During the 2023 ‘Race for the Rails’ competition, riders were given early access to custom digital shaping for Onewheel GT. They also got access to Onewheel’s new performance tires that now come standard on Future Motion race boards for the competition. It does seem that the release of Custom Shaping 3.0 is right around the corner and here is what we know so far.
Waiting on a “CPSC Timeline”
Race participants for ‘Race for the Rails’ have early access to custom shaping. Jack Mudd, has stated the release of custom digital shaping is dependent on the “CPSC timeline”. He did not provide much information regarding the timeline however, I speculate due to the CPSC’s warning that was issued in November of 2022, Future Motion is working on demonstrating the abilities (and limitations) of custom shaping to the CPSC. As of now we can only hope its available by end of 2023.
A Whole New Board Without a Hardware Release
Coming from the Custom Shaping 2.0 that was on the XR models, Custom shaping felt like getting a new Onewheel without the need for improving the hardware. The controls within Custom Shaping are not as nuanced as the tune modifier controls for VESC, but they are completely made with a user interface that is made to work and perform every time.
We can expect the ability to tweak various parameters such as the ones on the XR 2.0 custom shaping but there’s been some talk about even more features. It is possible that we can see the following:
Custom Shaping 3.0 Features for Onewheel GT
- Digital leveling / Stance Profile: Future Motion allowing the rider to set their own nose angle.
- Multiple Profiles: Ability to save multiple custom tweaks and profiles (can name your presets)
- Braking Aggressiveness: Ability to set braking aggressiveness (regen)
- Acceleration Profile: Refining where peak acceleration occurs (tight or loose setting – Aggressiveness).
- Turn Compensation (Turn Tilt): Ability to tweak heel and toe and nose and tail refinements (Roll and Yaw settings for the Onewheel)
- Disengagement Delay Feature: Ability to keep motor engaged (delay increase) when sensor is disengaged
Fine-Tuning for Maximum Performance:
On an Apple iPhone, you don’t have much abilities to customize outside of Apple’s layout. The performance is limited and they do lock down the phone quite a bit (in comparison to Android devices). That being said, Apple is very successful and still an extremely high performing device. Future Motion’s custom digital shaping is not going to allow for the same controls you would find on VESC software however it does take quite some time to tweak a VESC to perform perfectly (which some riders have the passion for).
Future Motion releases software that is made to work every time as safe as can be. When you view the release of their shaping from a business standpoint, you can see that their aim will be to be user friendly, safe and exciting. They aren’t going to push out anything experimental just to further the limit potential of the GT. Expect custom shaping to have modifiers that remain within a safe range yet giving you more control of the epic Future Motion controller which works very well out of the box.
Conclusion
I believe that custom shaping has garnered significant attention within the Onewheel XR community. The prospect of being able to tweak these settings and more is undeniably an improvement to the Onewheel. If you’re someone eager to explore even deeper customization, you might find that Custom Shaping leaves something to be desired and VESC is a place to further that itch. However, for those who have a deep affection for their GT and are craving for increased control, I believe this will be a truly game-changing experience for GT enthusiasts.
I’m anticipating its impending release. I can no longer swipe right to check for the ‘Still in the Shaping Bay’ notification. Let’s hope we won’t have to hold our breath much longer.
Update: 09/29/2023 – Custom Shaping 3.0 has been released for Onewheel GT and Pint Platforms.