Small 'micromobility' vehicles gain traction amid rising car prices - eviltoast

High car prices have pushed people towards to the micromobility sector, where much smaller vehicles offer greater flexibility for a fraction of the cost.

  • thedirtyknapkin@lemmy.world
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    1 month ago

    interesting, i know many people that like them and none of them have ever had that issue as far as I’m aware.

    I’ve tried them once or twice, but I’ve always been curious why there’s seemingly so little overlap in the two communities. like both camps seem to almost not acknowledge the other.

    I’m slightly more in the one wheel camp, but I’m not sold on either of them. hanging with one wheel people started to get me really annoyed by them carrying the one wheel in with them EVERYWHERE they’re not that small in the context of an elevator when 4 people have them. and they always bump them into things and it causes a lot of damage. I’ve got marks on my walls because of them. obviously, is easier to deal with than a car in theory, but there’s already so much infrastructure to help you deal with your car.

    that said, the one wheel crew beat the rest of us to every event in the city every time. they are genuinely convenient for getting around, and they can easily and confidently go off road. that’s huge to me. you don’t need a decent road or bike path for them.

    it sounds like perhaps the key differences are speed (euc is faster it seems), off road capability, and how you stand on the thing. the stance is actually very important to me. i try not to, but damnit i care if i look good. you don’t look cool on an euc. ever. on wheels on the other hand just look like cyber punk skateboards.

    the speed isn’t a huge concern. those one wheels are already pretty damn fast. i can’t imagine if would often be safe to go faster than they can.

    all that said, I’m not sold on either, and haven’t done much research into electric unicycles. please, sell me if it’s something you’re passionate about. why should i prefer an euc? also, i do want to try understand why there’s such a strong separation in these groups if i can.

    damnit, i should have said all that to the other guy…

    • corm@lemmy.world
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      1 month ago

      I gotta say, I don’t think they look bad. I think chooch looks awesome when he rides, check out the video I linked.

      Practically speaking I don’t usually take my fast wheels. Usually I take my mten5 around with just a helmet and some small kneepads and gloves.

      It’s stupidly powerful for how tiny it is. Easy to carry by the handle. Easy to trolley. And gets me 20 miles of range.

      • thedirtyknapkin@lemmy.world
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        1 month ago

        oh that is handsome. but I’m more interested in what a person looks like on it. it’s more about the awkward sort of stiff lean that your have to do on them. i just can’t see that and not think it looks a bit goofy.

        • corm@lemmy.world
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          1 month ago

          New riders do the “zombie” stance but idk I think it looks good once they learn to relax their arms and bend their legs

          here’s it today

          And here’s a clip of me riding my other one

          https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTFD5DFJm/

          I don’t really care if anyone thinks I look goofy, I look great to my eyes. It feels like flying

    • FartsWithAnAccent@fedia.ioOPM
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      1 month ago

      I’ve always been more into skateboards/longboards when it comes to more compact stuff but @corm@lemmy.world could probably school you on electric unicycles - they have a few of them IIRC