An Electric Unicycle (EUC) looks more like the BC Cartoons. A Onewheel does have a board, and you ride it sideways rather than in-line BC style…. not that that makes it any less geeky!
It feels almost exactly like Snowboarding.
Well, I thought it was the brand the way it was written, “Onewheel”. Didn’t say “unicycle” or “single wheel.” A single wheel design has always been referred to as a unicycle in my experience. But I’ve had enough snark today. Outta here.
+1… agreed :+1:
And the headlamp suggested is a good one & very reasonably priced.
IMO… to get range you will need a decent hotspot. However, for things like walking, running, bicycling, and skateboarding, you might appreciate a wide spill that will illuminate whats by your feet/wheel.
I might suggest an Acebeam L35 (Cree XHP70.2 version) for a 21700 size, or an Acebeam TK18 (Nichia 219C version) for an 18650 size. Both have WIDE hotspots with a decent reach, and the spill is wide enough to illuminate things close to your feet/wheel. The downsides that come to mind are: the Acebeam has a larger bezel so it’s not pocketable, and the TK18 is discontinued (although some dealers are still selling them)… also both require the battery to be removed to charge, and the Acebeam requires 20 Amp continuous 21700 (mine came with an Acebeam battery); the TK18 doesn’t come with a battery.
I don’t have any Zebralights, Lumintop, Sofirn, Convoy, etc. brands so I can’t attest to their beam patterns. I would assume the “floody” Zebralights would do well, and that the Lumitop FW3A should have a similar beam profile as the AB TK18 mentioned above if using similar LED emitters.
Edit: I might still lean towards a headlamp as suggested above.
I wanted to give everyone on here an update about this.
I didn’t get any feedback about the Sofirn IF25A, so I bought a 4,000K version and I’ve used it for a couple of nights now.
The 4,000K light is nice, with a high CRI, but it doesn’t feel bright compared to 6,500K lights if that’s what you’re used to. The high CRI does illuminate things in a very natural way though, and that’s nice.
Turbo mode is fun, but it doesn’t last for very long because of heat. I had to calibrate the temp sensor out of the box, and I’ve set the limit to 65 currently. Turbo works, but it’s pretty pointless for my application because I care more about a sustained high luminance flood of light than a temporary shot.
The beam shape is fine. I’ve read that there is no hot-spot and it’s a flood, but that’s not true. It is a fairly broad hot-spot though, and the spill is weak to the point of being irrelevant. Overall I’m happy with the beam shape; any wider and it would need more lumens output to be useful, and any narrower would not light up enough of the surface ahead.
A good test of the performance is if I feel confident to ride at the same speed as in the day, and I cannot say that it’s the same… but it’s close, and that’s a win I think.
I’m finding myself running the light at ~60% of the ramp, and at that point it gets warm to the touch, but not hot. Run time would probably be about 2 hours at this output.
Another finding, which is to be expected, is that if the ambient lighting is higher (due to street lights etc.), you need a higher light output from the flashlight. This is because the human visual system is adapting to the brightest objects in your field of view, and we can only see so much range. The flashlight needs to bring the foreground in to this visible range and more light is required to do that. I’m confident that if I were riding on a non-street-lit trail, this flashlight as way more than enough output to be effective.
Finally, the ergonomics… I’m hand holding this flashlight, and that’s proving to be very good; far better than a headlamp, for many reasons I’ve covered in earlier posts. The problem I have with the IF25A is that it is quite short. I wear wrist guards which are slippery plastic on the outside, and the short build of the IF25A makes it feel slightly insecure in my hand.
Given the ergonomics, I would love to have something that takes two 21700 cells in series, with a similar light output (beam shape, colour and lumens), and has a buck converter for continuous steady drive as the battery drains. I don’t think such a flashlight exists… but we can dream.
Short summary is that I’m reasonably happy with the IF25A for my application. It’s not perfect, but it’s a very good solution…. I’ll keep looking for something with better ergonomics, but I’m liking it so far.
I and I’m sure many others assumed you were riding in total darkness. Yeah a headlight is not going to help if you already have street lights somewhat lighting up what you’re doing. I also assumed these were real trails but it sounds like you’re on fairly well groomed hard surfaces. That changes things quite a bit. What is this surface and what color is it?
Eh, Nezil good to see another PEV rider out and about. I almost got a EUC but went for an E-Scooter instead! 
Yeah, those One Wheels are for sure fun as heck. I know because I tried one out a few times already. Fun as heck and a lot safer than a EUC. 
About lights when you’re out and about one wheeling, I would use a headlamp and a handheld EDC. This way, you always have light wherever you look plus you can use the handheld EDC for quick scanning outside of your headlamp zone. For tint, I usually have a 5000K and 4000K light happening when I go ride.
The surface varies quite a bit, but I try to stay on asphalt and concrete trails as much as I can if it’s dark.
These are mostly smooth, but on a Onewheel, which requires you to balance to turn, a crack in line with the direction you’re riding can put the wheel at an odd camber and shoot you off in a direction you weren’t expecting, and an unseen bump can bounce you off or at least make you loose your foot placement.
With practice, you may be able to handle either of these occurrences without issue, but it really helps to have the terrain ahead lit to make you aware of surface imperfections like this before you ride over them, so that you can be prepared for the way the Onewheel will behave.
congrats on your new light, and thanks for sharing your impressions
fwiw, a narrow Tir use less batteries than a floody Tir
a narrow beam can be brighter at less lumens, less heat, and less battery drain,
than a wide beam that demands more lumens to be equally bright over a larger area
cool white LEDs are brighter, but they do not produce any Red spectrum. If you want at least some Red color rendering, choose a light with a high CRI LED such as the LH351d 5000k
I think a headlamp on your helmet would be a versatile option… can be handheld when desired, and handsfree as needed
enjoy your rides 