Any injuries?

24 September 2015, 16:33 UTC

My injuries both came in week 1 of having the board. I flew off the board headfirst and stopped my momentum with my left arm, dislocated. I avoided a trip to the hospital by popping it back in, a couple months later it's still only at about 80% strength. I took a spill 2 days later when I hit a plastic speedbump and the board smashed into the side of my awkwardly positioned knee. Partially torn ACL. Luckily it is healing and has not prevented me from riding. My knee is at about 70% at this point. Since then I've had one non-eventful spill which resulted in a little bit of road rash on my elbow, from a pot-hole.

24 September 2015, 19:04 UTC

I'm sure glad this thing is safe and easy to ride... ;)

24 September 2015, 19:08 UTC

@ThatGuy hahaha. It can be... if you don't make idiot rookie moves, like I did.

24 September 2015, 21:51 UTC

Any problems with ankle injuries? It seems like the easiest injury would be to sprain your front foot if the board nose dove but I haven't actually seen anyone complain about that. Just curious, i have a history of sprains on my right foot and i ride goofy.

24 September 2015, 21:59 UTC

@NYC It seems to be more knee related or smashing into the ground related. I've twisted my knee when my back foot slid off the board and sensor foot kept going with the board. I've had the board hit my ankle and tire burn, that's it. This doesn't include the scar on my forearm now either. haha

25 September 2015, 18:21 UTC

My friend fell off going max speed, his leg got scratched really really bad I think it almost became a flesh wound

25 September 2015, 19:49 UTC

@veryous The tire burn on the ankle is gong to be the onewheel trademark for any owner. haha.....

25 September 2015, 20:25 UTC

First face plant today. Well hands, forearms, and knees actually. I couldn't get my board to slow, in fact; it kept accelerating and I swear it had to have reached 20-25mph. I finally ran out of street and jumped just as the board reached the neighbor's driveway. Tried my best to run it out but at that speed kissing the pavement was inevitable. Thank God there wasn't a car in the driveway.

25 September 2015, 22:12 UTC

@Code-ster I've never had anything like that happen at all. Were you pushing the top speed when it did that?

26 September 2015, 00:35 UTC

@Code-ster without knowing much more, it sounds like you may have been in the middle of pushback, which makes it feel like you can't lean your weight back any further because the nose is already up in the air. You have to trust he board at that point and lean your weight further back. It's especially hard if you are also going uphill at the time. You should definitely get out of classic mode Asap. I hope your scrapes heal up. You're not trying if it doesn't hurt in the first week...

26 September 2015, 05:15 UTC

@J-Glide No, I at was at a comfortable cruising speed when I felt the board accelerating. That's when the loss of control began as the board exceeded what I feel to be well over it's 15mph speed theshold, despite my efforts to ease off. It was scary! I feel like even with the cuts and bruises I got off lucky given the speed.

@sidebox I think you're absolutely right, my game plan is to lean back a lot harder next time.

26 September 2015, 21:47 UTC

in hindsight I would consider snowboard shorts (or as the skiers in my snow society call them nappies) during early days http://www.allsportprotection.com/Demon_Flex_Force_Padded_Shorts_p/ds1300.htm as a sideways fall onto hips can hurt - I think I bruised my bone ...

27 September 2015, 00:17 UTC

@Code-ster just be aware that if your tail hits the ground, it's very slick. It's easy to panic and remove your front foot from the sensor and then you'll also crash. Best bet is to try to keep your weight balanced if your tail plate starts skidding, and then lean forward slightly to get off the ground again. You'll be fine, I'm sure, no need to overthink it.

27 September 2015, 06:15 UTC

@sidebox Thanks for the advice. I took the board out again today and took it real slow. I wanted to test the board's reaction to me pressing firmly on the back side at slow speeds. I found that even at slower speeds I was a bit apprehensive to press down firmly with my back foot. As someone mentioned it's kind of an unnatural feeling so I kept forcing myself to lean back harder than I was comfortable with to both acquaint myself with the feeling and build some muscle memory. I noticed that the board slowed every time and the rear never touched the ground. So I'm giving in to the possibility, and hope, that my mishap was user error having not leaned on the rear hard enough.

The other thing is that I ride with the sensors in back. It just feels more natural to me since I tend to lift the toe or heel of my front foot sometimes when carving, my rear foot always stays planted firmly on the sensors this way. But it didn't really occur to me until just now that riding with the sensors in back keeps the heavier half of the board up front. Whether or not that contributes to a slight downwards dip of the nose and thus forward momentum I'm not sure.

27 September 2015, 07:15 UTC

Definitely try getting used to sensors in the front. That is the safer and easier way to ride, especially since you are already apprehensive about taking a spill. The firmware is made for the sensors to be up front, and FM specifically states that you should ride that way. It is okay to lift your heel or toe off of the sensors while carving and to adjust when your foot gets out of position. I do it on essentially every turn, as does anyone else riding with even a little speed. The OW will not disengage when you are moving at normal speeds. It will only stop when you are moving under .5 mph. Hope my advice helps. Not meant to be nagging.

27 September 2015, 07:47 UTC

@sidebox The way I see it, any and all advice is welcome! I'm still learning to ride and, as addictive as it is, I know I'm going to be spending a lot of time on my OW. So I'd rather learn good methods now rather than try to break bad habits later.

27 September 2015, 13:28 UTC

Even with all of the safety gear (helmet, wrist guard, elbow & knee pad) I've had my share of bumps, bruises, abrasions & sprained wrists (even with wrist guards).

I didn't think I would need a padded hip guard / girdle but after a couple tumble rolls I quickly realized I was wrong. These injuries have kept me out of the water (surfing) as well as time away from the yoga & the BJJ mat and to me that is extremely valuable time.

As someone posted in their 'Onewheel For Sale' you really have to determine risk .vs. reward. To me the risk was not worth the reward and I sold mine for $50 less than I purchased +tax/shipping before the rush of folks selling theirs hits.

Future Motion is great, the customer service was fantastic BUT it is only a mater of time until someone is killed riding this thing (as warned in the owners manual).

If you are riding the Onewheel on any surface not decked out in gear from head to toe like the 'Michelin Man' you are simply playing Russian Roulette with Murphy's Law.

:v: :heart: :alien:

27 September 2015, 14:29 UTC

@Onewheelsurfer I have to say that while I respect your pov, I have a little bit of a different take. You can go faster with less control on a host of other equipment than on a OW, and therefore the amount of potential damage is about the same or less than with many other forms of transport/board sport. I agree, that someone will be killed at some point, but that's just what happens at a certain saturation point. A garbage truck will hit a commuter or someone will fall and hit their head. Skate boarders, bikers, roller-Blazers, snowboarders, surfers are killed everyday. I don't see OW as being any more dangerous than those activities. In the end, if you're not comfortable with board/wheeled sports due to the potential for injury, I absolutely understand setting aside or selling your board/skis/skates etc. Its cool that you have it a shot, at least.

27 September 2015, 15:41 UTC

@sidebox Having surfed a LARGE majority of my entire life even in some pretty sketchy well double overhead conditions I felt/feel as if I have more control over my surfboard than I did my OW. I look at my surfboards as an extension of myself and never really felt that same connection with the OW.

When not surfing, I Indo board, I Goofboard so balance was never really an issue but once again both above mentioned are more surfing related than OW related.

With the OW I was putting on tons on safety equipment and before leaving the house I was sweating like a pig. Even with safety gear on after some minor spills and I mean minor I walked / limped away bruised, battered & sprained with a tad road rash mixed in.

I stick by my original statement that if anyone is riding OW without all of their safety equipment on they are playing with fire while riding a can of gasoline with nowhere soft to land.

You are right if bike riding, mountain biking, skateboarding, snowboarding, surfing had a forum like this discussing injuries they would be off the charts. I will stick to surfing, yoga, BJJ and leave the OW for the young bucks who can dust off a busted kneecap, broken/sprained arm, ankle and gosh forsakes anything worse (which I hope NEVER happens to anyone) etc...

:v: :heart: :alien:

27 September 2015, 17:14 UTC

@Onewheelsurfer I am 41 years old and I've had my board for 6 months now. I ride it almost 3 times every day, and I have yet to injure myself once more than just a small bruise. I have been into all kinds of other sports and activities, but none of them gave me the feeling of control I get while riding my OneWheel. I feel like I have perfect control and balance at all times. Maybe that's also because I don't push beyond my limits. This may not be true to everyone, but for me at least it is. I know there are certain sports that don't come natural to me, so maybe that is the case here for you. OneWheels won't be for everyone, but for those who feel at home on the board it is truly an amazing device! I have never worn any safety equipment other than the occasional helmet when I try something crazy. Best of luck to you on your endeavors!.

14 October 2015, 16:56 UTC

I am an experienced skate boarder (in my youth) and snowboarder (current). I was able to ride the OW proficiently almost immediately; just took a little while building proper muscle memory to make some fun sweeping turns without overcorrecting. I had a few close calls however due to the push-back feature. Like many others have expressed here, it felt like the board was putting me off balance and I couldn't lean the board back far enough to make it slow down without dragging the back end. It was accelerating way faster than I felt comfortable going on pavement. The end result was either riding it out until it decided to slow down or jumping off and running it out successfully. Until it didn't end that way. Last ride ended with me trying to bail and run it out. Feet couldn't keep up with speed so did a superman slide with hands out in front breaking fall. Dislocated right shoulder, broken top of right humerus, nasty road rash on right hand and forearm, bruised right hip. Needless to say, should have been wearing some crash gear.

I witnessed the pushback feature before I experienced it as it happened to other riders who were using my OW. They tried to explain that it wasn't their fault but I just thought they were riding it wrong until it happened to me. I'm glad the crash happened to me and not them on my board.

I'd like to keep the board and get back on it once healed up. I wish I could manually set a max speed as I have learned the hard way that I do not want to go as fast as it can and will go. I may just wait until I can limit the top speed manually so it won't run away on me again.

16 October 2015, 05:22 UTC

@Smurph That is exactly my experience with pushback and acceleration. Superman slide and all. Luckily I only came away with bruises and road rash, nothing broken, but I'm well aware of how much worse it could've been. I haven't had that same problem again but l suspect I'm riding more conservatively now.

Out of curiosity, were you riding with the sensors up front or in back?

16 October 2015, 06:02 UTC

You are all going way harder than me! :D I've only got a small scratch on my arm.

I've nose dived a few times while learning but ran it out each time, I've done the old pothole-I-didn't-see-corner-twist-to-bail a couple of times but without incident.

Injury came while I was riding a little too close to a wall that looked dangerous, no sooner than I thought to myself "oh, that looks dangerous, if I came off and ran into it I'd probably scratch myself" I had come off, ran into it and scratched myself.

16 October 2015, 14:14 UTC

I sprained my ankle about 24 hours into ownership.

I became reasonably comfortable with the board on the first day then switched it to Extreme Mode on day 2. I went for a few rides around the neighborhood, had no incident, then started to get a little over confident and was filming myself with my phone, not paying attention to the changing camber in the pavement and wiped out hard. The helmet and wrist guards took the brunt of the fall but I rolled my ankle going down then rolled backwards then back to my feet.

Lesson learned: Always pay attention when riding this thing.