📊 Have you tried riding an electric unicycle?

Off-topic
41

I even had some in my shop’s assortment for two or three years. They sold well. Initially, the law wasn’t precise enough. But then they were declared illegal because they didn’t have a road approval (type approval) and were motorized. In Switzerland, you’re only allowed to ride them on closed-off private property. To avoid product liability claims (these things can catch fire because of the battery), I’ve taken them out of the range. I still rode them at first, but I always have problems with my right knee due to the lateral pressure. So I’ve stopped. Overall, though, they were fun, especially when I was on vacation in the mountains and rode up the steep mountain road instead of taking the cable car. If anyone is looking for a cheap model (IPS 121), they can pick it up from me for 100 Swiss francs.

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42

I respectfully must disagree.
There are many tricks to be learned with a E uni!
If one only rides forward yes boring unless speed freak on big heavy costly Euni.
One foot, spin mounts, left foot on
right platform backwards tight turns, idle variations, MANY many more!
And Emuni can be big fun!
uk

43

My Kingsong S16 Pro can do 60kph, but even with full protection gear it is just irresponsible to ride that fast. you can still break something.
I set the first alarm at 16kph and generally slow down when it hits that. Otherwise it will counter brake at 19kph.
As Stefan is saying, in NL EUC’s are also prohibited to ride on public roads, but occasionally early morning, I ride on cycle paths along the river, where cars aren’t allowed to come, so the chance of patrolling police is very small there, but knowing they could be there doesn’t make me as comfortable.
Next week I will go to DK and ride around there at that slow speed. Nowadays I am all in with the UW28 and don’t have time for the other unicycles or EUC for that matter.

44

from La gyroroue / monocycle électrique / monoroue / etc - #2 par Aurélien - Autour d'une roue - Monocycle.info

A “famous” extreme EUC rider had a very serious accident recently. She broke both shoulders, arm, pelvis, has neurological damage, and is now also cross-eyed. She has more operations to come.

I reached 25 km/h on my wheel this afternoon. It seems fast enough (yet). I don’t want to crash at such speed.

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and you still want to continue riding knowing how much an accident can mess you up. I’m glad I am too chicken sh#t to do anything dangerous. :slight_smile:

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There is a simple motto that applies to both normal and e-unicycles: Only ride as fast as you can run :slight_smile:

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yeah I live by that, but as EUC riding is so easy and speeding is kinda fun - I drove 190kph on the German motorway a while back, it becomes difficult to keep the discipline to stick to lower speeds on EUC. I certainly understand why other peeps drive much faster with their electric unicycles.

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48

Here is the solution:
Ride as fast as you let run

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49

The mountain buggy? I only want one if you can push me around in cities and the forest and of course up the mountain

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On the mountain I would let the handles go and you’ll definitely have fun :wink:

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No doubt. Looking forward to it

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I remember my only unicycle fall when I actually rode faster than I could run. I landed on my feet, tried running at my current speed to prevent the fall, and it didn’t work. I injured my knees and wrists, I wasn’t wearing protective gear at the time.

Still slowly learning this e-thing. 50km ridden so far, and I felt comfortable enough riding it after only 15 min, thanks to my regular unicycle skills.

I mostly use it on off-road/trails.

I rode 14 km during 40 minutes with someone else yesterday. Road only. It reinforced my preference for off-road and my disinterest in road riding.

Road is dull (despite EUCs being intrinsically comfortable to use) and makes me want to ride faster, which also makes it dangerous.
This latter aspect was increased by the fact that my co-rider, a guy I met more or less randomly, was an experienced EUC rider (12+ years practice) with a way powerful machine, and my speed limit was set way lower than his. So I was most of the time at the limit I set, whereas he was often waiting for me and actively restricting his own speed.

His wheel on the left, mine on the right.

Specs Sherman Veteran Max Kingsong KS-16X
Weight 40 Kg 25 Kg
Top Speed 70 km/h 50 km/h
Range 120 km 80 km

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Off-road is at a way slower pace, more technical, more diverse, and more interesting overall, so I’ll probably invest more time for this type of practice.

How I rode after about 30km total practice:

I still need to improve my turning skills, and learn to brake without looking I’m trying to poop :poop:, tho I’ve rode 25 more km since this video.

A few remarks.

On the last 10 years, everytime I saw an EUC rider in town, I always disdainfully thought “wow, they’re so alienated by our modern society and technology, they don’t even want to walk or ride a bicycle anymore”.

Remember Axiom Humans in Wall-E? Moving only using hovering chairs.

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This kind of vibe.

Trying an EUC and reading about them, including community platforms (forums, chats, etc) made me reconsider this.

First, even if riding an EUC looks boring, it is not – at least yet, for me :p.
The feeling is quite unique, incredibly comfortable, and still requires active participation of the rider unless they’re riding on a long, flat, uniform ground. Which is not I’m seeking, and European cities are usually not flat and uniform. Not talking about offroad here, which is always more fun.
And as quoted before, if you want to learn tricks, you can. Plenty to learn. High learning curve for some.

Then, I just shouldn’t judge someone for what means of transport they use. I don’t know them, I don’t know why they use an EUC. Maybe they don’t want to ride public transportation. Maybe health issues prevent them from using a bike. Maybe they don’t like scooters. Maybe they just want to enjoy the specific EUC feeling, and have crazy physical activities everyday. Maybe X or Y.
But most of all: why should I care and judge? That’s not my business. For years I’ve been, silently or not, mocked for riding a unicycle, even though it’s waaay more impressive to ride than an EUC.

I’ll be mocked or judged when riding an EUC, which is quite unpleasant to know, regardless of my similar public unicycle riding experience for 10+ years.

One thing is sure tho, I cannot classify riding EUCs as a sport, or at least a physical exercise or some sort, when riding a unicycle definitely is.
Maybe it demands more strength and fitness for heavy off-road practice. Maybe.

As for me, I’m not practicing it with the idea to do physical exercise (then, it would be a total failure), but only to discover a new thing, and see where it brings me. :smile:

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53

Well, studies show that it takes 10-15 hours to learn the unicycle, and you learned the EUC in 8 minutes! This further proves that it does not deserve the title “unicycle”

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54

Or maybe I learned it in 10+ years + 8 minutes :face_with_tongue:

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I think that is the best answer. I really like all these toys with wheels. In the past ten years, I bought a waveboard, learned how to ride free-line skates, I got my EUC (which I mostly don’t ride because they are forbidden here and I don’t want the police to take it away from me). Also I bought inline skates with 3x100mm wheels per foot, because they give less friction, which means higher speeds. And beside the unicycling, Im so happy I started with UW.
Because my boy has learned to ride a bike, but still rides on pavement, I can’t take my own bike, also a uni doesn’t work because he can just stop all of a sudden, so I got a non-electrical kick-scooter for adults. I liked them so much, that my daughter and wife now also ride them. And then figured a cruiser skateboard could be more “cool” than a kick-scooter, so I bought one of those. Steering a kick scooter is easier.

Anyways there are always people who look at me funny when riding those, but I don’t know them, so why would I care what they think. These things give me a lot of joy, so I will play with them until Im too old.

Good for you canapin, enjoy it while you can. I thought riding in the grass was tricky with the EUC, as you can’t see any holes and riding on asphalt gets boring quickly.

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Also a reason why I wanted to try one. I can foresee them becoming illegal in France one day. It would not surprise me since they are forbidden in some other European countries.

Also this, more health-related, but aging and health issues also go well together :face_with_tongue:

The way they work means they can’t be limited to 25 km/h the same way as non-gyroscopic vehicles, which means currently, while being sold and tolerated, they are all illegal.

To add on this, the Ministry of the Interior answered questions from the ANUMME (National Association of Users of Electric Micro-Mobility) about this topic:

a – given that many vehicles currently in circulation (400,000 to 500,000) were not all designed to be limited in speed. Can users limit the speed themselves using the settings provided in their PMD’s manual?

When the PMD is equipped by the manufacturer with a speed limiting device, the maximum speed by design must be understood as the actual speed allowed by the speed limiting device. Given that the vehicle itself must not be technically capable of exceeding this speed, it is not possible for PMD users to set the speed by design themselves. To be allowed on public roads, PMD owners must therefore have the maximum speed of their PMD set to 25 km/h by their seller or manufacturer.

b – if a speed limiter is provided by the manufacturer, but it was not installed at the time of sale and is implemented afterwards (compliance with the PMD decree), what proof must users provide to the police?

It is planned to encourage professionals to issue a document such as a “certificate of compliance” after intervention on the PMD. Thus, the customer can demonstrate their good faith in case of a dispute.

For some EUCs no doubt about it. My wheel is small, but the motor has some power to provide and a custom off-road tire. I’ve ridden on very technical terrains without any fall on which I’m not sure at all that I would make it with my 27.5 off-road unicycle: very uneven ground, very dry soil, grass hiding treacherous terrain, clumps of grass forming bumps, ruts from agricultural vehicles, all mixed together.

57

I’ll never be persuaded that these things are unicycles, they are simply electric self balancing devices.
However, this is quite cool
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Unicycle simply means one wheel, so still it is a unicycle, self balancing or not. It doesn’t balance sideways though. I dunno how quickly people who don’t use any balance-toys, learn to ride an EUC. the balance point is as low as a UW or skateboard, waveboard or freeskates. Skateboarders would also quickly get the hang of an EUC.

59

Hm, but why are the runners not wearing a helmet? :rofl:

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60

This is cool, but it’s not as impressive as the commentator says.

“he’s got to balance”: not really, the machine does it for him.
“he’s got to hold that shot steady”: right, but honestly, he has professional hardware and an EUC with suspension, which makes steadiness quite easy.

That seems a great way to make this kind of camera shots :slight_smile:

Kingsong S18

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Not many sources but at least this:

But probably a fair amount of people who answered had at least a bit of experience of something like skateboarding, inline skating, etc.

From https://www.reddit.com/r/ElectricUnicycle/