It’s a board sport typically done on concrete with a single tire that uses electronics to assist in balancing itself. It is definitely a risky device, and even after breaking my shoulder at mile 300, I still ride this thing every day. I’m about to roll 5,000 miles on my XR, so yeah I think it is worth it. Pad up and respect the board and you should be fine.
Hey man, I’m not one to splash out on expensive toys, but I tried my mates and fell in love, bought my own a few weeks later and use it pretty much every day, for pleasure, to explore new places, get from A to B, going to the shop, running errands etc. I absolutely love it.
Not only does it brighten my day – going out for a ride in the sun, listening to music or a podcast – it brightens other people’s days too. People stop and watch me go by in amazement, kids and adults alike. I constantly get smiles, “WHOAAA”s and “That’s AMAZING!”s. One kid was certain I was James Bond. Other inquisitive people stop and chat to me when I’m having a momentary break, old ladies, bus drivers, you name it. It makes me feel good that I’m adding novelty and excitement to other people’s lives just by having fun myself.
For reference, I’m a slim somewhat athletic guy in my early 30s, riding a Pint. I’m somewhat into board sports and quite outdoorsy. I’ve done over 500 miles in a few months, and while I’ve had some falls, I haven’t had any injuries yet. My falls have mainly been due to the tire loosing traction on mud. Also losing balance on really bumpy ground a few times have meant I’ve had to jump off. Another time was because I rode the battery right the way down to red, turned the board off and on again to squeeze any last milage out, and then while going along, the nose dived. So far, I’ve been able to run them all out every time. One plus of the Pint is it doesn’t go as fast as the XR, so it’s easier to run out any falls due to the slightly slower cruising speed.
I think there are a whole lot more people riding happily every day injury-free than there are people that get injured. You just don’t hear about it so much. Like good stuff and bad stuff on the news, I guess. For a lot of people, a natural response to having a bad fall is to hit Onewheel social media and post about it, that’s all.
I think if you understand and respect the board’s limits and pushback, you can ride without much concern of injury. That being said, some people are more prone to injury, so it really depends on your makeup, age, build, weight and physical ability etc. Where some people are able to run out a particular nosedive, others in that same situation might end up breaking their ankle.
When I say understanding and respecting the board, it comes down to the motor having two tasks. The first is to keep you balanced and the second to make you go. The board only has so much power available to achieve both these tasks and it has to be shared between them. Pushback is there to protect you from crossing the threshold. Ie, if you push through the pushback trying to go faster and faster, eventually you start to steal power from the balancing mechanism. What ensues is the nosedive and you go flying. When I hit pushback, I micro-lean back just to get on the good side of pushback and then carry on riding. Hasn’t failed me yet and hopefully won’t.
I thoroughly recommend trying a Onewheel if you can. Some places rent them, or failing that, find your local/nearest Onewheel community on Facebook and ask if anyone is up for letting you try theirs some time. It might come down to you just having to buy one and see how you go. The resell value is really high, so at worst you’ll make back most of the money if you decide to sell it. Anyway, ramble over, I hope this has been helpful in some way. Peace,
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