The Future of Motion
What Do New Onewheel Models Mean for the Community?
The Onewheel GT looks to be Future Motion’s new flagship product, with the beloved Onewheel XR now going out of production and the Pint X stepping up to fill its shoes. This leaves a lot of questions for those invested in the sport, especially those who have made it their livelihood to repair these boards and innovate new Onewheel upgrades or accessories.
Onewheel GT
Announced October 27, 2021, the Onewheel GT is Future Motion’s first 3 horsepower electric skateboard, boasting more power, more range, and more factory configurability than any previous model. It ships with concave footpads on both sides, with the option to customize the back footpad and tire at the time of purchase. It also boasts brighter headlights and a slightly faster top speed of 20 mph, compared to the 19 mph top speed advertised with the XR model.
One month after announcing the GT, Future Motion announced the discontinuation of its flagship Onewheel XR. This makes the GT its new flagship product and, likely, the default trail racing machine for future Onewheel Racing League (ORL) competitions, although this has not been confirmed.
Onewheel Pint X
It appears that the new Onewheel Pint X (also announced Oct. 27) will be filling the XR’s shoes, delivering double the range of the original Pint and comparable range and speeds to the current XR. It retails for $1400, a price point roughly midway between the original Pint and XR. It does not appear that Future Motion plans to discontinue the original Pint at this time.
“I think the Pint X is a huge upgrade from the original and may start to fill the niche that the XR did,” said Orie Rush, FlightFins. “Though I think the XR will always be legendary.”
Future Motion did not respond to requests for comments.
Comparing Onewheel Models
What’s so special about the Onewheel GT and Pint X? We charted the stats across past and current models so you can see how each one built upon the last.
It is worth noting that some specs (such as battery details) cannot be formally known until GTs start shipping. This chart represents the community’s best estimates based on the information available. Thank you to the Onewheel Mad Scientists Facebook group for sharing your knowledge and fact checking our comparison chart.
Some older model specs were sourced from Onewheel.wiki
What Do the Onewheel GT and Pint X Mean for the Aftermarket?
The GT rolls out a slew of features that riders have been demanding since the very first model of Onewheel was released in 2015, such as increased range and power and more customizability (including treaded tires) available from the manufacturer at the time of purchase. The historical lack of such options has led to a rich aftermarket of third-party innovators, vendors, and service providers who stepped up to fill these needs.
Now that Future Motion is providing customization options in house, there is a lot of uncertainty around how much third-party innovation and service will be in demand, or even possible due to proprietary new parts and designs that will likely be heavily patented.
For example, newer Onewheel XRs have paired the controller with the battery and BMS so that aftermarket extended range battery packs will not work with the factory controller. It is possible that the GT will be even more locked down and difficult to decode… but, for anyone who has met the Onewheel Mad Scientists, certainly not impossible!
Jon Stock, OW MØB SHOP
“The introduction of the Pint X and GT definitely threw the community into a whirlwind. Add to that the discontinuation of the XR and it’s a tornado. My shop is just doing some deep breaths and reminding myself last week I had 2 V1s and 3 plus boards come in for repair. Those are 5 years old and we can keep them running.”
Bob Nicholson, Bob’s Stoke Shop
“The XR is a great board. If FM embraced the community and worked together, the GT could have been even better. I hope one day they don’t see us all as enemies and more as allies. Not one of our repair shops has any hatred for FM, and I don’t believe any vendors do either. A symbiotic relationship would be the best for everyone.”
Q&A: What Vendors Have to Say
IOWA reached out to see how the announcement of two new Onewheel models is likely to impact our community of third-party accessory makers, service providers, and event planners.
How will the introduction of two new Onewheel models impact your business?
Jeff McCosker, The Float Life:
This isn’t our first rodeo. Every time there is a new OW model released, it opens up opportunities, and in the long run it’s a good thing.
Orie Rush, FlightFins:
The GT is both an opportunity and a challenge. The board looks very proprietary in contrast to the built-in-your-garage look of the XR, and this means that any aftermarket accessory has to keep up with the complexity. That said, it’s an opportunity to utilize some fresh design concepts and hopefully produce some of our best products yet.
Bob Nicholson, Bob’s Stoke Shop:
The Pint X is essentially the same as a Pint with just a larger battery, so that model will still have the same failures to repair. I anticipate the GT to be a larger, hopefully more heavy-duty Pint. I see it as a slight challenge at first, but we will adapt and overcome. I strayed from only Onewheel repairs about 6-8 months ago; now I repair all sorts of PEV such as escooters, ebikes, EUC and esk8.
Jon Stock, OW MØB SHOP:
I believe Future Motion made a tactical error by making it so difficult to get parts anywhere but FM HQ. It remains to be seen if they change their strategy and start to work with third parties. I think it’s in their best interest. The community is divided over this issue, and I dont know of anyone looking forward to shipping their board to California for a tire swap. Luckily the Right to Repair movement is bigger than any single device.
Do you think there will continue to be demand for service and accessories tailored to older models?
Orie Rush, FlightFins:
I can see a future of XR purists who have kept them alive by mods and sheer willpower. The board hits a sweet spot with weight, power, and simplicity that I’m not sure can be replicated by FM but I’m sure will be an ideal for aftermarket builds to come.
Nick Vitale, Craft&Ride:
Yes, we’ve seen an increase in demand for older model accessories since the launch of the Onewheel Pint X and the Onewheel GT. As new riders discover the many models of Onewheel, the aftermarket accessories we have to offer become the next focus for these riders. We expect the demand for Onewheel Pint X and Onewheel GT accessories will vastly surpass the demand we’ve seen for models beforehand.
Jeff McCosker, The Float Life:
When you take into consideration the weight, cost, and other factors, there will most likely be a market for the XR when it comes to freestyle Onewheel riding. Hopefully things change and evolve with repairs so we can keep XRs running into the future.
Jon Stock, OW MØB SHOP:
I suspect, if the XR follows the trends of the older models, we will be busy fixing XRs for quite some time. Because Future Motion will be less responsive with repairs and anyone with an older model XR that is very easily modified will come back with new, locked hardware, I bet we have a couple of years of good work ahead of ourselves in terms of repairing onewheels.
Bob Nicholson, Bob’s Stoke Shop:
We anticipate the need for repairs and accessories for the XR and plus and V1 for years to come. We estimate there’s a few hundred thousand in the wild.
Do you plan to make more accessories for Pint now that there is a long-range version (i.e., will Pint X increase demand for aftermarket Pint accessories)?
Nick Vitale, Craft&Ride:
Yes, more accessories are currently in development for the Onewheel Pint and Pint X. We expect increased demand for Onewheel Pint accessories, as almost every existing Onewheel Pint accessory is compatible with the Onewheel Pint X.
Jon Stock, OW MØB SHOP:
Absolutely! My mind is shifting to the Pint form now that I know this is their way forward. For us with Fishbones, the absence of a larger form aside from the GT means we can market Manta Rays to people with large feet, and the sensor issues mean Guppies will sell more also. The only place they got us was the Pint X bumpers bottom bolts go in at an angle, so getting a float plate on there is almost impossible in a practical way.
Orie Rush, FlightFins:
Our current Pint FullFlight System and MiniFins work great with the Pint X already, but if the market for Pint continues to grow we may have additional features to roll out.
Jeff McCosker, The Float Life:
Most likely, yeah. It depends a bit on how much use our personal board gets. I really only like to make products that we personally use and improve the OW experience for me. If people want it, but I don’t find it improves the experience, then we probably won’t make it.
How important will it be for third parties to diversify for the Onewheel PintX and GT? How soon do you think we can expect to see products and services for the new models?
Jon Stock, OW MØB SHOP:
With the Pint, we know they have a valid patent on most of the parts. With the form of the GT, I would suspect they have patents for those accessories as well. I believe companies will move at lightning speed to get accessories going. But whether these efforts will just be met with Future Motion lawyers? We’ll have to wait and see.
Jeff McCosker, The Float Life:
If you want to grow, then you have to adapt with the new models. What’s going to be interesting is the race to the first aftermarket tire. That will be a fun one to watch.
Orie Rush, FlightFins
It’s hard to say how far some of the new right-to-repair laws will reach, but there have already been multiple companies hit with cease and desists for the Pint and I’m sure they’ve only added more patenting to their new products. Past legality concerns, the boards are much more proprietary, which slows development.
Bob Nicholson, Bob’s Stoke Shop:
With the way supply chains are, I do not anticipate GT accessories very shortly. I think Future Motion has made it a tad more difficult to make new accessories than previous models and the way they have attached things to the board is probably patented. But we will figure it out; there’s way too many smart people in this community. Can’t wait for the new and improved balance board!