The SoloWheel Glide 3 Review: An E-Skater’s Thoughts After 200 Miles

Introduction

Hey eskate squad! It’s been a while since my last article, but fear not! The wait is over. Tons of you have been messaging me asking for updates to my One Wheel adventures. It HAS been a while since the 300 mile review, and I am happy to report that I have wracked up ~1,000 miles between my One Wheel Plus and XR, but today I would like to discuss something a little bit different. Allow me to introduce you to the SoloWheel Glide 3, and outline my love affair with this little one-wheeled beauty.

For those of you who are new to my content, my eskate journey has been interesting. I started off as a sponsored downhill skateboarder in 2011, purchased my first One Wheel in 2017, and since then I have ridden tons of different boards of all shapes and sizes. My love affair with single wheels has always persisted however, and whenever the going got rough, I would always reach for my trusty Plus to get me to work.

All of that changed when I received my Glide 3 review unit.

…well, not at first.

Out-of-the-box this wheel is nearly IMPOSSIBLE to ride unless you have prior experiences with unicycles. I assumed that my vast experience with skateboards and One Wheels would give me an advantage.

I was wrong.

Learning to Ride

I spent the first 5 hours of my Glide 3 ownership in the parking garage at my workplace, precariously rolling forwards 2-3 feet at a time. After 3 or so hours, I was able to ride through the garage with relatively few incidents, and after a total of 5 hours, I felt comfortable enough to take the wheel out on the open roads of Cambridge.

One of the first major differences I noticed between the Glide 3 and the One Wheel is that the Glide 3 does NOT stay still. If you are not constantly rolling forwards, you will lose your balance and have to step off. At red lights, where I used to roll back and forth on my OW, I now have to dismount, or ride as slowly as possible and wait for the light to change. That being said, dismounting and remounting can be quite hard until you have the practice. It was about 2 weeks before I wasn’t making a complete arse of myself when the lights turned green.

Pro-Tip: Set the neutral angle of your EUC in the app to tilt forwards slightly (not as much as in the picture above). I found that this helped with comfort when maintaining speed. No one wants to feel like their wheel is pushing them over backwards while riding.

Ride Quality

Once you are comfortable on them, EUCs ride like a dream. They are super maneuverable, very stable at speed, and offer a fairly comfortable riding position that allows you to use your knees to absorb any bumps or potholes that the roads might throw at you. When I was still in my first couple of weeks on the wheel, I experienced a very unsettling oscillation  when exceeding 10 mph, which was very reminiscent of ‘speed wobble” on a skateboard. This ended up not being a problem once I relaxed my body a little bit and built up the muscles needed to keep the unit stable (also much like dealing with speed wobble).

Once through the initial learning stages of riding, I found myself continually surprised by what this wheel could do. Curb-drops were no problem, the large, 16-inch tire eats up the bumps and vibrations of road riding, and off-roading was easy!

The 800W motor, combined with the low ride height and centered weight of the rider, makes for a truly confidence-inspiring riding experience. Even after 1,000 miles on One Wheels, I still always feel like I am walking a thin line between cruising at a high speed and nose-diving into a potentially serious injury. Conversely, you really have to work hard to get the Glide 3 to set off its warning alarm (GREAT feature. Take notes Future Motion) and even then, I have never felt in danger of getting dumped by the wheel.

The performance numbers on the Glide 3 are also amazing. With a cruising speed of 18.6 mph, and 24 miles of range on a single charge, all in a sleek and sexy 30-pound unit, there are few other personal electric vehicles (PEVs) that can even TRY to compete with the Glide 3. At the $900 price-point, there are none that even come close.

Power

Power delivery is smooth and consistent, inspiring confidence at all speeds, but there is something to be said for the significant voltage sag that occurs once the Glide 3 reaches ~60% of its battery capacity. On longer rides, I have found myself limited to a cruising speed of around 15 mph after about 5 miles have passed. While this doesn’t sound too bad, it can be quite annoying when you are on group ride and have to keep up with a large pack of Boosted boards cruising at 18.

Range

Currently it is pretty cold in Boston, so I had to do my 100%-0% range test in 40 degree temperatures. I have no doubt that this, along with my 185 pound body, impacted the battery life, but I was still able to squeeze 16.5 miles out of the Glide 3 before it kicked me off for dangerously low battery. InMotion advertises “30 miles of total freedom” but I think that this claim might be a bit of a stretch. Certainly a lighter rider, cruising at 15 mph in a more temperate climate might be able to stretch that range a bit better than I did, but 16.5 is still a far cry from 30.

Usability

This is where the Glide 3 really shines. I have never encountered an electric board that has integrated itself into my daily commute so well! For the sake of keeping this simple, I have divided this section into several different categories:

The Handle

Image result for glide 3 handle

Holy mother of eskate, this is the single best feature that I have ever encountered on a device that I have reviewed. The one thing that SUCKS about commuting on any sort of PEV is lugging that huge piece of technology up stairs, into trains and buses, and then into your place of work/home. I am by no means in bad shape, and I cannot STAND lugging my 30-pound One Wheel more than a couple of blocks. Boosted boards also have a large footprint and I cannot even imagine what it takes to get a Kaly build or LaCroix up a flight of stairs.

The Glide 3 features a telescoping handle, much like you would find on your airport luggage, that allows you to guide the wheel around with ease. The handle allows you to engage the internal motor on the Glide 3 which takes all of the strain out of pushing or pulling it to your destination. Simply tilt the handle in the direction that you would like to go, and the internal motor takes care of the rest.

The Looks

With the handle extended and the LEDs turned off, the Glide 3 has all of the appeal of a slick piece of rolling luggage. I have been allowed into bars and clubs that have denied me access because I had my One Wheel or skateboard in-tow simply because the Glide 3 looks like it BELONGS.

I thought I got a lot of interest when I carried the One Wheel around, but I was wrong. Since bringing the Glide 3 on my daily commute I have spoken with all sorts of people. “What is that thing?” is a refrain I have heard so many times at this point, that I have a whole pre-scripted explanation ready. I have even had older gentlemen in suits stop me in the elevator to ask about the elegantly designed Glide 3 on a daily basis.

One you put the handle down, and turn on the side LEDs and front headlight, you go from a sleek and sexy Batmobile to a rolling discotek. Where most eskates require several aftermarket installed lights to stay visible at night, but the Glide 3 has everything that you need to be seen from all angles at night pre-installed. There are also additional patterns you can set in the app!

(The lights also have the side effect of drawing college students and homeless people to you like moths to a flame, so be mindful of this when operating your Glide 3.)

The headlight itself is also quite serviceable up to about 7 feet in front of you. This is enough to spot most obstacles in your way at lowers speeds, but I would like a little more light when I am trucking along at 18 mph on the dark, notoriously crappy streets of Boston.

The Size

At 30 pounds, the Glide 3 is not the smallest wheel out there, but its slim profile and fold-able footpads make it shrink down to the size of a standard bicycle wheel in seconds. Even in a crowded rush-hour train, I can easily fit the Glide 3 between my feet. When I get into the office, I can hide it easily under my desk, and at the bar, it sits nicely under my chair.

(This is my preferred hiding spot for the SoloWheel in a crowded rush-hour train)

The Waterproofing

Unlike all but the most expensive eskates, the Glide 3 comes with an IP55 waterproof rating, meaning that it is rated to withstand jets of water. This, combined with the enclosed design that keeps spray from the wheel off of your backside, makes it an ideal commuter for wet or rainy days. Unlike my One Wheel, which seems to erratically shut off every once-in-a-while when riding in the wet, the Glide 3 has been nothing but perfect in the 200 miles that I have logged on it. In fact, I get tired of being wet long before the wheel does. It is now my go-to choice for bad weather, though I have not yet ridden it in the snow.

(At the tail end of my “Torrential downpour test.” Expect my Glide 3 snow-ride review to drop sometime in January…)

PSYCH, it snowed RIGHT  before this review went up, and boy did it snow a TON. Cars were stuck all over Boston when this unexpected 4 inches of wet and slippery snow hit us. Naturally, being the crazy person I am, I decided to take the Glide 3 up the 10% grade hill that I normally use to test hill climbing power at the height of the snow storm.

As you can see from the photo evidence, I was able to make it up most of the hill before sliding out at lower speed. The next day, I took the Glide 3 out in the settled (less wet) snow and it performed admirably. This is absolutely my new go-to choice for snowy weather and actually amazed me with its performance. Most cars would not have been able to make it up that hill during snow that heavy, but the Glide 3 made a fairly easy time of it.

Durability

You would think that with its gorgeous design and mainly plastic body that the Glide 3 would be a pretty fragile machine. You would be wrong. My review unit has been crashed, slid countless times, even been hit by a car, and so far has only sustained cosmetic scrapes. Not a single part of the wheel has broken or malfunctioned in over 200 miles. If having a scraped up shell bothers you, you can always buy a replacement one for $25. In fact, you can buy almost any replacement cosmetic parts that you need on the InMotion website.

If you don’t believe me, check out when InMotion went to the Braille house and absolutely beat the stuffing out of these machines.

This is one of my favorite pieces of eskate content out there, and a great testament to the abuse that these machines can take. (My contacts at InMotion told me that they only had to replace the plastic covers on the units used in the Braille video before they were 100% good-to-go again!)

The App

Everyone has a weakness right? Superman has kryptonite, Aussies have Vegemite and Metallica made St. Anger. Unfortunately, the Glide 3’s Achilles’ heel comes in the form of the InMotion app. This app is such a garbage-fire, that I have decided to air my grievances in the form of a bulleted list.

The InMotion app is guilty of the following:

  • Showing me the TOS and making me agree to it EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. I start the app.
  • Featuring a weirdly gamified social aspect that seems to reward proprietary currency when you complete items listed in the “Task Center” (fun!).
  • Having a VERY inaccurate range estimator that starts at 30 and appears to tick down at pre-set increments of battery capacity, with no regard for rider weight or prior power consumption. If I relied on this app function to plan my rides, I would have been stranded a LOT.
  • Resetting my top-speed limit to 14 mph within SECONDS of me setting it to 18 mph.
  • Having some very hard-to-understand English that could be fixed by a quick once-over by a native speaker

If InMotion can boil the app down to the important stuff: setting lights, top speed, ambient tilt, showing speed/range, then this is an easy fix, but as it stands now, the app is barely functional. I have heard from other EUC riders, that this is one of the better apps in the industry and I believe it, but it is worth mentioning that third party apps like DarknessBot are the accepted standard if you buy a EUC from a major manufacturer. 

Conclusion

I hope you guys are in the mood to see a lot more EUC content because I do not plan to stop riding my Glide 3 anytime soon. The great range, functionality, and durability offered by this product make it the perfect choice for my commute, and as the days get colder, we will really be able to see how it performs in adverse conditions. I love my Glide 3, and I am certain that other people will too. The only problem standing in the way of the massive popularity of these machines is the pretty large learning curve that goes into riding one. If you can get past the initial 3-5 hour investment, I think you will find this machine as one of the best options for mid-to-long commutes, and one of the easiest PEVs to use in your day-to-day life.

Fun Fact: The “hands-free” nature of the Glide 3 means that you can hold an umbrella while riding it! I used this advanced strategy to keep my body dry while flying to work in less-than-perfect conditions!

If you are interested in buying a Glide 3 or other InMotion products, I have wrangled a special coupon code “DFR10” that you can use at checkout on the myinmotion.com website for 10% off of your order!

Ride Your Own Path: How I Picked the One Wheel as my First E-Skate

Hello dear readers, Electric Skateboard HQ’s newest writer here!

For my first article, I would like to take you down the journey of how I decided on purchasing my first electric board, but first, a little background about me. I have been riding, sliding, and racing skateboards for over 8 years now. From racing (and crashing) in competitive events to running from cops in the dead of night, skateboarding has left an indelible mark on my life and become one of my favorite activities, and far and away, most preferred method of locomotion.

(Me freeriding a local spot in 2010, please excuse the neon-green laces, it was a different time)

I am of the (rather strong) opinion that skateboards are a strict improvement over walking, and that, if everyone in the world learned to skate, we could solve most of our travel infrastructure problems instantly. As a Bostonian, I have found myself racing people in cars, buses, bikes, and even trains to get around the city and have always found skateboarding to be as fast, or often faster, than these more cumbersome modes of transportation, if slightly more dangerous. 

 But Why Skate?

Skateboards are light; you can bring them with you into most businesses and forms of public transportation. A wise man once said, “Why sit in a thing that runs on money and makes you fat, when you could be having fun commuting on something that runs on fat and saves you money?” On top of that, skating can be a very sophisticated form of self-expression. From wheels, trucks, and board cosmetics, to choice of gear* and even the style in which you ride, there is something about skating that lends itself to having a rich culture and identity element, much more so than biking or driving a car.

(*As long as you are wearing flannel. Always wear flannel.)

With all of this said and done, skating does have some shortcomings:

  1. You can do it in the rain, but you will be miserable
  2. Long distances can be very tiring and make you arrive at work dirty and sweaty
  3. Riders are confined to paved roads

As a skate-commuter, all of these factors had begun to wear on me. I hated having to walk to work in the rain or keep a separate set of clothes at work to change into when I arrived. At this point, I noticed that eSkateboards were really beginning to explode in popularity. I started to see yuppies zipping around Cambridge on the new Boosted Boards, and kickstarters popping up regularly for boards with more range, power, and speed.

Sadly, I couldn’t bring myself to pay the high prices of these new eSkates, not because I disliked the specs, but as a former skater, I noticed the low quality of the components. No way was I going to pay above market price for a Loaded Vanguard and some O-Tang wheels! I had much better setups at home. (At this point let me pause and say, that if Boosted partnered with Rayne or Landyachtz to make an electric Killswitch or Evo, I would throw my wallet at them faster than Predator Banshee can get off the line.)

At this point, I began to look into building my own custom eSkate. Sadly, the components were expensive, difficult to life-proof, and would require a fair bit of proficiency to spec out and then assemble. As a skater, I knew that I needed a commuter that I could beat the hell out of, that could survive the constant abuse of Boston’s winters, as well as my inane need to push my gear past its limits every chance I get.

This led me to the One Wheel. It doesn’t look that hot on paper with a top speed of 19 mph and a range of 5-7 miles, but it had a lot of other features that made it a very appealing alternative to the eSkates that I had been researching.

Those points boiled down to:

  1. One Big Wheel
  2. No Remote Needed
  3. Don’t Look Like a Fool
  4. Really Bright Lights
  5. Very Unique
  6. All-Weather
  7. Off-Roadability

  1. One Big Wheel:  

First of all, the One Wheel features….well, ONE wheel, but it’s one BIG wheel. The wheel is actually a big, inflatable, rubber go-kart tire, capable of eating up cracks, potholes, and most road-debris thrown its way. All skaters know the feeling of having to take a couple of extra cautionary pushes when cruising over sketchy road conditions, but with the One Wheel, this is not the case.

Boston’s roads (some of the oldest in the nation) are not exactly known for their immaculate upkeep; I have often been forced to jump off of my skateboard and walk for a couple of hundred feet in order to avoid some bricks that look like they were installed in ancient times by Christopher Columbus himself. Having the big, inflatable wheel of the OW looked like the perfect solution to Boston’s unexpected landscape.

(Anyone who has tried to ride a few blocks on this jank knows that pain)

 

  1. No Remote Needed:

One of my major gripes with most eskates is the need for a handheld remote. Skateboarding is so cool because you can do it hands-free! I have ridden back from the supermarket countless times with an armload of groceries, or ridden along while getting something out of my backpack, or answering the phone. Requiring you to use one of your hands to “drive” the skateboard takes the user further away from the experience, and is just another device that can malfunction and ruin your ride.

(An example of the awkward, “I’m holding a remote” stance)

The OW has only two rider controls:

  •       Lean forwards (to go forwards)
  •       Lean backwards (to go backwards)

As a lover of the “flow” of skateboarding, this is an ideal control mechanism. It keeps my body engaged in the control of the board, and keeps my hands free to balance, high-five strangers, and pat any adorable animals that I may pass by on my travels. Riders claim that these controls feel very natural, and also enable the rider to do something most eskates don’t: go backwards.

A quick youtube search revealed these controls in practice; I witnessed OW riders executing slides, grinds, stalls, and pivots on their machines, in much the same way that a street skater would tear up a rail or curb. I was enamored to see an eskate that had some trick potential Sick of watching hundreds of videos of kooky youtubers “cruising” down long smooth roads on their Boosted and Meepos, the OW was looking roughly 60% more fun at this point.

 

  1. Don’t Look Like a Fool

One of the biggest gripes I have with “hoverboards” and Electric Self Balancing Unicycles (ESBUs) is that you look like an absolute TOOL riding them. Rolling along in a neutral standing position has got to be one of the worst ways to travel. Compared to skaters, ESBU users are taking up twice the width of the sidewalk, and are about as aerodynamic as a brick wall.

(Let’s be honest, no little kids are going to see this guy putting along and go “Wow, I want be like HIM when I grow up!”)

Conversely, the OW allows the users to take a skater’s stance, narrowing your profile on the ground to the wind, and giving you an aggressive lean that (admittedly still not anywhere approaching “cool”) hopefully won’t cause EVERYONE who sees you to make some sort of Robocop joke. This wider stance also gives you more stability as you ride, which allows you more balance and confidence at higher speeds. What’s not to love?

 

  1. Really Really Bright Lights:

As a skater who commuted to and from work and school for around 6 years, I have definitely had my share of close calls with vehicles. Learning over time, I began to mitigate this risk by wearing hi-vis clothing, attaching reflectors to my backpack, and just generally attempting to become the human version of a Christmas tree.

The OW helps you out in this regard by supplying a headlight and taillight that dynamically change depending on your riding direction! It also bears mentioning that these lights are BRIGHTER THAN THE LIGHTNING BOLTS OF ZEUS. As in, do-not-look-directly-at-the-device-when-you-turn-it-on-or-you-might-go-blind, bright. This creates a really cool effect at night, where you seem to fly around effortlessly on a bed of white and red lights. It also has the effect of really freaking out some pedestrians, so I would recommend that you give people who look easily surprised some space.

 

  1. Very Unique:

One thing that I will say about the One Wheel is that it has a very unique and noticeable design. I was prepared to get some interesting looks, but not prepared for the number of people who would approach me to learn more about it, and even attempt to ride it! From old grandpa’s on the subway, to some of my more straight-laced clients, everyone wanted to learn more about the OW, and very few people had anything but wonder and joy to express. I won’t say that the OW is immune to random haters, but the vast majority of people seem to really enjoy watching the thing roll around.

  1. All-Weather:

One of my biggest concerns with getting an eskate was gaining the ability to commute to work (5 miles) in the rain or snow. If my ride couldn’t handle a downpour or an inch of snow, I would be better off just sticking with my old skateboard. Traditional eskates would be tough in the rain because, while they are mostly waterproof, the placing of the exposed wheels is perfectly set to rooster-tail water right up and onto the rider. As a downhill racer who has done a number of events on wet mountain roads, I was familiar with just how soaked you can get from this strange phenomenon.

The OW, however, is uniquely designed to keep all water UNDER the board. With the addition of an OEM plastic (or sick after-market carbon fiber) fender, the OW can self-contain all water spray below-decks. This keeps your legs dry, and your need to take an immediate shower upon arrival in check.

(Though you DO have to get a fender for it, or it will aggressively spray water at your front leg like a fire hose, as I learned my first time out in the wet)

 

  1. Off-Roadability

Even as a little kid, I fantasized about being able to ride a skateboard over any terrain. The only thing cooler than the effortless feeling of gliding over the pavement would be to continue right off of the road and into your favorite backwoods trail.

One of the coolest things about the OW is its ability to go anywhere and everywhere. Taking a quick look around youtube today, you can see that there is around a 50/50 split between OW footy that is on and off-road. These things can absolutely TEAR IT UP on dirt trails. The single, powerful motor built into the hub of the wheel combined with the large tire make the OW well suited for off-road riding, and I have even seen some users fit special treaded tires on their OWs for additional traction in mud and dirt.

(Even after just one week with the OW, I found myself surprised at the places I could take it)

All of these points, combined with the sudden theft of my motorcycle, led me to make the purchase of a new OW+. Since then, I have since ridden this strange device for over 125 miles, and have countless stories to share, but those will have to wait for next time!

I hope you enjoyed this little narrative of how I chose my first eskate; I apologize if it had less wheels than you were expecting. I would love to hear any feedback on my first article, criticisms of my process, or any requests for future articles, so feel free to email me at [email protected].

Until next time, let the good times roll!

-Drew