Maybe he meant e-bike? Because my city bike was under $100, can't imagine paying more. It's not especially crappy, it's just featureless and old. $1,800 would get you mid-range road bike. (or fancy singlespeed)
This seems like I can lug around inside buildings and whatnot, unlike a bike. I don't trust biking to a lot of places, because cretins will take whatever they can: the wheels, the steering wheel, anything that isn't bolted on, really.
You could get a decent folding bike (a Dahon or Brompton) for way less money than that, and folded, they're not much bigger than this thing. Plus they're street-legal in most places, likely unlike this thing, and you get the exercise benefits of riding.
I agree that a Brompton is a better choice. It folds up to about the same size as this uni-wheel thing. However, they are pretty expensive. Mine was pretty close to $1800. I think the cheapest one (1 speed, no lighting system) is $1000.
That's a very neat concept, cheers. I can imagine that that would have been very convenient for the commute I had this last spring - bicycle to the train station, take the train to campus, and then bicycle through the campus.
Even with proper locks, an expensive enough bike could have parts taken from it, given a bit of time. Or some asshole could give it a kick just out of spite. No way I'd leave mine around town, even with a huge lock.
Also, a high end road bike, frankly, isn't the most comfortable thing to cruise around on.
I love bikes, in any case, and there's no reason you can't have both! I have a very nice, custom made bike for actual rides, and a dumpy, rusty bike with one speed for cruising around town.