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Riding the Uno Bolt, a weird and wonderful self-balancing unicycle

Riding the Uno Bolt, a weird and wonderful self-balancing unicycle

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Impractical fun at its best

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Small, powerful, and affordable electric motors have helped dozens of startups flood the market with increasingly practical personal vehicles over the last few years. A handful of products I’ve tried this year that show these concepts are progressing and evolving, too. There are modular electric skateboards, foldable scooters, and design-forward e-bikes now, and they all feel like genuine advancements of their base ideas. This focus on developing alternative transportation is promising for commuters with some cash to burn, but to be honest, the most fun I’ve had on something with a small electric motor this year was when I got to ride the Uno Bolt a few weeks ago.

The $1,500 Bolt is about as impractical as it gets when it comes to electric rideables. It’s sort of a self-balancing unicycle, but with chest-high handlebars and a big, fat wheel for stabilization. It uses gyroscopes to keep you from tipping over, and that’s also how you modulate your speed — there’s no throttle. At 45 pounds, it’s heavy, but the shape of it is generally cumbersome, and not the kind of thing you could easily lug up the steps to an apartment or an office.

In many ways it’s like the Ryno, a one-wheeled motorcycle we first saw back in early 2014. The Bolt even derives its inspiration from the same place as Ryno’s creators — Sean Chan, founder and co-inventor of the Bolt, says he wanted to make something that resembled the one-wheeled bike from Dragon Ball.

Like a Segway with a seat

The Bolt differs mightily from the Ryno in its aesthetics, though. It’s much more Segway than superbike. And it’s not supposed to be a street-legal ride like the Ryno was. Instead, it’s probably destined for sidewalks and bike lanes, much like a Segway. If it were a little easier to ride, I could even see it replacing Segways as the preferred way to lazily tour a new American city. It works in pretty much the same way, but with the added value of a seat. What’s more American than sitting?

The toughest part of the learning curve on the Bolt is nailing the balance while you turn. After about 15 minutes, I was able to ride the Bolt in a straight line, but turning still required many errant foot plants, and I had to rely heavily on the handbrake to keep myself (and the Bolt) from crashing onto the sidewalks of Manhattan’s Battery Park. I recently learned to ride a real motorcycle, and trust me, two wheels are easier.

Chan says it takes most riders about 45 minutes to get comfortable enough with the full riding experience, so maybe I just didn’t have enough time to spare. Of course, he’s put in endless hours of riding time while creating the Bolt, and for every one of my abrupt stops, he pulled off what seemed like dozens of skillful pirouettes.

Still, riding the Bolt was ridiculous fun, and it’s exactly the kind of weird vehicle I wish I could waste money and storage space on. It very likely won’t take off in the same way electric skateboards or scooters have in big cities like New York, but I definitely won’t be surprised if I see someone whip by me on one a few times in the next few years. And when that happens, I’ll definitely be a little bit jealous.