the Long Haul
Pick this thing up, and the first thing that hits you is the weight. At 92.5 lbs., this isn’t some featherlight carbon fiber dream machine. We’re talking a durable cast aluminum frame, built like a tank. But that heft translates to a feeling of solidness, a planted confidence on the road. The design? Clean. Angled. Almost… predatory. It looks fast standing still, like it’s itching to carve through the urban jungle or tear up some dusty trail. It genuinely exudes that futuristic aesthetic they were aiming for.
Contact and Control: Tires Ready for Anything
The tires are Kenda, 26 by 3 inches, with all-terrain treads customized for Segway. I’ve ridden on Kendas before, and they’ve always been solid, dependable performers. These are no exception. They offer great traction on pavement and enough bite to handle light off-road trails. There’s no over-the-top flashy branding here, just reliable rubber that does its job without drawing attention to itself.
Powering the Journey: Smart and Safe
Now, the juice. The battery. It’s UL Certified and boasts an IPX7 rating on its own, meaning it can handle water exposure like a champ. Though the bike as a whole is only IPX5, so maybe skip the power wash. Controlled by their “Smart Management System” with six layers of safety. Sounds like they’re taking the whole “not exploding” thing seriously, which is always a plus. And it’ll even charge your phone with an integrated 20W USB-C port. Handy if you’re the type who drains their battery Instagramming every pedal stroke.
They’re touting up to 88 miles of range from this 936Wh beast. And honestly, on those long, lazy rides in the lowest assist mode, hovering around ten miles an hour, yeah, that number feels within reach. But start cranking up the assist, hitting some hills, and that number’s gonna shrink faster than your paycheck after Uncle Sam gets his mitts on it. Still, 88 miles is a damn good number in this category. And the fast charging at 4 amps gets you from zero to full in just over five hours. Not lightning fast, but quite respectable.
The Engine: Smooth and Responsive Power
The heart of this beast is a 750-watt rear hub motor cranking out a respectable 80 Newton-meters of torque. That’s enough grunt to get you moving in a hurry and tackle some serious hills. You can feel the power kicking in, especially in the higher assist modes. It’s a smooth, almost silent surge, like an electric ghost pushing you forward.
Drivetrain: Reliable and Familiar Performance
The Segway Xafari comes equipped with a Shimano Altus 8-speed drivetrain, a tried-and-true setup for fat-tire ebikes in this class. It’s not flashy, but it’s solid and dependable. Gear changes are smooth and consistent, whether you’re climbing hills or cruising city streets. For a bike that’s juggling both power and weight, this drivetrain strikes a practical balance between simplicity and performance. It’s a great choice that gets the job done reliably, making it a smart part of the Xafari’s overall build.
Ride Comfort of the Segway Xafari: Tuned for the Terrain
The dual suspension – 80mm up front, 70mm in the rear – is a well-executed system that noticeably smooths out the ride. Almost buttery smooth, soaking up bumps and potholes like they’re not even there. They’ve got stepless preload and eight levels of damping adjustment with a lockout feature. That’s fancy talk for saying you can fine-tune the suspension to your liking, whether you’re bombing down a rocky trail or cruising on smooth asphalt. Hit the lockout and it stiffens up for more efficient pedaling on flat surfaces. It just works. No clunky transitions, no jarring surprises. Just smooth, controlled travel.
Confident Stops: Reliable Braking Power
Hydraulic disc brakes front and rear. Tektro two-piston calipers clamping down on 180mm rotors. That’s a recipe for confident, powerful stopping power. And that’s exactly what you get. These brakes bite hard and fast, giving you a sense of control even at higher speeds. They don’t feel spongy or vague; they’re direct and responsive, like a lifeline when some idiot in an SUV decides to cut you off.
The Command Center: Integrated Information
The cockpit is where things get seriously… integrated. They’re calling it an “All-in-One Connected, Smart Cockpit.” Translation: a high-resolution display that auto-adjusts brightness. It’s crisp, it’s clear, and it throws a metric ton of data at your eyeballs: speed, battery level, assist mode, trip distance, navigation, even music controls and phone connectivity via Bluetooth. It’s like strapping a mini-tablet to your handlebars.
There’s a scroll wheel for navigating through all these menus. At first, it feels a bit unintuitive, especially if you’re used to a different input method. But give it a few rides and it quickly becomes second nature. You’ll be flipping through screens without a second thought.
Overall, it’s a well-thought-out system. It doesn’t reinvent the wheel, but it enhances the ride in a meaningful way and ties the tech experience together nicely.
Illumination: Seeing and Being Seen
The “Intelligent Lighting System” is no joke. Daytime running lights make you more visible to oblivious drivers, and light sensors automatically activate the main headlight as daylight fades. They claim up to 1300 lumens, it’s seriously bright. Riding at night feels secure, like you’ve got your own spotlight leading the charge. The system also includes a rear taillight that’s brake-activated, adding another layer of visibility and safety when slowing down or stopping. It’s a well-thought-out setup that puts rider safety front and center.
The App Experience: Feature-Rich Connectivity
Now, the Segway App. This is where they’ve crammed in… well, everything. You can lock and unlock the bike digitally (more on that battery-draining “Air Lock” later), track your rides with GPS, customize the assist levels, monitor battery health, get over-the-air updates, diagnose potential issues, and even use Apple Find My to locate your bike if some lowlife decides to make off with your futuristic steed. It’s feature-rich, bordering on overwhelming. You can spend a good hour just poking around in the settings, tweaking this and that. For the tech-obsessed, it’s a playground. For the rest of us, it’s something you’ll probably set up once and then mostly ignore, except when you need to check your battery level or unlock the thing.
Segway Xafari Rider Fit: A Note for Taller Individuals
Let’s talk fit. They claim it “easily fits rider heights from 5’1″ to 6’2″ with adjustable seat, stem & display screen.” Maybe, if you’re okay with a riding position that feels like you’re perpetually doing squats. I’m six feet tall, and even with the seat post maxed out, it feels cramped. My knees feel like they are practically kissing my chin on the upstroke (okay, this is a bit of an exaggeration, but compared to my correct riding style, that is what it feels like). Strangely enough, the downstroke isn’t terrible, a decent extension with a slight bend. But for anyone north of 5’10″, plan on either buying a longer seat post or getting intimately familiar with a slightly compromised pedaling motion.
Ride Performance of the Segway Xafari: Balancing Power and Regulations
Class 2: The Leashed Beast
My first few rides on the Xafari were in Class 2 mode, which limits the top assisted speed to 20 mph and allows for a throttle. And even with the electronic leash on, the Xafari performed admirably. It’s snappy, responsive, and smooth both on pavement and off-road. That throttle is a godsend for getting going from a dead stop, especially in city traffic, or for that little extra push when you don’t want to bother downshifting for a split-second surge.
Hill climbing? This thing eats hills for breakfast. Their “responsive stepless power regulated by dual sensors” and “30% faster acceleration” claim? It’s not just marketing fluff. Hit a steep incline, and this bike just digs in and goes. My wife, riding alongside on a different ebike, actually got left in the dust on a particularly nasty climb. It makes hills feel… trivial. Almost disappointing if you actually enjoy the burn.
The stock seat, however, leans towards the firm side. Not quite a torture device, but after 20+ miles, my backside was definitely singing the blues. Road bike riders might find it acceptable, but for longer hauls, a chamois or a more cushioned saddle is definitely worth considering. It’s a personal preference thing, sure, but for a bike aimed at both commuting and trail riding, a bit more plushness wouldn’t go amiss.
But overall, as a Class 2 ebike, the Segway Xafari is damn impressive. One of the best I’ve ridden, no doubt.
Class 3: The Bitter Pill
Then I flipped the switch to Class 3 in the app, unlocking the potential for speeds up to 28 mph (though I only managed to consistently hit around 27, pushing hard). And here’s where the party stops. The moment you engage Class 3 mode, the throttle is deactivated. Gone. Vanished into the digital ether. Apparently, thanks to the brilliant minds in California (and now other states following suit), ebikes classified as Class 3 cannot have a throttle.
This is a monumental disappointment. When you shell out good money for this ebike. You should get all the features. If I choose to flirt with the legal speed limits, that’s my prerogative. It shouldn’t be up to the manufacturer or the nanny state to neuter a perfectly good piece of equipment. While I don’t rely on the throttle when I’m already cruising at speed, it’s invaluable in urban environments for quick starts from stoplights and for those unexpected little inclines on trails where downshifting feels like a chore. Losing that functionality in Class 3 mode neuters the bike’s versatility.
So now you’re stuck with a Sophie’s Choice of ebike riding: do you want the convenience of a throttle but capped at 20 mph, or do you want the higher speed of 28 mph but with no throttle to get you going from a stop or bail you out on a tricky trail section?
Could Segway add a software toggle that allows riders in states where throttles are legal on Class 3 ebikes (up to 20 mph, mind you) to re-enable it? It’s Segway, of course they could. Will they? Not likely. They’ll probably just point to the regulations and shrug.
Battery Management: A Need for Awareness
And now, let’s talk about the vampire drain. The “Air Lock” feature, which automatically locks and unlocks the bike when your phone is in proximity, sounds cool on paper. But in practice? It’s a battery-draining menace. With it enabled and the bike sitting in my garage, it would constantly lock and unlock as I moved around nearby. Over two days, it sucked a whopping 16% of the battery life before I finally had enough and disabled it.
Even with Air Lock turned off, the security system still nibbled away at the battery, about 4% every 24 hours. Turn that off too, and there’s still some phantom drain happening, maybe 1-2% a day from the onboard system that keeps the bike’s digital brain (its onboard electronics and connectivity systems) alive.
Here’s the real-world consequence: I went for a 20-mile ride, used a little over a third of the battery, and figured I had plenty left for another outing in a few days. Wrong. When I went to hop back on, the battery was down to a measly 26%. The moral of the story with the Segway Xafari? If you’re not planning on riding and charging it on the daily, disconnect the battery. Thankfully, they’ve included a quick-release for that very purpose. Otherwise, you’ll walk out to a bike with less juice than you expected, every damn time.
Final Thoughts on the Segway Xafari: A Brilliant Bike Constrained
So, where does that leave us? For me, the Class 3 / no throttle debacle is a significant sticking point. Almost every other Class 3 ebike we’ve tested retains throttle functionality up to the legal 20 mph limit. Segway, thanks to what I can only assume is California’s restrictive laws and their apparent unwillingness to offer a workaround for those of us in less nanny-state locales, cripples a key feature.
If you’re content with a top speed of 20 mph and value the throttle, then the Segway Xafari in Class 2 mode is a phenomenal ebike. It rides beautifully, handles like a dream, and is packed with more tech than a Silicon Valley startup. I wholeheartedly recommend it in that configuration.
But if you’re chasing that higher 28 mph speed and are willing to sacrifice the throttle, then the Xafari will deliver… albeit with that nagging feeling that you’re not getting the full package.
It’s a damn shame because all the ingredients for a truly great ebike are here. The components are top-notch, the ride quality is superb, and the integrated technology is genuinely impressive. But regulatory handcuffs and a lack of user customization in the class 3 / no throttle setting is holding it back from reaching its full potential.
What you have with the Segway Xafari is a good ebike. A damn good one when it is only thought of as a Class 2 ebike. But with that self-imposed limitation in Class 3, it falls just short of the greatness it could have achieved. It’s like ordering a prime steak and having the chef refuse to serve it with salt because some bureaucrat decided it’s bad for you. The potential is there, simmering just below the surface, but ultimately constrained.
If you would like more info on the Xafari or Segway’s other products, visit segway.com.
