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I'm having a hard time understanding why you'd ride an EUC when you can get an electric scooter. Or bicycle. Other than to show off, of course, not that there'

I'm having a hard time understanding why you'd ride an EUC when you can get an electric scooter. Or bicycle. Other than to show off, of course, not that there's anything wrong with that.

fuoqi 3y ago
My reasons for preferring EUCs: - It can be easily combined with public transit. Its much smaller footprint causes less trouble for you and those around you. You can place it behind your legs while sitting and keep between legs while staying. - Absolutely no issues with stairs and escalators (at least with the models on the lighter side). - You can get it with yourself into office. In many places you can not bring your bicycle or scooter into a desk space or it will be strongly frowned upon. - It does not take much space when stored at home. - Because of the smaller footprint and lack of protruding parts like handlebars, it's much safer and easier to move in a relatively dense pedestrian traffic. - It easily fits into a car's trunk.
- AlbertCory 3y ago
  in case this wasn't clear, "fun" is a perfectly good reason IMHO. However, is it actually true that people would frown on an electric scooter but not an EUC? They seem to have a pretty similar footprint. I see people zipping around on models that don't have any handlebars.
  - fuoqi 3y ago
    Personally, I am using EUCs mostly as an urban transport. For recreation I prefer (non-powered) bicycles. >I see people zipping around on models that don't have any handlebars. Do you mean hoverboards? In my understanding, your description does not fall under the definition of "scooter": https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/scooter https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/scooter
    - AlbertCory 3y ago
      It occurred to me the term was wrong, but I thought "hoverboard" had been thoroughly discredited by now. "Electric skateboard" maybe.
  - MivLives 3y ago
    Yeah scooters are much bigger. You may not realize it on the street but escooters are actually pretty huge. My scooter is about half the height and 3/5ths the length of a bike while the scooter folded up. It's also twice the weight. To compare I was fine taking my one wheel in the store, carrying it. There's something awkward about taking an escooter, in the same way you wouldn't roll your bike around a grocery store. Also in my experience escooters are much harder to lock then bikes. Being able to just take an EUC or one wheel inside and stick it under my desk at work is a good thing to me.
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
rollinDyno 3y ago
I currently use Citibike and am happy with it. However, if I ever considered purchasing an EUC instead of a bike it's because I wouldn't have to park it and thus making my trips door-to-door rather than having to stop by wherever the bike is parked. I would be able to bring it with me, whether I'm going upstairs into my office or grocery shopping (as long as they have a collapsible handle.) I think I am more persuaded by the EUC than by the electric scooter because of its speed and maneuverability? I'm not sure, but it seems to have similar problems as the bike.
ceroxylon 3y ago
My subjective opinion is that it is an experience unlike any other mode of transportation. Once you become capable your brain almost tunes it out and you feel like you're flying. This feeling may be different for other people, but for me it is the most fun mode of transport ever, and I have tried the majority of them.
ama5322 3y ago
Can't comment with a unicycle, but I regularly ride bikes, used several electric scooters and onewheels. The onewheel is genuinely fun to ride and control. It does require a lot more attention than a bike. And I also never felt comfortable riding it faster than my ability to outrun it, which meant that it's never exactly ideal for long commutes (see my other comment above about the safety if interested). For long distance and commuting, a bike is unbeatable IMHO. Comfortable, safer at speed. Electric or not. I never saw the point on e-scooters, and don't own any for this reason. I feel more in control and have better ability to manouver and recover with a onewheel than an e-scooter, but the e-scooter requires almost zero brain to use, so there's that. The e-scooters have much bigger range too, and are less tiring to use. I wish I could try an EUC. I suspect it has similar characteristic to the "flow" mechanics of the onewheel which would make it appealing, but I wonder how fast I would actually push it comfortably before wearing a full-face helmet.
- MivLives 3y ago
  I switched over to an escooter. The no brain thing is right. Press button, go forward. I suspect that's one of the reasons they're super popular. I used to have a one wheel I commuted on. It was fine. I was fine getting it up to full speed a lot and had a good commute for it (mostly flat, mostly bike lanes). At some point you realize they can break 20 in the right conditions. This is a stupid line of thought I suggest no one reading this follow if they get one. Didn't crash but I could have. Always wear safety gear (I have a replaced cracked helmet to show why). Bikes are the best, locking is the worst part about them. If they had a bike I didn't have to lock you'd never get me on anything else. Would also love to do more then a few demo rides on an EUC. From what I've been told by riders who've done both they're much harder than a one wheel. I've honestly kinda wondered about safety on them. On the one wheel if I crashed, I normally ended up falling backwards or forwards off it and rolling. On EUC it feels hard to fall anyway besides forwards or backwards without getting your feet tangled in it. Those things are heavy and fast, I'd hate to see what they can do to ankle bones.
  - ama5322 3y ago
    I was able to carry the onewheel on any transport, and that's nice, but it's not as convenient to lock compared to a bike. It's also too heavy to carry comfortably for more than 5 minutes. When you want to go into a supermarket for example you're in a worse position compared to a bike. How do you handle an escooter in that situation? I've seen the "carry handle" in action on a EUC, and it's pretty convenient for that. Held vertical takes next to no space on the ground so it's not much different than having a trolley.
1letterunixname 3y ago
On the more stable e-scooters (not the awkward rentals like Lime and Bird), it's possible to carve almost like a skateboard. Unless you have a BMX, there's not the options. I miss my all chrome 80's Diamondback with black fiberglass wheels.

I'm having a hard time understanding why you'd ride an EUC when you can get an electric scooter. Or bicycle. Other than to show off, of course, not that there's anything wrong with that.

fuoqi 3y ago

My reasons for preferring EUCs: - It can be easily combined with public transit. Its much smaller footprint causes less trouble for you and those around you. You can place it behind your legs while sitting and keep between legs while staying. - Absolutely no issues with stairs and escalators (at least with the models on the lighter side). - You can get it with yourself into office. In many places you can not bring your bicycle or scooter into a desk space or it will be strongly frowned upon. - It does not take much space when stored at home. - Because of the smaller footprint and lack of protruding parts like handlebars, it's much safer and easier to move in a relatively dense pedestrian traffic. - It easily fits into a car's trunk.

AlbertCory 3y ago
in case this wasn't clear, "fun" is a perfectly good reason IMHO. However, is it actually true that people would frown on an electric scooter but not an EUC? They seem to have a pretty similar footprint. I see people zipping around on models that don't have any handlebars.
- fuoqi 3y ago
  Personally, I am using EUCs mostly as an urban transport. For recreation I prefer (non-powered) bicycles. >I see people zipping around on models that don't have any handlebars. Do you mean hoverboards? In my understanding, your description does not fall under the definition of "scooter": https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/scooter https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/scooter
  - AlbertCory 3y ago
    It occurred to me the term was wrong, but I thought "hoverboard" had been thoroughly discredited by now. "Electric skateboard" maybe.
- MivLives 3y ago
  Yeah scooters are much bigger. You may not realize it on the street but escooters are actually pretty huge. My scooter is about half the height and 3/5ths the length of a bike while the scooter folded up. It's also twice the weight. To compare I was fine taking my one wheel in the store, carrying it. There's something awkward about taking an escooter, in the same way you wouldn't roll your bike around a grocery store. Also in my experience escooters are much harder to lock then bikes. Being able to just take an EUC or one wheel inside and stick it under my desk at work is a good thing to me.
deleted 3y ago
[deleted]

rollinDyno 3y ago

I currently use Citibike and am happy with it. However, if I ever considered purchasing an EUC instead of a bike it's because I wouldn't have to park it and thus making my trips door-to-door rather than having to stop by wherever the bike is parked. I would be able to bring it with me, whether I'm going upstairs into my office or grocery shopping (as long as they have a collapsible handle.) I think I am more persuaded by the EUC than by the electric scooter because of its speed and maneuverability? I'm not sure, but it seems to have similar problems as the bike.

ceroxylon 3y ago

My subjective opinion is that it is an experience unlike any other mode of transportation. Once you become capable your brain almost tunes it out and you feel like you're flying. This feeling may be different for other people, but for me it is the most fun mode of transport ever, and I have tried the majority of them.

ama5322 3y ago

Can't comment with a unicycle, but I regularly ride bikes, used several electric scooters and onewheels. The onewheel is genuinely fun to ride and control. It does require a lot more attention than a bike. And I also never felt comfortable riding it faster than my ability to outrun it, which meant that it's never exactly ideal for long commutes (see my other comment above about the safety if interested). For long distance and commuting, a bike is unbeatable IMHO. Comfortable, safer at speed. Electric or not. I never saw the point on e-scooters, and don't own any for this reason. I feel more in control and have better ability to manouver and recover with a onewheel than an e-scooter, but the e-scooter requires almost zero brain to use, so there's that. The e-scooters have much bigger range too, and are less tiring to use. I wish I could try an EUC. I suspect it has similar characteristic to the "flow" mechanics of the onewheel which would make it appealing, but I wonder how fast I would actually push it comfortably before wearing a full-face helmet.

MivLives 3y ago
I switched over to an escooter. The no brain thing is right. Press button, go forward. I suspect that's one of the reasons they're super popular. I used to have a one wheel I commuted on. It was fine. I was fine getting it up to full speed a lot and had a good commute for it (mostly flat, mostly bike lanes). At some point you realize they can break 20 in the right conditions. This is a stupid line of thought I suggest no one reading this follow if they get one. Didn't crash but I could have. Always wear safety gear (I have a replaced cracked helmet to show why). Bikes are the best, locking is the worst part about them. If they had a bike I didn't have to lock you'd never get me on anything else. Would also love to do more then a few demo rides on an EUC. From what I've been told by riders who've done both they're much harder than a one wheel. I've honestly kinda wondered about safety on them. On the one wheel if I crashed, I normally ended up falling backwards or forwards off it and rolling. On EUC it feels hard to fall anyway besides forwards or backwards without getting your feet tangled in it. Those things are heavy and fast, I'd hate to see what they can do to ankle bones.
- ama5322 3y ago
  I was able to carry the onewheel on any transport, and that's nice, but it's not as convenient to lock compared to a bike. It's also too heavy to carry comfortably for more than 5 minutes. When you want to go into a supermarket for example you're in a worse position compared to a bike. How do you handle an escooter in that situation? I've seen the "carry handle" in action on a EUC, and it's pretty convenient for that. Held vertical takes next to no space on the ground so it's not much different than having a trolley.

1letterunixname 3y ago

On the more stable e-scooters (not the awkward rentals like Lime and Bird), it's possible to carve almost like a skateboard. Unless you have a BMX, there's not the options. I miss my all chrome 80's Diamondback with black fiberglass wheels.