“Oh, and you don’t even have a motor” has become a fairly common addition to the “where is your other wheel”- comments I’ve been getting whenever I ride in the mountains.
I’ve counted e bike to manually powered bike ratios of up to 2:1 before, they’ve really taken off over here.
There was an early stage of these EUCs when they can occasionally lose power and cause UPDs when overtorqued, like going a steep uphill. (Or maybe it was because they were cheap knockoffs, I’m not sure.) It was really scary, two of my friends broke their teeth because of that; and that was when they were completely banned in our city.
Yeah that can still happen, especially with a combination of one or more of: smaller batteries, low charge, heavy riders, cold weather, and aggressive riding/acceleration, since they can either consume a lot more current or limit the amount the battery can deliver when needed.
I am a little heavier than ideal for the power/battery of my euc, but I have never had a problem myself, although I do ride a little on the cautious side when it comes to acceleration knowing that I am kind of at the weight limit for my machine.
I would never ride it without a full face helmet and wrist protection. I usually throw on my motorcycle jacket too just to be safe, since I have one, and you are often riding along at a pretty good speed on pavement, and you still are on one wheel after all.
A kid 2 or 3 yrs old shouting “Not two wheels, not two wheels”
One time, I came across a group of teenagers. One girl was very surprised and told her friends:
“Look! A bike with no wheels! Uhhhh…”
I have been asked that a few times when I’m on my G36. Never had the question for my flick flock yet but I don’t have it out as much so maybe in time.
Just yesterday some called it a tricycle so they clearly see my other wheel(s). I have heard that comment more then once before too.
I hear a lot of people calling tricycle to my unicycles too. Even my father uses tricycle instead of unicycle even thought he went to last unicon.
I’ve had a e-scooter rider ask his fellow e-scooter rider as they passed me , “is that an ebike?” as I rode past with my 28" unicycle. Maybe they did not expect a unicycle to be faster than what they are used to which are the usual 20" and below? Or it could be they never saw a unicycle with handlebars and lights and a bike computer before.
I once heard someone on a bike talked to me when we were waiting at the red light: no wonder you are so fast, you have a motor there! To which I believe he was refering the Schlumpf hub.
I had a little kid yell out “a ONE BIKE”
Today while riding I passed by a woman walking her dog. She stopped, pointed at me, and said to the dog, “Look, a one-wheeled bike.” This didn’t surprise me. What surprised me was when the dog looked up at her and clearly responded, “Oh, honestly. Bikes have two wheels. That’s a unicycle you moron. Stop embarrassing me in public.”
As much as I like reading the comments here…
I prefer them in the original topic so I can easily find them:
Yeah that’s a good point. Could be good to move those two over.
This thread would be fun to keep for electric related comments only. Probably should add electric or something else in the thread title to make it clearer
That’s a great little video up there (post #7) with the three examples of the range of unicycles on the electric market. Ironic that they keep mentioning “the Miata” when talking about the little one. Apparently one of them owns a Mazda Miata, but they don’t seem to realize that was the most popular brand of unicycles for many years. The name Mazda chose for their MX-5 sports car, which debuted in the USA in 1989 may have been inspired by the name of the Japanese bicycle company, Miyata, which goes back to the late 19th century. The quick little Korean unicycle is “the Miata”. 
I am also the owner of an electric unicycle. Jacquie bought me one for Christmas in 2021, the Segway Ninebot. It’s a smaller, more entry-level one, with a top speed of about 12 mph. Comes with an app, that keeps you from going top speed and doing other things until you’ve completed a little training course of learning a small list of skills, which will keep you safer before you start adding on speed.
It’s fun to ride, but just when the speed is about to get interesting, you’ve topped it out. So mostly I’ve used it to play around with tiny circles and curves, attempts at idling (doable, but strains the motor; it’s not designed for constant starts/stops) and other types of tricks. But mostly it sits, waiting for me to ride it again. Like most of my unicycles. 
You can get some crazy fast and powerful e-unicycles now. I would consider them more dangerous than motorcycles, since there is a much higher likelihood of being dumped when things go wrong. I have more experience with motorcycles than e-unicycles; I used to work for a motorcycle school.
The thing that keeps me from being very attracted to riding long distances on an e-unicycle is the standing. You’re just standing. Where’s the seat? Why can’t we sit down? I think it’s a maneuverability thing; you have better control when standing up. Also, adding a seat will make the cycle bigger and heavier, affecting range, etc.
When I get too old to ride non-powered unicycles, maybe I’ll look into those things again…
Some time after your 100th birthday, then…
That sounds far too soon.
Many of them have optional seats. But yeah, seated riding is a bit of a skill. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5dgqVx_W0e8
I haven’t tried it since mine doesn’t have a seat and I haven’t done enough long distance riding to feel the need for one. While I often get uncomfortable standing in one place normally, I haven’t found it to be an issue on an EUC, probably because you’re constantly shifting your weight. Even when riding in a straight path, best practice is to carve side to side a bit.
Exactly! But then again, one doesn’t preclude the other. I just did a little uni show at my office on the day of my retirement from STEP (a sponsor of Ride the Lobster). I have not pulled out the old “show” unicycles in quite a long time, and the key descriptor would be RUSTY!! Took many tries to do a safe freemount onto my 6’ Giraffe (in practice). In the show, I was riding it in a room with about 1" of clearance above my head. Different unicycles use different muscles! All the practice on the 6-footer has left me with some sore hamstrings!
I have a little bit better one, Solowheel Glide 3 aka InMotion V8, which tops out at 18.6 mph (30 kmh), I often wish I could sit down too (and wish it would go faster too, although I can make much better pace on it than anything I have requiring pedaling!).
I have had this idea to try welding up something resembling a uni frame, but where the bearing caps would be, instead have the frame have legs with holes that pick up the pins used to hold the e-uni foot plates on (remove those and attach frame instead), and just have footpegs on the outside of the frame legs instead of spinning pedals. It would have a standard uni saddle you could sit on.
I thought this might feel more like regular uni riding and you could ride seated… But maybe it wouldn’t, I think the self balancing might insist on keeping the frame more perfectly vertical whereas I believe regular uni riders usually have the frame tilted back to enable absorbing surface irregularities without falling forward.
Maybe somebody else has already tried that?
Seems like something @JimT would have tried with his many clever homemade creations, haha!
I also have an inMotion V8, and I can ride it seated (on the occasional times I take it for a ride).
I have even ridden it seated with no feet (my butt on the frame, and my legs on both sides, holding it pretty tight so I have control on the wheel.