3 ms·

I wonder what the advantages of having a giant wheel rather than a unicycle version were seen to be? Were pneumatic tires non-existent? Is it a balance thing?

I wonder what the advantages of having a giant wheel rather than a unicycle version were seen to be? Were pneumatic tires non-existent? Is it a balance thing? I think the quest of needing only one wheel never went away, today we have one-wheel skateboards and electric unicycles which might be looked at the same way in 100 years. (Or maybe we'll all finally adapt to rolling around on only one wheel)

evan_ 5y ago
I bought a One Wheel at the beginning of summer and rode it everywhere for a couple months. I decided to take a break from it when hospitals started getting slammed with Delta. I never took a nosedive but the constant xrays of broken wrists and collarbones on r/onewheel started to get to me.
- conductr 5y ago
  My left arm is all messed up from an electric skateboard fall. Elbow had a fracture and wrist and shoulder severely sprained. I’m pretty sure some soft tissue damage occurred. It’s a year ago and I’m still trying to walk it off. I was only going about 10 mph of a max speed of 33 mph when I hit about a 4 inch wide crack in the asphalt. Was a low light situation and I didn’t see it in time to brake. Anywho, I definitely wear the wrist plates and elbow pads now. Knee pads at higher speeds. I also invested in some lighting although I pretty much only ride in places I know have smooth surfaces now. The one wheel scares me because a lot of the falls are due to it (mis?)interpreting a body movement as a braking signal and ejects the rider forward.
  - evan_ 5y ago
    Ouch, that sucks, good luck in your recovery. The issue with the One Wheel is that it balances nose to tail by accelerating or decelerating, but it has a finite amount of power available. Once you’re going close to the top speed it can’t accelerate anymore (or you’re maxing out the acceleration) it can no longer balance to the nose side and the front drops. There’s “pushback” to warn you, people try to mitigate it with extra little wheels (“fangs”), but it’s really seems like it’s just an inherent issue.
    - conductr 5y ago
      Thanks! Doing ok, just wish I wore my PPE from the beginning lol!! I really underestimated the speeds. I have rode regular skateboards a ton so guess I was cocky. Interesting tidbit about the onewheel. I always thought it was a sensor/user issue but what you describe does sound inherent with the design. I'd think at some point you could just level it out and maintain speed, or leaning in further just doesn't do anything other than alter your pitch. What your describing is that constant speed (0 acceleration) isn't really a possibility which sounds odd.
      - evan_ 5y ago
        It's not like it goes from 10mph to 15mph to 5mph constantly or anything. Accelerating immediately causes the board to tilt back to your neutral angle and the controller lowers the output after a few milliseconds. You can generally keep going at whatever speed you want to go but there are probably tiny fluctuations.
burlesona 5y ago
I was wondering this too. Presumably the giant wheel offers a smoother ride since it can roll over larger potholes without bouncing into them? Still seems like it needs a good road though, hard to see how it would be stable or maneuverable enough for off-road.
- klipt 5y ago
  Isn't that the same problem solved by treads on tanks?

evan_ 5y ago

I bought a One Wheel at the beginning of summer and rode it everywhere for a couple months. I decided to take a break from it when hospitals started getting slammed with Delta. I never took a nosedive but the constant xrays of broken wrists and collarbones on r/onewheel started to get to me.

conductr 5y ago
My left arm is all messed up from an electric skateboard fall. Elbow had a fracture and wrist and shoulder severely sprained. I’m pretty sure some soft tissue damage occurred. It’s a year ago and I’m still trying to walk it off. I was only going about 10 mph of a max speed of 33 mph when I hit about a 4 inch wide crack in the asphalt. Was a low light situation and I didn’t see it in time to brake. Anywho, I definitely wear the wrist plates and elbow pads now. Knee pads at higher speeds. I also invested in some lighting although I pretty much only ride in places I know have smooth surfaces now. The one wheel scares me because a lot of the falls are due to it (mis?)interpreting a body movement as a braking signal and ejects the rider forward.
- evan_ 5y ago
  Ouch, that sucks, good luck in your recovery. The issue with the One Wheel is that it balances nose to tail by accelerating or decelerating, but it has a finite amount of power available. Once you’re going close to the top speed it can’t accelerate anymore (or you’re maxing out the acceleration) it can no longer balance to the nose side and the front drops. There’s “pushback” to warn you, people try to mitigate it with extra little wheels (“fangs”), but it’s really seems like it’s just an inherent issue.
  - conductr 5y ago
    Thanks! Doing ok, just wish I wore my PPE from the beginning lol!! I really underestimated the speeds. I have rode regular skateboards a ton so guess I was cocky. Interesting tidbit about the onewheel. I always thought it was a sensor/user issue but what you describe does sound inherent with the design. I'd think at some point you could just level it out and maintain speed, or leaning in further just doesn't do anything other than alter your pitch. What your describing is that constant speed (0 acceleration) isn't really a possibility which sounds odd.
    - evan_ 5y ago
      It's not like it goes from 10mph to 15mph to 5mph constantly or anything. Accelerating immediately causes the board to tilt back to your neutral angle and the controller lowers the output after a few milliseconds. You can generally keep going at whatever speed you want to go but there are probably tiny fluctuations.

burlesona 5y ago

I was wondering this too. Presumably the giant wheel offers a smoother ride since it can roll over larger potholes without bouncing into them? Still seems like it needs a good road though, hard to see how it would be stable or maneuverable enough for off-road.

klipt 5y ago
Isn't that the same problem solved by treads on tanks?