Every Onewheel rider is well aware of Pushback which is board’s way of telling the rider that you’ve approached the Onewheel’s limit. Some experienced riders have a keen sense of discerning their speed to the specific MPH or KPH however if you are not that in tune to your speeds, perhaps adding some haptics will help identify your speed and may help approach higher and higher speeds.
Haptics are tactile feedback. For the Onewheel rider, we have pushback but no haptics from the Future Motion smartphone application. Too add a haptic feedback you would need to install a 3rd party app.
In this post, I will show how to add vibration and sound to your smartphone so you can ‘feel’ certain speeds on your Onewheel. The added haptic response can help record higher speeds on your Onewheel which will improve your riding progress.
The Onewheel App – Future Motion Should Implement Haptics
I completely understand that Pushback is not speed specific. Pushback is related to the power output of the board so in a way I see why Future Motion has not added some sort of vibration / haptic when hitting a top speed however they should add it (or the option anyway) when pushback is reached).
While the rider should be able to feel pushback, this can be a sort of redundancy implemented for the rider to convey to them that pushback is reached. It would be nice if they could add a haptic response to the app for certain speeds. This way you know specifically how fast you are without having to take your eyes off the road to check your watch or app.
I’ve always been impressed with experienced riders who know exactly how fast they are riding and they can seriously tell you to almost the specific mph prior to even hitting pushback. I do not possess this skill so I really made this post for others who need or want something to alert them of their speed that is more than just pushback.
Why Would You Want Haptic Feedback For Onewheel Speed
Onewheels have max speeds before pushback comes in and for many newer riders, they are scared to death to hit pushback in fear that their board will nosedive shortly after. While this is far from the truth, their concerns shouldn’t be brushed off. Adding a haptic at certain speeds pre-pushback can help build the confidence to getting to the limits.
Many riders (especially with angled rails) need to hit pushback so that their board levels out. They are constantly riding the pushback so for those who are concerned, just know that theirs a swarm of riders who live at pushback speeds and beyond.
Android and iOS Apps for Speed Limit Haptic Feedback
Install SpeedLimitAlarm or GPS Speedometer and Odometer for iOS or Speed Alarm for Android so that you can get a speed limit added for your riding. These apps can run in the background and provide sound and vibration to you as you ride. Why would anyone want to add feedback? Personally for me its help me find certain speeds without having to take my eyes off the trails or street. I set a lower speed limit for certain trails so I can dial in where I’m comfortable. This has helped improve my speed. On trails, I do not have the speed to always hit pushback and sometimes, I am a little fearful that pushback may be a little too late (probably not as much of a concern as I want to think it is).
The GT does has a pushback ‘beep’ from the board that you can enable or disable however adding a haptic app is really for those who want to dial in a certain speed pre-pushback. Once you get comfortable with a certain speed, you may set the limit a little higher.
Conclusion
Pushback and the Pushback notification on the GT are really not speed related. If you want to take your Onewheel riding to new heights, haptic feedback apps can be a great tool to help you identify your speed and also help achieve top speeds and improve your riding technique. By using these apps to track your speed and movement, you can receive valuable feedback that can help you make the most out of your ride. If you haven’t tried using haptic feedback apps yet, we encourage you to give it a try and see the results for yourself!