Let's start with What is Pushback?

Pushback on a OneWheel is a safety feature designed to alert riders when they are approaching the board's maximum speed. The Onewheel is an electric skateboard that uses a self-balancing system to provide a unique and intuitive riding experience. As riders lean forward, the board accelerates, and as they lean backward, it decelerates or reverses.

Pushback is a noticeable change in the board's behavior that occurs when the rider is approaching the top speed of the Onewheel. When the board detects that it is reaching its speed limit, it initiates a slight upward tilt of the nose. This tilt is a physical signal felt by the rider, and it indicates that they should ease off on their forward lean to prevent the board from going faster.

Here's why pushback is important:

1. Safety: Pushback helps prevent riders from inadvertently exceeding the board's safe operating speed. Going too fast on a OneWheel can lead to loss of control, accidents, and injuries. By providing a clear signal to the rider, pushback helps them stay within safe speed limits.
2. Awareness: Pushback serves as a feedback mechanism, making riders aware of their speed without having to check a display or rely solely on visual cues. This real-time feedback is crucial for maintaining control and making split-second adjustments during a ride.
3. Learning Curve: For new riders, pushback can be a helpful tool for learning the limitations of the Onewheel and developing a sense of control. It encourages riders to gradually increase their speed and become familiar with the board's behavior.

It's important for OneWheel riders to pay attention to pushback cues and respond accordingly. Ignoring pushback and continuing to lean forward aggressively can lead to a loss of balance and potentially result in a fall. Understanding how pushback works and respecting its signals is key to riding the Onewheel safely and enjoying the experience.

Now How Does it Work?

Based on the board’s Duty Cycle, the board knows exactly how much power it has left to give. once you reach a certain threshold, the board gives a little extra juice to lift the nose in order to notify the rider to

If you do not listen to pushback your ride will come to a quick conclusion in the form of a nosedive. Do not mistake a nosedive for the board cutting out. A nosedive is simply the rider asking the board for more than it has, aka it is rider error. Cut out is your board having an electrical or hardware failure which very seldom happens.

But Why Nosedive? Why can’t you just make a speed limit or implement a governor?

Because that’s not how physics works, we would like to thank fellow rider Rick Vanover for the following explanation of how the board works when it comes to speed and keeping you balanced.

• Nosedives are caused by too much force A. The board doesn’t want you to nosedive so it exerts force B by increasing D to keep the wheel under you.
• Those who want the board to “slow down” when you’re running short of power (decreasing force F) forget that E and F start equal and when you decrease F, E remains due to momentum.
• The more E there is, the more A will occur. The more A there is, the more D will have to occur to keep you from nosediving.
• That would work great if the motor’s energy were infinite. However, the motor has a finite amount of energy.

It used to be that there was less pushback and more energy devoted to force D. However, FM decided to save some more of the motor’s energy to decrease nosedives and warn people with more pushback at 15mph. Pushback is designed to decrease nosedives by increasing force B and decreasing force F.

TLDR;

The board only has a finite amount of power to push up on the front. if it decreases that power (like slowing down) then the front will no longer be pushed up, and it will drop. Fast. Because you are heavy.