Beginner Seeking Guide: Riding On The Street

  • Thank you everyone for taking the time to share your knowledge. The community in here is awesome!
    Hoping I find more Canadians who uses OW.

    1. Yes, bike lane if available, right side if not (I'm a rightie) so I can better eyeball parked cars. For left turns I generally move to the left lane and turn as a car. But it's very situational. If I'm not comfortable with the traffic flow, I may switch to "pedestrian" mode.

    2. Yes, use the skateboard rule. Ride slowly and respectfully. I'm comfortable enough on the OW that I can basically move at pedestrian speed if necessary. Try to give a wide berth to walkers. Sometimes not possible to move on NYC sidewalks, in which case I carry.

    3. Helmet almost always. Knee pads if I'm riding aggressively, never elbow pads (though I did get a nice scrape trying to beat my speed record recently so probably wouldn't have been a bad idea). But generally if I'm riding "within the envelope" they're not necessary.

    4. Use voice, have pounded on cars on rare occasions, but that situation can escalate, so usually just yell.

  • I go back and forth on street, bike lane and sidewalk and i love the freedom sensation it gives.

    You go faster on streets, because the ground (asphalt) is better and everything around moves faster. That can be dangerous, so you need to know your limits.
    One thing i miss on street is a rearview mirror, to constantly check the distance with the car behind. Most drivers are curious and slow down. Some dont care. And very few are pissed off and get dangerous (no distance, they try to push you).
    I'd love to have a kind of lidar telling if a car is accelerating on me.
    i would say street is an option if there is no car or if the traffic is moving at the same speed as your (or lower).

    Getting on sidewalk after street is kind of relaxing but you still need your brain 100% alert to not hurt someone, or even scare someone. Always yield to pedestrians.
    Frequent dangers are people suddenly getting on your way from nowhere (acturally from a parked car or a building :). Watch for store entrance.
    People suddently changing directions (as we do when we are pedestrians !)
    And leashed animals suddenly blocking the sidewalk. I had once a leashed dog jumping at me.

    There is definily less friction in a bike lane (most people going around 20 km/h).
    One danger here would be to fall, as the bike lanes (in Paris) are narrow with a small concrete wall on the side. That means there is no room to fall safely.

    all this gets harder when it rains on your face...
    But overall i love it !

  • Great questions OP

    You asked all the ones I had for me ;-)

    As I eagerly await my first board of any kind since I was a teen (early 30s now) I am both growing more excited and a bit anxious over the falls that will undoubtedly occur.

    Another question for the experienced riders...

    How worried should we newbies really be of sudden cut offs and/or nose dives? Are they truly 99% of the time human error or is there a real threat of getting tossed on pavement for not fault of your own. That's the main thing as I read throw all the forums that worries me.

    Also...any one wheel couples aka those who now ride with their wife or gf? Any tips on precautions for over zealous better halfs? Proactive question for someone who has a wife that will need hers not too long after I finally get mine I'm sure...

    Overall my plan is to practice daily in a large park by my house that has both tons of grass and paved walkways until I'm bored before I take it to the public streets...

  • elbow&whrist protection!

  • @JayWhy
    I'm also waiting on my first onewheel and been having similar questions. I really appreciate the OP and everyone's detailed answers. Seems like a great forum so far, been spending a good amount of time reading posts, watching you tubes, etc. Looking forward to hearing how everyone does with their learning curve once onewheels are shipped.

  • Not much of a learning curve. My 3 year old can cruise around the house with minimal assistance.

  • I think bottom line, be safe learning the sensor, motor capabilities, ect. and know with time it's definitely possible to conquer the streets, sidewalk, trails, beach and everywhere else. Remember you can always hop of the board and walk away if you don't feel comfortable riding in an area and most of all HAVE FUN! No lift tickets required :D

  • @slydogstroh

    You still cray.

  • @bazzingapunk where are you located?

  • @Waterloo1wheeler Downtown Toronto. I guess you're in Loo?

  • @bazzingapunk yes sir! That's awesome! There's another guy here in missisuga, we will have to make a group here for ride meet ups.

  • Hey what's up I am in mississauga from what I understand I will have the first one wheel + in Canada LOL!

  • the best advice i could is that you can't worry about your one wheel getting scratched its gonna happen and don't be afraid to push the limits of your board and really see what it can do the top speed is alot faster than it says on the site mine is just a little under 26 miles per hour but most importantly have fun customize it and make it your own.

  • @jew_fro_1009 What app tells you that your top speed is 26?

  • Mine goes 15mph safely and that's it.... go any faster and face goes into pavement. So, Mabe if you weigh 100 lbs...

  • @dcosmos New FM app shows me at 25.2 with several witnesses on this forum. That's my fast board, V1. My 2nd v1 OW will only go about 17mph before you feel death creaping up on you, and maxed out at 20mph pretty much free wheeling down a slope.. Not sure if it's a degradation issue, calibration,or just inconsistency in manufacturing/production but I have a v1 board that I'll put against a + any day. I've ridden the + and got 20mph off the bat and there is prob more there but it was someone else's + and it was a different feeling. With less/no push back your nose stays close to the ground so if anything happens it feels like you would have less time to regain balance.
    How's that for a bunny trail

  • Oh ya, back on topic, look both ways before you cross the street.

  • @dcosmos @Aaron-Broward-FL @wr420 So our board was going fine and the top speed I had on that thing was 26.4mh(shown on the Owheelbuddy app), a week or so after that board stopped working and sent it back said something wrong with battery because no lights anything turning on. We got it back and the top speed on that app was still 26.4 and on the FM app it didn't have a top speed so I was cool with trying to get up to 26.4(or close) on the FM app I've gotten up to 24.4mph since we got it back high speeds aren't seeming impossible, its almost to easy to go over the pushback with the new digital shaping not sure if others feel this as well with V1's. I feel I can go faster on a dirt road or gravel lately because pavement hurts more than gravel, I think I'm more confident on gravel/dirt because my nasty scars and crashed have happened on the pavement and the more minor crashes happen on dirt roads. So @bazzingapunk if you ever feel like trying to beat your top speed but not get too beat up if you fall, go to a gravel road that isn't very bumpy and always be cautious of bumps because trust me you don't want to be going 23-25 mph and hit a huge bump, long story short my elbow has a couple more scars and my middle finger on my right hand will never close all the way and it's a bit crooked, also needed a new helmet.

  • @OffRoadOW Thanks for the explanation. This summer I will challenge the pushback and try for a higher top speed. My boards, now both one year old, really howl at around 17 mph so it seems right to me that pushback should activate at that speed. I still look forward to video of someone hitting 25 mph on a V1. I realize it's hard to prove absolutely (unless a radar gun is used).

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