Wheelies news since 2013

Monday 29 February 2016

Top 5 electric unicycles in February




RANKING


BRAND & MODEL


BRAND & MODEL

RANKING LAST MONTH




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1



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2



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3


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* Based on estimated figures from sales of electric unicycles in Singapore http://thewheelies.sg/shop/ as well as TWG members registration

Friday 26 February 2016

V8s, the "Crocodile" wheel

Eyu (鳄鱼 means crocodile) is a manufacturer of electric unicycle (not related to Crocodile Garment). I remembered coming across this particular brand 1.5 years ago. During that time, it was one of the few brands that produced long distance wheel (80km). While it is very compelling to have a long distance wheel, Eyu V series was not considered for the Singapore market as it was visually not attractive and the brand is not well received in China.
One of Eyu's long distance wheel
Fast forward to 2016, the very same makers launched a new 8 inch wheel known as V8s wheel. Weighing only at 6.1 kg. it is indeed one of the lightest wheel, if not the lightest. While being light has its advantages, is it simply a case of removing the best features from the wheel?

Look
"Black & Decker is also in electric unicycle business?" This is the first impression that people have of this wheel. Without a proper description about the wheel, anyone who chance upon it might have mistaken it to be a new lawn mower. 

This "lawn mower" weighs only 6.1 kg and it comes with a IP65 waterproof rating.


WEIGHT
6.1 KG
SPEED
12 km/h
BATTERY
China OEM 158 Wh
DISTANCE
 25 km/h
CHARGE TIME
Approximately 60 mins


Features

I was pleasantly surprised when I was informed there is an app support of this wheel. In fact, any wheel that do not have an app support is considered to be behind the curve for electric unicycles. Eyu's app allows the rider to check the amount of battery left in the wheel, the current voltage and speed, remote locking of wheel as well as communication with the Eyu community.


Ergonomics
Unlike the other light wheel GotWay 5/10, this wheel allows the rider some degree of gripping on the calves due to the tall wheel body. Despite its small wheel based of only 8 inches, the design does make it easier for the rider to move around as there is ample rest on the calves to maneuver the wheel.

Pedals

The pedals is relative big and high above ground. The rider can make sharp turns without scrapping the floor. However, due to the lack of grip on the pedal, I believe the rider will have gripping issues during wet weather

Riding Experience

This is not an easy wheel to ride given the small base of 8 inch and a slim design. It is really a wheel made for intermediate and advance users. The riders are balancing themselves all the time and constantly working on their core muscles. Any slight movements will mean the wheel will spin out of control. The small base also mean it is not suitable for outdoor terrains as small wheel based don't handle bumps well.

The 350 wh rated motor means that it is under-powered and given that it motor power, it is more suited indoors than outdoors. It lacks enough power to scale a slope in a multi storey car park as it only has a 10 degree rating. The claims of a mileage of 25 km is also highly debatable.

OUR VERDICT

This is a wheel for those who intend to challenge their balancing skills. Other than its light weight and low cost, there is really nothing about the wheel that makes its a winner. I will probably wait for better light weight wheels in market.

Do note the wheel is 8 inch, not the 6 inch as mentioned in the video


RATINGS


DESIGN
2.5 / 5
FEATURES
2 / 5
PERFORMANCE
3 / 5
BATTERY LIFE
3 /5
VALUE FOR MONEY
3 / 5



* The tester is a pioneer in the electric unicycle industry and have tested and review more than 100+ different type of wheels in the market since 2013.

Sunday 21 February 2016

After thoughts of Chingay 2016



Our journey with Chingay began in October 2015 when we were officially invited to be part of the 2016 edition. While the Wheelies don't have the benefit and experience of other contingents that had participated in many editions of Chingay, we do know that participating in an international event like this requires lots of commitments from our volunteers. Besides the numerous rehearsals that the team has to attend and not forgetting the numerous amount of revisions to our sequences, the team leaders will need to be ever present for debriefs after the main rehearsals and shows and we don't normally reached home till 1am in the morning. While it was very time consuming, our hard work didn't went unnoticed as the Wheelies were invited to be part of the pre parade contingent to kick off Chingay 2016 after the team wow the organizers in our first combined rehearsal.


The team started to experience anxiety and insomnia when Chingay drew closer. While we were in high spirits and super pump out after a flawless performance during our full dress combined rehearsal on Thursday, our day didn't started out on the same note when the heavens started to pour about 630pm on performance Day 1. Despite the rain, we still proceeded with our pre parade show. The show went as planned other than a fall by yours truly at Sector C. This goes to show how difficult the condition was out there. While we were reasonably satisfied with this outing, we were starting to worry about the main parade as the rain continued to pound mercilessly. It was so bad that our involvement in performance Day 1 was almost cut short as the torrential rain refused to back down despite our prayers. It came to a point where we had to inform the organizers that we will be sitting out the parade due to safety concerns. 

It was definitely a bummer for everyone involved. Flashbacks of our rehearsals kept popping up while we witnessed the other continents moving out of our waiting area. It was not until the final 5 minutes that we decided to go out to perform. This couldn't have happened if not for the persistent efforts of Chermaine, Phelia and Jacob who pleaded with the team be out there. It was during that moment that we finally understand it's now or never. We informed the organizing committee about our reversal in decision and went out in full steam, chasing after the parkour float (the contingent in front of us) that was already moving into the performance area. Thank goodness we all made it. While the crazy weather didn't help as it wasn't easy to ride in wet weather, I am sure everyone did enjoyed themselves and had fun out there. 1 hour of performing a the rain really showed the audience what we are made of. The spirits remained high despite the unforgiving weather. It was truly a memorable experience for everyone and we have shown that we can excelled despite overwhelming odds if we all worked together.



Day 2 started out equally bad as the rain continue to fall non stop. While we were genuinely concerned if it is going to be same as Day 1, we decided to focus in psyching ourselves up instead of worrying as we all thought "we been through the worst and survived and nothing can stand in our way now." Thank goodness the rain stopped at approximately 5.30 pm and the skies began to clear. Aided by the cheering audience, the pre parade team went in with a near perfect performance, delighting everyone who was there to witness our uptown funk sequence. From the thunderous applause we received from the audience, we knew that we had strike a chord with them. Our main parade went on as "plan" too. While the position of the Wheelies meant that we have a disadvantage and will not have any TV airtime, we managed to creatively "steal" some time in front of the President of Republic of Singapore by stopping in from of the stand and showing our best moves in front of your honour even the contingent supposed to move pass. Rest of the show was near perfect too as all of us put out the best performance to the watching crowd. While we might not be the biggest contingent, we can certainly see the amazement from the audience as most of them probably seen an electric unicycle for the first time, let alone a whole group of 40 of us performing on it. We managed to bring out the smile and wow from the audience.





That concludes our adventure in Chingay 2016. I am certain we have successfully raised the profile of electric unicycling in Singapore. This would not be possible without the many sacrifices from each and every of our volunteers who sacrificed those personal time from their family and loves ones to be part of this event. We would like to thank People's Association for giving the Wheelies a chance to be part of the greatest street performance on Earth. I am confident each and everyone of us will remember the tears, the joy and laughter from participating in Chingay and not forgetting the friendship that is built during this period. Everyone has shown the highest level of professionalism and I am honored to performing with all of you.



Photo Credits
- Ning, Kirby, Edmund, Kelvin,

Tuesday 16 February 2016

The countdown is unbearable


Chingay is just few days away and many of us are now having sleepless nights. Let's us all hope for a good performance for the audiences as well as for the whole EU community in Singapore. We are the safe mode of green transport.  Go Go Wheelies!




Friday 12 February 2016

Informatics Open House

2015 was an exciting year for the Wheelies as we managed to raise the profile of electric unicycling via many of the activities we participated. Looking back, one of the Wheelies major milestone was our collaboration with Informatics which happened to be our first large scale roadshow too.

Held at the Singapore National Library on the 16th May last year, it was an incredibly successful event with 20 of our members turning out to help out in sharing the joy of wheeling to more than 300 visitors. The visitors had a first hand experience with an electric unicycle and learnt more about personal mobility via our friendly members.. A BIG Thank You to all who contributed to the roaring success of the event! ‪#‎TheWheelies‬ ‪#‎wheelies‬ ‪#‎electricunicycle 

















@ Photo credits - Fred, Kirby and Edmund

Interested to get the Wheelies to run a team building event for you too, please drop us an email info@thewheelies.sg

Friday 5 February 2016

Stars of 2016

It has been two months since we said goodbye to 2015. We looked back to 2015 with much fondness as it was a year where many top electric unicycle brands launched their products.

The sales of electric unicycle was dominated by Ninebot E+ last year. They had successfully dethroned Airwheel as the best selling electric unicycle in the world, who held that title for two years between 2013 and 2014. However, Ninebot fail to build on its momentum to consolidate its leadership position. The light that is shinning on NineBot is sort of blemish with the constant delay of the release of Ninebot P, which was originally scheduled to be available in November last year. From what we understood from the sources of the industry, there was a power cut issue that couldn't be resolved and that is causing the delay to the much anticipated product.  The product is not expected to be on the shores of Singapore till March / April. We are also speculating that Ninebot's attention was drawn away by launch of Ninebot Mini Pro, which became the main focus of the company due to the ease of use for potential buyers. 

Looking at other manufacturers, GotWay MCM4 was launched with lots of fanfare but the anticipation was met with disappointment from its fans due to the quality of its finish. IPS Zero promises to wow its audience with its lightweight and futuristic design only for it to be sidelined with huge QCs issues with the wheel. IPS Lhotz is a pretty good 16 inch wheel but its lack of a handle is bothering many potential buyers. KS14C nails it with its 800W machine, though many are complaining its ugly looks. Airwheel tried to merge Segway and unicycle with its A3 but fails to win back market share for the once darling of the industry. Inmotion V5 threatens to blast the competition away in the looks category and we foresee it is going to do well going into 2016 despite its lack of speed. 

Gotway MCM4 colour LED lights

While 2015 has been an exciting year for the electric unicycles, we believe 2016 is going to be even more exciting.  Many of the avid fans are awaiting the launch of KS16A. The product received rave reviews during its exhibition in CES 2016 in January. The product managed to address many issues faced by wheelers today. Some of the common issues are
  • Lack of battery to last the distance
  • Lack of a handle bar
  • Pedals constantly scrapping the floor
  • Uncomfortable paddings on the wheel
  • Lack of interesting and programmable APP
  • Anti slip pedals
  • Unstable ride experience
While its too early to put all our bets into KS16A, the signs are ominous based on an initial test ride of the prototype in November 2015. It does feel stable and comfortable with the prototype even though the integrated handle bar wasn't ready then. We can only look forward to the launch of KS16A later this month to find out if they really deliver on their promise.


The Wheelies is Singapore largest electric unicycle. Click here for our Online Store

You can also go to the following resellers to try out the unicycle.

1. Urban Prints (Urban Unicycle) – For all models

1 Rochor Canal Road. #B1-05,
Sim Lim Square (Entrance of Basement Car park)
Singapore 188504

Monday – Friday: 11:30 AM – 6:30 PM
Saturday: 11:30 AM – 2:30 PM
Sunday: Closed

Phone: (65) 63387558 / (65) 96940660

2. Falcon PEV – For Inmotion V3 & Airwheel X3

160 Paya Lebar Road. #04-02,
Orion Building
Singapore 409022

Monday – Saturday: 10am – 7pm
Sunday : Closed

Phone: (65) 6745 7882

3. TOYTAG @ HARBOURFRONT – For Inmotion V3

1 Maritime Square. #03-58,
Harbourfront Centre
Singapore 099253

Monday – Thursday: 11:00 AM – 9:30 PM
Friday – Sunday: 10:00 AM – 9:30 PM

Phone: (65) 6276 7268

You can also get in touch with our Wheelies Mobility Evangelist too!
North East – Edmund (65) 9297 5754
North – Bear (65) 9682 4211
East – Thomas (65) 9694 0660
West – Robin (65) 9100 0190

Wednesday 3 February 2016

Top 5 electric unicycles in Singapore - January 2016




RANKING


BRAND & MODEL


BRAND & MODEL

RANKING LAST MONTH




1








-




2










-



3










-



4











-


5










-

* Based on estimated figures from sales of electric unicycles in Singapore http://thewheelies.sg/shop/ as well as TWG members registration

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.



The Wheelies

The Wheelies
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The Wheelies Times Editors