Your atypical college kid's onewheel review.

[didxogns1]

With large double mocha and heavy dinner, I think writing a Onewheel review is a great way to procrastinate on my reading assignment. So here it is, onewheel review for you college kids like myself or anyone who is interested in reading this poorly organized review.

First of all, lets begin with the reasons why I bought the onewheel.
Being a PA kid for seven years or so made me a regular snowboarder, who shreds the snow almost every weekend. However, moving in to southern virginia full of swampland, I cannot recall when was the last time I waxed my snowboard. Additionally, brick and uneven road of historic Virginia made me look in to something outdoor and cooler than boosted board which you can find everywhere.

So Onewheel happened. I am literally the only kid who have this damn thing. I constantly am asked WHAT ARE THOSE!! by kids and gets that scolding glare when I tell them the price. For first week, I couldn't control myself because the board wobbled uncontrollably and was deeply disappointed. But after some practice, I am able to carve the board with ease and pass through college cyclers.

I am overall very content with the product and its robustness as it is still robust even after numbers of me and my friends jumping off the board for a while. However there are some problems that I have to note.

1. normal is for the noobs
   I am not trying to be condescending or anything, but I sincerely think that the normal mode is inapt for a general use especially in the public road. The normal mode is very forgiving with the acceleration and lets you get a feel for the board. That being said, the extreme push back can and do puts the rider off balanced. Often accelerating, I am forced to decelerate immideatly and is hard for me to maintain a proper speed. Also the pushback is so sensitive that it once through me away to the street (I almost got hit by a car). So, I suggest you to switch to the extreme mode if you can, since the mode is more stable in high speed and is not that 'extreme'.

2. JUDO! or any grappling martial art
   The board has a tendency to throw you off when something goes wrong. It was a case for me when I carving intensely. I guess I was leaning forward too much to the extent that the sensor thought I was off the board. This does happen to a lot of people and learning some forward roll and leaf-fall helps you as you can safely fall to the concrete without any wound. I was extremely surprised that my MMA skill work in the real life in absence of wrestling mat.

The speed is fast enough for the excitement and the range is enough to cover the daily commute. However, this thing is heavy and bulky. It is almost impossible to carry this to the class.

I will end the review with few requests to FM.

1. please allow bluetooth enabled security lock so when you turn on the board, it can only be enabled after you put password from the phone.
2. please have a solution that prevents the onewheel from planting people in asphalt. One possible solution can be to integrate the motor with the sensor so that when the board is moving, it dose not stop abruptly. Also configuring the sensor can allow the onewheel to discern whether the rider is jumping off the board or sensor is going off (I assume that when a rider jumps away from the board, the board will immediately be off balanced)

Overall I am very satisfied with the quality and the feel of the product. I will open a can of blue-ribbon to cheer FM for its work and please keep refining this piece of art!

[lardnicus]

If you jump off the board, it actually stays balanced for a moment until it disengages... Funny to watch.

[Brutha Man]

And an option for a delayed sensor.

[Polle]

@didxogns1

1. The app only exists on IOS, so this feature will only possible when it works on every phone...
2. A delayed stop when coming off the sensor is very hard to specify. What if you are in traffic and jump off because a dangerous situation occurs, the board continues and gets crushed by a truck...

[njcustom]

@Polle it just needs a 2 second delay or less.. Just enough to take your foot off and back on safely

[Brutha Man]

@Polle that's why you make it optional. You would be able to turn it on and off. Turn it on when doing tricks. Turn it off when commuting.

[didxogns1]

@Polle Jumping off the board and turning will have a very different gyro input... While one will constantly have a feedback on the sensor, the other will experience a sudden change in the sensor as a whole

[didxogns1]

also, instead of just powering off the board, why not just enable regenerative breaking till the board stops? This will enable the rider to come to a steady stop if he is riding. Also when the board slows down, rider will usually get back on the sensor and it can be functional again, if the rider chose to jump off, board won't go anywhere cause the braking is more effective stoping the board

[lynnpreston]

I completely disagree on the option for a 2-second delay. Get your OW up to full speed, then mark two seconds. That is how far the board could potentially "run" away with a 2 second delay - 44 feet (15mph for 2 seconds). That is enough to run off the sidewalk and then across 4 lanes of traffic. Dangerous and a liability.

We early adopters requested a minor delay to prevent accidental shutdown at speed when hitting bumps, and I think FM nailed it with the ~0.5 second delay.

I hear you on the "optional" part, but I really question the wisdom of this 2-second option.

Edited for clarity.

[didxogns1]

@lynnpreston read the comment i posted i think it is a resonable solution.

[didxogns1]

This post is deleted!

[germx]

@lynnpreston Just a thought. If the sensor doesn't disengage when you jump/fall off the board, will it go further or not?

When disengaged, it won't lock the wheel, but keep rolling (not freely, but still quite far in my experience).
When engaged, it should not keep going at full speed, but try to achieve balance. This is kinda hard to test, since the the sensors shut id down, but if you wouldn't stand on it, wouldn't it just slowly go towards the battery end of the board (since it's heavier)?

And there is at least one thread discussing a "trick" shaping mode with long sensor delay.

As I see it, the only big downside with sensor delay would be dismounting.
For the runaway board issue, I'd say that would have to be tested.

[lynnpreston]

We already know what an "engaged" board with no rider does. Check back in older threads on reports of faulty sensors that didn't disengage. The boards run away without a rider. The board can't balance without a rider.