Segway Myon Electric Bike Review: Too Smart?

Once it’s up and running, riders can activate turn signals that illuminate the end of the handlebar, honk a horn at traffic, tinkle a bell to warn others of their presence, and turn on powerful headlights that, when in Auto mode, illuminate the way in low light.

It’s all good stuff, but with more tech comes more that needs to be troubleshot—the right blinker never did function, despite unscrewing the Allen bolt at the end of the handlebar and checking the turn-signal harness plug for damage to the pins, which seemed just fine.

One additional safety feature, sold separately, is a Rearview Radar ($100) that can attach to the back of the built-in rack and detects cars in the bike’s blind spot. When a car is approaching from within 230 feet of the bike, it sends sound, light, and onscreen alerts. There’s a spot in the app to tweak radar sensitivity, but even so, the radar didn’t illuminate every approaching car, so it’s always essential to ride with full awareness. Segway promises 97 percent accuracy.

A Great Commuter Ride

Photograph: Stephanie Pearson

Safety is paramount, but perhaps what makes a bike safer than any gadget is one that is smooth and comfortable to ride. At 72.75 pounds, a maximum torque of 85 nm, and a rear-hub, 500-watt motor, the Myon is not a rocket ship. But it isn’t a wimp, either. In fact, the bike feels appropriately powered rather than one so amped that it will launch you into the stratosphere, as many ebikes increasingly seem powerful enough to do.

Another feature that smooths out the ride is the bike’s torque sensor, which can intuitively feel inclines, providing more power, and a torque-filtering algorithm that matches motor output with cyclist input, which eliminates the choppy, inconsistent, and sometimes dangerous surges of power when switching gears or starting up from a stoplight.