The electric unicycle crowd is a pretty passionate one. It’s not rare to see you folks in my comment section, lecturing me about how your EUC goes farther and faster than whatever e-bike I’m covering that day, all for a fraction of the price. And I’ll admit, the ability to ride an electric vehicle to your destination and then just pick it up to carry it inside like a briefcase does have its appeal. So I figured I’d give the InMotion V5 a test, as it’s supposed to be a very beginner friendly wheel.
I’m actually not a total beginner at electric unicycles, but it’s been a good half a decade or so since the last time I hopped on one.
And even then, I was far from being able to teach a class on the subject, to put it lightly.
So I figured it’s about time to climb back up on the one-wheeled horse. And to do so, InMotion hooked me up with a novice wheel known as the InMotion V5.
It’s about as beginner-friendly as it gets with modest power, a low top speed, and a smaller battery to keep it lightweight.
Check out how my testing went in my video review below. Spoiler alert: I didn’t hurt myself! Oh yeah, then keep reading to see my complete thoughts on this alternative electric vehicle.
InMotion V5 video review
InMotion V5 tech specs
Motor: 450W hub motor
Top speed: 12.5 mph (20 km/h)
Range: 12.5 miles (20 km)
Battery: 188 Wh
Wheel size: 14″
Weight: 25 lb (11.3 kg)
Brakes: Umm, you just lean backwards?
Extras: LED lights, little foam pads to cushion your ankles, not much else
Electric unicycles have proven to be just as convenient as I imagined them to be. It’s amazing to have a fully-capable little electric vehicle that fits under my chair. I don’t even have to worry about locking it outside like an e-bike or an e-scooter since I can just bring it inside with me.
But the convenience is only appreciable after you put in the time to become comfortable riding one. Depending on your sense of balance and mental elasticity, that may take just a few short days or several long and painful weeks.
There’s a lot of hopping off and dropping the EUC along the way. In fact, I highly recommend picking up one of those protective unicycle condom things that sleeves right over it and prevents you from scratching up your shiny new wheel.
For me, I was usually able to hop off and grab the handle, preventing mine from getting too scratched.
When it comes to learning, the best thing to do is start out in an open area like a parking lot.
Start with one foot on a platform and position the wheel up against the leg of that foot (I’m right-handed and like to start with my right foot on the wheel first). Then in one motion jump the other foot onto the empty platform and lean your whole body forward.
Now you’re 100% going to fall.
Congrats, you just had your first attempt and your first fall! Repeat that several dozen times, and you’ll be done.
Just kidding, sort of. Actually, not really. That’s pretty accurate.
Basically just keep doing that same thing, but keep these tips in mind. 1) Don’t look down at the wheel, but instead off at a point in the distance. 2) Don’t just lean your shoulders forward, but instead lean your whole body forward. If it helps, think of pushing your chest out and forward. 3) Make sure you’re standing up straight and not turning into a turtle.
Keep doing that until you can basically go straight. Once you feel like you’re rolling decently enough, it’s time to start turning. You turn by looking where you want to go. Look left, go left. Look right, go right.
I’ve read before that some people recommend starting up against a wall or fence so you can hold onto it for balance. But I found that to just get in the way since I was relying on the support instead of letting my brain learn to balance by itself.
The best way to train once you have your basic balancing down pat is to move from a wide open parking lot to somewhere with paths that have defined edges.
Walking paths in a park are best, especially ones with gentle curves instead of straight lines with hard angles at intersections. When your mind sees a boundary on either side, it just starts to move your body and steer you to stay within the boundary.
You quickly learn that steering is almost more involuntary than voluntary. Don’t try and steer left like you’re in a car. Instead, look down the curve to the left and lean slightly towards your target. Your body will handle the rest.
For me, it fortunately only took a few minutes off falling off the wheel to re-learn what I originally learned years ago from my first attempt at an electric unicycle. If this is your first time ever, then expect it to take several sessions over a few days.
It can be demoralizing in the beginning, but don’t quit. You think those dudes who walk tightropes were just born on a clothesline in the delivery room? No, they practiced until they could do it with their eyes closed. And that’s all there is to learning to ride an electric unicycle… practice!
The InMotion V5 makes it fairly easy since it just isn’t overly powerful. It’s not going to rocket out from under you, and it’s not going to freak you out with sudden acceleration. It doesn’t even weigh that much at just 25 pounds.
It even has cute little audio tips, like when you fall over it calls out, “Be careful!” Thanks, like I hadn’t thought of that.
Once I got the hang of it again, I really started to enjoy cruising around on the InMotion V5.
I could wiggle between parking meters, bollards, rows of picnic tables or just about anything else that came along my way. I could slow to nearly a crawl (though I’m still trying to figure out how to just rock back and forth in place, idling). I can roll over debris that might freak me out on smaller 8″ scooter wheels. And I can even take it up and down inclines, though I don’t have very many in Florida to test it on. The manufacturer claims it can handle an 18º slope, but I’ll believe that when I see it.
The 12.5 mph speed limit might seem like a lot at first when you’re struggling to go 3 mph, but you’ll quickly run up against it. It kind of freaks you out the first time you hit it, as the wheel speeds up slightly to gently rock you backwards while reminding you to “Slow down!”
Since the InMotion V5 is very much a beginner wheel, there’s a decent chance you’ll outgrow it and want to move up to a more powerful and faster model. That’s exactly what has happened to me now that I’ve gotten comfortable on it.
Even though you may progress pass its abilities, it’s a great way to get started in this fun world of single-wheeled electric vehicles. And at $599, it’s a pretty cheap way to test the waters, too.
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A tugboat pushes a barge near the U.S. Steel Corp. Clairton Coke Works facility in Clairton, Pennsylvania, on Sept. 9, 2024.
Justin Merriman | Bloomberg | Getty Images
President Donald Trump on Monday ordered the planned acquisition of U.S. Steel to undergo a new review after the company’s pending purchase by Japan’s Nippon Steel was earlier blocked by President Joe Biden.
Trump directed the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States to review the proposed deal again to assist “in determining whether further action in this matter may be appropriate,” according to a presidential action issued by the White House on Monday.
U.S. Steel shares spiked nearly 12% in reaction to the decision.
Trump gave the committee 45 days to submit a recommendation on whether measures proposed by U.S. Steel and Nippon “are sufficient to mitigate any national security risks.”
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
Elon Musk, who already suggested Tesla invest in xAI, is now setting the stage for the public company under his control to grossly overpay for xAI, a private company under his control that just absorbed Twitter (X).
Anyone invested in a mutual fund that owns Tesla shares could be about to bail out Musk and his billionaire friends.
At $44 billion, Musk knew he was overpaying for Twitter and tried to back out of the deal.
Within a year of Musk taking Twitter private, Fidelity Investments, which invested in Musk’s Twitter acquisition, revalued its investment as being down 65% from its purchase price.
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A year later, in October 2024, Fidelity valued Twitter, X by now, at just $10 billion.
That’s not surprising since Musk had Twitter take on $12 billion in debt as part of the take-private deal, and revenue fell by roughly half under his leadership.
To take Twitter private, Musk personally financed the deal with $25 billion of his own and his existing stake in Twitter, $12 billion in debt, and about $7 billion in investment from his friends.
As of October, most of that equity was gone, but Musk wasn’t about to let a loss slide on his record.
In 2023, he launched xAI, a private company under his control that develops AI products. Tesla investors are suing him for breach of fiduciary duty and resource tunneling over the founding of xAI since he had previously stated that Tesla would be a big player in AI and simultaneously threatened not to build AI products at Tesla if he didn’t get more control of the company, but let’s put that aside for now.
When raising money for xAI in 2023, Axios reported on how Musk might use the AI company as a “plan B to save Twitter” and Musk responded:
“I have never lost money for those who invest in me and I am not starting now.”
Who are these people who invested in Twitter with Musk? There’s a long list, but two of the biggest investors are Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, a Saudi Arabian billionaire and head of Kingdom Holding Company, and Larry Ellison, billionaire co-founder of Oracle. Both are close friends of Musk.
VC firms Andreessen Horowitz and Sequoia Capital, Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund, the highly controversial crypto exchange Binance, and the previously mentioned Fidelity Investments have also invested in the deal.
By the end of 2024, those people were basically writing down 80% of their investment in Twitter, as per Fidelity.
However, a few months later, in March 2025, X was somehow valued back at $44 billion as part of a “so-called secondary deal.” Some took this information as news that X had turned around, but many were skeptical that the valuation could have gone from $10 billion to $44 billion in just 5 months.
Sure enough, we quickly learned that the new valuation had little to do with improved financials at X and was instead based on Musk pushing for xAI to buy X at $45 billion through an all-stock acquisition. A company’s valuation is only what someone is willing to pay for it and Musk was willing for xAI to “pay” $45 billion.
In late March, Musk announced that xAI had acquired X in a deal valuing xAI at $80 billion and X at $45 billion, while xAI would take on X’s $12 billion debt.
The world’s richest man was not shy about highlighting the controversial self-dealing here:
It’s worth noting that xAI had raised only $12 billion at a $40 billion valuation with virtually no revenue as of December 2024, and now it’s a $125 billion company, based entirely on Musk’s valuation, with $12 billion in debt.
How does Tesla plays into this?
Musk has promised Tesla shareholders that the Twitter acquisition would be good for the company. That was after he sold tens of billions of dollars worth of Tesla stocks to buy Twitter – sending Tesla’s stock crashing.
Tesla shareholders haven’t really seen a return on that yet unless you count a brief surge in stock price after Trump was elected, with the help of Musk and X, but the stock has since erased all those gains since Trump came into office.
Now, xAI is the plan B.
Last summer, Musk suggested that Tesla invests $5 billion in xAI, but that was before the company acquired X. Musk will need shareholder’s approval for a deal between xAI and Tesla, which would happen at Tesla’s shareholders meeting – generally held in June.
Now, Tesla’s CEO, who has been complaining about his eroding control of Tesla after selling shares to buy Twitter, has greatly inflated the value of xAI through this acquisition of X ahead of the potential investment.
Musk has also discussed Tesla integrating Grok, xAI’s large language model, into its products, specifically its electric vehicles.
A post on X this weekend suggested that this might be happening soon:
ChatGPT, OpenAI’s LLM, has already been integrated in many vehicles, including from the Volkswagen Group, Peugeot, and Mercedes-Benz.
Electrek’s Take
The grift never stops. As I have been saying for years, Musk is not equipped to be an executive of a public company, and this is just the latest example.
If all these entities were private, and he was taking his affluent private investor friends on a ride, I wouldn’t have any problem with this, but Tesla is a public company included in many ETFs and mutual funds. Many people own Tesla stocks without even knowing.
But as Musk said himself, he doesn’t let people who invested in him lose money. Does that include Tesla investors?
I don’t think it does anymore.
There’s an argument to be made that Tesla shareholders should already own Musk’s stake in xAI. That’s what the breach of fiduciary duty lawsuit is about. Musk said that Tesla was “a world leader in AI’ and said that AI products would be critical to the company’s future.
Then, he starts a private AI company and threaten Tesla shareholders that he will not build AI products at Tesla if he doesn’t get more than 25% control over the company. That’s a clear breach of fiduciary duties to Tesla shareholders as the CEO of Tesla, but it will likely take years to solve this through courts.
In the meantime, Musk is pushing for Tesla to invest in xAI, which is now valued at $125 billion – a number completely made up by Musk.
Grok is not a bad product, but it ranks below OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’S Gemini in most AI rankings. It also relies too heavily on information from X, which is far from reliable. Most experts see xAI as being way behind OpenAI and other AI companies, which are already generating significant revenue.
Now, I doubt Musk will still push for a $5 billion investment from Tesla. I don’t think that Musk will want Tesla to spend 15% of its cash position on this amid delcinign earnings and a very difficult macroeconomic situation.
I wouldn’t be surprised to see Musk pushing for Tesla to invest in xAI as part of a stock deal.
The timing would be good for Musk. Tesla’s current brand issues, lower deliveries, crashing earnings have led to a much lower share price on top of the crashing US stock market. If Tesla’s share price is lower, Musk can get more shares for his made-up valuation of xAI.
Musk likely owns more than 50% of xAI post X acquisition. A stock deal would virtually result in him getting half of the Tesla stocks that are part of the deal – boosting his stake in Tesla, which has been his goal since selling his stake to buy an overpriced Twitter.
In short, Musk sold Tesla stocks to buy an overpriced Twitter, regretted it and threatened Tesla shareholders to get more shares. Now, he might get Tesla shareholders to pay for the acquisition again at the same ridiculous valuation.
The craziest thing about all of this is that I bet Tesla shareholders are going to approve this scheme.
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Specialized has announced a voluntary recall for several of its popular Turbo e-bike models after identifying a safety issue with the chain guard that could pose a fall risk to riders. The culprit? A clothing-eating drivetrain setup that may be a bit too hungry for its own good.
The recall affects Turbo Como IGH, Turbo Como SL IGH, and Turbo Vado IGH models equipped with internal gear hubs (IGH), sold between 2021 and 2024. According to Specialized, certain chain guards on these bikes may allow loose-fitting clothing to become entrapped in the drivetrain, potentially causing crashes or falls.
The recall includes both belt-drive and chain-drive models. Models equipped with traditional rear derailleurs are not part of the recall and remain unaffected.
The issue isn’t widespread in terms of injuries — thankfully, as there have been no reports of serious harm. But as Specialized continues to grow its e-bike lineup, especially in the urban and commuter segment, it’s clear they’re taking proactive steps to ensure rider safety and confidence.
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Riders of affected bikes are being advised to stop using their e-bikes immediately and schedule a free chain guard replacement with their local Specialized retailer. The fix will be installed at no cost, and Specialized is footing the bill for both parts and labor.
You can check if your model is affected by visiting Specialized’s official recall notice page, or by contacting their Rider Care team.
This recall lands in a growing category of micromobility safety updates and recalls, as more riders turn to e-bikes and scooters for daily transportation. From battery-related recalls to structural flaws, the increased adoption of electric two-wheelers has put new pressure on manufacturers to catch potential issues early.
While the vast majority of all e-bikes and e-scooters will never see a recall, the growing number of models on the road has seen an uptick in such occurrences over the last few years.
Electrek’s Take
While it’s always disappointing to see a defect, it’s encouraging to see brands like Specialized move quickly, transparently, and without passing costs to the customer.
And let’s be honest: for riders who favor flowing pants, long jackets, or any other long garment, these kinds of things can happen. My wife learned that the hard way when she lost a chunk of her kimono last year when she switched to riding her bike to work every day. Securing long, flowing clothing is just part of the safety procedure for riding bike. It’s good that Specialized is being proactive here, but I think just about any bike could see long garments getting sucked into a chain if conditions are right – or wrong.
I reviewed one of these e-bikes a few years ago and it was an incredible ride. I managed to escape with my pants intact, and I’d still ride one any day. If I owned one though, I’d probably take it in for that free chain-guard swap, though – which is just another example of a benefit of buying a bike shop e-bike as opposed to a direct-to-consumer brand. I love my D2C e-bikes, but having a bike shop help with this stuff, or even reach out to you directly during a recall, is a big plus in my book.
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