Am I crazy? Is this a stupid idea? I figured there’s only one way to find out!

This isn’t a review. The unicycle is still two days away, and I have absolutely no idea how to ride it. I can’t even tell you whether I chose the correct model or style of machine. What I can do is walk you through my thought processes. Maybe I’ll give you some good things to think about, or maybe you’ll tell me I’m wrong. Let’s find out!

Let’s start at the end!

I ordered a refurbished InMotion V5F Solowheel Glide 2. That’s a mouthful. It cost $399 shipped.

This is the smallest, slowest wheel InMotion makes, and it has less range than any of their other wheels. I thought the price was great, and I’m most excited about the fact that it is the lightest unicycle in their inventory.

Hey, Pat! I thought you had an electric bike!

I do have an electric bike–a Hover-1 XLS folding scooter. I love my bike. I have around 350 miles on it so far. I take it on a lot of short trips to a nearby park. Most of those journeys put less than 2 miles on the bike, so I’m guessing I’ve taken a lot of trips to the park.

My bike is comfortable enough and convenient for longer rides, but it is heavy and awkward. 50 pounds doesn’t sound like a lot, and the bike does fold up. However, it is very awkward to get that folded bike up into the back of the SUV. That means I never take it anywhere.

This is probably the biggest reason that I chose the InMotion V5F. All the unicycles are much smaller than my bike, but the V5F weighs only 25 pounds. It has a handle on top. It will be just like lifting my 25-pound FPV drone bag into the car, and that is fantastic!

What about electric skateboards?

Watching my friends play with their OneWheels and skateboards is what coaxed me into buying a unicycle. I should start by saying I’ve never ridden a skateboard, so I have absolutely no idea what I’m doing.

Brian’s Exway X1 Pro Riot longboard looks like fun, and it seems like a pretty good value. It weighs 10 pounds less than my InMotion V5F. The Exway has a higher top speed, but a bit less range. It only costs about $150 more than an InMotion V5F, but the Exway X1 costs more than twice as much as my refurbished V5F.

My biggest problem with the skateboards is that they can’t go off road with those tiny wheels. I really like the idea that I can hop on my unicycle to fetch my quad when I crash 800 feet away in the field. I had hoped my bike could do this, but it gets completely bogged down in anything but the shortest grass.

How about a OneWheel?

The OneWheel handles riding on grass without much trouble at all, and that is awesome. On paper, the InMotion unicycles beat the OneWheel in almost every measure.

The OneWheel XR costs about $1,800. It isn’t fair to compare that to the price of my refurbished $400 V5F, but even if you compare it to the full $849 price tag on a brand new V5F, the OneWheel doesn’t look so great.

The InMotion V5F weighs less, has a higher top speed, and more range. It doesn’t beat the OneWheel XR by a huge margin, but it does manage to beat it at less than half the price. In my opinion, the refurbished InMotion V5F feels like a ridiculous bargain at only $399.

If you push up to InMotion’s most expensive wheel, the V10F at $1,600, it completely destroys the OneWheel XR on paper in every measurement except weight. The V10F has 55 miles of range, a top speed of 25 MPH, and a Bluetooth speaker. It is pretty ridiculous!

Big wheels are important to me

I almost forgot to mention wheel sizes! The OneWheel has that fat go-cart tire. It looks to be about the same diameter as the wheels on my Hover-1 bike. The Internet tells me that the fat tire on the OneWheel is about 11.5” in diameter.

The V5F has a 14” wheel, and the V8 and V10 unicycles have 16” wheels. Any of these big, air-filled tires will provide a smoother ride than a skateboard.

Do you think the InMotion V5F is the way to go?

I know I said this in the beginning, but it bears repeating. I haven’t ridden any of these unicycles yet! You can be sure that I will keep you updated on my progress, but for now, all of this is based on my tireless research. I’ve been reading product pages, reading blog posts, and watching YouTube videos. Lots of them.

When I was looking at the prices for new products, the V5F wasn’t the option that stood out. I think the more appropriate unicycle is the InMotion V8.

At $849, V8 is only $150 more than a new V5F, and still less than half the price of a OneWheel XR. The V8 is a bit faster, has 5 miles more range, and only weighs 10 pounds more than the V5F that I ordered. It really does look like the sweet spot between the V5F and the V10.

The upcoming V8F looks even better. It adds another 5 miles of range and a bit more top speed in the same package, though you do have to pay about $250 for the upgrade.

What are you going to do with your unicycle, Pat?

I plan to take my electric unicycle on FPV freestyle miniquad adventures! My e-bike has been mostly limited to places it can reach from my house. I’ve packed it in the car two or three times, but it is quite a hassle.

I’m hopeful that my 25-pound unicycle will be something I’ll want to load into the car. I can throw my small drone backpack and wheel in the car, drive across the metroplex, and ride the wheel 5 miles to the spot I actually want to fly.

My friend Alex has a OneWheel XR, and he recently bought a house three miles from me. Not only that, but he’s also a stone’s throw away from our local park system’s bike trails. He has no trouble riding his OneWheel through the park to get to my house. I’d like to be able to make the same journey! Of course, I can do that with my e-bike today, but don’t tell anyone that!

Conclusion

I’m excited. I can’t wait to attempt to learn how to ride a self-balancing unicycle. I also can’t believe you can get something with this much range and speed for $399. That surprised me a lot!

What do you think? Did I choose the right mode of electric transportation? Am I going to hurt myself? Will I shoot my eye out? Am I going to pick this up quickly, or will this thing gather dust in my garage? Or do you think I’m going to have a ton of fun? Let me know in the comments, or stop by our Discord server to chat with me about it!