All the information you need to know about the Onewheel Electric Skateboard: the truth about one wheel electric skateboards
Here’s the reality of it: is it easy? No. Is it cool?
Yeah, but there are some things you gotta know.
I’m going to cover that in this blog post so that you’re not blindsided when (not saying if) you buy one of these Onewheel+ boards. I’ve just ridden it for a few miles for the first time.
I’ve done it in the driveway before, but this is my first kind of out-and-about riding this thing right here.
Hey, it’s Michael Mansell.
What you just saw there is one of my main first runs that I took on the Onewheel+. This is something I picked up actually locally here in Tucson from Summit Hut.
They carry them, and it’s a great choice. I did put a link in the description of this video that you can go buy them online. Great price located there for you, so definitely take a look at the link if you want to pick up one of these things.
The reason I wanted to shoot this video is because there are very few videos on YouTube from the perspective of where I’m coming from. I am turning 40 years old this year, fairly athletic my whole life, haven’t stayed in the best of shape the whole time, but certainly try to stay in shape for the most part.
But I’m coming from the perspective of never having really been a skateboarder, surfer, or snowboarder. I tried snowboarding a couple of times when I was younger; I fell flat on my face and just didn’t like it, so I went back to skiing. So, I have been on skis, but outside of that, I don’t skateboard, I don’t snowboard, and I don’t surf. And that’s really what these boards were created for: surfers, skateboarders, and snowboarders.
Shoes: The Key to a Stable Ride
First of all, let’s talk about shoes. Do not wear cushy shoes. Don’t wear your ultra boost, don’t wear your Nike Vapor Max. Don’t do it. Wear skater shoes.
Now, this is the closest thing I got to skater shoes. I’m gonna pick up another pair, probably Vans at Zumiez, just to have flat-bottom shoes. I did have this pair of Converse sitting on my shoe rack inside, so I went ahead and put these on.
These are a lot better, but they’re still feeling a little bit loose. That’s something that I wanted to give you guys a warning about do not wear shoes that are loose on your feet. Just don’t do it. If they’re cushy, if they’re soft, don’t do it because what happens is you’re gonna have the sensation that you think you’re moving the board in a certain way, but you’re really just moving your feet inside your shoes.
Another weird sensation that I felt was the feeling that my feet were slipping off the board, and it’s freaky. It’s freaky because you’re going, you know, 11, 12, 13 miles an hour, and say, for instance, your back foot feels like it’s slipping off the board, but in reality, it’s not; it’s your foot slipping inside your shoe. You need to have flat-bottom shoes that are solid, and you need to have your shoes tied on fairly tight so that your foot isn’t slipping inside.
I’ve got some runner socks that have grippy stuff on the bottom. I’m gonna try those next time just to make sure that I don’t feel like my foot is slipping inside my shoe because that sensation is absolutely freaky. I kept looking down at my feet; it felt like my feet were just about to slip off the board. That is one big thing that I wanted to point out.
Commit to the Ride
Another thing that I wanted to point out is that when you first start going, you want to really commit and go with it. There are plenty of videos online about how to get on these things and go. Don’t get on without it being on. If it’s not on, you’re not gonna go anywhere.
So, let’s put the on button here. Now, you also saw in my video earlier that I was wearing a helmet, and I was also wearing wrist guards. I’m not stupid; I don’t want to get hurt.
I’m not out here to break my wrist. So, if you’re just starting out, I do highly recommend that you man up and wear a helmet and some wrist guards. Maybe even some knee pads, shoulder pads, shin guards, whatever you want to do to protect yourself. Just don’t be stupid; just protect yourself.
When you first get on, just commit and go for it. This is one of the main pieces of advice that I have because when you’re moving, it’s actually easier to control the board.
Our driveway here is actually kind of a longer driveway, and the slower you go, the harder it is really to control your balance. It’s kind of like on a motorcycle; if you’re moving, you’re gonna have an easier time on the board. So, that’s one thing: when you get on, just start moving a little bit, and you’ll find it a lot easier.
Trust the Board
The other thing is to trust the board. You hear this a lot with hoverboards: just trust the board.
It’s really true in the case of the Onewheel because the Onewheel will keep you balanced if you just get your center of gravity low and trust the board that it’s going to keep you level and balanced. It’s also very true when you’re going across kind of uneven terrain.
The more you can just push through it and trust the board, the better off you’re going to be.
Understanding Digital Shaping
Another note here that I want to mention is the idea of the different settings, the digital shaping. That’s what they call it; it’s called Digital Shaping 2.0. The idea of that is that the board is either more fluid or tighter in terms of its responsiveness, balance, and everything.
There’s a mode in there called Delirium, and it sounds scary, but after just having ridden this Onewheel board for, you know, three or four miles now, I can tell you for a fact that until you go and just put the board on Delirium, you’re gonna be struggling with the board.
What I found is that the board tries to overcorrect your body weight. A little caution here: I am a big guy. I’m 6’7″, 245-ish pounds, so I’m a lot to keep balanced, a lot to keep upright. I’ve found that allowing my body to do a lot of the balancing and not relying on the board as much in terms of the mode that you have it in, in the digital shaping settings, is crucial. I had it on Mission mode on my first multi-mile run earlier today.
I found myself fighting with the board at times. I knew I needed to shift my weight a different way, and it wanted to push me a different way. I think that’s because it was trying to keep me so kind of in my centre of balance, which would be fine, but I was trying to navigate multiple terrains and surfaces, and that just didn’t work.
I needed to be able to shift the board differently, almost as if I was riding a surfboard or snowboard. I needed to be able to shift that, and I don’t know why my body instinctively wanted to do that. I’m not a surfer, skateboarder, or snowboarder. I’ve said that multiple times now.
Now that I have it on the Delirium setting, it’s so much easier. It is so much easier for me to adjust and adapt and kind of roll with the punches of the terrain because I can tell the board what I want it to do rather than the board trying to force me to do something that I don’t want it to do.
So, at the end of the day, when I say trust the board, trust the board that it can do what you want it to do, but if you have it in, say, the Mission mode, you might find yourself fighting with the board if you’re on uneven terrain. Now, if you’re on just completely smooth pavement, there are no bumps, and yeah, put it in one of the more touring modes of the digital shaping.
It’s great because it keeps you flat, it keeps you level, and all is good. So, you haven’t tried Delirium? Do it. Try Delirium.
The Dismount
Let’s talk about the dismount. The dismount was probably the thing that I had to get used to the most: stopping and then the dismount. There are two ways to dismount. My video is not really to teach you how to ride; it’s for you to hear the things that I wish I had heard before purchasing the board and trying it out for the first time. The dismount has two ways to do it: jump off the board or lift your heel up.
The other method they tell you is to lift your heel up. That deactivates the motor, and you can drop the board. This board is weighted heavy on the left side because that’s the side the battery is on, so it’s going to naturally fall to that side. In fact, if I try to put it to this side and let go, see that? It just falls to the left side. This is also how you know which side is the front and which side is the back.
The side that’s down is your back foot. I do ride the board goofy. I tried doing it normally, but it just doesn’t work the other way. My body functions way better riding it goofy style.
If you go into your iOS settings in the Onewheel side of the iOS settings, you’ll find the Onewheel app. In there, go to the settings, and there’s a little toggle switch for if you ride goofy. Again, I don’t really know what that does for it, but there is a setting in there just so you guys know.
I lift my heel, deactivate the motor, it’ll automatically drop down on the left, and I can very coolly and calmly step off of it. That sounds really great in theory, but it’s actually harder to do than you think. This is the reason why: when I went first several times to try to lift my heel up, naturally, my body weight started falling forward. My body weight started falling forward, and I lost balance. I couldn’t keep balance anymore, and I had to bail on it.
This is what I wish I would have known: counter your weight and bend your right knee. What I mean by that is don’t just try to lean forward. Instead, you can see both knees here.
Of course, I’m in an angled position right now. Bend your knee and kind of lift it this way and push your weight back. So, you’re kind of lifting your heel up and pushing your body weight back.
That way, you can stay level on the board, wait for the motor to deactivate, and then go. It kind of looks something like this: heel off, down, step off. Let me do that one more time so you guys can see that. So, you’re going, you come to a stop, heel up, down, step off, and that is the cooler way to do it.
One other way to do it, which is not advised and you might find yourself doing this, and it’s okay, is if you’re up in this position and you lose your balance, let your feet just slide off the board, and it kind of looks something like this.
Obviously, you do not get any style points for doing it that way, but it works, and you end up not falling on your face when you do it that way. So, don’t be afraid to just let your feet slide off, get on solid ground. Don’t worry about the board.
The board is gonna get beat up. It’s inevitable. It’s going to get beat up. I’ve had this board now for just a couple of days. You can see here already it’s getting chewed up on the bottom. Of course, I’m riding on hand-seeded aggregate concrete here, but just don’t worry about your board. Your board is solid. It’s gonna handle it. It’s gonna get beat up. It’s just the nature of this thing.
Final Thoughts
That’s my advice on it. Super cool devices, super cool hoverboards if you will. I don’t really categorize them as hoverboards because, yes, it’s a board that’s kind of hovering with a wheel, but it’s a Onewheel, and I think it’s in its own category. Obviously, the price puts it in its own category. It’s definitely stepping up, but if you want a nice commuter hoverboard, then the Onewheel+ is definitely the way to go.
One other thing that I’m going to show you here is the hill climbs. This thing climbs up hills like nothing. As you can see here on my driveway, I’ve got a pretty steep driveway going on here.
I haven’t measured this to actually see what the grade is, but my guess is probably about 7 or 8 percent, actually probably closer to about 10 percent over there on that far side. I come up this thing without any issues at all.
The other thing that I wish I would have been warned about, maybe just because I’m not a skateboarder so I’m not used to this, but man, do the calves burn when I’m on this.
You’re balancing, and there are a couple of things going on: your core muscles are working harder, your calves are working harder, your feet are working harder, and my legs were just jello after a couple of miles. What I can tell you is to take some breaks.
Don’t be afraid to step off the board, shake your legs out a little bit if you’re not an experienced skateboarder, snowboarder, or surfer and don’t have that leg stability yet. Just know that after about a mile or two, your legs are gonna be burning, and that leads to fatigue.
When you get to fatigue, if you hit any type of bump in the terrain, your legs are not gonna be responsive, and you’re mentally gonna have to focus more on putting the energy to those legs, to the feet, and really put some focus to it, or you’re just going to eat it.
You will eat it on this board; you will go down on this board. Just be aware of that. If you don’t take some precautions, don’t be afraid. I consider myself to be a pretty athletic guy. I’m huffing and puffing just going around on this hill because you’re really exerting energy when you’re on this board.
Now, after a while, maybe I’ll get used to it, and I won’t exert as much energy because my body is just kind of responding, but I’m actually kind of working now, feeling like I’m getting a little bit of an exercise or a workout, as silly as that might sound on this board. So, don’t be afraid to step off the board once in a while, shake your legs out, give them a rest. But this board is a lot of fun.
I highly recommend picking one up. It certainly could be considered a toy, but in my book, it’s really more of a serious commuting motorized vehicle, if you will. It really is.
I can see people using it for just in-town commutes, casual commutes, and even just kind of like a good get-outdoors workout type of deal because you really are working your core, your legs, your calves, and it’s mental stimulation as well because you’ve got to really think through some of the terrains that you’re riding on.
So, go pick up yourself a Onewheel+. Link in the video description on Youtube here. Subscribe to my channel here. I just throw my life out there and what I do online, and this is one of the things I enjoy doing.
It’s kind of coming to you guys. I wish that I’d seen a video like this before jumping on one of these because I wanted to really know some of the ins and outs that I experienced. So, hopefully, this has helped you guys. Be sure to subscribe to my channel, share it with other people.
I really appreciate the likes as well.
