Story

There was a day late in October 2020, during one of the first snowfalls of the season at Breckenridge Resort, CO.

I had ridden across town, up the mountain to the T-bar, where I found myself at 1% battery. So, naturally no, I wasn't inclined to dismount when the size of the gravel rocks started to increase.

My front foot ended up slipping off the front footpad, and I stomped my heel pretty hard on a rock 1.5" in diameter. Although the rest of the ride was uncomfortable and a bit painful, what was more frustrating was that I had half of the solution to preventing what had just happened on my board at the time...I just hadn't figured out how to connect the other half. After my board died, my brother picked me up, I recharged my board, etc, I rigged together my gators with the magnetic connector for the magnetic mount I'd put on my board, and took off for a field. Immediately, I could feel the difference. Where before, my board would have simply dumped me into the snow or mud, I was able to maintain my stance with the pull I had created. After playing around with some not so feasible snow-covered mountain biking jumps, I wound up on a part powder/part packed snow, with a twist of icy, slushy, mud over rocky terrain– Mount Baldy. It was like I'd jumped through a painting in Mario and unleashed a whole new world of fun! Several versions later, I'm still having fun with my bindings (patented), though certain improvements are still in order before public release.

Around New Year's, I'd been talking about a 'footstop', such as a little ledge that just prevented your foot from falling off the front edge without having to be strapped into something. All the while, I'd been sitting on a solution! When COVID broke out, I had ordered some sets foot pedal door openers to pass out to various places I went with wooden doors. I happened to gift a set to someone who realized it fit on the OneWheel as a footstop. And thus v1 was born. It also hurt my toes a lot. After 11 prototypes and learning a lot about plastics, I called for a small manufacturing run. After testing, we altered the design slightly and produced twice as many. They were all sold or given out. At some point, I contacted a friend with a 3D printer for help making the pads that the product was missing. Then I bought my own 3D printer.

The product morphed from a footstop to a lateral lifting device when I learned one of my adductor muscles was going to be removed for an upcoming surgical procedure. I realized that not only did I needed to use abduction to be able to perform similarly to how I had with FF or the Ignite System on my board, but I quickly found that the more leverage points, there was more engagement of the calves, hams, quads, gluts, and the adductors. Thus, the lifters are the shape they are today.

It's now May 2020, and we are manufacturing our first significantly sized batch of Lifters. Thank you to all who have supported and continue to support us!