Forwards

[hawkida]

Some wheels have an obvious front and back - they have built in headlights, or charge levels in convenient places that show clearly which way is intended to be forwards. Some don't.

Do these things actually have a front and a back, or are they effectively interchangeable? Does it do any harm to a wheel to be ridden "backwards"? Does it differ between models?

[Mono]

11 minutes ago, hawkida said:

Some wheels have an obvious front and back - they have built in headlights, or charge levels in convenient places that show clearly which way is intended to be forwards. Some don't.

Do these things actually have a front and a back, or are they effectively interchangeable?

Most likely entirely interchangeably. 

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Does it do any harm to a wheel to be ridden "backwards"?

No. Many of us (including me) ride backward all the time. Currently my fun-rides in the park are more backward than forward riding. It gives a nice, unusual speed sensation. 

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Does it differ between models?

I haven't heard of any model that drives differently forward vs backward, but that doesn't mean there couldn't be one in future.

[Cerbera]

25 minutes ago, Mono said:

Does it differ between models?

Yes. On the Airwheel X5 there is only a subtle difference, on the MSuper2 the difference was huge, and much nicer in reverse, so lots of people rode it backwards (ie forward, the wrong way round) all the time.

[dbfrese]

Some wheels (like my Ninebot OneE+) are by default set to have a slight upward tilt to the pedals while going "forward." If you get on it "backwards," it can feel a little bit strange, but it is very ride-able both ways. This tilt can be removed if you do a manual recalibration of the roll and pitch angles on the ninebot.

[Mono]

1 hour ago, Cerbera said:

on the MSuper2 the difference was huge, and much nicer in reverse

because the pedals happen to be quite forward-backward asymmetric, so switching the pedals would have the same effect.

[hawkida]

I have an IPS 121. I was asking because I'm not entirely sure whether there's a difference when I mount it from either end. I'm not a great rider, yet, still building confidence. If there's a difference it's not massive but obviously I don't want to do it any harm by riding in reverse regularly. Looks like there's nothing to worry about though?

[Cerbera]

8 minutes ago, hawkida said:

I have an IPS 121. I was asking because I'm not entirely sure whether there's a difference when I mount it from either end. I'm not a great rider, yet, still building confidence. If there's a difference it's not massive but obviously I don't want to do it any harm by riding in reverse regularly. Looks like there's nothing to worry about though?

Oh don't worry about that - the wheel won't care which direction it's going, though the tread of your tyre might make it feel a bit strange initially...

[Mono]

8 minutes ago, Cerbera said:

Oh don't worry about that - the wheel won't care which direction it's going, though the tread of your tyre might make it feel a bit strange initially...

That's right, there is often a direction sign on the tire and I have been wondering for ages whether this has any notable relevance...

[MaxLinux]

12 hours ago, hawkida said:

Do these things actually have a front and a back, or are they effectively interchangeable? Does it do any harm to a wheel to be ridden "backwards"?

Electric unicycles operate equally well in both directions (which side is the “front”). However, sometimes the tire has a directional tread pattern. Directional tires are optimized to work better in one direction than the other. The tread gives better performance on dirt, gravel, wet ground, etc. in the designated direction. On smooth dry pavement the difference is negligible.

Some tire treads have a preferred direction, but it won’t hurt the unicycle or the tire to ride in the non-preferred direction. Look on the sidewall for an arrow. It shows the rotation direction this tread was designed for. Choose your “front” of the unicycle accordingly. If the sidewall does not have an arrow, the tread is nondirectional.

[hawkida]

Thanks MaxLinux! Good to know.

[Frode]

On my KingSong KS-16 I have never felt any difference going in either direction. However, legislation forces me to select a forward direction. The law directs me to put a white (or yellow) reflex in the front, and a red one on the back. I found some with tape on, so smack - smack.

Now, if I turn my wheel around and drive it in my selected backwards direction, I must either change the reflexes, or (in principle) give way to any other road user since the law tells me to yield for any road user when I am backing my vehicle, even if the other road user would have had to yield for me if I had been driving forward. Interesting enough. the lights will no longer conform to the law since it changes from white to red on the front and from red to white on the back. So I sort of have a "catch 22" here. I may have to fiddle with the wires to fix that. Or maybe putting an additional red/white reflex on the front/rear... I'm not sure if the later one is legal though, but probably not less legal than my current configuration Maybe KingSong could come up with a reflex that magically switches from withe to read and vice versa when I switch direction? Yes?