Wheel selection

[Velcotan]

Hello all,

I've been reading alot about electric unicycles and I'm super excited to get one myself!
Now, I'm just a student, therefore my budget isn't high, €400±50.
I had a few questions regarding the electric unicycles:
I live in The Netherlands Eindhoven, so it can be quite rainy here, especially during this season, does this affect the unicycles alot?
Are the wheels from €400±50 good enough? I'm mainly just going to use it in my freetime for fun and probably to uni which is like 1km to uni, 1km on campus and 1 or 2 km back.
Is it usefull for getting groceries? Lifting the thing with you in the supermarket and riding it back with a heavy bag in your hand? It will probably unbalance me quite significantly, right?
At the bottom of my post you'll see some wheels I've been looking at. I was wondering where I could buy one with good support. The banggood one was the first one I found, but I'm scared the support is bad and I'll stuck with a broken wheel and no way to fix it since it's all the way in China.

Any first hand experience stories would be great aswell

Thanks in advance!

My searches:
http://www.banggood.com/Wh-TG-F3-264Electric-Wheelbarrow-Balancing-Unicycle-30-35km-Endurance-p-948467.html
http://www.electricunicycleonline.com/ips-i130-14-inch-30km-h-unicycle-electric-white.html
http://www.electricunicycleonline.com/ips-i150-self-balancing-electric-unicycle-180wh-one-wheel-scooter-450w-motor.html
http://www.electricunicycleonline.com/ips-zero-self-balancing-electric-unicycle.html
http://www.electricunicycleonline.com/ips-i100-self-balancing-electric-scooter-450w-14-inch-with-single-wheel.html

 

 

[csmyers]

Hello! Nice to see a fellow student.

I didn't have much of a budget either, but I went for the IPS Zero 260Wh, around $600 total. I love it, but sometimes it's just not quite powerful enough (also dependent on height and weight - I'm about 180cm and 80kg). This is what I'd recommend if you think you can afford it. Plus it has major sex appeal.

I would stay away from electricunicycleonline.com, they seem to sell older, outdated models; plus the prices they charge don't include shipping, which seems to average about $130 to the US.

The banggood TGF3 is good to start out with, but it's also rather underpowered and potentially dangerous. You don't want to faceplant while you're trying to show off!

Getting groceries is no problem after a week or two of practice, but the biggest thing is getting started. However, after you get good, you can steer without moving your arms/hands at all! You have to position your foot on the pedal, so you need at least one hand free to adjust the unicycle on the ground. But once you get moving, the biggest thing would be air resistance. It's really not much different than getting groceries on a bicycle. 

[Jurgen]

Welcome

Water could be problem for some models, personally I don't fancy a high cap batt e-device going shortcut and die on me at high speed in the rain

price depends where you get it from, higher batt capacity cost (a lot) more, made in china and and a rather 'experimental' device means production Q can vary from batch to batch, buying at a reseller with waranty might be cheaper in the end

IPS is a good brand; I have an IPS Lhotz 340kw, stable, sollid build, a bit heavy (16", 340Kw batt)

14" easy carry, 16" easier over bumps and getting onto the sidewalks

groceries, as a newbie start with a backpack, even when more advanced having both arms free in case of a fall is probably not a bad idea

go for the max capacity batt you can afford, the extra powe makes is safer (no cut outs too quickly, read 'face plant" on the forum), faster and gives you more Km, and I guess knowing that batt can age fast (see cellphone, only 6m waranty) higher capp batt might live longer

I have 340Kw, and at almost 100kg (+winter clothing, +backpack) it would have been a mistake to take a smaller one

 make sure to budget full protection gear (incl skating helmet) and good shoes (like Oxelo)

be safe, be in control, before you try to be fast

good luck

 

[Milo Dorigo]

You should keep in mind, especially with a limited budget, that you are probably going to have to pay import taxes when ordering from china. 

For this reason and reasons stated above ( varying product quality and the lack of warranty ) I would recommend buying one at a reseller. ( See http://forum.electricunicycle.org/topic/458-where-to-buy-incomplete-reseller-list/ )

[Velcotan]

@csmyers Ye, that's what i was worried about regarding banggood, but 600$ sadly is too much for me to afford.

@Jurgen Hmm, I was not planning on getting full protection gear.. are the cut outs and such that frequent and on every wheel?

@Milo Dorigo Ah thanks, that might expand my budget range!   Do you need to contact them with certain wheels and ask them about information such as specs and price or is there some way I can see it before contacting a reseller?

[Milo Dorigo]

Not sure, I've never purchased a wheel from someone here on the forums. But I guess you could just ask them

There are also some actual webshops that sell eucs here in NL, like:

http://futurewheels.nl/

http://www.monowiel.be/ ( Belgium, ships to NL)

http://www.electro-sport.de/ ( German, ships to NL)

[Velcotan]

@Milo Dorigo Ah, thanks! Most of it was quite expensive. The affordable ones are the Airwheel X3, Xima IPS A130(but thats a 12" i think) and perhaps the Einradwerkstatt Z14. The Airwheel X3 is perfect in my budget, is that one any good?

[Villac]

@Velcotan , just get something and get out and enjoy!

This is the EU I started with: http://www.banggood.com/132Wh-T3-Electric-Wheelbarrow-Balancing-Unicycle-15-20km-Endurance-p-949305.html?p=RP2617390326201312CT And somone just listed a deal with a discount code TG1967 for $50 off. I paid $300 for it, but with discount from US warehouse it was $138. It is definitely a starter (18 km/hr top speed, 132 Wh battery, about a 10 km range). Good for short trips around campus and errands. With a 400 Euro budget you are going to be able to do better on features: I suggest you spend it on battery capacity.

Do not deceive yourself, you will fall! If you enjoy speed and rapid acceleration (Don't we all  !) you will find your EU's cutout point. I wear full knee/elbow/wrist/glove/mouthguard/helmet gear, as well as long sleeves/pants. at a minimum I recommend you protect yourself with helmet and wristguards.

@csmyers , I to like shopping errands on the EU, but I use a backpack for cargo: I can control the weight better. If I have bags to hold, I feel unbalanced unless I have equal weight in each hand!

[csmyers]

 

@Villac I saw that deal on the TGT3 earlier today and grabbed it...a unicycle for $138? Too good to be true. I suppose later on it will be my test subject for shunting mods and battery expansions. As for holding bags, if I'm getting groceries like eggs and milk I have a little bit of difficulty trusting that they won't explode everywhere...a single lightweight bag is the most I've ever held for groceries. However, I once held my saxophone while I rode 30km/h at night...truly unsafe but I needed to get to practice about 2 miles from campus!

[AlanR]

@Velcotan I agree with the recommendations above re wearing safety gear - wrist guards in particular for me were essential, as were knee and elbow guards.