You need similar training to learn these other devices which can operate VERY unexpectedly compared to normal balancing.
I’ve fallen off the back of a galloping horse before as an overweight 6+ foot guy and been fine, but that frequently causes severe injuries. I doubt a one wheel rider is dealing with significantly more energetic collisions. They are however dealing with the dangers of urban environments.
Excess body fat is going to act as additional padding, but it’s also additional mass going into the collision equation.
I wonder where the sweet spot is?
Body fat is just extra weight, it's not going to hold up anything.
I'm convinced that Fat is just a tax on the body.
When I ride my bike I'm always hopping up curbs at speed, doing quick whip skids/ted shreds etc, not just because it's fun, but because those are the skills you need to stay alive in abnormal situations. It's honestly kind of baffling to me that most people don't actively work on expanding their safety envelope.
You can get good at crashing, and at avoiding crashes, and when you do you can either do the same things safer, or do more fun things with the same level of safety. This is why Alex Honnold isn't dead (yet).
what of the average onewheel commuter?
Oh, and once when I was so drunk I fell off 2 seconds after getting on the bike.
In London it's necessary to plan a quieter route, using roads most people don't even realise exist. It can't be as nice as the Netherlands, but it can be OK.
I'd like for my skills at each of these to be better than they are today, and I ride my bike quite a bit.
I've cycled to work for 15 years, and I've never hoped up a kerb and I don't even know what a whip skid / ted shred is.
My commuter e-bike weighs a solid 80lbs fully loaded. I'm not hopping curbs or doing "whip skids" on it. I basically ride it like a touring motorcycle.
I found through trial and error that riding aggressively was safest, not because it was inherently safer but because everyone would take note of the idiot hooning around too fast and take extra caution. Of course the failure mode here is when someone doesn’t notice you…
Years later I now commute by bike in Cornwall where the local population is ignorant of cyclists. I ride an electric cargo bike with my son on the back and I’m incredibly conservative.
There’s no real difference in incidence of accidents, but incidence of “near-miss” and severity of possible accident? Hands down riding conservatively with no hopping around is safer. Duh! ;)
You might not be able fully "run it out" given the speed, but every step you take when bailing is a good thing and rolling out after you take a few steps will help as well.
At the end of the day, it's obviously going to be more dangerous than a bike or a scooter, though. My issues with future motion is more to do with their extremely poor response to design flaws, though.
I think that riding at more reasonable speeds and riding with focus and awareness is still reasonable, but the faults we've seen add hidden risks that are difficult to address as a rider.
A One Wheel requires quite a lot of active balance from the user, a bike requires some balance, but hard cornering on a bike, or slamming the breaks on hard don’t generally result in unplanned dismounts, even with amateur bike riders. A One Wheel on the other hand, even experienced riders will still end up doing unplanned dismounts when performing rapid unexpected manoeuvres (such when avoiding another vehicle or pothole).
It’s only anecdata, but I’ve personally never had a serious unplanned dismount on a bike (after thousands of hours), and includes while mountain biking. I’ve have had a couple of nasty unplanned dismounts on a One Wheel just riding around a park. I suspect broader stats (assuming anyone’s even collected them) would probably find that my experiences of each mode of transport is pretty representative.
My personal experience was all dismounts from bicycles lead to bruises if that. And friends crashing at high speed tend to end up with hand and wrist injuries. Flip side I have three friends that needed knee surgery after stand up scooter accidents.
So I agree the typical dismount is really important.
But I think for most average bike riders, people who just ride a bike to get from A to B, rather than for sport (more speed always means more risk, at certain point I agree a bike becomes inherently more dangerous just due to the higher speeds). The odds of them having a bad incident on a bike is much lower than on a One Wheel. It’s quite hard to have an incident on a bike that results in a guaranteed head injury (please wear a helmet, it only takes a single bad head injury to ruin your life), whereas it’s quite hard to avoid a head injury from a One Wheel incident. Most bike related incidents (where someone isn’t just riding into a stationary object, in which case I don’t think the mode of transport matters much) result in the bikes wheel slipping out from under you, the consequence is moderately slowed, but quite painful fall sideways. The time it takes the bike to fall out from under you gives you a bit of time to prepare for the impact. All this assumes reasonable low speeds (not much faster than a run), due to non-sport based riding.
On a One Wheel or similar, dismounts tend to result in full bodied face plants. If you’re not able to come of the device, and catch yourself by running, then you tend to go face first to the pavement, and there’s nothing slowing you down. No bike frame or similar sliding across the ground and buying you time, just a whole load of empty air between your head and the ground.
You lose drive power on a one wheel and your biology is immediately meeting physics.
Short of the time I was hit by a car, I’ve never had a bicycling emergency — road or mountain — that I wasn’t able to walk away from through some combination of hoping obstacles and/or putting the bike down in a controlled side-skid.
At that point I would stop explaining the obvious to people.
It’s like riding by bike in traffic without touching the handlebars: sure, as an experience cyclist I can. But why on earth would I?
(i don't actually do tiktok, but here's an insta reel: https://www.instagram.com/reel/Cv5UZvpMhSt/?igshid=MWZjMTM2O... )
And that is why I only ride my NJS frame on country roads, not in the city anymore :)
One chain tensioner on the drive side is a good preventative measure, I prefer both sides since it makes things easy.
Got it.
I recently flew off a normal bicycle because someone spilled oil or something in the middle of a roundabout. The helmet has a large dent, broke my arm.
I'd need full motorcycle gear before I try a monowheel/Onewheel/etc.
You’re telling me people were buying and using these without knowing how to skateboard first?
I thought every single person I saw using these were, at the very least, passable skateboarders …
I don't care if they kill themselves but they're risking other people's safety more.
Heck, I saw a middle aged guy in a forest preserve on the trails with one taking some work conference call.
My take on the safety bit is I would never ride the one-wheel at the top speed the device supports, and would never ride without a helmet or on a road with traffic. It can and will dump you. I've had the battery-out dump (when I knowingly experimented after its low power warnings). Basically if you go faster than you can run out/step and roll out from you're inviting yourself trouble.
I skateboard when I was younger and generally feel comfortable enough on any board where I can stand sideways. No way in hell I wanted to try these though, the top speed alone masks me way too nervous even with experience skateboarding, surfing, and wake boarding.
All are different in terms of most of the skills needed to do any of them.
The One Wheel is much more like a snowboarding in soft powder than it is like skateboarding, but even then, it's not quite the same. There's a sort of softish center pivot feeling, where on a snowboard it depends on where your edges are.
Skill wise, you don't need any to make the One Wheel do what's advertised. You do need skill to ride it confidently, but you gain those skills as you use it.
I've had one very bad fall on the One Wheel, and it was bad. It slide out whole going fast down a steep slippery/sandy hill, and then nosedived, which sent me cart wheeling, then whipped my heel into the ground, shattering it into 23 pieces. I was in bed for 6 months, and didn't walk without help for 12.
I actually think my other boarding skills made the injury worse. I reacted as if the board was a skateboard, where a sideways slide is something I'm super comfortable with and do on purpose. That reaction was to lean deep, counter to the forces of the slide. The big fat gripping tire of the One Wheel bit in, then acted as a fulcrum with my body as the lever, and I just went sailing.
The advice from the GP to have One Wheel-curious people try a skateboard first is indeed good advice. It won't teach you how to ride a One Wheel, but it will teach you how hard the ground is.
All the board sports, I mention, including the One Wheel, have braking.
Skateboarding: your feet or power slides are your brakes. I guess your tail too, if you don't mind it splintering away.
Snowboarding: your edges.
Surfing: not really applicable, though you can stall by putting all your weight on the tail.
One Wheel: leaning back.
In my experience, the One Wheel is as effective at stopping quickly, or even more so, than skateboarding or snowboarding.
Couldn’t say if that was a power loss issue or the wheel just got too deep in the mud, but doesn’t look fun especially if you imagine that fall on to concrete.
"The deaths came as a result of head trauma, with at least three of the accidents happening with the rider in a helmet."
"Alongside the US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), the company now seeks to remedy the products after four known death cases — three without a helmet — between 2019 and 2021."
Actually, Adam recently achieved the scared third-degree black belt, which makes him a master of Suk-Hyeon-Deisu
Still doesn’t look like it’s enough while they cross a street in front of turning cars.
I can't speak for DOT helmets, since that standard is untrustable for a variety of reasons anyway.
ECE is a United Nations standard that the EU has chosen to require for helmets sold in the EU.
It sounds like upthread the poster thought that ECE doesn't allow half or 3/4 helmets, but they do.
- is nearly 50 years old without meaningful changes to reflect half a century of head injury and brain injury research
- has significantly lower standards for how much force can be transmitted through the helmet to your skull - well within values that commonly cause skull fracture
- does not have any brain injury criteria for rotational trauma
- does not have any independent random testing, and limited independent random test studies have found 50% of labeled helmets don't meet the standard
The last point is especially frightening! ECE has fixed all of these issues. Fortnine's videos on this (and the problems with Snell 2020R/2020D) are a great place to learn more.
I’ve had this same thing happen on a electric skateboard at about this speed but on asphalt. Shoulder dislocated, elbow broke, wrist sprain so severe I had to relearn how to use my hand. And I was a skateboarder my whole life leading up to that so I knew how to take a fall.
I still use electric bike and fat tire scooter/bike. But the high speed even on that feels sketchy. All it takes is a little gravel or something and you’ll lose your front wheel and eat it hard. That actually happened to a friend growing up, we were flying down a steep hill (ok maybe 20mph) on our BMX bikes. He hit gravel and the front wheel slid out. He had to have his upper lip stitched back on.
- Full face helmet
- Knee and elbow pads
- Wrist protection with a sliding material on the palm of the hands
Ideally, you would also wear a body armor.
Neck brace is also desirable, but will not be required in most crashes (if you're not doing radical maneuvers).
But if you do happen to get in a crash where a neck brace would be required, it can be the difference between walking again or never.
1. Doesn't do a great job protecting the face or the side of the head;
2. Not designed for motorized vehicles, it can't absorb enough the kind of forces involved in these incidents.
You need a full face helmet, designed for motorized vehicles.
A motorcycle one is great, but probably an overkill (no pun intended).
There are good downhill helmets that can do the job well enough. Fox and Leatt are trustworthy brands. There are other good ones. It should be obvious, but don't trust Chinese brands.
- Most people purchase helmets in too large a size.
- Many people do not correctly adjust the helmet straps.
Hmm... what about "you'll look like a complete doofus?"
Roller blades and ice skating are similar before you learn braking. I used to get Aron d on my rollerblades a lot, in a time before helmets were more common.
(sorry the late reply, been away)
You just sort of bounce down the slope, and it hardly even scuffs up your snow gear.
Wipe out at a quick on a skateboard - the pavement has no give, and you're not all bundled up because it's summer. You're getting road rash, minimum, maybe some more serious damage to bones, head, etc.
Rollerblades, not quite as bad. They aren't constantly trying to run away from you. Similar failure mode though.
Had one crash, fractured my hand, used it for a while at very low speeds to get around my neighborhood, then sold it
Still very very fun and may get another one for my neighborhood at some point, but one crash makes you realize that, yes, you are in fact not invincible
This is completely false. Bailing off these things at a variety of speeds is absolutely a skill you can learn. Some bails can be ran put, some are better handled with a roll or a controlled slid on your gear. Higher speeds always carry higher risks in a fall, but "cruising speed" is an individual choice and can easily be one of that you have the skills to safely bail at.
There are always risks, like in any extreme sport, but those risks can be managed with the combination of skills, equipment and good judgement.
I do highly recommend that people who want to buy a device like this take the time to learn the risks and not rush themselves to ride at high speeds before they build their skills and understand their equipment.
I think no further comment in necessary here. I was in awe.
False. I can totally run out of my OneWheel Pint, did it multiple times.
It's max declared speed is 14mph, but it really goes around 12.
I built my own electric longboard with enough power to throttle my hefty frame up to 25mph. It was perfectly tuned for me. I swapped out so many parts to get it just right. In the first hours of riding it, I took a fall that had me out of commission for a week. I was going 10mph!
Once I got the hang of things, I used the board to commute daily for a few months - putting ~ 8 miles on it daily. To this day, I consider daily rides on this board to be the single highest life threatening risk I have taken to date. I realize that now.
For anyone looking to use a board or one wheel or e-unicycle, please reconsider.
All it takes is one missed sign, one pothole, one inattentive driver, one loose bushing, one nail on the road, one patch of oil. You get the idea. The number and variety of risks and significance of the damage they could do should be enough to avoid.
With electric boards (not the one wheel) you need to constantly manage your center of gravity. This means if you want to break because of a hazard, you MUST shift your center of mass to lean in the direction of travel while slowing down. It takes some time to naturally manage throttle/brake in unison with your center of mass. After 3 months of daily rides, it still required intentional planning. Just let that sink in... All it takes is one "oh shit" moment where you miss the transfer of center of mass. You face plant and possibly slide directly under the path of the hazard you braked for.
If you still want to, get kevlar gear like motorcyclists use. Many have shoulder, elbow and back pad inserts. ALWAYS be padded and helmeted!
At some point during the descent, the board started to shimmy violently, forcing me to jump off... but I was already going faster than I could run. But run I did, and my feet and legs literally fell behind my torso... upon which I fell and skidded down the asphalt, shirtless. I did manage to keep my chin up and off the pavement as I slid, however.
It was night-time and we were at the beach with some relatives. I gritted my way through playing in waves and showing my relatives around. Nobody noticed anything. When we got home and I walked into the light, my mom gawked at the shredded skin on my chest and, being a woman of considerable decorum, did NOT shout "WTF!!!" But that was definitely the nature of the response.
My helmet was trashed and definitely saved my life. I’m wondering whether extra padding would have saved me from weeks of pain, a surgery and months of immobilisation followed by months of rehab.
The thought of blasting down the road on a One wheel in T-shirt and jeans gives me chills now.
But yes, of course people get hurt on bikes, too. But I believe you can be an order of magnitude safer at least.
I loved riding that thing, it felt like flying. It was addictive. I rode it like wings, my instincts were so good it felt like I was one with it—it no longer required any intentional planning. Sure, I had my share of spills, but learned from each one where I'd messed up and how to become exceptionally careful, and was fortunate that I recovered from each in a few days.
I say all this because, like you, I now realize it was the single most life-threatening risk I've ever taken in my life. These things you write are 100% true:
> All it takes is one missed sign, one pothole, one inattentive driver, one loose bushing, one nail on the road, one patch of oil. You get the idea. The number and variety of risks and significance of the damage they could do should be enough to avoid.
> All it takes is one "oh shit" moment where you miss the transfer of center of mass. You face plant and possibly slide directly under the path of the hazard you braked for.
You are extremely exposed, and trusting your life to firmware developers.
99.99% of the time it is the unbelievable feeling of flying, slicing through the wind.
0.01% of the time it is slamming your body into rough pavement at 20mph, like diving face-first off a two-story building, no warning. No way to see it coming.
My EUC now sits in my shed, gathering dust.
While the physics of what happened make sense, it still looks so unreal.
I liked the article because its opening page was a full A4 x-ray image of the editor's broken arm.
A small version can be seen on: https://www.heise.de/news/Explosionsgefahr-US-Rueckruf-einer...
I will be indefinitely grateful for his sacrifice to protect my health.
Friendly amendment. Some references:
https://trevinolaw.com/most-dangerous-consumer-products-of-2...
https://www.al.com/news/2016/02/25_most_dangerous_products_i...
I don't understand this. Your initial spped along y axis is zero. Falling from a skateboard should be no different from falling from a standing position in terms of the time it takes for your head to hit the ground.
Estimate for the worst-case: suppose your feet instantaneously decelerate from 10 m/s to 0 (like from an impact with an immovable object, a pavement gap); suppose they're 1 meter from your center of mass; and suppose you're effectively a rigid solid body over this timescale. Then, you are now rotating 10 radians/second or 10/(2π) revolutions per second. To rotate forward 90 degrees (to the faceplant) takes (π/2)/10 ~ 0.157 seconds.
In contrast: 157 milliseconds of free fall, starting from zero, would only go 12 centimeters.
If you slow things down enough to bring human reflexes into the picture, than the assumptions behind this picture break down. No more "effective rigid solid body". Landing on your feet for example: recover into a sprint (autonomous reflex—faster than nerve RTT between legs and brain), and you are no longer a rotating solid—you are now multiple rotating solids whose angular momenta cancel each other out. You recover vertically, or fall much more slowly.
As someone who's not a skateboarder but has fallen off various skis, snowboard, cycles, motorcycles etc you can fall off a fast moving thing without dying.
The usual is to kind of flop down taking the force of the fall from standing in a king of rolling motion of to your legs then arse. The main issues are you will slide along which can grate skin if you are not wearing strong clothes, and you may hit your head on something hence crash helmets. The stuff worn by motorcycle racers is probably ideal but maybe an overkill if you are going 20mph rather than 100. Fatalities are normally hitting a hard solid object at speed like a tree or similar.
The first thought that comes to my mind looking at this device is "these are failure-is-not-an-option situations". There's many ways to fall off a skateboard without dying, and to me it's viscerally obvious, absolutely none of them will ever apply here. You can't recover onto your legs, because this lithium-battery things are like 300% faster than your top sprinting speed. You can't fall onto your arms either, because your inertial speed is faster than your autonomous reflexes. (You learn all about your autonomous reflexes). It's just your face, and skull. This is the first thought that comes to mind: there's no way to bail, 0% chance. It's just completely not-an-option to fail on such a device at cruising speed. And I'm grounded enough to realize, I'm not a person who never fails physical feats. That's not what a human is.