What Pressure Should I Pump My Onewheel Tire to?

What Pressure Should I Pump My Onewheel Tire to?

The performance of Onewheel can be affected by tire pressure in many ways. Then you may wonder, what pressure should I pump my onewheel tire to?

The recommended tire pressure is 20 PSI. Many people will prefer different pressure levels on their tires, based on their weight, riding style, riding conditions, battery life, among other things.

This is, however, a general recommendation that may not apply in all situations.

When you buy a Onewheel, it’s also essential to buy a high-volume tire pump. When looking for a high volume pressure pump, search along with floor pump designs as most will do.

You will also find small electric compressors helpful as pressure pumps. It’s advisable to get a high-volume model instead of a high-pressure model.

It’s easy to fill a big flat tire with a high volume (HV) model. In addition to a high-volume tire pump, you will also need a pressure gauge.

The low-pressure gauge should be able to get as high as 30 PSI. It’s best to use car tire gauges as they work fine.  

How Can I Determine The Right Custom Tire Pressure For My Onewheel?

It’s not hard to estimate the appropriate tire pressure for your Onewheel.

Many people take it as a rule of thumb to divide the rider’s weight by ten to determine the best starting pressure.

This means that a 200lb rider should use 20 PSI pressure. Although this is a recommended starting point, there is no harm to stay with the manufacturer-recommended setting simply.

It’s critical to point out that new riders get used to the amount of pressure they start learning.

If you have a lot of weight, you might find it more comfortable to ride at higher PSI, while on the other hand, lower PSI will make you more comfortable if you are a light person.

When you ride on higher PSI, you will experience better mileage and better battery life.

Additionally, if you ride on higher pressure, your board will tend to be more responsive, although some people will think that this is board instability.

How Does Air Pressure Affect The Tire?

Although you can deviate from the recommended tire pressure according to your riding preferences, it is always at the expense of tire wear.

Significant deviation from your recommended tire pressure can affect your tire’s physical properties negatively.

For instance, incorrect air pressure will cause excessive tire wear.

Excessive tire wears mostly at the central part of a Onewheel’s tire tread is an indication that the recommended tire pressure has been exceeded.

This decreases the mileage of such tires. On the other hand, excessive tire wear is also experienced when you underinflated your Onewheel tire.

In this situation, you will notice that there will be more wear in the shoulders area of the tire tread.

In addition to this premature tire tread wear, severe under-inflation will also show tread separation.

When you ride on your Onewheel with an underinflated tire by 20%, you will get 20% lesser mileage.

This is a significant drop since we are talking of 8000 km from possible 40000 km.

Additionally, under inflation will also cause tire flexes and heating when the wheel is rotating.

Structural internal damages, as well as heating and flexing, should be expected if you ride on a Onewheel whose tire is under-inflated.

Additional tire damages and flexing will be occasioned by the excessive load that comes along with under-inflation.

Consequently, your load should dictate your appropriate tire pressure.

When you ride your Onewheel at high speeds, it’s possible to experience tire parts’ separation, especially in warmer regions.

Tire separation can have disastrous consequences. As this will always lead to tire blowouts, your Onewheel will most likely lose control and fall.

Does Tire Pressure Affect My Onewheel’s Performance?

Yes, it does! It’s crucial to maintain the proper tire pressure since it affects not only the tire performance but also your safety and the environment.

Particularly, areas directly affected are handling, tire wear, tire rolling resistance, tire durability, ride comfort, and possible tire blowouts.

Can Tire Pressure Affect Onewheel Handling?

When we talk of Onewheel handling, the vehicle’s ability to negotiate corners and respond to diverse road conditions is at stake.

It’s more difficult to ride your Onewheel with an underinflated tire. Additionally, its ability to respond to the road is slower.

Again, other factors that co-affect Onewheel handling and tire pressure include tread depth, road surface conditions, inappropriate speed, and tire cornering capabilities.

When taking a curve or cornering with a Onewheel with an underinflated tire, you will feel a reduced ability to handle your device.  

Lower air pressure reduces tire stiffness and causes lower cornering stiffness.

When tire inflation pressure decreases, the maximum speed at which you can overcome a curve decreases.

Your speed should also be significantly reduced when your tire is at lower air pressure.

In essence, with an underinflated tire, you will feel like you have no control over your device while cornering. Indeed, as you take a curve on an underinflated tire.

Your device will strive to go straight, and the motor will require more resources to generate the appropriate cornering force.

Can Incorrect Onewheel Tire Pressure Increase Carbon Footprint?

Interestingly, Yes! You might wonder how this can happen since Onewheel’s do not have any emissions or use fuel. Well, read on to know.

There is a strong association between increased carbon emissions and rolling resistance.

Greater rolling resistance dictates more wear on the tire and leads to frequent tire replacements resulting from reduced tire life.

This premature replacement will, in turn, lead to increased tire production.

Increased tire production will release enormous amounts of carbon dioxide during the manufacturing process.

Additionally, with increased scrap tires, there will be frequent recycling, producing additional carbon dioxide emissions.

Additionally, increased tire wear will lead to an increased emission of tire particles. During tire wear, there are tire particles produced when the tire interacts with the riding surface.

Although this may seem a small quantity, more uptake of Onewheels in the future could further complicate the situation.

Well, the breathing of these emitted particles can be breathed, causing significant health problems. Water sources, as well as the soil, can also be polluted by these particles.

Can My Onewheel Have A Runaway Problem With The Right Pressure?

Yes indeed. Tire pressure is not necessarily linked to a runaway problem. Many people link tire pressure to Onewheel’s runaway problem due to ignorance.

But let’s first understand what a runaway problem is and what causes it.

In some instances, your Onewheel may run away from you as you dismount at a stop or if you jump off the board while rolling.

In most of these cases, it might be difficult to determine if the board has genuine malfunctions or if the board has a purposeful runaway board design.

The default design of the motors is that they remain briefly engaged after the sensors on the footpad are disengaged.

This is a crafted safety measure that prevents the wheel from stopping during a small jump and a drop during which the rider’s feet briefly lift from the board.  

Consequently, if a rider should fall from the board while on transit or when the rider jumps off the wheel traveling at high speed.

The motor remains engaged as the board runs on for some seconds.

This means that after jumping off at high speeds, the board will cover some distance before the motor disengages.

However, this should happen within a few seconds, like two seconds and not more than three seconds.

However, there are obvious situations that mean there is a board malfunction. These cases are associated with footpad sensor malfunctions or even the controller module.

The frequency of such cases is more pronounced when dismounting a board from dead stops. If you are at a dead stop and then hop off the board, the board should not move.

However, if the footpads are not left simultaneously or if they are not level, your board may move for about a foot or even two feet.

But a board that travels a couple of feet in this situation should be a cause of alarm and concern.

In very extreme situations, the board might travel until it hits something and consequently stops.

This, being a malfunction, needs to be addressed before it causes severe damage.

Luckily, if you have downloaded and installed the Onewheel App, you will be notified as the App will indicate ”personal space error.”

Are There Solutions To Runaway Onewheel Problems?

Yes. You may make use of several available solutions to address runaway Onewheel problems.

First, you can consider ensuring that when dismounting, you use the heel-lift method after getting to a complete stop.

Here, you balance the board after stopping and then lifting your front foot heel to disengage the heel sensor from the ball of the other foot that still steps on the opposite sensor.

This is a procedure that will need much practice.

By default, a Onewheel will disengage the motor when the board achieves a speed of less than 1-2mph.

If you have the Onewheel plus, you should expect even slower disengagements than the v1.

Consequently, you must ensure balance until the motor disengages, the tail dropping to the ground.  

If you remove your foot before the motor disengaged will attract a sympathetic acceleration towards the direction of your onboard foot. This will be a short runaway.

Therefore, it’s best to use the heel-lift technique and wait as the motor disengages as it has been touted as the only 100% safe Onewheel dismount method.

As a result, not unless in emergencies, avoid the hop-off method that causes runways.

Does Onewheel Have Any Battery Or Charging Issues?

Yes. Like any other electronic device, your device may have several batteries and charging issues. Such issues are not in any way peculiar to your Onewheel.

For instance, if you do not initially charge your device for 24-72 hrs, you are courting future battery problems.

However, you can still cut the charge time in half by using an ultra-charger charge that will take about 30-35 minutes. Continue charging until the Onewheel App reports a full charge.

Additionally, your battery may indicate that it is fully charged when in reality, it is not.

The cells may fail to show the required balance, and the ultra-charger indicator may not change to green.

When this happens, do not panic but just let the charger continue that charging. The app may report a full charge when there is still some deficit in the battery.

Once this discrepancy is addressed, your charger indicator will change to greed, and the battery will have charged 100%.

However, the Onewheel App may continue to show a voltage difference even after extending the charge for 40 minutes.

When this happens, you will have to ride your board to battery depletion and then charge the board for 24hours. This should correct the cell imbalance and consequently

Another problem you might encounter with the battery is running out of juice, even with a 40-60% battery life.

If things turn this way, you will need to check the surface you charge your board.

Ensure that eh surface is fairly horizontal. Ensure that you charge it when you can frequently monitor it to ensure that you disconnect it once it hits 100% charge level.

Additionally, there are times when the Onewheel App may fail to recognize when the battery drains, and it may report incorrect percentages.

This occasions a need to drain the battery and perform an extended 24-48hr calibration charge.

Conclusion

The recommended pressure for a Onewheel tire is 20 PSI. Although this is considered a general recommendation, it’s essential to stay as close as possible to this air pressure.

Great deviations from this recommended tire pressure will affect not only your Onewheel performance but also the lifespan of your tire.