Wheely hip or really stupid: LIZ JONES test drives the £1495 Solowheel adored by celebrities and hipsters

By Liz Jones for The Mail on Sunday

Published: 19:25 EST, 25 July 2015 | Updated: 03:22 EST, 26 July 2015

Liz Jones test-drives the £1,495 Solowheel

When I met Justin Bieber backstage in Miami, I hated him not because of his stupid cowlick hair, or because during our interview he kept rudely telling me not to interrupt him, but because he spent his free time riding around on a platform on wheels. It was as if he had no legs, as well as no intelligence.

Kim Kardashian, too, is fond of being the human equivalent of a Chesterfield sofa: well stuffed, and seemingly on casters.

And now – oh poor, poor me – I am being forced to experience the latest trendy form of transport, the sort of thing you once paid to see ridden at the circus by a clown.

The Solowheel is a powered wheel (gyro-stabilised) with a pair of foot plates on which the passenger stands. When the rider leans forward, the motor drives forward and a maximum speed of 10mph can be achieved. The rider has to balance side to side, in the same way as when riding a bicycle. When the rider leans back, the vehicle slows.

You see? You have to STAND on this latest form of transport, for all the world as though you are a Virgin Trains customer. There are no pedals, either, which means the prospect of being killed by lorries on London’s roads is no longer tempered by the thought that at least you had a nice bottom. When you are not on board, you have to carry the thing: 22 lb, plus of course your heels, because you have to wear flats on this thing.

Robert Altham, the European distributor of the little beast (invented in the US by Shane Chen, it’s manufactured by a company called Investist), gives me a demonstration.

On he hops, and off he goes, gliding around like Robin Cousins. He tells me he even walks his dog using a Solowheel, which is about the maddest idea I’ve ever heard. My border collies, which chase cars and even the wheelbarrow, would have a field day. And surely the point of walking the dog, or walking to the office from the station, is to get fit.

Boy's toys: Liz getting help from Robert as she puts to the test the latest trendy form of transport

‘Ah,’ says Robert, gliding smugly past me. ‘Riding a Solowheel does work muscles: your thighs, your core and your buttocks.’

But unlike brisk walking, it is non-aerobic and low-impact – unless, that is, you fall off. I am sceptical, thinking that the rich (the Solowheel costs £1,495, while its easier sister Hovertrax, a little platform with two wheels, costs £995) and lazy could merely hail a taxi, but I gamely have a go. As I’m taught to mount it, for all the world as though it were a drunken Shetland pony, I’m reminded of my two-week course learning to scuba dive in Africa, when I was so useless and frightened, I ended up tied by a rope to the boat. And indeed it turns out that being cool and saving the planet – a big selling point for the Solowheel is its zero emissions – is much harder than it looks.

Fit to drop: Liz complained of sore calves. Right: Justin Bieber on a different device

Justin Bieber shows off his new toy the IO Hawk and falls

At first, I had two men holding me up, but I soon learned that speed is all: if you are slow, you topple over, just as you would on a bike. And as in skiing, it’s hard to turn without momentum. I find gripping the sides with my calves painful, though Robert says I will get used to this.

I remain very unbalanced, and keep falling off, but Robert says after just one 30-minute session (when you buy in the shop you get tuition; when you buy online, you watch a video), most people get the hang of it.

The good thing is that when you fall off, unlike a horse, it doesn’t gallop off: the engine cuts out. I can see the attraction: standing on it, you are very tall, and have great visibility. You still have your hands free for an umbrella with which to beat off old ladies, alarmed that you have rushed up behind them silently.

I worry that the streets of London are currently so full of tourists with rucksacks, there is no clear path for someone whizzing along on a Solowheel, and the thought of these contraptions threading through buses and taxis gives me palpitations.

While children under 15 are barred on public roads and paths, I doubt it would help the old or frail: you need balance, agility, and to be able to hop off at a moment’s notice. I wasn’t given a helmet for my test-drive – that’s worrying.

And where do women put the four carrier bags of food they invariably lug home each evening, and their handbag, and their toddler? These seem quite selfish, isolating modes of transport. Showy-offy, definitely a boy’s toy.

But they are selling like hot cakes. Robert says he’s seen sales rise by 80 per cent, and they have been spotted in city centres nationwide.

Who on earth have they sold these little monsters to? ‘A lot of people buy them not just for fun, but for commuting,’ says Chris Kumar, of outdoor equipment specialists Altimus.

APPARENTLY, a new super beast, the Extreme, with a bigger engine, is about to go on sale for £1,850. Bigger customers in America complained the original – even with its maximum payload of 15st 7lb – baulked at hills. I imagine Amazon will snap them up, as the speed at which its employees will be able to whizz across huge warehouses will increase efficiency.

Remember the craze for waitresses on rollerblades? If these are used in restaurants, I imagine the lawsuits for burned mouths will rocket. The maker says it is stable, and can cope with uneven terrain, such as grass, gravel and cobbles.

The main plus point? At least your male co-worker will no longer arrive wet with sweat from his cycle ride, draping his Lycra over chairs.

The bad news? A new off-road version is about to go on sale, meaning even walkers and hill runners will no longer have to work up a lather. The world’s gone mad…

Comments (110)

Share what you think

• Newest
• Oldest
• Best rated
• Worst rated

 View all

The comments below have been moderated in advance.

 View all

The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline.

We are no longer accepting comments on this article.

Who is this week's top commenter? Find out now