It’s about time we each take responsibility for saving our climate & stand on our own two wheels! The chart below was made in 2015, see menu for an updated version with far more information.
Note: table is based on information online in 2015. Phunkeeduck details may be incorrect – received no response from the company to confirm. If you see any errors or have any useful suggestions please let me know.
In case you plan to buy one and intuition isn’t telling you which one to go for then you can make a decision matrix using the table. A great technique if it’s done well. Click below to see an example.
The text below is really important if you’re going to learn to ride a self-balancing scooter. It’s based on my own experiences learning the Hovertrax.
Learning to Ride an Electric Self-balancing Scooter
Self-balancing electric foot scooters are fun and convenient but not as safe as you might think. It’s essential that you master the following steps before even considering riding beside a road, in a busy public place or other challenging environment. When learning you will need a safe place with lots of space and a large open flat surface such as a running track, the center of a gymnasium, a tennis court or a playground.
Before going out with your scooter 1. Understand the functions Read the manual and other information carefully and make sure you know how to turn it on, off, and so on. 2. Understand the concept Before you hop on, be sure you understand the concept of how it works and can visualise how the angles of the feet correlate with speed and turning. Tilt forward = go forwards. Tilt back = go backwards. Right tilt forwards, left back = turn left Left tilt forwards, right back = turn right You can practice angling and turning your hands or sit on a chair or edge of a bed putting your feet on the device while it’s switched off pretending you’re riding.
In a safe practice location 3. Getting on Put your dominant foot level on the scooter and bring the other foot up quickly. 4. Getting off Step off behind the scooter keeping one foot level on the platform to prevent the scooter rolling away. 5. Stopping Practice regular stopping as well as abrupt stopping at high speeds. For high speed stopping as you tilt your feet back crouch down with hands level to the ground until you reach a stop. You should aim to be able to come to a complete stop in the shortest possible distance (about 1 to 1.5 m for the Hovertrax at near top speed). 6. Turning Practice turning on the spot (one foot tilting back, the other tilting forward) and turning at speed (one foot level, the other tilting forward). You could use plant pots or other such objects to form a practice slalom course. 7. Reversing Practice going backwards. 8. Reversing & turning Practice going backwards and turning. 9. Stepping off while moving Many foot scooters may get stuck on rough terrain. To prepare for this learn to step off while going at speed. Be extra careful because if when you step off your foot pushes down on one side of the platform the scooter will move in the corresponding direction. It could zoom out from under your feet or even back under your feet. Go slowly in a straight line and then while moving take a quick and little step putting one foot in front of the machine resting on your toes with the heel up. Then follow with a larger step with your other foot flat on the ground. The first foot should stabilize you and stop the machine from rolling on as it goes into the sole of your shoe. 10. Speed & stability Only once you’re ready and have fully mastered the other steps should you very carefully and very gradually have a go at seeing how fast you can go safely maintaining stability. Take multiple goes, each time increasing your speed a little more. Once the speed control tilts you back, or the device strains or wobbles then slow down right away. You must never try to increase the speed beyond this point otherwise the device may not have enough power to keep up with your leaning and you could fall. At speed you must make absolutely sure that you keep both feet as level as possible on the platforms to keep a straight line.
Summary
Understand the concepts and the machine.
Try doing the basic things until they become natural.
Only then progress toward the more advanced things.
I no longer promote the use of ewheels (eucs) given that manufacturers are now making them with such high top speeds which is obviously completely unsafe. So focus is likely to be on scooters, other gadgets and urban commuter systems from now on.
Update in 2020: The Kingsong S series of eWheels are known now to be among the safest. Safety should be your top priority. The Inmotion ewheels also have a good reputation & are the rebranded versions of the original Inventist wheels (such as the Solowheel). Airwheel & various other brands are known to be cheap & of lower quality. A new updated table will hopefully appear here soon but for now see HERE
Gold medal: Solowheel Orbit and Solowheel Extreme each are the winners in three categories, but they are also the most expensive.
Silver medal: Firewheel and Rockwheel also do quite well with each one winning in two categories. Hovertrax wins two categories as well but loses in four – just depends which categories are more important for you.
Bronze medal: What do you reckon? (Perhaps Freeman A4)
Update: Recently a very promising and popular eWheel has been the Gotway which will certainly appear in the next edition of this table.
Personally I like the electric foot scooters because they’re easier to learn (apparently) so I bought Hovertrax which is great fun and very well built although it lacks stability at speed and only works well on smooth surfaces. If you have enough money and you value patent ethics you might wish to buy from Inventist seeing as they hold the patents.
很好的自平衡車的影片 Great Electric Wheel Videos
精彩 Solowheel、Hovertrax、Phunkeeduck、 zBoard Pro 的審查。它也說明安全的重要 Fantastic review of Solowheel, Hovertrax, Phunkeeduck & the zBoard Pro. Also shows how important it is to ride carefully! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JD1xBI6TK50
LPT*（輕量便攜式運輸）正在興起，地球的氣溫也在上升。這個想法是：只要選擇城市裡幾條較長的道路或路線，讓它們成為無車區。一開始可以在週末實施，使用路障封路，之後也許可以永久禁止汽車通行。這個方法簡單、便宜、有效，而且完全可逆。下面的照片大多來自台北，但這個點子幾乎可以應用在任何城市。 LPT* (Lightweight Portable Transport) is on the rise and so is the Earth’s temperature. The idea: Just take a few long roads or routes in a city and make them car-free. At first on weekends, using road blocks, and later perhaps keep them permanently car-free. Simple, cheap, effective, and completely reversible. The pictures below are mostly of Taipei, but this idea could be used in almost any city.
未來新增項目，依照「都市綠流計畫」（詳見此處） Future additions as per ‘the urban flow plan’ (see HERE)
What about the residents parking? Residents would be given free parking nearby, compensation or special access to a side lane along the road on condition they drive below 5mph. Electronic ID could automatically open the gate or barrier if there is one.
This is called induced demand and makes sense when you think about it. As nearby roads have more cars they become less pleasant to drive along so less people will. On the other hand if people have far more pleasant and safer LPT journeys as an option some of them will make that switch.
It’s also worth noting that in the early phase roads nearby the Greenway are likely to have less cyclists and others on LPT allowing more space for drivers in that respect.
What about emergency service vehicles and delivery vehicles? They would be given special access (electronic ID could automatically open the gate or barrier if there is one). It’s highly likely that small lightweight delivery vehicles would emerge rapidly.
我不相信這真的能實現。 「那些說做不到的人，請不要打擾正在做的人。」——喬治·伯納·蕭（George Bernard Shaw）
I don’t believe this can be done. “People who say it cannot be done should not interrupt those who are doing it.” (George Bernard Shaw)
In many places around the world various roads have been made car free and the feedback generally has been very good. See HERE and HERE for examples. The only addition with this plan is to devote the road to LPT rather than just give it to pedestrians alone. As technology improves and transport tools become lighter, smaller, safer and more efficient, and as cities become taller and more densely populated this is just one of those things that will need to happen anyway because it makes sense. Let’s just make sure we do it right.
We also really need to do this to allow people to avoid enclosed spaces together and give them safe, healthy travel options. Bike lanes will quickly become too busy to accommodate everyone safely. This can be done immediately with zero infrastructure!
*LPT (Lightweight Portable Transport) is a term coined by the Peacemaker Foundation meaning any transport tool that is small and light enough to be carried or moved by hand. Examples are bikes, skateboards, rollerskates, scooters, electric wheels (Eucs), self balancing foot scooters (Hoverboards) and Segways.
I no longer promote the use of ewheels (eucs) given that manufacturers are now making them with such high top speeds which is obviously completely unsafe. So focus is likely to be on scooters, other gadgets and urban commuter systems from now on.
Update in 2020: The Kingsong S series of eWheels are known now to be among the safest. Safety should be your top priority. The Inmotion ewheels also have a good reputation & are the rebranded versions of the original Inventist wheels (such as the Solowheel). Airwheel & various other brands are known to be cheap & of lower quality. A new updated table will hopefully appear here soon but for now see HERE
Below is an old post with outdated information
New terminology suggested by the Peacemaker Foundation
The new inventions are great, but our names for them are not: electric “unicycles” are not unicycles because they involve no cycling. “Hoverboards” don’t hover and they’re not boards. Furthermore when real hoverboards appear it will become even more confusing. Here are some suggested names:
Electric wheel or eWheel (electric self-balancing “unicycle” or “euc”) Electric Foot Scooter (Self-balancing Dual Motor Electric Foot Scooter – a “hoverboard”) LPT (Lightweight Portable/Personal Transport: transport involving devices that can be easily carried) Transportable (Portable transport tool)
Self-balancers (self-balancing transport tools – as listed above)
If you can think of better names then please comment or get in touch.
Winners Podium Gold medal: Solowheel Orbit and Solowheel Extreme each are the winners in three categories, but they are also the most expensive.
Silver medal: Firewheel and Rockwheel also do quite well with each one winning in two categories. Hovertrax wins two categories as well but loses in four – just depends which categories are more important for you.
Bronze medal: What do you reckon? Perhaps Freeman A4.
Update: Recently a very promising and popular eWheel has been the Gotway which will certainly appear in the next edition of this table.
Author’s opinion
Personally I like the electric foot scooters because they’re easier to learn (apparently) so I bought Hovertrax which is great fun and very well built although it lacks stability at speed and only works well on smooth surfaces. If you have enough money and you value patent ethics you might wish to buy from Inventist seeing as they hold the patents. Furthermore, as of January 2015 the Solowheels generally gets the best reviews, such as on Amazon.
Great Electric Wheel Videos
I’ve looked around so you don’t have to. Here are some links to some great videos.
The Peacemaker Foundation 