I'm tired of saying "no, not that kind of unicycle"

[atdlzpae]

18 minutes ago, null said:

We have a bit the same problem in France, the half official word has become « gyroroue » (gyrowheel) but it is not very elegant so there isn’t much enthusiasm around it. Among each other it’s just a wheel (roue) but to bystanders we lack a nice handle.

We have exactly the same "problem" in Poland with e-scooters - they are called "Hulajnoga elektryczna" - "Electric kick scooter".
And it doesn't change the fact that e-scooters are extremely popular here.

I'm pretty sure that the unpopularity of EUC is due to a steep learning curve, availability and price, not because of the name.

Edited January 5, 2020 by atdlzpae

[Aneta]

Now, THIS, my friends, is an electric unicycle (from our hero Justin Lemire-Elmore of Grin Tech, no less, the creator of our beloved Motor Simulator, as well as many wonderful products useful for hoverwheels, such as the universal programmable charger Cycle Satiator):

This puts the final nail in the coffin of the archaic term "electric unicycle", or "EUC", as applied to our hoverwheels. This is what any noob would imagine when they hear "electric unicycle" - it's the familiar mechanical unicycle, but with assist from an electric motor, to achieve greater speed and be able to go up steeper slopes. So if they see your wheel and you call it "electric unicycle", it just puzzles them more - "where are the rotating pedals like on unicycle? where's the seat on a long pole? how come you don't exert any effort whatsoever to keep balance?" If they don't see your wheel, but you mention to someone that you like to ride your electric unicycle, they would imagine exactly Justin's motor-assisted traditional unicycle.

RIP, "electric unicycle", ca. 2015 - Jan 4, 2020 - your life was short and ill-fated. Ladies and gentlement, welcome our newborn King, HOVERWHEEL!

Edited January 5, 2020 by Aneta

[atdlzpae]

Well, by every definition it is an electric unicycle. We shouldn't be afraid of history.

The fact that this is an early car doesn't mean it's not a car.

@Aneta Hoverwheel reminds me of the "Hoverboard" PoS. I think that even "Segwheel" was better. People will be even more confused if you use this name.

 

Edited January 5, 2020 by atdlzpae

[The Fat Unicyclist]

Sorry... you need to check the dictionary... Hoverwheel is already in it (and that is today @Aneta, not in the future)...

https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Hoverwheel 

More interestingly, Urban Dictionary does also contain an actual term for an electric unicycle...

https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=glidewheel

Coincidentally, I do tend to "glide" more than I "hover" too. Does that count for anything?

[Aneta]

Glidewheel is acceptable, too, but is less cool sounding than hoverwheel. The term should have a common root with the self-balancing boards, for which hoverboard is a widely accepted name; glideboard is used much more rare. Hoverwheel is still the best name. Remember, guys, WE are forming the history right now, as we're discussing this; Google and Urban Dictionary will follow.

[Aneta]

https://www.dictionary.com/browse/unicycle

Quote

unicycle

[ yoo-nuh-sahy-kuh l ]

---

noun

a vehicle with one wheel, especially a pedal-driven device kept upright and steered by body balance, commonly used by acrobats and other performers.

So, electric unicycle = a vehicle with one wheel, especially a pedal-driven device kept upright and steered by body balance, with an assist of an electric motor for additional power, commonly used by acrobats and other performers.

What we have instead is a half-hoverboard, with one wheel only - hoverwheel. QED

[The Fat Unicyclist]

The problem that I think you are having trying to convince everyone to use the term "hoverwheel" is that our wheels do not "HOVER" in any way.

That is exactly why the name "hoverboard" was stupid, becuase they don't hover either. And for me personally, if it doesn't hover, don't put it in the name.

Lexus has come closest to the concept of a "real" hoverboard, and the key thing to note is that it does actually hover, which is why it doesn't have any wheels. So if our EUC can hover, why do they have a wheel?

 

 

[Aneta]

Of course, we don't hover and we don't glide either. We coast on a wheel. The name "hoverboard" was an echo from "Back to the future" movie. And this name is now widely accepted. Hoverwheel is similar, and should be accepted, too, because it's logical to make two devices sharing the same principle have the same root.

There are many words that technically don't make sense, but are universally accepted - motorcycle, for example. It doesn't have pedals to cycle. Dial a number - we no longer dialing the numbers. And so on.

Quote

Why is it an eggplant if it's not made out of egg?
Why is it a peanut if it's neither a pea nor a nut?
Why is it a hamburger if its not made out of ham? (Hamburg...I know)
Why is it a hotdog if there's nothing canine about it?
Why is it called pineapple if it's not an apple and doesn't grow on pines?
Is cheese the plural of choose?
One mouse, 2 mice. One louse, 2 lice. One house, 2 hice?
If a vegetarian eats vegetables, what does a humanitarian eat?
Why are fat chance and slim chance the same when fat and slim are opposites?
War never determines who's right; just who's left.
Why do people play at a recital and recite at a play?
Why is a boxing ring square? Isn't a ring round (ring)?
Why is it that when a house burns up, it burns down?
Why do you get in/out of a car, but on/off a bus/airplane?
Why do we say original copy? is it original or is it a copy?
Why do we say new and improved? is it new, it's not improved and vice versa.

 

Edited January 5, 2020 by Aneta

[Unventor]

15 hours ago, Aneta said:

We need to unite and use the word "hoverwheel" more often to firmly establish what it is, because like that Inventist guy who called hovershoes hoverwheel, there are many wrong usages. I searched youtube for hoverwheel and this was on the first page:

 

No we don't need to. You can do want you like, that is the good about a free world. But word in languages develop from what works for people, not what one person thinks. And then it takes some time to be an official parts of a lanuages. There are instituets in each country (in most at least) that make these decissions. 

BTW @Marty Backe don't those trees look like your back yard trees?  I think I saw those in one of your videos.

[mike_bike_kite]

14 minutes ago, Unventor said:

There are instituets in each country (in most at least) that make these decissions. 

I'm not sure there are official institutes that add new words. New words are created all the time but they only go into dictionaries when an individual dictionary decides that that word is going to stay. A friend came up with the word "simples" and it got added to the Collins dictionary in 2010 but only to the Oxford dictionary last year. France is very protective of it's language and does have a department to add new words though I'm not sure they came up with gyroroue (an EUC).

[Jpd]

Why does it have to have wheel in the name at all? We don’t call cars 4 wheels or bikes 2 wheels. 
 

here are a list of synonyms for “wheel”

how about electric revolver or e-rover

Edited January 5, 2020 by Jpd

[atdlzpae]

6 minutes ago, Jpd said:

how about electric revolver?

We just need to get Smith & Wesson to produce it.
An environmentally friendly, deadly unicycle!

[Unventor]

3 hours ago, mike_bike_kite said:

I'm not sure there are official institutes that add new words. New words are created all the time but they only go into dictionaries when an individual dictionary decides that that word is going to stay. A friend came up with the word "simples" and it got added to the Collins dictionary in 2010 but only to the Oxford dictionary last year. France is very protective of it's language and does have a department to add new words though I'm not sure they came up with gyroroue (an EUC).

Well in both Sweden and Denmark and I would imagine in UK too they have counsel that adwise and decide which new words and spelling rules that enter or leave the annually version of national language. In Denmark and Sweden the people selected for this counsel were appointed but the King/Queen. It is old institute of old counteis... 

[Marty Backe]

4 hours ago, Unventor said:

No we don't need to. You can do want you like, that is the good about a free world. But word in languages develop from what works for people, not what one person thinks. And then it takes some time to be an official parts of a lanuages. There are instituets in each country (in most at least) that make these decissions. 

BTW @Marty Backe don't those trees look like your back yard trees?  I think I saw those in one of your videos.

Palm trees. Sure, they're all over Southern California, including my house 

[travsformation]

21 hours ago, The Fat Unicyclist said:

Sorry... you need to check the dictionary... Hoverwheel is already in it (and that is today @Aneta, not in the future)...

https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Hoverwheel 

That definition of hoverwheel cracked me up. It feels very/too pertinent to this conversation...

[AtlasP]

Some thoughts:

1. The term "electric unicycle" is unfortunate. E-bikes, e-sk8, & e-scooters all work and are ridden exactly like their non-powered counterparts, just electrified. By contrast electric unicycles work and are ridden nothing like traditional, non-powered unicycles; they’re essentially two completely different things that just happen to have the same number of wheels. (In the same way bicycles and Segways both have two wheels but are completely different things.) Also it is a fundamental part of the problem that traditional unicycles are widely perceived as a joke, a sentiment that transfers with the name.
2. Unfortunately the most obvious, better names are taken (Onewheel or Solowheel) and most of those that remain are less ideal or downright awkward. I personally always liked either 'monowheels' or 'monocycles' (I never understand why one of these never got any traction other than maybe being confusingly similar to 'Onewheel'), or I'm ok with just 'ewheels' (this seems like the favored answer every time this comes up), or I would've also been ok if 'Solowheel' had been appropriated for the broader category (but that ship has sailed as the brand fizzled).
   • (Anything resembling 'Segway'/'seg' or 'hover' in the name should die in a fire though. Why on Earth would we go out of our way to distance ourselves from the term 'unicycle' only to saddle ourselves with another term that has similar or arguably worse public perception?)
3. In the end I've settled on a two-prong strategy:
   • If someone asks me what it is when they can see me riding it, then I use what is technically currently the proper term: EUC/electric unicycle. If they can already see the obvious differences between it and a traditional unicycle, then the name otherwise makes sense in context. (And also works as something they can google later if they're interested--which I believe is actually the most important consideration on this subject.)
   • If it comes up in casual conversation, or someone sees it when I'm not currently riding it (trolleying or leaned against a wall or something), then I avoid the term 'unicycle' and instead lean towards a mix of more ambiguous descriptors: it's a self-balancing, electric... monowheel/one-wheeled vehicle/ewheel/Personal Electric Vehicle/whatever. I haven't settled on a single correct formulation here, excepting to leave out the term unicycle. (Unless it's a longer conversation when they genuinely seem interested and I can set some context/show video/etc first.)

I very much recommend my two-prong strategy/bullet #3. :-)

Edited October 19, 2020 by AtlasP

[Mortal Coil]

This is too much fun to not have a poll.

Best Name for EUCs

[Aneta]

That Urban Dictionary definition of hoverwheel (it's the only one there) is almost a decade old... and appeared more than 2 years before Inventist (Shane Chen) patented hoverboard and launched Kickstarter for it in early 2013, let alone the real hoverwheels which appeared even later. So, it's completely irrelevant now and it was only referring to science fiction, not to self-balancing wheel.  

Edited January 6, 2020 by Aneta

[travsformation]

10 hours ago, AtlasP said:

1. In the end I've settled on a two-prong strategy:
   • If someone asks me what it is when I'm riding it/when they can see me on it, then I use what is technically currently the proper term: EUC/electric unicycle. If they can already see the obvious differences between it and a traditional unicycle, then the name otherwise makes sense in context. (And also works as something they can google later if they're interested--which I believe is actually the most important consideration on this subject.)
   • If it comes up in casual conversation or someone asks me what it is when they see it but I'm not currently riding it (trolleying or leaned against a wall or something), then I avoid the term unicycle like the plague and instead lean towards a mix of more ambiguous descriptors: it's a self-balancing, ewheel/one-wheeled scooter/Personal Electric Vehicle/whatever. I haven't settled on a single correct answer here, excepting to leave out the term unicycle (unless it's a longer conversation when they genuinely seem interested and I can set some context/show video/etc).

I very much recommend my point #3. :-)

 

[travsformation]

7 hours ago, Aneta said:

That Urban Dictionary definition of hoverwheel (it's the only one there) is almost a decade old... and appeared more than 2 years before Inventist (Shane Chen) patented hoverboard and launched Kickstarter for it in early 2013, let alone the real hoverwheels which appeared even later. So, it's completely irrelevant now and it was only referring to science fiction, not to self-balancing wheel.  

  

[Satoki Nagata]

This might be the most resemble riding feel with EUC, I assume.

 

 

FlybipedalWheel ?

[travsformation]

"Voltaic singular circumference roller". It's short, catchy and easy to say. End of discussion   

Edited January 7, 2020 by travsformation

[MR BRAD]

Dunno. I think “hoverwheel” to label our wheels is about as obtuse and incongruous as it would be to refer to our wheels as “toasterwheel” or “I’mhavingpizzafordinnerwheel”. Really. I mean I applaud the conviction and very able advocacy proffered herein by @Aneta for the pineapple, er eggplant, er hoverwheel.... but.....

The wheels we ride simply don’t hover, but that isn’t the real problem (oh yeah, the eggplant, pineapple consideration). The real problem is that by default there are much better names for than hoverwheel. If for no other reason, “hoverwheel” conjures up (at least to me) the “hoverboard” which, I’m quite sure that anyone reading, would have to admit are silly and utter junk (notwithstanding the palm tree video from @Marty Backe’s backyard... ok, I know it wasn’t, but it sounded good... maybe not as good as “hoverwheel” good, but I digress...) To wit, they also don’t hover, so there is the ever compelling additional argument that the name is just as meaningless for that device.

I kinda dig @travsformation‘s voltaic something or other moniker though! 

 

[MR BRAD]

On 1/4/2020 at 4:27 PM, Unventor said:

Ahh i have not seen you so much lately. How are your riding getting on....ohh at to keep it in topic, do you have a name tag on your whee..ehhh Mohawk ?

Ha. Only my motor has a name tag. Though “Mohawk” is very compelling for the wheel. Took me a minute! But that’s pretty brilliant @Unventor!!!

I think I’m actually getting this sport... man what a learning curve! I’m gonna have to start a new thread so you and all the pros can guide me on the path of enlightenment to my next, um, hoverwheel... I’m kind of lusting on the KS18XL or 16X... 

 

 

[Mortal Coil]

9 minutes ago, MR BRAD said:

The wheels we ride simply don’t hover

Indeed. @Aneta, you've been providing me with a lot of amusement with all the Hoverwheel shenanigans (and please keep it up), but I just keep thinking that if these things could hover, why would they even need a wheel?