Looking for good off road videos, (uphill / dirt)

[AshWilliams]

I got my OneWheel about 2 weeks ago. I had about 2 days to ride it before vacation, rode it <some> while at the beach, and have been riding it non-stop since we got back this weekend.

I'm very happy with it, haven't had it off road much (nothing but rain since I got it).... so most of my riding has been gravel roads with nice hills. Per recommendations here I started off with it in extreme mode, somewhat surprisingly I got on it the first time, road around the yard, turned, went over some nice humps, never fell off or lost balance. It feels really natural coming from a skating (ramp) background. That said, later in the day I was carving off a dirt hump / lip and went down hard into gravel.

I've already found some interesting tricks... probably already known, but I wanted something between extreme and elevated mode. So when I turn it on, I put it on level ground with a 3/4" block under the wheel. With it in extreme mode this puts the ride position somewhere between extreme and elevated. I'm not sure what logic they use, if it re-calibrates occasionally, etc... but this seems to work well.

I'll post more later, but wanted to share a little and thank you guys again for the tips. People who skate / surf / snowboard really should try one of these. Hopefully the prices will come down and give more people an opportunity to get one.

[thegreck]

@AshWilliams Interesting! I've not heard of anyone doing that trick before. I know that if you try to turn it on when it's not on the ground, you'll get an error... but that's usually when people are holding it vertically, not when it's just at a slightly different angle.

[AshWilliams]

@thegreck

It occurred to me to try it a few hours after I got it. I was sitting in my workshop taking a break looking at how it rested on the tail. I thought.. OK, they are calibrating their (throttle profile/ shaping) based on that angle and assuming it's on level ground when powered on. I grabbed a scrap board, put it under the wheel, and turned it on. It was in extreme mode and gave me a ride closer to elevated. I got a thinner board, tried it, and it was just right.

** I have not thoroughly tested the concept yet **... I guess it's possible they occasionally re-calibrate when it's in a resting position with the switch on... but my gut feel is it would be unsafe for them to do this. Re calibrating if it came to rest on a steep incline could result in an extremely strange throttle profile.

So far though I haven't noticed it re-calibrate, it seems to hold the calibration / throttle profile until I power it down.

If it's not something that is known I'll try to do a thread on it tonight to share my results. For those "wishing" for a broader choice of shapes, it seems to provide whatever you want. That said, it should be done with caution. It's possible you could create a throttle profile that gives you little to no brake.

[thegreck]

@AshWilliams Brilliant, dude!

[thegreck]

@AshWilliams Now I'm thinking I might try the reverse, and lift the back a few inches. I tend to ride right on the cusp of pushback, so I'm always fighting to keep the board level. This might do it.

Or it'll make me nosedive, one or the other.

[AshWilliams]

@thegreck Proceed with caution on a comfortable flat area before you go all out. I'll try to do the write-up tonight, but it's worth noting that <I think> you may have to step onto the board and take off from the calibration position. In other words, if you turn it on with it raised up on something, then move it over to flat ground before taking off... you'll see no difference. It seems like it doesn't necessarily define level when you turn the switch on, but when you first step on and pivot up to take off. A bit confusing to explain, but I'll try to do something detailed this evening. Again, early results / experiences... so ymmv. One of their developers could tell us right away, but probably not in their interest to give details for this particular use.

[thegreck]

@AshWilliams Got it, thanks.

[LidPhones]

@AshWilliams I am going to give this a try. Very interesting concept of leveling the OW from a lower grade than expected.

[AshWilliams]

OK, so when I got home this evening I setup a camera and was going to do a short overview with some photos. I setup in my shop on level floor with the camera running and did several different calibrations (all in Extreme Mode). It's difficult to measure, but watching the video I could not see a convincing difference in ride profiles. I was setting up fairly exaggerated scenarios in hopes of clearly illustrating how it works... but in doing so I'm no longer convinced it works, or if it does work is as easy to duplicate as I thought.

Let me know what you guys see when you try it.

[LidPhones]

@AshWilliams I gave this a try. I started with the OW wheel on a 2 inch high paver and the nose stayed more elevated than a natural start. Stopped with foot off the sensors and started the OW returning to the normal and more level ride.