Today, I decided to test the Solowheel, an urban solution to walkers to stop walking and start gliding in style on the pavement.
After some discussion with Vincent, the distributor of Solowheel in Europe and here I was both feet on the foot pedals on each side of the wheel.
Let’s start with the beginning. What is the Solowheel ? It’s an individual electric way of transportation.
Under the hood there’s a gyro-stabilized electric unicycle. Lean forward and you will ride, lean back and it breaks, can’t be easier!
Ok, now that I had the basics, I push carefully the switch on, put a first foot on the foldable foot platform, the 2nd foot on the other foot platform and I was ready to start my initiation.
First, there’s no noise … Of course it’s electric!
The lateral balance is not easy to find, so I started my first meter of urban glide with the help of Vincent who nicely held my arm. Then, I continued the practice with the help of a handrail.
When I lost balance I just jumped out and the wheel just stopped.
Be careful not to touch the wheel, just the handle and the switch to avoid contact with the moving wheel on your legs or fingers.
Then, I pushed the switch of and on again and hop on to continue the practicing.
After an hour, although I’m not ready to cruise the city, I need to sleep on it and I think that next sessions will be easier and I will leave the handrail and extend my perimeter of autonomy.
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The whole Solowheel is strong and will survive the beginner trials until ready to devour the road (and you can change any part if needed).
The Solowheel is strongly built, the handle is easy to grab and to carry.
Charged in one hour , it will give you an autonomy of 11km/6,35miles, plenty enough to reach the office or cruising downtown.
This is definitively a great urban “personal mover” to consider: compact, easy to store and fast to charge. But like any other activity, no pain no gain, so after a little bit of practice, you’ll be the queen or king of the asphalt!
Specs
. Charged in one hour and half
. 11 km autonomy
. 11kg, 22Lb
. 1000W motor power
. Lithium iron phosphate 122 Wh battery which will last 1000 charge cycles
. Built-in handle to carry it around at the office, in the bus, … but not too far away because it’s heavy
. Priced under the 2Keuros (1.899euros)
ChaseIt or BChased ?
I would ChaseIt because
. it’s really the future of personal transportation for cities like Paris, NY, London, Brussels, … where it will really cut your time walking and expand your perimeter of action without using your car
. it’s a stylish and cool urban way to move around
. it’s easy to charge
. it’s less expensive than a Segway
BChased if
. you don’t want to practice to use it
More info about the Solowheel
. Official French website
. Like SoloWheel Facebook page
. Contact Vincent (vincent@solowheel.fr) for questions or a trial
. US Solowheel website
No sure if people have ‘time’ to get used to it and how is this over bumpy ground? but a great idea and yes I would try it.
It’s worth taking the time to get used to it. For bumpy roads just bend the knees, it’s similar to saying or inline skating.
In a crowded city, does it still have utility, or is it something that will just cause a lot of accidents?
Also, how is it over potholes, uneven pavement, etc?
I found a video on YouTube where the guy on the Solowheel was riding in the crowd and basically it was fine. For pothole and obstacles, you just have to bend your knees.
Excellent electric unicycle
😊