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The term "Electric Unicycle" is wrong


plentora

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Another point about "electric wheel" is that it's descriptive on a deep level. Yes, it's obviously electric and obviously a wheel, however...

These devices are defined by being electric (can't make a gasoline or human powered version). The word "electric" reflects this essential characteristic.

These devices are also defined by having one wheel. The word "wheel" reflects this elegantly by just leaving off the plural "s", without the need to explicitly add another word like the brand "One Wheel". 

Together the words "electric" and "wheel" form a name that includes two core characteristics. Just more thoughts about the name, but my main argument was in my previous post. Okay that's enough autism for today.

Edited by InfiniteWheelie
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23 minutes ago, InfiniteWheelie said:

These devices can inherently only be powered by electricity (could never have a gasoline or human powered version). This means the word "electric" reflects a totally essential characteristic of this device.

 

Unfortunately, I have to disagree with your claim. There is no object that man has not devised, invented, designed and produced. So also this superb piece of engineering. (youtube video)  And not to forget, the refinement of producing the best design, thus this:

 

271641985_6798649180176446_4791864139923027652_n.jpg

Edited by Robse
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@Robse Okay fair enough, I suppose you could consider a unicycle a "human powered version". Although you can't really have one that's both human and electric powered (like e-bikes and e-scooters). That makes our devices separate from unicycles in my opinion.

However that gasoline version is nothing but an oddity made for fun, it doesn't and can't work. There's no method for it to balance other than your hand controlling the throttle (near impossible), and braking would be even harder.

Edited by InfiniteWheelie
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1 minute ago, InfiniteWheelie said:

@Robse Okay fair enough, I suppose you could consider a unicycle a "human powered version". Although you can't have one that's both human and electric powered (like you can with an e-bike or e-scooter), which kind of makes our devices a totally separate thing in my opinion.

However that gasoline version is nothing but an oddity made for fun, it doesn't and can't work. There's no method for it to balance other than your hand controlling the throttle, and braking would be impossible.

all right - maybe I wasn't clear enough in my exaggeration and dark humor :D

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Someone mentioned the "wheelie-bob", which I think would be a fun brand or model name. (Could catch-on.)

I'm still okay with having "gyro" in the name, despite the confusion with meats or certain aircrafts...

Also, "quarter-car" has an odd precedent as being used in scientific circles as a way to describe vehicle suspension systems. So, technically, we are riding a "quarter-car" model that happens to be a true quarter of a car.

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1 hour ago, RayRay said:

Someone mentioned the "wheelie-bob", which I think would be a fun brand or model name. (Could catch-on.)

I'm throwing mine in a lake if they end up being called that ! :)  How to lose ALL your cool factor in 3 seconds flat.

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11 minutes ago, Punxatawneyjoe said:

It just makes sense to call it an e-wheel. I mean when asked , people often seem more confused when i say electric unicycle. I think e-wheel would help others to understand it a bit more easily.

For sure. I've said it earlier, but I still think it'd be interesting to have someone other than me, possibly a mod, post up a poll with all of the suggestion naming suggestions from this thread just to see what the forum members end up voting on. Especially now that this topic has been percolating on and off again in the community at large for some time. I mean, why not?

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Every time I see someone all worried about how "nerdy" EUC sounds, I just feel sad that someone is so insecure about their hobby and so desperate for everyone to think it is cool.

As a result, whenever I see someone trying so hard to "make fetch happen" as it were, I always just read whatever they wrote as "penis wheel". So just let it be known that when you prominently keep repeating "Electric Wheel" or "E-Wheel" or "GyroWheel" or whatever thing you think will let you sit at the cool table, I just hear "penis wheel".

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5 hours ago, Punxatawneyjoe said:

e-wheel makes sense to me and seems the least obtrusive. For instance "i think e-wheels should be classified in the same category as e-bikes" see how nice that sounds when advocating for EUC laws...:D

4 hours ago, Punxatawneyjoe said:

It just makes sense to call it an e-wheel. I mean when asked , people often seem more confused when i say electric unicycle. I think e-wheel would help others to understand it a bit more easily.

 

I agree with everything you wrote here.

"E-wheel" would likely be the main name in practice. Good for use around riders and non-riders alike. I've introduced people using "e-wheel", and as you say they simply accept it, while "electric unicycle" seems to cause them more confusion.

"Electric wheel" is just the formal name, which is only used occasionally. "Wheel" is just the informal name, which is only used around people in the know.

 

Edited by InfiniteWheelie
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I like e-wheel too. I generally just say “wheel”, but for non riders e-wheel makes a lot of sense.

When I’m typing, for some reason I miss the trailing ‘l’ and end up with “whee”. Freud has approved it already.

Edited by Tawpie
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43 minutes ago, InfiniteWheelie said:

"E-wheel" would likely be the main name in practice. Good for use around riders and non-riders alike. I've introduced people using "e-wheel", and as you say they simply accept it, while "electric unicycle" seems to cause them more confusion.

"Electric wheel" is just the formal name, which is only used occasionally. "Wheel" is just the informal name, which is only used around people in the know.

I think that this really cuts to the chase.  Our rides should be called electric wheels, commonly referred to as 'e-wheels' which is as succinct and as easily understood as e-bikes.  Not many people use 'electric bicycles' because e-bikes is way easier to say.  e-wheels is just as easy to say and they are just as easy to ride (after getting over that initial (admittedly very steep) learning curve).  It makes sense that e-wheel riders when talking amongst themselves would refer to their 'wheels' but when talking to non-riders it would be best to keep it as e-wheel.  

Obviously you could get more descriptive at call it a self-balancing electric wheel, but you definitely would not want to keep repeating all of that every time during a conversation.  I like 'electric wheel' and agree that it definitely makes sense to shorten it down to e-wheel to make it more concise.  I don't see that there is any real flaw in referring to what I ride as an electric wheel, that is quite literally what the device is.

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I like "e-wheel" though in its plural form it could be mistaken for any type of PEV. The vast majority of the time I just refer to my EUCs as "my wheels". "Electric Unicycle" typically only comes out when I'm talking to people who ride other PEVs and I need to distinguish or if someone asks what it is that I'm riding and I start to get technical. I rarely ever say "EUC" but that is my go-to term when communicating through text since it's only three letters.

I've noticed that most people I know who aren't riders and some who are just getting into riding tend to refer to EUCs as "one-wheels". At first I would take the opportunity to try to inform them of what a OneWheel is and the differences between that and an EUC but they almost never caught on and eventually I decided at best it was a wasted effort and at worst I was coming off as a gatekeeping smartass. In practice, the terminology isn't nearly as important as context and most people's focus is on the wheel itself over what it's called.

Edited by Spaghetteh
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