On the Pavement, A New Contender

FRANK TROPEA stands on the Brooklyn Bridge, taking in the breathtaking view of Manhattan on a bitterly cold Saturday afternoon.

Actually, he is standing about eight inches above the bridge, atop his Segway Human Transporter, the high-tech celebrity scooter.

He has stopped because a young woman and her husband saw him riding along the bridge and ran after him, flagging him down. ''Hey, a Segway!'' shouts Jon Levitsky, pronouncing the name as if its first syllable rhymed with ''hedge.'' (It is pronounced SEG-way, like ''segue.'') Mr. Levitsky and his wife, Sharon Herbstman, catch up to chat. The conversation goes the way hundreds of conversations have already gone for Mr. Tropea, the owner of the first Segway in New York City.

Women, in general, ask whether it is difficult to ride.

(No.)

Men, in general, ask three questions:

How much does it cost? How fast does it go? What kind of mileage do you get with that?

(About $5,000, 12.5 miles per hour, about 11 miles per electrical charge.)

The 12.5 miles per hour is, apparently, theoretical. Mr. Tropea can rarely reach that speed; too many people stop him to gawk and talk.

In a world where toys still matter, he has the most awesome secret decoder ring of the moment, the shiniest Schwinn. The two-wheeled Segway's simple looks have been compared to an old-fashioned reel lawn mower's, but its seeming simplicity is deceptive.