5 ms·

I am absolutely no fan of Future Motion, and I ditched my OneWheel in protest. This isn't entirely a product flaw and comes down to physics: the board pushes yo

I am absolutely no fan of Future Motion, and I ditched my OneWheel in protest. This isn't entirely a product flaw and comes down to physics: the board pushes you back (by lifting the front) to indicate that you are exceeding it's capacity to balance (all balancing products have a limit, with no exceptions). It will also push back when the battery is low. Either way, ignoring pushback is how people "suddenly have the board stop." Major caveat though: nearly all reputable Electric Unicycles (what I switched to) use a supercap for emergency power and can pull you out of almost anything. FM is too cheap/stubborn/unknown to do the same. Furthermore, EUCs generally have a speaker and can make audible alerts when you approach the limit. OneWheel pushback can sometimes be really ambiguous, and can be missed. EUC apps also generally vibrate or something during these events. The same can't be said for FM. The big issue recently has been the OneWheel GT, a.k.a. Ground Torpedo. The foot sensor "ghosts" and causes the board to miss disengagement from the rider. This results in the board careening off (at 35mph) into whatever/whoever is in front of it. The last I saw was one having made a good bend in a wrought iron fence. FM has generally denied that it is a widespread issue. I suspect it's the Ground Torpedo that has cast so much attention towards FM. The last nail in the coffin (which has nothing to do with the CPSC issue) is that FM are aggressively anti-right-to-repair. The Ground Torpedo has volatile RAM in the Battery Management System that bricks the device if it loses power (due to self repair, or even complete discharge). The claim is that people are installing inferior batteries, the irony is that it is FM who install cheap crap. Don't buy a OneWheel. Fuck Future Motion.

Cheswick32 4y ago
What would you recommend as an alternative?
- strstr 4y ago
  Something with two wheels and a handlebar (bike/scooter).
  - sleepybrett 4y ago
    imo the scooters while more portable and cheaper.. at least the examples i have access too.. lime/bird etc. have a problem due to hard low diameter wheels. They can get hung up on random gravel or small sidewalk 'cliffs' leading to potential over the handlebars ejection. I went with an ebike for my neighborhood 'runner' (i don't currently commute).
- clolege 4y ago
  roller skates!
- zamalek 4y ago
  I'm on an InMotion V5F, which is the slightly more recommended entry-level EUC. I understand that Begode is a better brand once you get into the midtier, and KingSong is the best high-tier brand. My only complaint is that I wish it went a little faster (I guess that's always the case no matter the top speed). It's much easier to transport when it's flat (i.e on foot) as it has a "leash" and just rolls along next to you. It has ~18miles of range. It took me about 8-10 hours (basically 50% of the battery) to successfully balance, with pretty extensive prior experience with a OneWheel. They are objectively safer so far as the forwards/backwards balance goes. The theory is that it's all around safer because of the psychological effect of the steep learning curve. You do still want a motorbike helmet and BMX/skating pads (the community is way more pro-safety, which is nice). You'll need to try soft-sole and hard-sole shoes, one of the two will be unusable for you due to foot/sole fatigue. Once you get to mid-tier, you generally see incrementally more biker gear. You don't look as cool on it. It doesn't have the same emotional impact. It is way more fun. You could also look at electric skateboards or scooters.
  - wallmountedtv 4y ago
    EUCs do not seem like a very good alternative to the OneWheel. I think a huge draw to OneWheel is that it looks like a skateboard, but has one big wheel so it handles most terrain without trouble, helping to avoid the pebble paranoia you usually develop riding on a normal skateboard. I did find the Trotter MAGWheel T3 as an alternative, but it reviews badly from its "prototype without any polish" experience in use. It sucks that there seemingly does not exist a good alternative to OneWheel, other than changing to a different product category entirely. I wish we can get to see some true competition in the one-wheeled skateboard category soon.
- carom 4y ago
  Electric unicycles are a lot of fun. I've ridden both and strongly prefer EUCs, and that is coming from a seasoned snowboarder and skateboarder.
elcritch 4y ago
I can't prove it but I'm fairly certain my OneWheel Pint just "powered off" a couple of times while in normal operation. Luckily I was going slowish so I was able to run-off and catch myself. It does seems possible the CPSC is noting an actual product glitch. If the microprocessors aren't hardened for it or using redundant chips, then it'd be possible for them to bit flip occasionally. Among many other possible design flaws.
Auracle 4y ago
The pushback is entirely inadequate as if you’re leaning forward enough you won’t have time to even feel it. It happened to me - I was using it to search for my dog that ran away for the first time ever. Because I was in a tizzy I wasn’t wearing my helmet, for the first time ever. Someone told me where she was - I floored it to get around a slow bicyclist. I nosedived. Luckily I had “fangs” on it that are a set of small wheels you can add to the front. That bought me the time to fall correctly and all I ended up with was a severely skinned arm. It should always have enough power to go “whoa, you’re trying to go too fast” and gradually slow you down while keeping the front up. Mine’s been collecting dust and I’ve been meaning to sell it. I’m assuming that’ll be pretty difficult now.
- rtkwe 4y ago
  Isn't the way it keeps the nose up by speeding up though?
  - colecut 4y ago
    No, it uses battery power to self balance once it detects you standing on the board, the nose will stay up at a standstill. This also means if you run out of battery power the nose will just drop on you.
    - rtkwe 4y ago
      The force to balance though comes from the wheel torque which are from either speeding up or slowing down.
  - zamalek 4y ago
    That's emergent behavior (and that emergent behavior is the principle by which all balancing devices work). All it tries to do is keep the board level. Below a certain torque (which is inversely correlated to available wattage and speed) the board loses the ability to stay level. If overcurrent protection kicks in then the motor will abruptly turn off, usually resulting in a nosedive (because your center of gravity will be towards the nose of the board while speeding up). There are experienced riders who can ride pretty far beyond safe limits by balancing themselves, but that's incredibly dangerous.

Cheswick32 4y ago

What would you recommend as an alternative?

strstr 4y ago
Something with two wheels and a handlebar (bike/scooter).
- sleepybrett 4y ago
  imo the scooters while more portable and cheaper.. at least the examples i have access too.. lime/bird etc. have a problem due to hard low diameter wheels. They can get hung up on random gravel or small sidewalk 'cliffs' leading to potential over the handlebars ejection. I went with an ebike for my neighborhood 'runner' (i don't currently commute).
clolege 4y ago
roller skates!
zamalek 4y ago
I'm on an InMotion V5F, which is the slightly more recommended entry-level EUC. I understand that Begode is a better brand once you get into the midtier, and KingSong is the best high-tier brand. My only complaint is that I wish it went a little faster (I guess that's always the case no matter the top speed). It's much easier to transport when it's flat (i.e on foot) as it has a "leash" and just rolls along next to you. It has ~18miles of range. It took me about 8-10 hours (basically 50% of the battery) to successfully balance, with pretty extensive prior experience with a OneWheel. They are objectively safer so far as the forwards/backwards balance goes. The theory is that it's all around safer because of the psychological effect of the steep learning curve. You do still want a motorbike helmet and BMX/skating pads (the community is way more pro-safety, which is nice). You'll need to try soft-sole and hard-sole shoes, one of the two will be unusable for you due to foot/sole fatigue. Once you get to mid-tier, you generally see incrementally more biker gear. You don't look as cool on it. It doesn't have the same emotional impact. It is way more fun. You could also look at electric skateboards or scooters.
- wallmountedtv 4y ago
  EUCs do not seem like a very good alternative to the OneWheel. I think a huge draw to OneWheel is that it looks like a skateboard, but has one big wheel so it handles most terrain without trouble, helping to avoid the pebble paranoia you usually develop riding on a normal skateboard. I did find the Trotter MAGWheel T3 as an alternative, but it reviews badly from its "prototype without any polish" experience in use. It sucks that there seemingly does not exist a good alternative to OneWheel, other than changing to a different product category entirely. I wish we can get to see some true competition in the one-wheeled skateboard category soon.
carom 4y ago
Electric unicycles are a lot of fun. I've ridden both and strongly prefer EUCs, and that is coming from a seasoned snowboarder and skateboarder.

elcritch 4y ago

I can't prove it but I'm fairly certain my OneWheel Pint just "powered off" a couple of times while in normal operation. Luckily I was going slowish so I was able to run-off and catch myself. It does seems possible the CPSC is noting an actual product glitch. If the microprocessors aren't hardened for it or using redundant chips, then it'd be possible for them to bit flip occasionally. Among many other possible design flaws.

Auracle 4y ago

The pushback is entirely inadequate as if you’re leaning forward enough you won’t have time to even feel it. It happened to me - I was using it to search for my dog that ran away for the first time ever. Because I was in a tizzy I wasn’t wearing my helmet, for the first time ever. Someone told me where she was - I floored it to get around a slow bicyclist. I nosedived. Luckily I had “fangs” on it that are a set of small wheels you can add to the front. That bought me the time to fall correctly and all I ended up with was a severely skinned arm. It should always have enough power to go “whoa, you’re trying to go too fast” and gradually slow you down while keeping the front up. Mine’s been collecting dust and I’ve been meaning to sell it. I’m assuming that’ll be pretty difficult now.

rtkwe 4y ago
Isn't the way it keeps the nose up by speeding up though?
- colecut 4y ago
  No, it uses battery power to self balance once it detects you standing on the board, the nose will stay up at a standstill. This also means if you run out of battery power the nose will just drop on you.
  - rtkwe 4y ago
    The force to balance though comes from the wheel torque which are from either speeding up or slowing down.
- zamalek 4y ago
  That's emergent behavior (and that emergent behavior is the principle by which all balancing devices work). All it tries to do is keep the board level. Below a certain torque (which is inversely correlated to available wattage and speed) the board loses the ability to stay level. If overcurrent protection kicks in then the motor will abruptly turn off, usually resulting in a nosedive (because your center of gravity will be towards the nose of the board while speeding up). There are experienced riders who can ride pretty far beyond safe limits by balancing themselves, but that's incredibly dangerous.