Onewheel Fangs have a great name as they do appear to be the fangs of a snakehead when looking at the nose of the Onewheel. These (along with Sonnywheel’s Sliders and even B.A.N.G.S) are products to help avoid a catastrophic nosedive. Essentially, Onewheel Fangs are bumper wheels that allow for a higher chance of ‘riding out’ a nosedive saving you from injury.
Why do nosedives on Onewheels occur?
Overpowering a Onewheel is the primary reason for a nosedive. If overpowered, the board will stop thereby ejecting the rider. Fangs have the ability to allow the rider to keep their momentum when a nosedive occurs giving the rider the ability to recover the nose of the Onewheel without injury.
Here is a video demonstrating a really bad nosedive. The rider is overpowering the Onewheel (not respecting pushback) sending the rider over the nose of the Onewheel. His momentum is too much for him to run it out which causes him to hit the pavement hard!
With Fangs they allow for the board to not grind to a halt and allow for potential nosedive recovery. Some riders do nose slides or nose drags as a trick with B.A.N.G.s or Fangs as both provide a either a smooth surface (B.A.N.G.S) or wheels to carry the momentum. Riding on the Fang wheels for extended amounts of time however may result injury as the video below shows (but it is so much fun).
Whether you are on a Pint X, Pint, XR, or GT, Fangs have the ability to save some of your momentum to ride out a fall. The Fang 3.0s are larger wheels however they are relatively small for travelling at a high speed so riding on them longer than to just recover the nose is ill-advised.
Anti-nosedive solutions: Fangs, B.A.N.G.S, Bash and Sonnywheels
I personally recommend having some form of protection from a nosedive when riding Onewheels. Whether street or trail riding, something to mitigate the fall is needed in my opinion. One wheel Fangs are the most prevalent product found in the wild.
Land Surf Fangs
Some people love the concept of extra wheel protection in the front while other riders cant stand them. These bumper wheels essentially let you roll out a nosedive. If you are seeking some added protection from a nosedive and want an OEM look then Fangs by Land Surf could be for you.
Pros on Fangs
I personally recommend Fangs because they are also a complete front bumper replacement. These bumper wheels have a very OEM look. You can simply remove the stock bumper in the front and bolt this on directly. Land Surf allows for customizing Fangs 3.0 by letting you chose from a selection of different wheel colors.
These are hard polyurethane wheels similar to traditional skateboard wheels. The Fang bumper is relatively similar in thickness to the stock bumper. The Fangs however allow for wheels to let you ride out that possible dip of the nose. Each wheel has a set of dual bearings that are ultra slick.
Also a huge positive when it comes to Fangs is how your Onewheel has a very OEM look to it. The product is very well made. I have them installed on both my XR and Pint X and absolutely feel like they look really polished. As seen in the photo above, the Fang 3.0’s have a wider wheels in comparison for the ones available for Pint and Pint X.
- Built in front handle on the Fang 3.0 kits.
- Come with a pair of stainless steel bearings per wheel
- OEM appeal
- Front bumper replacement
- Simple install
- Minor loss of ground clearance
- Custom board look (multiple colors available for Fangs 3.0)
- Negligible weight difference from stock (few ounces)
- Maintains nose handle (on XR and GT models)
The Cons on Fangs
While I am a Fang fan, these do not offer much (if anything) for your every day trail rider. For me, 80-90% of my riding is on trails yet I do install Fangs for that occasional long street commute. If you are considering building a dedicated trail board, I would opt out of any wheels and grab a pair of Bash or B.A.N.G. bumpers.
- Limits nose side slides / grinds
- Board is technically NOT a “one wheel” with the added two wheels
- Loss of symmetric aesthetics
- Minor loss of ground clearance
- Not the best solution for trails
- Negligible weight difference from stock (few ounces)
Some of the pros are also considered cons. While I think Fangs have a streamlined design, Fangs are going to come to be a personalization for most riders while some want the added safety. Depending on the type of riding you do and if you want some added insurance to your ride, you may or may not decide front end wheels are the road to take. Fangs have saved me a numerous amount of times. I am not sure if I would have been able to save the nose of the Onewheel without the Fangs stopping it from hitting the ground.
The personalization element to Fangs is notable as well. The wheels on the latest versions are interchangeable. Its just one more touch to add to a board for personalization effect. Many Onewheels out in the wild are extremely personalized with color schemes and aftermarket product galore. Fangs keep that spirit and allow for more customization in creating your Onewheel. The bearings that come with Fangs are essentially going to last the lifetime of the product so buying a variety of wheel colors is fairly inexpensive. Swap color, have different colors – get creative!
Sonny Wheels
SonnyWheel’s Sliders are inline-skating sized wheels affixed to a slider on the nose of the board. These are made by a Onewheel rider in the USA. They are larger than Fangs and likely more safe however to many riders, its looks vs functionality. Some do not like the look. These also double as a handle on the top of the board. Sonny wheels are also not a direct front bumper replacement like Fangs. If you can not let it bother you that some people refer to these as training wheels, they do tend to provide for good security against a nosedive even on rough pavement.
B.A.N.G.S. and Bash Bumpers
B.A.N.G.S. and Bash Bumpers are super slippery, ultra slick, low friction bumpers made by Float Life (BANGS) and Land Surf (Bash) where they can almost offer the same amount of security in maintaining momentum when the nose dives downward due to their slippery material yet there is no wheels in front. They are made out of a “Ultra High Molecular Weight Poly Ethylene” that is extremely slick and slides well on pavement. These products are rugged ultra slick bumpers great for tricks and preventing a fall on a nosedive.
Bash bumpers are new to the space and are currently available only for the Onewheel GT. These have been added to Land Surf’s product line in light of the successes from BANG bumpers on the XR. Since no new BANGS have been issued for the GT yet, Land Surf is dominating the after market bumper game with Fangs and Bash bumpers.
Summary of Anti-Nosedive Products
Do Fangs work to prevent nosedives? Do they do their job in preventing injury? The answer is yes they can but not always. Rated by popularity, the B.A.N.G.s take the win. They are not necessarily intended for nosedive recovery like Fangs and Sonny Wheels are. They are just great bumpers for grinding and they are incredibly durable.
Fangs however come in a solid second place. The wheels are smaller than Sonny Wheels but can do the job in saving you from a terrible nosedive. Sonny Wheels will probably save you more-so than Fangs will however the slider in the front is added weight and may be not your choice of aesthetics. In the end some a set of bumper wheels will keep you rolling. What you chose is total preference.
You really do not lose much (maybe a couple centimeters of) clearance using Fangs. I feel far safer on pavement with Fangs. I have always used Fangs and do recommend them. As a rider of several thousand miles they have saved me a handful of times however I am pivoting out of Fangs and into B.A.N.G.S. or even possibly Bash bumpers for my GT as they are incredibly durable and allow for more trick riding.
If you are going to be completely dedicated in the trails, perhaps Fangs are not the best purchase for you. Fangs really only do their magic on hard surfaces (asphalt, concrete, etc). For a trail run, you may need to opt for Sonny wheels or just a rugged bumper like B.A.N.G.s. Personally, the Fangs do very little in the woods and can’t say they are effective in anything but an extremely hardpacked (near concrete-like) trail. If this is going to be your one and only Onewheel however then I would get them so you have that added safety on street rides. A few rides with Fangs, you wont even notice them and you’ll have some front end insurance.
One warning for those who are new to using Fangs. Do not complete a heel stop heading up a slope or hill. If you do a heel stop heading up a hill, likely your nose will go down first and you will roll downhill which may cause injury.
F.A.Q.’s
Their intent is to mitigate a hard fall from your Onewheel. The frontend wheels are intended to allow the rider to “ride out” a nosedive to either recover the nosedive or to run out the fall easier. Fangs are optimal for street riding however have little purpose on heavier trail riding terrain.
Fang drags are when you purposely drop the nose and ride on your Fangs for a reasonable distance 20+ feet. This is a trick that can be done without Fangs (called a nose drag). This trick is commonly done with B.A.N.G. bumpers as they are very slippery on asphalt surface. The best way to achieve this trick is to lower your digital shaping profile so that the nose is less responsive (Bay, Sequoia, Mission, etc).
In approximately 30 minutes time, Fangs can be directly bolted on without voiding any warranty. If you have Fangs 3.0, bolt on the wheels first then remove the 6 screws below the stock front bumper and the top screws holding them in. Make sure to map out which screw goes where. The fangs are a direct bolt on. Simply reassemble in the frontend where the stock bumper screws line up.
Fangs are available for all Onewheel boards from Pint to GT. The Fangs for the Pint models are smaller wheels whereas the XR and GT fangs (Fangs 3.0) are larger skateboard sized tires. Onewheel GT review is going to be the same as the XR (fang wheels are same size). The Pint fangs are 2.0 which do differ.
Fang Minis were bolt on Fangs that could attach to any model Onewheel. These do not have an OEM look to them and appear not as sleek. Land surf no longer sells minis however some can be purchased on authorized reseller sites.
Fangs 2.0 are smaller fang tires made for the Pint models. The 3.0 version is available for Onewheel XR and GT. The 3.0 versions also allow for custom colored wheels that can be easily swapped out.
The 3.0 models offer better stability as well.
They give the Onewheel a snake-like look with the nose appearing like the fangs of a snake.
Curb nudges are still possible to do with fangs.
This is a trick similar to a nose drag except with fangs you roll much smoother. Its actually too smooth and harder to ride because they give little friction. A nose drag is actually easier to achieve for longer durations.
Fangs are a product of Land Surf LLC and have no affiliation with Future Motion.
They do not work unless you modify the plate. There is an image above with this modification in my onewheel review with the fangs.
I cant see a reason for this to be done for anything other than symmetry. They could be installed on the tail but what a bad idea!
Technically yes, but you still ride only one wheel. Fangs are intended to keep you safe. When looking for an electric board to purchase, safety should be a main consideration.
2 thoughts on “Do Onewheel Fangs Work?”