Cameron McColl

In the end they did replace the board but without any explanation of why this happened. Despite that they wouldn’t cover it under warranty which I find very disappointing. What I don’t understand is why the board had to be replaced when they initially said the fuse blew which of course should have protected the board. anyway I have the wheel back now and all seems well but as you might imagine I’m way more hesitant to go above a slow running speed. thanks for all the advice.

@houseofjob mine is a solowheel Glide 3. Is that also ancient? I didn’t realize this was considered an old wheel. What is considered a premium wheel these days? I’m certainly very nervous about continuing to ride a machine that might decide to cutout again.

Apologies for the delay. I figured I would get an email notification when there was a reply to my post. i only had a light jacket on which got a few rips but think I got really lucky that it happened at way less than top speed and on pretty flat pavement. I sent the wheel back for repair and long story short they don’t know why the unit cut out. The circuit fuse blew but they don’t know if that happened as a result of the crash or something else that then caused the crash. This has left me very nervous about riding again. they put a new circuit board in and fixed the damaged shell and have shipped it back to me. heres what the tech listed as possible causes: The fuse blowing can be caused by a few different scenarios. 1. Overpowering the wheel (meaning you tried to accelerate too hard and caused a spike in current). 2. Water (crossed connections and safety feature to blow. No water damage/rulling it out). 3. Sustained high speed with hills (result from pushing past its boundaries). 4. Hit a ditch or jump (too much current demand). Also the tech ruled out water damage so that’s good. Here’s my response to the 4 scenarios: So it wasn’t #1 for sure, you have ruled #2 out. Not sure about #3 as I had only gone 5 miles and not very hilly at all. Plus for #3 the idea that sustained speed could cause a fuse to blow is very concerning. Surely the unit should have a safety feature to slow down or warn the rider to take a break. Mostly certain I didn’t hit a ditch or jump as I was traveling along a smooth sidewalk. However, I do recall encountering a nasty bump on the sidewalk a minute or so prior to the incident. Again seems like there should be safety feature to slow the machine down when something has gone wrong. The point of a fuse is to protect the circuitry which makes sense but I’m failing to understand why the device doesn’t have a safety feature to slow the device down in a controlled fashion as any condition approaches the point where the fuse would blow. I’m still super nervous that whatever happened will happen again. Both 3 and 4 seem very hard to know when they are too much and when the fuse might blow. So in summary I feel like we don’t have a root cause and that worries me greatly.

I’ve had a Solowheel for several months and use it to get between buildings I work in in Seattle. A few nights ago I went on a 5mile journey and right before I got to my destination it suddenly shutoff causing me to face plant. Luckily I wasn’t going full speed but I’m shocked that there is any possibility of these devices doing such a thing. I can’t find any other posts of this happening to others so I’m a bit mystified. The best theory I have is damage from water spray but all the manual says is don’t ride in heavy rain. The streets I rode on were still damp from earlier rain but nothing like heavy rain, plus I see others riding these wheels in Seattle all the time and in the rain. The unit is now dead and doesn’t turn on or charge. Just curious if anyone has heard or situations like this? I’ve contacted the company and I’m waiting to hear what they have say. Heres the post I made to my friends about the incident if you care. Had a bit of a nightmare situation last night. Some may know that I bought a Solowheel a while back and I’ve been using it to get around the Amazon campus so I can get to and from back to back meetings in different buildings. Last night we had a team dinner that was 5miles from the office in Seattle and with traffic being so bad I thought this would be a fun opportunity to ride it there. I’d never ridden it so far and I wanted to see how it would handle on the rough city sidewalks. Well I was doing just fine and was only two blocks from the restaurant when suddenly I found myself flat on the ground and sliding to a stop basically on my hands and elbows. I think I was going around 10-15mph. Evidently the unit decided to shutoff with no warning. It’s a direct drive motor which means when it shut off the wheel stopped turning. I had zero time to react and fell like a tree except a tree travelling at 15mph as it falls. I had thought about what would happen if the machine malfunctioned and turned off and had naively thought I’d have time to react by running forward to catch myself. Boy was I wrong. I don’t even remember falling, one second I was whizzing along and the next I was sliding forward on my face. Actually it’s amazing that I didn’t face plant I must have instinctively placed my arms out as I ended up sort of in the plank position. So what happened? Best I can tell I think the unit shorted out from water. The streets were wet from earlier rain and a few times I went though some pretty wet spots. It’s also a possibility that the battery gave out since near the end it was getting low but I don’t think that’s it since a low battery is supposed to result in a gradual slow down in speed not an immediate shutdown. Overall I’m amazed I’m not more injured. I ripped my jacket and jeans and I have scrapes on my hands, elbows and one of my knees. This morning I’m really stiff and sore but thankful it didn’t end worse. As for the solowheel I left it plugged in at the office last night but there was no sign of life so I may have fried the electronics. Not sure I can trust it now even if it comes back to life.