Wheelies news since 2013

Monday 1 February 2016

Pushing for electric unicycles to be legalized!


It's been almost three years since The Wheelies was formed. What began as a simple hobby between 6 people in 2013 has now grown into a community of interest of 4000 members. It's a phenomenon fueled by the cool and exciting nature of wheeling, as well as the friendly and sharing nature of our local community, amongst which new friendships are regularly formed, and exciting developments are willingly shared such as new wheels, maneuvers and cool mods.


But challenges lie ahead. Where we could once wheel freely in parks and PCNs with friends and family, Nparks had now banned us in large part due to legacy problems with errant electric bicycle users. Public perception is also an issue. Some members of the public do not accept EUs, and even called for them to be banned outright without having an understanding on how the wheel works.


An EU operates totally different from e-Bikes and e-Scooters. Although both of them have lower battery wattage, a smaller motor, a smaller wheel, they generate more power and speed than an EU. The reason behind the faster speed in the other wheels is in the momentum and kinetic energy that is gained during movement, which is not possible with an EU.

Most of the EU in the market, the maximum speed is between 18-25km/h and a power rating for 450-800W. A higher rated power is needed to keep the wheel upright and balance given it is a single wheel. Additional power allows the rider (especially) heavy riders to stop safely without risking injury to himself or others around him. High power does not equate to high speed. There are maximum speed limitations within the firmware too; higher-powered motors provide added balance especially in extreme situation e.g. emergency brake, going up/down slope or hump.



Unlike other PEVs, EU is controlled by the firmware. In other words, in terms of enforcement, EU is already self-governed through the firmware. It is extremely unlikely users can hack it since it requires reverse engineering the firmware, which is different for each manufacturer. Modding is also not possible as putting in manufacturer A chip on machine B will render both machines unworkable.
  


The Wheelies also actively participate in various public activities to educate the public about EUs. Examples include LTA Family Day, Chingay 2016, PA Fiesta @ Heartlands, OCBC, Night Fest 2015, Salvation Army Charity event, Wheelies Safety day, Grassroots and RC events and many more. Besides sacrificing our own time on these activities, we even bought additional wheels to serve as training wheels for the public during these events. For our love of EUs and our local community, we felt that we needed to do all of these in order to garner a stronger and more positive public opinion about EUs.

At the end of the day, we believe that if we are united, we will be noticed and our voices will be heard. We are trying our best for the sport, but we are all imperfect and we acknowledge that there can be better ways to achieve our objectives. We encourage and remain open to such ideas, so that at the end of this road, we can all wheel freely and lawfully in Singapore.



6 comments:

  1. It's understandable how the word "motor"induces unreasoning fear in others. But what's unforgivable is when those in authority fail to conduct a proper assessment, and simply follow the "superstitious" herd to ban everything outright. That infamous cyclist caused more damage to that little boy than our EUs could!

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    1. Salaried job and there is no point to rock the boat and risk being sidelined. Thus, It takes everyone in our community to work together to bring the benefits to the larger audience out there. Public sentiments counts and we could do well with some positive sentiments with our form of transportation. If 10 in 10 Singaporeans supported the Wheelies, I am sure our government will be more than happy to engage us. :)

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  2. It is extremely unlikely users can hack it since it requires reverse engineering the firmware, which is different for each manufacturer.

    We are developing from tje start an OpenSource firmware for the generic EUCs :-)
    Right we can control the motor and we can also read the IMU, will not take much time to have the full firmware working.

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    1. Then let's hope you can come out with a better product then what is available today in the market and solve the common problems behind most generic unicycles.

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  3. I am sorry, but i FEAR thet the people behind the BAN are the one who benefit from standard engines, car and scooter sales. I am NINEBOT ONE E rider having almost 4.000 km in 7 month and I do my best to push the appropriate knowledge of the devices not only within people and population of Czech republic, but globally, this is why we are preparing for several month already the launch of WWW.E-MOTION.INTERNATIONAL to connect all electromobility in the world to be stronger counterpart to those who live from petrol. Hope wheelies will join us.

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    1. I am sure like you, many of us have found e-unicycles a valuable part of our daily lives. Keep up the good job in Czech Republic. I am sure the world is a better place with e-unicyclist than the other way round.

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