The term "Electric Unicycle" is wrong

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47 minutes ago, mrelwood said:

He even sounds like he might be near the snapping point already.

I mean, I thought it was kinda funny just discussing reasons for remotely possible name changes was some kind of trigger, but then I saw.. his location.

You gotta cut my fellow Americans some slack

[RayRay]

15 hours ago, Vanturion said:

Pretty sure we'll be talking about spinning sandwiches soon enough ITT.

Auto-Gyro 

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1 hour ago, RayRay said:

Auto-Gyro 

Deliverance!

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In related news, looks like some people in Dublin had the GyroWheel idea quite some time ago: https://gyrowheel.ie/about-2/

Edited October 28, 2022 by Vanturion
bad habit

[Wolverine]

20 hours ago, mrelwood said:

What’s that in Finnish??

In Finnish it is hyrrä.

 

[Beenjammin]

I like and use monocycle a lot. 
 

[Beenjammin]

Monocycle 

no motor in the traditional sense, like a motorcycle 

Mono(wheel)cycle 

[RayRay]

You may as well call it a "spin cycle"; this topic is just spinning in circles as always...

[KiwiMark]

If I have more time I like to be more descriptive when someone asks "what is that thing?" and I might say "it's a self-balancing electric unicycle".  I kinda feel like any short name we use would often be met with a blank look, purely because it means nothing to anyone completely unfamiliar with our favoured mode of transport.  In many ways a different name doesn't help when the issue is a lack of familiarity with the particular PEV.  Almost everyone is familiar enough with bicycles, e-bikes, scooters, e-scooter, skateboards and unicycles - but a unicycle with an electric motor and clever self-balancing control boards?  That's a completely new idea to >99% of people.

How to get these things more exposure, that is the real question!

[techyiam]

For the first time, when someone asked me how I was getting home, I replied "one wheel electric scooter". To my surprise, this person immediately got the gist of how I was getting home, without further explanation. It was as straight forward as if I had said e-bike.

[KiwiMark]

I was waiting to cross the road and had a short chat to a couple of young lads that were also waiting, one of them said something about a segway so I said "well, sort of half a segway".  I guess we could start referring to them as half-segways?

[mrelwood]

6 hours ago, KiwiMark said:

I guess we could start referring to them as half-segways?

At the absence of a steering column and a handle bar I’d maybe say more like a third of a Segway…

Edited November 9, 2022 by mrelwood

[OldFartRides]

Sometimes I get my snark on and say, “ It’s a new invention - they call it the wheel”.

Edited November 9, 2022 by OldFartRides

[InfiniteWheelie]

Yes, "electric unicycle" is a terrible name for these reasons:

• They're different than unicycles, with no real pedals, often no seat

• Way too many syllables

• Unicycles are dorky (bad for image)

 

The formal name should be "electric wheel". Just like electric bicycles and electric scooters, it also gets the shorter and more casual version "e-wheel".

The slang name has already been cemented as simply "wheel". What's great is this would now be a shorter version of the actual name.

Nothing else is as short and descriptive, while also sounding good, matching the PEV naming convention, and perfectly fitting the established slang name.

 

I propose changing the forum name to either "electric wheel forum" or "ewheel forum". We must stomp out "electric unicycle" before it's too late!

Edited August 9, 2023 by InfiniteWheelie

[KiwiMark]

10 hours ago, InfiniteWheelie said:

I propose changing the forum name to either "electric wheel forum" or "ewheel forum". We must stomp out "electric unicycle" before it's too late!

I don't mind electric unicycle or even better 'self balancing electric unicycle' for a nice self describing name, particularly when written.  The real issue is with the spoken name, especially in a relaxed & informal usage.  You can explain to someone that the device is a self-balancing electric unicycle, but if you are talking about your device and several times you say its name, you will very quickly tire of using that full name and find a very strong need for a shorthand easy to say name. 

If you were to create a video for youtube where you discuss how different PEVs compare and throughout a 20-min video you talk about e-bikes, e-scooters, eSK8s and 'self balancing electric unicycles' - well, you might initially describe an e-wheel and say that it is a self-balancing electric unicycle.  Throughout the rest of the 20 minutes you would just refer them as e-wheels.  It isn't much different to not saying 'electric bicycles' every time and just referring to them as e-bikes.  Once you have explained what an e-wheel is, there should be no problem with the viewer understanding what you are talking about every time you say e-wheel.  When you are explaining the advantage of an e-wheel compared to an e-bike or e-scooter being how compact it is, the use of 'e-wheel' should flow well in that sentence.

I don't mind EUC written, but 'ee-you-see' spoken or the much worse 'yuke' (YUCK!) just doesn't work well.  If someone asks what your device is and you say "it is a yuke", they are going to look at you funny and regret talking to you!  If you told them it is an e-wheel and gave a quick explanation that it is an electric self-balancing unicycle that works the same way as the segway, so that they now understand what an e-wheel is and how it works then they would from then on, be OK with the term e-wheel.  You can at least explain this to friends, family and acquaintances so that you don't have to use a long and cumbersome term every time you talk to the same person - explain it one time and from then on just use the short informal term 'e-wheel'.  I'm going to start with members of my family and move on to friends, workmates & neighbours when I talk to them and see how well it goes.

[dycus]

I like e-wheel more than gyrocycle now. It flows much better and sticks with the PEV naming convention (e-bike, e-scooter, etc). I think I'll start telling those who ask "it's an e-wheel, a self-balancing electric unicycle", hopefully either e-wheel or electric unicycle will stick in their head. It's important that "electric wheel" and "ewheel" already bring up EUCs in google searches, unlike gyrocycle.

Edited November 14, 2022 by dycus

[InfiniteWheelie]

You guys are great, you got exactly what I meant. 

I think a good way to introduce new people is saying some variation of, "It's called an electric wheel, or ewheel for short". As mentioned, you then describe how it works any way that's helpful, usually mentioning self balancing and leaning etc. I'd personally suggest leaving out the word "unicycle" even when describing it, to discourage the association.

It does feel weird at first because you're not telling people the predominant name, but you'll quickly get over it. Searching "electric wheel" or "ewheel" gets the results anyway. People respond really well to the name, and are quick to understand when paired with a brief explanation. I have months of experience doing this.

If anything I think people have more trouble understanding when using "electric unicycle". It's better to start from a blank slate, as a totally new type of transportation. The "unicycle" part just confuses them even more, as they try to figure why it doesn't have a seat or pedals, how it moves, or how it could even be electric. I even had one lady think the open trolley handle must be the seat.

Edited November 14, 2022 by InfiniteWheelie

[LowFlyingSquirrel]

ebikes are a step between a pedelec and moped , EUC's skipped the pedelec stage and now they're stuck being EUC's. It really is suitable and is a great word to describe these vehicles, probably why it's caught on. In everyday usage, wheel is better than ewheel. Saying ewheel is like saying automobile instead of car, it's weird. Electric wheels or ewheels is more suitable as a group term for anything electric with wheels. EUC also fit's with the dictionary definition: a vehicle that has a single wheel and is usually propelled by pedals. 

I am grateful EUC is public domain, and common vernacular.

If someone can't understand EUC describes a vehicle with one wheel, powered by an electric motor...

[InfiniteWheelie]

 @LowFlyingSquirrel You can't stop us, we're on a crusade to wipe this name off the face of the earth!

[Kurtosis]

11 minutes ago, InfiniteWheelie said:

 @LowFlyingSquirrel You can't stop us, we're on a crusade to wipe this name off the face of the earth!

[Funky]

It's one-wheel, or monowheel. Which is the closest meaning in my language: Vienritenis, monoritenis. (Viens, mono - one. Ritenis - wheel/bicycle 2 meanings..) 

I personally call it One-Wheel. Because it's that.. (Vienritenis) Doh real name is "EUC"

We don't add the "electric" name. Simply one wheel device..

Edited November 14, 2022 by Funky

[winterwheel]

I hate this thread.

[techyiam]

I agree that we should disassociate the wheel from unicycles.

So many regular folks come up and tell me that my wheel look so dangerous to ride. 

But they don't know how the wheel works at all. They just assumed that it must work like a unicycle.

To give it a little mystic, and a more positive spin, I offer:

WonderWheel

Edited November 14, 2022 by techyiam

[InfiniteWheelie]

If someone has a better name than electric wheel (ewheel), then I'll gladly go with that instead.

Either way, the name electric unicycle (EUC) has to go in opinion.

Edited December 13, 2022 by InfiniteWheelie

[0000]

36 minutes ago, techyiam said:

To give it a little mystic, and a more positive spin, I offer:

WonderWheel

you'll have to talk to Richard Pryor about that one

 

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42 minutes ago, winterwheel said:

I hate this thread.

I dunno, I hope this thread goes on and on for years where people will keep making posts randomly resurrecting the discussion over and over again in an endlessly gyrating cycle that ultimately goes no where.