8 Best Electric Unicycles of 2019

A self-balancing unicycle refers to the ability of your unicycle to help you balance with less effort. It uses a gyroscope system to help control the ride to let it stay upright while on-route. In other words, the gyroscope effect is when a round object stays up while it’s spinning and only falls when it stops. Think of it like a spinning coin. As long as the coin is spinning, it doesn’t fall to its side but rather stays upright. That principle is applied in the electric unicycle. This also helps to keep you stay on your ride while the wheel is turning.

In a sense, it doesn’t really help you balance the ride because you have to do that yourself. You need to learn how to balance it yourself and that also includes the maneuvering of your electric unicycle.

An electric unicycle is pretty different compared to hoverboards. One of the differences is that the wheel is between the legs. An electric unicycle follows the same principle in acceleration and deceleration, change of direction, and braking movement.

Steering is completely different though because you’re steering with your legs and body. A Segway is different because the steering comes completely with the use of the hands. An electric unicycle is more rider active  because on a Segway, the rider only needs to stand up and ride while a unicycle requires slight body movements for it to change direction or to effectively move from point A to point B.

The very first factor for you to consider is your budget. Electric unicycles coast around $400 to $1,00—give or take. They are pretty expensive, so better limit your choices via price first. After that, you need to make other considerations like the following:

Practical use

For what purpose are you using an electric unicycle for? Are you going to use it simply for leisure, transport, work, acrobatics, or off road events? You have to consider what you are going to use this for. There are electric unicycles made for better off road conditions than others; if you like camping and going off into the forest paths, opt for better off road features. If you use it often like going to work on a daily basis, choose one with a good distance travel and also one with a quick charge feature. If you happen to get it for grandparents, choose one with good distance, great safety features, and low-speed limits.

Speed

Speed is a great factor for sure. You will love that unicycles have great speed but if you want to go faster and further, then this is one thing you must consider a great deal.

Distance

Distance varies even at top speed; some unicycles can go for as far as 50 miles while others just happen to go for about 15 miles. So consider how far your ride can go before hitting the charging station.

Body weight

Unicycle weight limits vary but it is for certain that the typical weight limit for a unicycle is 200 pounds and above. Don’t forget this weight limit includes your clothes and your other baggage.

The frequency of use

If you think you will use this often like using it for transport, then go for a unicycle with longer battery life or one which can travel longer distances before shutting down. You must also choose something with a quick charge feature for immediate and convenient use. Most unicycles with stronger battery power have a charging period of 4 hours. If you think that is pretty long, then choose one with a quick charge feature that allows you to charge your electric unicycle for just under two hours.

Availability

Even if you find one electric unicycle appealing, you have to know if it is available in your area or that online shops can deliver it to your home. Some local retailers may have it in their stock but you might not really know unless you find out which brand and model is available in your community.

Extra features

Electric unicycles aren’t just limited to having a cool ride but you can also get more than that. You may get to enjoy some with speakers, some with LED display screens, some with awesome design features like customizable LED lights, as well as a headlight for night use or even flashlights for that matter. Extra features are a definite bonus.

Electric unicycles have plenty of features that hoverboards don’t. Despite being more expensive than hoverboards, there are more features to look forward to in an electric unicycle.

Speed

Electric unicycles are definitely faster than hoverboards with an average speed of 16 miles per hour; you get to enjoy the luxury of speeding up towards your destination. It works great for people who often leave home late and miss the ride to school, work or simply just going for a quick stop at the groceries. Hoverboards, on the other hand, have an average speed of 6.5 miles per hour. That’s an obvious advantage over the hoverboard.

Mileage

With stronger motors, you can go further distances with your unicycle than your hoverboard. Your hoverboard may take slow and still go for miles but not on a better average compared to the electric unicycle. Your electric unicycle can go as far as 50 miles—depending on the brand and model– imagine how many charges you’ll need for your hoverboard to cover that same distance.

Uphill climb

You’ll be surprised at how great electric unicycles are at making climbs. Heck! It can even go over shallow stairs with absolute ease and you can barely even feel your unicycle rolling over stairs. Most unicycles go at a 20-degree angle with ease but depending on what brand you get, you can go over 25 degrees of incline without a sweat.

Off-road capabilities

Hoverboards are definitely not built for off road terrains. Even if their wheels say they can, the fact that the wheels are really small can only let them to as much as a short trek while camping. In theory, electric unicycles are supposed to be able to go off-road but limitations are also set depending on the brand—again—and the make of your unicycle. But there is one mortal enemy of the unicycle, sand. Sand is not friendly on our one wheeler; despite good traction on the wheels, the fact that you have one wheel then you will easily sink. However, there are some unicycles that come with stronger wheels allowing you to have better traction and better trekking conditions on off the road terrain.

Easy navigation

When we say navigation, we are referring to make turns. Unicycles are really doing well in making easy turns from left to right with little effort from its rider. It is more convenient for the user to navigate around and it can also make great and smooth turns while on an uphill climb.

Portable with good storage

Hoverboards are light and portable too—only if you brought your carry case with it. Technically, hoverboards are like electric skateboards but still, they’re better for riding and cruising. Unicycles are already built with a handlebar for easy transportation, the foot rests are foldable allowing you to fold it in when not in use. Other unicycles have retractable handle bars even allowing you to drag your electric unicycle anywhere without worrying about carrying a big load like that. Unicycles are made to be compact so even if you toss it at the back of your car, the interior and the full functionality of the electric unicycle will not be sacrificed that easily.

There is a recipe in riding an electric unicycle. One of the main ingredients that you must always have with you is determination. It’s not easy at first but you can definitely master it in time.

Secure your surroundings

Begin in a flat even ground without many obstacles blocking it. A small area like the porch, the backyard or the lawn will be ideal.

Turning on the electric unicycle

Check your app if your battery is good. Control the settings and set a limit—if your electric unicycle allows you to set a limiter for your unit.

Find your balance

Rest easy on the foot rest. Balance one foot at a time as if you are riding a skateboard for the first time.

NOTE: Some Electric unicycles come with a gyro stabilizing system. It helps you balance quickly. Some gyro systems need to be turned on to do that – if your unicycle has a gyro stabilizing button, turn it on. If your electric unicycle comes with training wheels, this would be much easier on you. Secure the training wheels under the footrests and find your balance.

Start slow and steady

Just because you are on training wheels or you get a good sense of balance doesn’t mean you should start rolling off in good speed. Take your time. Don’t rush and start cruising at slow speed first.

Starting Off

Rest one foot securely on one pedal. Walk with the free leg until it starts to roll and gain speed, then you can ride the unicycle with both feet.

Making turns

All Electric unicycles follow the same principle in making turns, shifting your weight. Lean right by slightly moving you body off to the right and shift your weight on your right foot. Electric unicycles that are using wheels 16 inches and below require you to use your shins and ankles. Bigger wheels require more body movement involving the knees and the hips in making good and smooth turns. Once you slightly shift your weight on your foot, make your body lean towards the opposite direction—that way you won’t be leaning too far off and you’ll stay up.

Speeding up and slowing down

Lean forward to speed up your electric unicycle. Don’t lean too far off because a cut back might happen or you might fall flat on your face. Lean slightly backwards to decelerate.

Making a climb

You can also climb up shallow stairs. All you need to do is make a lift by slightly shifting your feet upwards and it will follow an uphill climb. Sometimes you don’t have to do anything because your wheel can already make a climb on its own.

Stopping

Lean slightly backwards until your EUC decelerates, step one foot down to make a full stop.

Why do routine maintenance checks?Like any other motorized vehicles, routine maintenance will make for a safer, longer lasting and higher performance ride. Maintenance checks include changing the oil, checking the chain, testing the brakes and many other things. There’s a full list of what to look for here.

Handle bar support

Having a unicycle with a retractable handle bar has its perks. You can extend the handle bar to a point where you can hold on to it as you cruise. It helps for beginners to find their balance and support if you happen to get tired of standing up on it for too long. Still, it helps but don’t rely on it too much.

Handle strap

If you think the strap that comes with your unicycle is a good way of finding support, you’re wrong. It’s just meant to be strapped on to other things as you store your electric unicycle. So, don’t think of it as horse reins that you pull and tug if you’re speeding up or slowing down. It’s actually quite dangerous.

Wear your protection

No need to be too cocky. Like a bicycle, this has potential injury causing dangers. Beginners should definitely use helmets and knee caps. Once you have mastered the ride, keep the helmet on at least, especially if you go off the road.

Trial and error

If you’re pretty safe conscious, you can try rolling the electric unicycle by hand first before riding it. Turn on your unit and lean it forward and backward to give you an actual idea of how strong the motor is and how far you should be leaning to make it accelerate, decelerate and turn directions.

We get this question a lot. And for good reason.

Buying any electronic ride at this level isn’t particularly cheap. There is a ton of tech, research and hidden costs built into the price of your typical E-Bike / Unicycle.

If you buy it straight from the factory, you can buy your unicycle for a good deal. That is if you are willing to fly all the way to China to buy it fresh from the factory. Unfortunately, with an extremely far distance, you need to add tariff, duty, freight and other logistics fees. Okay, so let’s try to compute. NOTE: These are only an approximated cost.

• Factory Price-                                            $300.00
• Logistics-                                                  $150.00
• Duty @ 6% and additional logistics         $28.00
• VAT-                                                          $ 88.00
• Additional domestic logistics-                  $15.00
• ——————————————————————-
• Total-                                                         $581.00

Although these may be an approximate cost, these prices are close to actual cost. It always varies depending on the method of transport and the countries it ends up in (sometimes they get taxed every time it lands on a certain country before it reaches your doorstep). There are also a lot of other factors that affect the cost of your unicycle like an additional retail fee for local sellers. So, this gives you an actual idea as to why these sweet rides are pretty expensive.

As a beginner, the difficulty is only learning how to balance the unicycle. Hoverboards are very easy to use since you only need to go on top of it and pedal it on. An electric unicycle requires practice and body coordination. It also requires effective balancing until you can master how to use a unicycle.

Although it is more difficult to balance an electric unicycle, once you get over this hurdle, there are not more problems to face with an electric unicycle. It is pretty safe and very easy to go around with it.

The difficulty of balancing is one of the disadvantages of an electric unicycle. It really needs a lot of your time and effort to master how to ride it. It also does present a problem for you if you happen to get distracted, you can easily lose your balance so control and attention are also important in keeping a smooth ride.

One more thing, electric unicycles may be more compact but they are still quite heavy to carry around with one hand. Another disadvantage we realized is that on the first few rides, practicing with unicycle gets it banged up and mangled because of the plenty of trial and errors you go through to perfect riding it. Some recommend that you buy a cheaper electric unicycle for practice and then get a more expensive, better quality and reliability later on once you are already able to master the balancing part of your unicycle. It sounds like a great idea but the problem lies again in the price. Buying a cheaper one and then getting a more expensive one later is doubling the price tag. You might as well just get a new shell or redecorate and customize the shell to hide the bumps scratches and the banged up areas of your electric unicycle.

Lastly, a one-wheel ride can also be slippery. Despite being made for extra off the road capabilities, the fact that it has only one wheel—for most rides—makes it quite slippery under the rain. It can go through puddles and a moderate downpour or rain, but it is prone to slipping.

Electric unicycles need to have a UL 2272 certification before it is sold and produced. It means that electric unicycles are now made to be safer. They are already grounded and also have electric wiring protection to prevent explosions, short circuits and damaging electrical wirings that may raise problematic concerns in the future.

Most electric rides nowadays are made to be water resistant. So, it is alright for you to ride your unicycle moderately rainy or snowy weather. But when the weather gets especially terrible, it is both risky for you and your ride because come to think of it, you also need to be really careful about the terrible weather anyway. Most unicycles have an IP level 55 making it relatively waterproof overall. It also has protection against extremely cold weather so it is fine to ride in winter but you also have to be careful because the condition of the ground is completely different in cold weather. It is also pretty great that it is water resistant because, with the absence of a handlebar, you can ride on it and still hold an umbrella comfortably and more conveniently.

Definitely, yes. We have only chosen a couple few unicycles in our list. However, various retailers and local sellers and online shops have an array of electric unicycle brands out there. Most of these brands are known to produce different electric rides like electric scooters, hoverboards and more. Some of the top quality electric unicycles are:

Ninebot, Rockwheel, Solowheel, Airwheel, Firewheel, Gotway, IPS, Bings, Legway, UERA, EYU, MonoRover, Walker, Sologear, Leadway, Mobbo, TG, Mocyl, Wangquan, King Song, Esway, Crosswheel, GTS, Betterwheels, Monowheel, Wind Rider, Suokuwheel, Pinwheel, Freego, Wingoo, F-Wheel, Tomoloo, Superwheel, Speedway, MyWay, Freeman, Toptrip, Robstep, Crosswheel, Milbay, etc.

Quality varies on the brand and so does other features that we find in most unicycles. However, what’s common among all of them is that they are selling more than one unicycle model. So other than the brand, you can choose which model at which price your budget and needs fit. However, not all of them are readily and easily available. So, technically, you only need to do further research to get the perfect unicycle that fits your style, your taste, and your need.

If you didn’t find what you were looking for here. We highly suggest you reach out the dedicated /r/electricunicycles reddit group! Chances are someone has already asked the very same question, and you should be able to find what you are looking for fairly quickly.

If not, don’t be afraid to create a new thread and ask! The users in this group are great sources of honest feedback & advice as many are long time owners of their own electric rides.