I'm having a hard time understanding why you'd ride an EUC when you can get an electric scooter. Or bicycle.
Other than to show off, of course, not that there's anything wrong with that.
Other than to show off, of course, not that there's anything wrong with that.
- It can be easily combined with public transit. Its much smaller footprint causes less trouble for you and those around you. You can place it behind your legs while sitting and keep between legs while staying.
- Absolutely no issues with stairs and escalators (at least with the models on the lighter side).
- You can get it with yourself into office. In many places you can not bring your bicycle or scooter into a desk space or it will be strongly frowned upon.
- It does not take much space when stored at home.
- Because of the smaller footprint and lack of protruding parts like handlebars, it's much safer and easier to move in a relatively dense pedestrian traffic.
- It easily fits into a car's trunk.
However, is it actually true that people would frown on an electric scooter but not an EUC? They seem to have a pretty similar footprint. I see people zipping around on models that don't have any handlebars.
>I see people zipping around on models that don't have any handlebars.
Do you mean hoverboards? In my understanding, your description does not fall under the definition of "scooter": https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/scooter
To compare I was fine taking my one wheel in the store, carrying it. There's something awkward about taking an escooter, in the same way you wouldn't roll your bike around a grocery store.
Also in my experience escooters are much harder to lock then bikes. Being able to just take an EUC or one wheel inside and stick it under my desk at work is a good thing to me.
This feeling may be different for other people, but for me it is the most fun mode of transport ever, and I have tried the majority of them.
The onewheel is genuinely fun to ride and control. It does require a lot more attention than a bike. And I also never felt comfortable riding it faster than my ability to outrun it, which meant that it's never exactly ideal for long commutes (see my other comment above about the safety if interested).
For long distance and commuting, a bike is unbeatable IMHO. Comfortable, safer at speed. Electric or not.
I never saw the point on e-scooters, and don't own any for this reason. I feel more in control and have better ability to manouver and recover with a onewheel than an e-scooter, but the e-scooter requires almost zero brain to use, so there's that. The e-scooters have much bigger range too, and are less tiring to use.
I wish I could try an EUC. I suspect it has similar characteristic to the "flow" mechanics of the onewheel which would make it appealing, but I wonder how fast I would actually push it comfortably before wearing a full-face helmet.
I used to have a one wheel I commuted on. It was fine. I was fine getting it up to full speed a lot and had a good commute for it (mostly flat, mostly bike lanes). At some point you realize they can break 20 in the right conditions. This is a stupid line of thought I suggest no one reading this follow if they get one. Didn't crash but I could have. Always wear safety gear (I have a replaced cracked helmet to show why).
Bikes are the best, locking is the worst part about them. If they had a bike I didn't have to lock you'd never get me on anything else.
Would also love to do more then a few demo rides on an EUC. From what I've been told by riders who've done both they're much harder than a one wheel. I've honestly kinda wondered about safety on them. On the one wheel if I crashed, I normally ended up falling backwards or forwards off it and rolling. On EUC it feels hard to fall anyway besides forwards or backwards without getting your feet tangled in it. Those things are heavy and fast, I'd hate to see what they can do to ankle bones.
How do you handle an escooter in that situation?
I've seen the "carry handle" in action on a EUC, and it's pretty convenient for that. Held vertical takes next to no space on the ground so it's not much different than having a trolley.
I don't. I just can't take the escooter to the store. I can really only commute on it as I can't really do anything with it when I get to a store/bar/whatever. My friends may or may not be able to fit it depending the apartment size. Now that I'm laid off I'm probably going to try to sell the scooter.
Those trolley handles look great. My next PEV is probably going to be an EUC of some stripe. I like that there's more than one brand after watching Future Motion get more restrictive and have more problems with their recent releases.
I think I am more persuaded by the EUC than by the electric scooter because of its speed and maneuverability? I'm not sure, but it seems to have similar problems as the bike.