A real wheelslip

29 November 2016, 22:43 UTC

This morning I was going to work. I use my OW to commute from the train station to my office every day.

It was raining yesterday, so today there were some puddles here and there, but not too much. The floor was pretty dry and at some point there was this guy staring at his phone in the middle of the sidewalk not paying attention, so I slowed down, circled him leaving some space and tried to accelerate fairly quickly.

This is when it happened: the wheel slipped A LOT when trying to accelerate, which made me lose my balance and jump off the board. Luckily I didn't fall, but it was something I was not expecting at all. It was like burning rubber in a car :p

So from now on, take into account that if the floor is kinda wet, you don't have to be careful not to slip when turning only, but also when accelerating.

I guess these are the things that come with the experience.

29 November 2016, 23:00 UTC

@matto Forsure. This has happened to me as well. Mud = death!! The OW is the safest board on the market to ride in the rain or wet conditions, but you still need to be wary of traction. Good thing you didn't fall!

30 November 2016, 00:10 UTC

I tried riding in damp grass in the dark and that also did not work out well.

30 November 2016, 04:02 UTC

@thegreck
Agreed. Downhill in soggy grass = spin out with a bit of drift. You can forget uphill...

1 December 2016, 20:22 UTC

carry some speed into a slippery patch and keep it. you can skim without issue.

slowing down and speeding up break traction but the attitude change involved and maintaining balance across the axle is the bigger issue.

2 December 2016, 20:53 UTC

@thegreck one of my favorite spots to ride is this giant grassy hill in this park by my place and its almost like snowboarding when the grass is wet because I can intentionally make the wheel slip to get a real carving sensation. Riding on it at night could be a problem though if your not expecting it.