Hacker News Reader

Comment by Glide | Hacker News Reader

Is there something more inherent that makes an electric unicycles more dangerous, other than they make them go ridiculous speeds?

I would have thought the larger wheel on an EUC made it more stable and the higher power makes it not have to nosedive. I kind of prefer e-bikes because they are well… normal.

View on HN

I think it really comes down to the fact that these single wheelers don't support the operator without power. You can stand on skateboard, slow down, and come to a complete halt and it's still working as intended. On a bike you will eventually topple from one side or the other, but the way a bikes works means the rider is supported in a natural position for a long time.

When the one-wheeler loses power it just nosedives, the front hits the ground and they halt immediately.

I wonder if they could save some of the danger by placing small, unpowered wheels in the front and back so when they dip they can at least keep moving.

This - the product has horrible human factors engineering in the low power scenario:

The rider will always be ahead of his/her center gravity when the board starts decelerating unexpectedly, and it's irrelevant whether it's the front digging in, or the thing just decelerating when approaching low battery.

The small wheels on the front and back are an add-on, called fangs (https://land-surf.com/products/fangs%e2%84%a2-2-1). I’ve had them on my Onewheel for years and I’m not sure they’ve ever actually saved me on a nosedive. The front of the board comes down with a lot of force very quickly and even if the little wheels do keep the board rolling, the rider has been rapidly shoved forward and will likely go over the front anyway.

Even on my longboard I really brace myself when letting off the throttle at speed. The regenerative brakes provide a jolt. Also it’s possible to accidentally hit the brake which would likely be a wipe out. It could be because I’m heavier now than my younger days. Forward momentum is a bitch on these speeds.

Unfortunately electric longboards have a pretty common failure mode where they instantly and suddenly brake with full force. I've had it happen once (although i was going slow enough not to bail) and seen it many times.

Those would look like training wheels and looks are everything in these devices.

Isn't the question about one wheel(skateboard with gokart wheel) vs electric unicycle (single bigger wheel between the legs closer driving position to real unicycle)? Not about one wheel vs other more typical vehicles. Both have one wheel but they are two completely different things.

Active vs passive stability

If the e-bike dies you’re just on a bike, if the single wheel dies you’re on an uncontrollable unbalanceable wheel

EUC's are safer. (Unless you're going ridiculous speeds, like you said.)

They are more stable unless something catastrophic happens (power cuts out), and if worst comes to worst you fall down in a more "natural" posture, like a running man would. Falling sideways from a bike or scooter is way worse.

It's unstable by design and can't really brake hard without getting rid of the rider really fast. If a careless rider/driver/pedestrian gets in your way, you'll likely be able to stop your e-bike in time as opposed to crashing on a monowheel.

I’ve only watched some videos but the balance part of the unicycle seems to have a big learning curve. The speed is what worries me the most. I’m thinking anything with a motor should probably have a seat.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com