Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I'm starting my rating at 4 stars, but might change that as time goes by. Nothing about these hovershoes feels cheap. I was quite impressed with the fact that I was able to stand up on them, unassisted, without falling on my very first attempt. While I have hundreds of miles on a Segway Mini, I'd call these a completely different animal. You might as well be riding mini-pavementmobiles on each foot. They feel a little like skiing, only pizza does not slow you down. French-fry is your friend. I'm not at the same confidence level riding the Drift that I am with the Mini, but so far it seems like these are much more limited. I don't think I'll be able to do things like ride the sidewalks to the convenience store just down the street. Maybe more confidence and moving at full speed 100% of the time will change this, but so far it doesn't take much of a bump to get your hovershoes to stop and you to step off them with the forward momentum. Good thing you can't go crazy fast with them. I'd call the Segway mini a functional transporter- you can do things like ride to the local store, grab a handful of groceries, and cruise back home with ease. With the drift, I'm not sure they' be useful for anything but maybe tootling around the park or sidewalks at a nice beach. Fun... but limited. Update: After a little over a month 4 stars is about right. I've been able to ride them most days, and I'm to the point where I'm as close to as comfortable as I am with my Segway mini as is probably possible. They are a good leg work out, but like I feared, the usability as a short distance personal transport means is quite limited. For the first couple days I found going from stepping on one to standing on both to ride to be tricky, but with each successful attempt it gets easier. The off-foot, shall we call it, shoe has a tendency to wander if you are not quick about stepping onto it, so you might as well get comfortable doing short rides on one shoe so you can step onto a runaway. As far as rideability, the tiny wheels, unfortunately, mean you need a very friendly riding surface. We're talking ultra nice concrete or the like- minor seams, no rocks, pebbles, twigs, or curbs. Aside from the rubber anti-slip ramps our sidewalks have, which these cant cross due to the huge dimples, your everyday sidewalk panel seams are brutal on the tiny wheels. If you have such a patch you can ride be prepared for a leg workout. You use leg muscles you had no idea you had. I recommend slowly working up the ride time, starting with a few minutes, and adding one or two each time. They are much more physically taxing to ride than I anticipated. I think most of that is what I'm going to call the "tiny wheel effect." You spend a great deal of energy maintaining balance over "rough" terrain. Update 2 - After less than 3 months of riding the tread on one shoe is separating from the hub, causing a nasty wobble. Segway support does not answer their phone, and they do not respond to the emails to technical support that their phone system says to use "for the fastest service."