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CPSC calls for full recall of all Onewheel self-balancing electric skateboards

cpsc.gov

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Re: CPSC calls for full recall of all Onewheel self-balancing electric skateboards

#281

Post by MivLives »

0_____0 wrote: post #42
roughly wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I picked up an e-bike not too long ago and took a bit to decide between class 2 and class 3 - I didn’t have enough experience with a bike and a speedometer to gauge whether the 20mph limit on class 2 would be enough. Having ridden around for a while now, yeah, absolutely agree - anything over ~15-20mph is above my comfort zone for “able to adjust to sudden changes in the environment.” Folks who get the “class 4”s are…

A new e-bike rider who suddenly is capable of 20mph and has no experience to the contrary might assume (wrongly) that they can navigate safely at that speed. Cyclists who can maintain 20+ mph on flat ground (not at all uncommon!) will have many more riding hours under their belts, and the commensurate handling skills and instincts.

The other thing is someone on a pedal bike hitting 20+ is generally doing it in an area that can handle it. An ebike you can get to 20 plus in half a block.

Re: CPSC calls for full recall of all Onewheel self-balancing electric skateboards

#282

Post by sleepybrett »

partdavid wrote: post #74
pram wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It happens at low speeds too! I hit a pothole on my bike and flew off the front and had a concussion/sternum fracture, and I was going like >5mph. I couldn’t believe it. It has made me permanently scared of electric bikes. (yes I was wearing a helmet thankfully or I might actually be dead)

Why electric bikes specifically?

this doesn't seem like an 'electric bike' problem, more like a 'bike' problem. Hit the same pothole on a non-electric bike, what's the difference. He says he was going ~5mph which is not that fast...

Re: CPSC calls for full recall of all Onewheel self-balancing electric skateboards

#283

Post by sleepybrett »

sillysaurusx wrote: post #48
aksss wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Good summary. I would just add that "can't supply enough power" is a state the board can enter into either in lower battery levels or (more often) when a rider has put their center of mass too far forward, causing the board to work harder to stay under them, while also moving at a higher rate of speed or accelerating - the board can't give enough power to maintain this. Pushback is to be respected, but the user can a…

Those comments are nuts. https://www.reddit.com/r/funny/comments/ywkg0y/the_scorpion_... They’re mostly all like “Yeah OneWheels are cool but my buddy leaned too far forward once and now his jaw’s wired shut for 6 weeks” https://www.reddit.com/r/funny/comments/ywkg0y/the_scorpion_... Or “I saw a guy almost die on one of these” https://www.reddit.com/r/funny/comments/ywkg0y/the_scorpion_... Or “Yeah a bunch of my frie…

yeah go browse /r/multicopters to see people who have absolutely shredded their hands because they thought the copter was disarmed when they go to pick it up.

Re: CPSC calls for full recall of all Onewheel self-balancing electric skateboards

#284

Post by MivLives »

rainsurf wrote: post #54

I strongly disagree with this recall. I own a Onewheel (XR) and have ridden nearly ~1,000 miles on it in a variety of conditions. I've only had one incident and it was entirely my fault (riding at night without proper lights and hit a pothole). The Onewheel definitely has a learning curve. Like most things in life if you are patient in learning it and respect the limits it is entirely safe. I think the safeguards One…

The training mode at 12 mph is there for a reason.

I'm in the same boat as you, I've got 1k miles on mine (more!) when I sold it. Never got seriously injured, and hadn't really crashed since the beginning. It was all the stories in the riders chats that made me switch to something else. It's fun but I like my collar bone as it is.

Re: CPSC calls for full recall of all Onewheel self-balancing electric skateboards

#285

Post by reiderrider »

I purchased the OneWheel XR in 2016 and think it’s an engineering marvel. It has on occasion glitched while riding which has led to some falls. Speed and torque have degraded but it has outlasted my last 3 laptops combined. Anytime you get on a skateboard you are taking a risk.

Re: CPSC calls for full recall of all Onewheel self-balancing electric skateboards

#286

Post by strix_varius »

mint2 wrote: post #262
mikestew wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The device tips its nose forward and dumps its rider on their head. There is no need to compare to anything if a device has this behavior. If the battery runs out, I expect the device to come to a stop, not throw me on my ass. I'm pretty sure even a paramotoring rig that runs out of fuel isn't going to immediately hurt me, and those things fly .

Try an Evolve skateboard control. Also google problems with those boards. It’s frequently reported to do all sorts of things. I’m not sure why onewheel is singled out. Any electric skateboard is equally dangerous. Even if the control doesn’t make it easy to over apply brakes, cutting power when going at anything over 12mph is very likely to cause “eating it” if in bad stance. Definitely going to be a problem over 15…

As a onewheel owner, this response is missing something very important: because it has one wheel, it doesn't matter, even a little, what kind of "posture" you're in when the board blips. You go flying, end of story. Electric boards with > 1 wheel all have some degree of natural kinetic stability.

Re: CPSC calls for full recall of all Onewheel self-balancing electric skateboards

#287

Post by brokenmachine »

butterguns wrote: post #152
ramesh31 wrote: post #119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Knowing how to fall is such an incredibly important life skill, it's baffling to watch people who never learned it. As a ski instructor, you could instantly tell from their first fall the kids who would get it and stick with it from the ones who would be sitting in the lodge pouting after an hour.

I know how to fall (intellectually). How do I translate that into the real world? I took a nasty fall on my MTB this summer, broke my shoulder. Everything was instinctual and a blur. Can we somehow retrain our innate responses?

I skied when I was young and later rollerbladed on ramps and street and did adult gymnastics classes for fun. Definitely learned to roll out of a crash and body awareness in the air. You just get used to rolling instead of trying to stop yourself.

I used to ride a racing bike to work and had to slam the brakes on suddenly once when an idiot in a car suddenly turned in front of me. I went over the handlebars, but instinctively did a forward somersault/roll and was pretty much unhurt except a slight graze. It happened so fast that I have no idea how I did it. In the air I must have recognized that my body was spinning and I just tucked into it until I was the right way up again.

So I think the answer is just practice. Do silly shit until you learn how to land it. A foam pit makes it less painful. :-)

Re: CPSC calls for full recall of all Onewheel self-balancing electric skateboards

#288

Post by MivLives »

ok_dad wrote: post #86

I never realized how fast 25mph was until I fell off my two wheeled electric scooter going that speed and was slowed down by a bus-head impact after I braked a bit. Luckily I was wearing a helmet and long pants, but I still broke my back in several places. A cop that saw me whiff it said I was probably only going 10 by the time I hit the bus. I believe all of these electric whatever should be lawfully mandated to go…

You're probably right. I'm in Seattle and the street scooters all cap at 15, my personal one caps at 20. That 5mph is a surprisingly big difference.

Re: CPSC calls for full recall of all Onewheel self-balancing electric skateboards

#289

Post by strix_varius »

mikestew wrote: post #222
easygenes wrote: post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ever tried to brake too hard on a motorcycle? You can get them to slip out in all sorts of bad ways or just plain flip pretty easily without finesse and skill. Certain sports just come with more risks. In some cases they’re niche enough with the right communities that they self police or fly under the radar and escape regulation. Others wind up with restrictions and licensing requirements. In one wheel’s case it’s a…

Ever tried to brake too hard on a motorcycle? Yes. If I turn off the ABS and traction control, I'm skilled enough to lift the back wheel. But you know what has never happened? Having the front brake lock all on its own because I dared run the bike to empty. ...and you’re still best off never letting the battery die. ...lest the board cast you to the ground in a dangerous manner. Which, from my reading, is why the CPS…

Exactly, this is the core issue. It also doesn't only happen when the onewheel runs out of juice.

There are endless reports of it just having some sort of control fault and blipping for an instant (I've experienced this myself, thankfully at low speed). A tenth of a second blip at 20mph = instant launch.

Ironically, the other end of the energy spectrum also gives onewheels trouble. If you charge your board too much (leave it plugged in without discharging it), the battery cells become unbalanced, leading to similar blips. This is a known issue - when I reported it (still under warranty), the support rep had a script for how I could fix the issue.

Re: CPSC calls for full recall of all Onewheel self-balancing electric skateboards

#290

Post by MivLives »

Havoc wrote: post #231
ok_dad wrote: post #86

I never realized how fast 25mph was until I fell off my two wheeled electric scooter going that speed and was slowed down by a bus-head impact after I braked a bit. Luckily I was wearing a helmet and long pants, but I still broke my back in several places. A cop that saw me whiff it said I was probably only going 10 by the time I hit the bus. I believe all of these electric whatever should be lawfully mandated to go…

The EU has speed limits on ebikes. 20kmh I believe (while not pedalling) which is just under your 15

US has this too for not peddling, in some states. In the US a class 2 is throttle only (no pedaling) hit 15. A class 3 is up to 25 as long as you're peddling.
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