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HomeIce ClimbingOneWheel Pint S Assessment: The Good, the Dangerous, and the Crashy

OneWheel Pint S Assessment: The Good, the Dangerous, and the Crashy

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I used to be prepared to like the brand new OneWheel Pint S.

Although I usually gravitate towards non-electric transportation, there’s an plain attraction to those hoverboard-like creations. Because the EV market has grown crowded with electrified scooters, bikes, and skateboards, OneWheel has earned — and maintained — a loyal following.

And that’s regardless of ongoing controversy over the relative security of those units. After 4 individuals reportedly died whereas driving them, the corporate was compelled by federal regulators final yr to recall each unit available in the market (that’s greater than 300,000).

That is the context through which OneWheel has dropped the Pint S, an up to date entry-level mannequin with an off-road-capable tire and a bigger platform. It comes with further security options meant to stop lethal accidents — in addition to greater speeds than the unique Pint.

My expertise with the Pint S was outlined by polarizing extremes: At its finest, OneWheel delivers a transcendent driving expertise in contrast to anything I’ve tried. However I additionally don’t assume the brand new security options change the basic dangers related to driving these highly effective electrical skateboards.

In brief: The OneWheel Pint S affords extra energy, efficiency, and security options than the model’s earlier entry-level fashions. It’s quick, responsive, and (when you’ve obtained the hold of it) deeply fulfilling on both clean streets or simple off-road trails. Nevertheless, they’re additionally dangerous machines that may get you severely harm — as I found first-hand.


  • 4 mph quicker than unique Pint

  • Roomier platform for ft

  • Versatile tire for street or path

  • Responsive and super-fun to trip


  • Steep studying curve

  • Not handy/sensible

  • Not for risk-averse riders

OneWheel Pint S Assessment

To be clear: I view myself as an apparent goal for OneWheel.

Not solely do I like being outdoors and pursuing excessive sports activities, I grew up with media that fantasized about futuristic units like OneWheel lengthy earlier than they turned a technological actuality. That normally got here from popular culture targeted on time journey.

From Marty McFly cruising on his hoverboard in Again to the Future: Half II to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles dashing down cyberpunk streets in Turtles in Time — the “float life” had gained a everlasting place in my psyche by the point I used to be 12 years previous.

Nevertheless, it shortly turned clear that utilizing the OneWheel Pint S within the context of real-world physics is one thing else completely. Studying the fundamentals of those machines takes time and dedication. Mastering them would probably take for much longer.

You’re not simply studying stability atop a single wheel — you’re studying collaborate with intuitive software program that’s making guesses about what you need primarily based solely on the motion and placement of your ft.

Diehard OneWheel followers with years of expertise might dismiss any criticism of the machines as mere alarmism. But it surely’s honest to level out that the OneWheel isn’t a grab-and-go system just like the rentable e-scooters or e-bikes which have proliferated in main cities. For me, the Pint S was each extra enjoyable than these — and extra difficult.

onewheel pint s city rideonewheel pint s city ride
I’ve no images of myself driving the Pint S on streets, just like the above, as I used to be too busy falling; (photograph/OneWheel)

Day 1 Testing: The Issues of Crowded Streets

In relation to the training curve of the Pint S, or any OneWheel, your mileage will probably differ.

I used to be initially stunned at how a lot issue I confronted on my first day. Fortunately, I’ve a grassy, lonely path close to my condominium that served as the proper runway for locating my stability.

The Pint S, like all the model’s new S-Collection, comes with 4 driving modes accessed by way of the OneWheel app in your smartphone. The primary of those, Redwood, serves because the newbie’s mode, with a prime velocity of 12 mph and medium responsiveness.

It took me about an hour to seek out my heart of gravity on the Pint S. Due to the treaded tire (an improve from the unique Pint), I may observe within the relative security of a simple path the place falls have been unlikely to harm.

I quickly graduated myself to relax neighborhood streets, the place the concrete proved a neater, if riskier, floor. Then I made a decision to make a visit to the nook retailer utilizing a motorcycle path that navigates intersections and a mixed-use path of walkers, runners, and cyclists. This, it turned out, was a really dangerous selection on my half.

onewheel pint s heroonewheel pint s hero
On lonely trails like this, driving the Pint S is sort of transcendent; (photograph/Andrew McLemore)

Dismounts and Risks

First off, the OneWheel “fender,” which covers the middle wheel, turned out to be completely important. OneWheel was good sufficient to ship me a fender, however they’re offered individually, and I wished to know the way it labored with out one.

My recommendation for these trying to attempt these? Purchase the fender. On a number of events, the uncovered wheel sucked within the backside of my denims, sending me sprawling into streets with shifting vehicles earlier than I may react.

My different first-day conclusion was the essential significance of mastering the dismount. Like touchdown an airplane, stopping the Pint S felt like essentially the most troublesome (and most necessary) a part of the approach.

Early on, a OneWheel consultant suggested me to depend on the SimpleStop perform. When turned on, the function permits the rider to lean again on the rear ft, inflicting the system to decelerate, roll backward, and are available to relaxation on its “tail.”

Regardless of the title, SimpleStop nonetheless takes time to good — and solely labored for me in very best circumstances. So that you’ll additionally must study the emergency “two-foot hop-off” dismount. This model requires a small leap from the board, and carries its personal dangers.

For any velocity over 1 mph, the Pint S will maintain shifting with one foot on the board. Training the “hop-off” resulted in loads of exhausting falls for me, because the OneWheel zips out from beneath your ft when you dismount incorrectly. Even when I leapt off with out harm, the OneWheel typically saved going — typically proper into the road or off the trail.

This made me really feel like an imminent hazard to each individual or automobile round me. After my third exhausting fall into the concrete from dangerous dismounts, I made a decision to vary the context of my testing.

Onewheel Pint S (forest)Onewheel Pint S (forest)
The Pint S works nice on simple trails like these; (photograph/OneWheel)

Day 2 Testing: Driving Modes & Haptic Buzzes

To be clear, the options described above are usually not new. They’ve been a part of the essential options of OneWheel fashions for not less than 5 years.

After spending 4 hours on a Friday afternoon studying these fundamentals, I continued my Pint S journey with extra targeted testing the next day. As an alternative of glorified sidewalks close to busy streets, I drove to a lonely bike path in southeast Atlanta, the place I may observe on clean concrete away from different individuals or automobiles.

This time, I’d check out some totally different driving modes, and see if I may perceive the extra security options added by OneWheel in late 2023 after the recall. The change included two updates: haptic buzz and Pushback.

The primary is a vibration meant to alert riders when the board detects a scenario that might lead to a crash. It’s meant to activate when riders expertise prime speeds, excessive torque, or low battery. These haptic buzzes work along with Pushback, which lifts the board’s “nostril” to let riders know after they’re pushing the bounds.

At first I saved to the Redwood driving mode. After a number of hours of driving (I’m getting higher!), I lastly felt a “haptic buzz” as I reached the mode’s prime velocity. With some hesitation, I converted to Pacific, the primary of three different modes, all with an elevated max velocity of 16 mph.

As I experimented with greater speeds, I discovered that the haptic buzzes turned a bit extra frequent, particularly if I used to be going uphill at a good clip. Solely two or 3 times did I really feel the Pushback. Basically, these options felt like a good method to try to forestall accidents from both overzealous novices or hardcore tricksters.

In my case, nevertheless, they nonetheless didn’t forestall a debilitating crash.

onewheel pint s carryingonewheel pint s carrying
Carrying across the Pint S isn’t simple; (photograph/Andrew McLemore)

A Be aware on Comfort

Maybe I’m lacking one thing, however I don’t assume the phrase “comfort” belongs inside a metropolis block of the OneWheel Pint S. I’ve seen the phrase used many occasions to explain OneWheels, together with for commuter use — however I don’t actually get it.

The Pint S weighs 27 kilos and is awkwardly formed. It does have a steel deal with for one-handed carry, however that will get tiresome actual quick. As quickly as you encounter an impediment you may’t “float” over — just like the closed part of path proven under — you’ll have to hold it. And that’s simpler holding it like a child than by the skinny steel deal with.

When you run out of battery, or the machine overheats, you’ll additionally end up hauling this round. There’s little question that it’s enjoyable as hell to trip. However attempting to make use of this virtually, like working to the nook retailer, appears a bit foolish.

Possibly that works for somebody dwelling in San Francisco. It’s exhausting to think about safely locking this up at a motorcycle stand, or stashing it beneath a cart whereas purchasing on the grocery retailer. However to every their very own.

onewheel pint s closed trailonewheel pint s closed trail
When you encounter a closed path like this, with the one various a two-lane street with no shoulder — you’ll need to hump it with the Pint S in your arms; (photograph/Andrew McLemore)

Day 3: Chic Day Ends Badly

By the third day of my weekend with the Pint S, I had largely gotten over my beginner hesitations. I’d taken many falls in my first and second days, and got here near critical harm. However now I used to be fortunately cruising, pulling off SimpleStops and hop-offs with no downside.

I returned to the bike path close to Panola Mountain, and spent 3 hours of almost uninterrupted driving by way of 20 miles of a concrete path surrounded by stunning fall foliage. This was the second I lastly grasped the hype about OneWheels.

Certain, it’s not precisely train. Your ft and legs really feel a bit sore after extended driving, however that’s about it. Fairly than targeted bodily effort, the Pint S introduced me to a relaxed, meditative house. I began imagining how I’d get pleasure from driving a OneWheel after long-distance path runs or bike rides, giving my physique a break whereas nonetheless having fun with the outside.

I additionally obtained to check out the off-road tire on a spread of surfaces, because the bike path was typically coated in piles of leaves, mud, or sand. The Pint S traversed the primary two admirably, however couldn’t handle even shallow patches of sand with out issue.

At one level, I took it off-trail for an hour, testing it in opposition to steep granite inclines coated with free pebbles. At sluggish speeds, the Pint S proved sturdy and dependable, touring over the rocky terrain with no hitch. I even experimented with small jumps off rocky cabinets, although I shortly realized that pulling off stunts with a OneWheel was a degree of talent that might take months or years to grasp.

onewheel pint s on rockonewheel pint s on rock
I used to be impressed with how simply the Pint S dealt with rocky terrain like this; (photograph/Andrew McLemore)

The totally charged battery lasted for over 3 hours of steady use — however I nonetheless wasn’t able to cease driving. Once I arrived again at my automotive, I nonetheless had 14% of juice and determined to maintain going till I drained the battery. This proved to be one other mistake.

About 10 minutes later, as I used to be driving uphill on the concrete bike path and going about 15 mph — I hit one thing. I nonetheless don’t know what it was. Maybe a burly pine cone or an sadly formed rock.

Regardless, it proved an immovable object for the Pint S and popped me straight down into the pavement. The influence was strongest in opposition to my palms and wrists, ripping aside the strap of my protecting gear and partially dislocating my left elbow.

My transcendent trip — and Pint S testing — had all of the sudden come to an abrupt finish.

onewheel pint s injuryonewheel pint s injury
Hand wasn’t harm too dangerous, however I couldn’t use my left arm for weeks after, due to the elbow harm; (photograph/Andrew McLemore)

Last Ideas

Any outside sport comes with dangers, and OneWheel’s leaders — compelled to confront claims of accidents and deaths on their boards — argue that the model has gotten a foul rap. Responding to final yr’s recall from the U.S. Shopper Product Security Fee, founder and CEO Kyle Doerkson mentioned, “OneWheels are as protected as any board sport.”

I can’t declare to know if that’s true. Nevertheless, I don’t assume the Pint S is in the identical league as a skateboard or scooter. And it’s clearly rather more difficult than e-bikes or e-scooters. It’s obtained a motor with a thoughts of its personal, which is the supply of each profound pleasure and critical danger.

For these all in favour of attempting out a OneWheel, the Pint S is a transparent improve from the unique Pint. And at $1,400 MSRP, it solely prices few hundred {dollars} additional. When you fall in love and trip it for 1000’s of miles, maybe you’ll get to get pleasure from the additional velocity as much as 20 mph. If not, even newbies like me will recognize the burlier tire and skill to keep away from paved roads.

Only a week after my harm, I drove previous Atlanta’s Halloween bike trip, with a whole lot of costumed cyclists and not less than a half-dozen OneWheelers, typically driving the model’s bigger and quicker fashions. I used to be impressed by their capacity, although I can’t think about ever utilizing these in visitors.

To be honest, I already miss driving the OneWheel Pint S, and a sensation nearer to flight than something I’ve skilled. However I gained’t be hopping again on one any time quickly.



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