Electric (self balancing) unicycles

It all depends on the circumstances. With the 29er I‘m moving at about 3 times the speed compared to me walking. So it‘s a great way to do the groceries - I use it virtually daily for this purpose. I could also take the bicycle instead but I wouldn‘t be a lot faster and I‘d even lose some of the gained time to un/lock the bike. Or I take it into the building if I go o the shopping centre in the next town. The uni I usually don‘t lock because there are far less people who would benefit from stealing a uni vs. stealing a bike.
But the uni is also great in conjunction with public transport, at least where I live. I enter the bus or train with it and (so far) never had any discussions with ticket inspectors - to my surprise not even when I once used the uni as a seat in a crammed train.

You can’t compare an electric bike with an euc.
The special thing about an euc is that you feel like a super hero riding one.
They really are fun to ride.

But i’ve been slowly learning to unicycle and lately i prefer the sensation of a unicycle, even though i have a lot to learn.

I would say that personally being able to ride an euc quite well it has helped me to learn to idle and ride backwards on my unicycle.
There are similar feelings and levels of trust you have to have that translates from one to the other.

But unicycle riders can pick up euc riding very very quickly compared to euc riders learning to unicycle.

At the end of the day they are both fun but unicycles offer more fun because there’s so much you can do on them and so much to learn.

I can confirm this. Tried an EUC years ago at an activity. After a few tries I was riding it around comfortably. The owner was really skeptical when I told him I had never ridden them. When I mentioned I ride unicycles it made a lot more sense to him. The EUC was neat to try but not as much fun for me as a pedal powered uni.

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Do you ride with your 29" on the pavement in the crowd? Back when I lived in Denmark, I also took my uni’s to go shopping, but I would always lock them. It is much easier to pick up a unicycle and throw it in the back of a truck. Even if people can’t ride one, they would still steal them. I have no trust in humanity :slight_smile:
Unfortunately now I have a young kid I cannot ride as much as I want to and I have to choose between the EUC and either of my uni’s. The EUC is still new to me, so I choose that, but when I do take my KH26 or Nimbus 29" it takes a bit longer to freemount at a cold start. Of course after a few kilometres it becomes comfy and freemounting is instant again. Still I don’t like riding where there are many people around. Neither on the EUC for that matter.

Depending on how crowded the crowd is :wink: There should always be enough space that if I UPD neither me nor the uni is likely to do damage to other people. There was once a situation where this clearly wasn‘t the case: After a musical show everybody was walking to their own vehicles or to the shuttle buses. I was on my 29er. First it was fun to exercise riding slowly (and I mean reaaaalllly slowly), but all of a sudden I realised that there wasn‘t enough of a distance between me and the people in front of me and behind me to be able to dismount (leave alone UPD). Fortunately, the place widened and I was able to pass the pedestrians only seconds later. Fun fact: I made the 2.5km to the station sooo much quicker than the rest of the group who took the shuttle bus.
But to do the groceries (my daily business when it comes to unicycling) I usually don’t have to cope with crowds.

I have no problem leaving the uni unlocked in my town. By now most of the people should know whom it belongs to. Of course there‘s always the chance that some idiot steels it and throws it in a river or whatnot…
The thing is, once I have a Schlumpf hub, things get a bit more complicated, since the hub alone will cost about five time the amount I paid for my 29er. It would really hurt if that sort of „investment“ disappeared.
When I go to the big city (if that‘s what you can call Bern) I usually take the uni into the shop and either leave it at a place that appears save enough or just push it along with me. So far no problems.

Well, the possibility to humiliate yourself in front of other people is a constant companion when unicycling, unfortunately. It happens every now and then. I‘m usually not trying to show off, so a UPD or a fall feels less humiliating to me than if it happened while trying to impress someone. After all, it’s just part of the game.
But for me, being able to ride a unicycle is too amazing a skill and too much fun to let the presence of other people prevent me from doing it.

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I ride both acoustic and EUC. Acoustics everywhere, EUC only on the trails. Both are a total blast. I currently have a Patton Veteran EUC. It has suspension, 30 mile range, and climbs well. I ride with my Mtb friends in the woods. My acoustics range from 26" - 36", with the 32" being my goto uni and the 36" for distance rides (50 mile NYC5BBT stuff). Make no mistake, the EUC requires skill to ride it, especially in the woods over rocks, roots and across bridges. EUCs are unicycles, so have no fear; we are all unicyclists.

E bike rider masters the EUC.
“…I feel like a superhero, standing forward with hands on hips…”

EUC rider masters the “manual” unicycle.
“…Behold, now I control the laws of physics, I mock you Earth and your 6 degrees of freedom”

…slam

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