Onewheel — The most fun I’ve ever had during movement.
I’m not usually one to intentionally brush with danger. It’s just not in my nature. To this day I’ve never skydived and probably never will because I’d be way too paranoid about the parachute failing me thoroughly. The same goes for bungee jumping. Until the day I weave the string myself after researching the amount of elasticity in various materials, optimal tension physics for my specific body weight and aerodynamic shape in relation to the earth’s gravitational pull, in the very front of my mind I’d always believe that your cable would send me hurtling to my doom. I don’t even know if all the stuff I just said I’d research makes sense to look up in relation to bungee cords, but you can be damned sure I’d find out. My mind tells me that apparently, I have approximately one hundred percent less luck than the hundreds of thousands of people who successfully bungee jump every year.
With that kind of a mindset, logically an electronic skateboard-type thing that goes nearly twenty miles per hour travelling over multiple terrains, with nothing for rider stability other than in-built gyroscopes and your personal sense of balance seems like something that was built for the very thrill-seekers I’ve just spent a short paragraph distancing myself from.
Turns out however, that I am one of those very thrill seekers, in Onewheel sized doses. I am them, and they are me. The Onewheel rides way, way up my street. Pun intended. I’m not even sorry.
The Onewheel is the product of a Silicon Valley brainchild named Kyle Doerksen, who started up his company and funded the first Onewheel in 2013 via a Kickstarter campaign. The original campaign exceeded its initial goal of $100,000 by over six times that amount and now, seven years and four iterations later, the Onewheel brand is as strong as ever. In my experience it’s starkly innovative, and the closest thing to a hover board I’ve personally ever used.
Full discretion though: I do not own one myself yet. However I have used a Onewheel+ XR for a total of approximately fifty hours or so, due to a generous friend of mine who lent me his for about a month. (The Onewheel+ XR is the larger of the two models currently on sale; the smaller model is called the Onewheel Pint). The first time I stepped on it, I was certain I would immediately crumble and die, but my friend held me in place so that I couldn’t wriggle away from the experience. Three or so hours later, I was certain I would kill someone else with the false confidence I felt whilst riding it. All of a sudden, I was a king with wheels. Sorry, I meant wheel, actually. Onewheel.
The learning curve in my experience is very easy to deal with. Naturally, this will make a rider believe they are much better on the board than they actually are much, much quicker than I believe they should. I imagine that the rather flat learning curve is by design but when someone’s enthusiastic about the brand new future-esque personal transportation device they’ve found themselves experimenting with, that natural enthusiasm can be quite dangerous. Especially once you “get the hang of it.” In reality you’re only gripping onto the side of the cliff face with one hand instead of two. It takes a lot more time riding before you’re truly stable on the board and even then, the wrong dip or bump in the road can send you off kilter in ways you never initially imagined. When it works though, and everything is smooth, by god does it feel good. You feel like you blend in with the boards minutia, every slight tilt of your foot feeling completely within your control. That sense of control is what allowed me to get comfortable with something I initially dismissed as a deathtrap and I’m glad that I did. Cruising along on the Onewheel is completely unique experience and an absolute irreplaceable joy.
For better or worse, it is also the most conspicuous vehicle on the road at all times. Riding along the streets of North London I got intense, unbroken stares from almost everyone who saw me going past them. My favourite encounter was with a young boy I saw when slowing down in front of a shop to check its opening times. As I began to set off again I heard him exclaim “Daddy, what even is that?” and as I began to gain some distance on him, I heard him shout towards me “and how does it even move?!” I turned around and grinned at him as I sped off up Haverstock Hill. If I wasn’t in a hurry that day, I would have turned around to explain the basics of how it works, as I had done multiple times to sate people’s curiosity about the myriad of things one might wonder about a no handed, Onewheel-ed skateboard type thing. That day however, I had to leave that child to his imagination. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t feel kind of cool doing so.
As much as I love this thing, I have to emphasise again- the Onewheel is, by it’s nature, dangerous. More so than say, a bicycle or a skateboard, because a bike has more stability with its handlebars and a skateboard doesn’t come with a motor, usually. For all the hours I spent on it without a helmet or even elbow and kneepads (and let it be known that I am a damned fool for doing so), I am truly blessed to have walked away without a single injury. I definitely had a couple of close shaves though. There are safety mechanisms built in to protect the rider, such as the “Push Back” system, which lifts the front of the board forward subtly when you’re going too fast, but I need to put emphasis on the word subtly here. There were a few times I didn’t realise I was being pushed back until I naturally had to slow down and felt the change in resistance on the front of the board. In a couple instances, I only realised I was being pushed back when it was too late and I had come off the board, stumbling to regain my balance. The problem with this feature is it’s a warning, not a limiter. You can easily push through it if you’d like but I really, really wouldn’t recommend it, and neither does Onewheel. There are safety warnings about “Push Back” everywhere in the operating manual and on the website but the problem is you have to learn how to feel for the feature, making it tricky to use, especially for beginners. Naturally, there are countless anecdotes of people who bought their first Onewheel, only to go flying off it within the first week or two and break their collarbone. Luckily I always came off the board on my feet, but I very easily could have come off on my face.
When I get one of my own, I will definitely be wearing a helmet every time I go for a ride. You feel cooler when you’re not wearing a helmet for sure, but you can only feel so cool with a concussion and severe road rash. If you decide to buy one, know that the price you pay should definitely include more than adequate protection for the rider.
And now finally, we get to the real rub. The potential danger is one thing, but possibly the most off-putting thing about the Onewheel might be the price of it. The base cost of the Onewheel+ XR is a whopping $1799 (approx £1375). The Onewheel Pint is just over half that price at $950 (approx £725). That’s a hell of a lot of money for something that is at best, a fun and practical personal transportation device and at your most skeptical, a largely overpriced toy. I cannot say for sure whether the price is worth it, especially not for each individual person. It depends on how you plan to use it. What I can say for certain though, is that I’m getting one. Having to return the Onewheel to my friend was a much more painful experience than I expected and after a day without it, I began to despise my legs for not having wheels attached. If you can get past the price point and you’re willing to put in all the effort you need to protect your own safety, the Onewheel is, in my opinion, easily the most fun way to travel around a city. Though admittedly, I’m still terrified of rollercoasters after watching Final Destination 3 so you know, do with that opinion as you will.
-ST
