(heavy breathing) (distorted warping)

(clenched screaming) (epic music)

Hi guys, I'm Brent Rose, tech writer

and anthropomorphic crash test dummy.

So you know how the segway never really quite caught on?

Well there's a whole new breed of ridables here.

THey're being championed by the

best and brightest among us.

Visionaries like Justin Bieber, Wiz Kalifa

and JR Smith are really on board with these boards.

But do these things really have a future?

Is there something you could realistically ride to work?

Or are they dangerous death machines

that'll fall apart if you sneeze on them?

We're gonna put them to the test today, so let's find out.

So I've never tried any of these things.

To test how easy they are to learn,

I'm gonna give myself 10 minutes on each of them.

This is the Phunkeeduck, it cost 1,500 bucks,

has a claimed range of 10 miles,

top speed of 12 miles an hour.

This is the one most of the celebrities have been

messing around on for the last few months.

Turning is so hard!

Grrrr!

Really have to lean into it.

Whoa, man.

[Cameraman] What's that beep?

Maybe it's the speed limiter.

Whoa!

I have trouble imagining myself riding this to work.

I already feel relatively competent.

So this next one is the Hovertrax.

Looks a lot like the Phunkeeduck doesn't it?

Well the Hovertrax actually came first

and they've got the patents to prove it.

This one cost 1,500 bucks, has a range of just

nine miles, and goes only five miles an hour.

Doesn't feel that much slower really.

I feel like I have way more control on this one.

[Cameraman] You okay?

That's just gonna be the first of many today.

Yeah, I feel way more in control.

This one scares the shit out of me.

This is the Zboard Pro, it cost

900 bucks, it has a range of 13 miles,

and it can go up to 20 miles an hour.

Good God.

Now I've always been a truly terrible

skateboarder, so tell my mom I love her.

Hey, how you doing?

It takes much more effort to turn this thing,

but it feels more familiar to me.

No!

Stopping is gonna be the challenge.

Lean back!

Ah shit.

Oh yeah.

Yeehoo, shit.

So that was definitely a lot more

challenging, but it was way more fun too.

The biggest weirdo out of this

whole field of weirdos has gotta

be the Solowheel Xtreme.

This thing cost a whopping 2,300 bucks,

it has a maximum range of 15 and a half miles,

and a top speed of 10 miles an hour.

It's basically a self balancing

electric unicycle that you stand up on.

So this should go well.

Oh God.

Comes with this little training crotch strap.

Oh man.

It's definitely on right?

I'm worse with the strap.

What the hell?

The strap is betraying me!

I wanna love you so bad, but I hate you so much right now.

Strap is back.

Definitely easier with the strap.

Can taste it!

Can't really taste it, I can smell it though.

Fuck yes!

(laughs) Ow!

Grrr!

Lost a little skin.

It's gonna take a little more time to get the hang of it.

Welcome to the time trial.

We've set up a 50 yard course, we're gonna see which

one of these things can get me through fastest.

We've also got a radar gun clocking

my speed and I've got all my protective gear on.

Even for a tech writer, this is considered very dorky.

(beeping)

Shit!

(laughs)

(beep)

Come on!

12.69.

14 miles an hour.

(beeping)

Oh shit!

Oh man.

[Cameraman] You okay?

Yeah, not good.

Goddamn.

13 miles an hour.

Let's just address this point here real quick.

Their website says the top speed's about five miles an hour.

I was going 13 on that thing!

I hit real hard there.

[Cameraman] Are you okay, let's see.

I'm okay, to be fair this one

isn't really made for outdoor use,

really really happy I had this on.

All right, let's try that one again.

(beep)

It's so squirrelly.

Grrr!

13.65.

11 miles an hour.

And it definitely feels shakier at high speeds.

(beeping)

Woo!

Grrr!

11.15.

15 miles an hour.

Yeah, that one felt fastest for sure.

It's hard to shift your foot and

actually get yourself stopping.

(beeping)

Grrr!

10.84.

13 miles an hour.

That was fun.

This thing's really growing on me.

Well that was intense.

I'd say overall the Solowheel

took this one for me, this felt

the most stable and the most secure

at speed followed closely by the Zboard.

Both of these other two were your,

you have a wide parallel stance,

just felt very strange when your

direction of travel is perpendicular.

Next up we're gonna look at handling.

We set up a little obstacle course

and we're gonna see which one can get

me through the quickest and the easiest.

(beep)

Jesus!

Goddamn, I hate that thing.

26.63.

Definitely felt like I was in

control, had speed where I wanted it.

(beep) Go!

30.56.

This is so much harder to control this one at speed.

(beep) Go!

Oh God, oh God.

33.22.

Badass on the straightaways,

sharp turns, not so much.

(beep) Go!

17.87.

Woo!

This was the hardest for me to learn on

and now I feel so much more comfortable

on this one than any of the other ones.

It's too bad it's so expensive.

And for our last challenge we have the curb test.

It's pretty complicated.

I'm gonna drive these off a curb.

Jesus.

Oh!

Good job, Phunkeeduck.

Hovertrax.

Come on, come on, come on!

Oh!

Again!

Yo!

Zboard.

Oh God!

Brianna sticks the landing!

Brianna was my old gymnast name,

I don't like to talk about that.

All four of our boards passed the curb test.

I am shocked frankly.

Nice to end on a high note.

So what did we learn here today?

While all of these were pretty fun to ride,

I wouldn't say any of them are

really ready for daily commuting.

Between the two rivals, the Hovertrax

and the Phunkeeduck, I have to

say I prefer the Phunkeeduck, the wider

stance really helped a lot.

The Zboard was definitely fun to ride,

but ultimately my overall favorite

has gotta be the Solowheel Xtreme.

It was the hardest to learn,

but ultimately the most satisfying.

It's just a lot of fun to ride.

So what do you think?

Are these things you could use in your day to day

life, or are these just toys for rich kids?

Let us know what you think in the comments below,

subscribe to Wired if you haven't already,

and with all that being said, there's

really only one thing left to do.

(dubstep music)

Tech writer and anthropomorphic crash test dummy.

Fuck.

Oh shit!