You may look at the Orbitwheels and think “Cool! I can hardly wait to use them!” and you would be right: They are cool! This video shows you the two most important steps when learning to ride the Orbitwheels: 1. Always start with your lead foot up, balanced inside the wheel on the foot platform, then push off the toes of your back foot to start your momentum. 2. Think of an infinite wave as you move the toes of both feet in, then out, then in, then out~~~~~~you can even draw rolling waves on the ground for your feet to follow. Start near a wall or other support to help you balance and move as you practice the motion. We want you to know that you CAN learn to ride the Orbitwheels. It takes learning the special technique and a bit of persistence, but once you master it, you’ll be on your way to feeling the freedom of never having to push off the ground again. Once you get going, you can literally go forever!

Need a little help on how to move your Orbitwheels? One way to think about it is by mimicking the movement of a snake. Check it out!

On this Thanksgiving weekend, Inventist wants to extend a big Thank You and give a loud Shout Out to all of you who have purchased our products over the years. Your support has helped us to develop, grow and evolve. Without your support, Inventist would not be where it is today – leading the world in the development of totally unique and brand new consumer products. Check out our store for holiday season special pricing on most of our products from now until Monday.  Including great deals on the Solowheel line of Rideables ! And, of course, free shipping.  https://store.inventist.com/

Introducing our newest product: The Hoverwheel Check out our Kickstarter campaign here What is the Hoverwheel ? The Hoverwheel is an electrically motorized, self-balancing wheel that fits directly under your foot. That’s it! Everything you need for an e-vehicle – sensors, processor, battery, motor and wheel – is contained in one compact and neat module. If you’ve been following us for a while, you know that Inventist’s owner, Shane Chen, is a prolific inventor. He came up with the idea of separating the two halves of his Hovertrax (the original hoverboard) in order to make an e-vehicle that would be better suited to riding outdoors (which the hoverboard was never meant to do). It’s a concept that’s truly useful in its ability to move you from Point A to Point B in a fun and inventive way. For more info on the Hoverwheel , including how the invention came to be, click the Kickstarter link now!

July is our birthday month! To celebrate our 15th anniversary, we’re offering free shipping in our store all month long on products currently in stock. Since we started designing, manufacturing and then selling products from the imagination of our owner, Shane Chen, Inventist has always strived to present fun and unique products to the public. The AquaSkipper, one of our first inventions to hit the market, certainly measures up to our goals! We hope to introduce the new model of the AquaSkipper later this summer. Over the years we’ve brought you other unique products, like the Hovertrax, Orbitwheels, Solowheel, and Lunicycle. We’re following these up with our new product in the field of rideable tech: the IOTAtrax. But there will be more! Shane is always thinking of new ideas, so be sure to check back with us often to see what’s new. Thank you to all our customers, dealers and followers over the last 15 years. It’s been an interesting ride and we can’t wait to take it into the future.

Written by Shane Chen Asked to give a presentation for the USPTO Roadshow in Seattle on November 16, 2017, Shane commented on his experiences as an inventor to the audience. We are presenting the speech as a blog. You can also click the link to find the USPTO presentation on their website.   https://www.uspto.gov/sites/default/files/documents/11162017_Seattle_Roadshow(ShaneChen).pdf I came to the US from China almost 32 years ago. I created a business named  CID, Inc.  and started inventing and making scientific instruments for plant physiology scientists. It was a nice, but small niche market.  There were no patent infringements except from one company in the UK. My life was peaceful. Then I started inventing consumer products for my new company,  Inventist Inc.  That was about 16 years ago. As soon as I started introducing my new products into the market I started dealing with knockoffs from China that impacted my business. So far, 7 of my inventions have been copied and sold worldwide. The popular ones are: a 3-wheeled scooter that I licensed to Razor scooters called the Powerwing. The Solowheel, an electric one wheeled vehicle you may have seen people riding around in the streets on. And the extremely popular hoverboard. But the ones that have caused fires are not mine. In fact, you probably have never seen mine: the original hoverboard called the Hovertrax which I later licensed to Razor.  99% of the hoverboards you have seen are illegal knockoffs. Based on a Chinese government report, there were over 1000 hoverboard makers who exported 4.6 billion dollars of hoverboards in 2015. The number didn’t go down in 2016 or 2017. For the 7 infringed inventions, I successfully sued many factories in China in the past 16 years. So, the Chinese patent system is working. The government has been trying hard to protect intellectual property. Things are improving every year. Now they have added specific intellectual property courts in the major cities. My last case was in an intellectual property court. I heard that the penalties will be increased on infringers. For the products that are not too popular, the problems were solved after I sued a few infringers. But for the popular products it has not worked. The problem is that there are too many infringers. You know China is the largest product maker. All of the factories are constantly seeking products to make. You can sue a few but there are many more. Often, when you win a lawsuit and shut the factory down, they will reopen again with a different name. Two Chinese judges on two different cases talked to me on the phone to explain the situation in China. They advised me to help create jobs by licensing to the factories instead. I realized it’s impossible to stop all of them by suing. For a legal system to work we must assume most people obey the law. You can imagine if half the citizens don’t follow the law in our community, our police simply cannot protect the rest of us. It becomes a war, which is what I am facing in China for intellectual property. However, I am not saying that half the Chinese factories don’t follow the intellectual property law. It’s just that they don’t understand it. For one thing, many of them are confused about the definition of “inventorship”. I’ve met a factory owner who said, “our engineers didn’t copy your product, we only saw your Hovertrax Kickstarter project and then created the same on our own.” Also, someone showed me a Chinese news broadcast talking about a young inventor who invented the electrical one-wheel vehicle. They reported that the he saw my Solowheel on the web and then he created his own. So, he is considered an inventor of Solowheel, too. Furthermore, much of the Chinese public don’t know that stealing intellectual property is a crime. I’ve also found out that most factories don’t even know where inventions come from. They make something because they see their neighbor is making it and figure that it must make money, so they copy the copies. I don’t know if you have heard this, but often in one area or town, everybody makes the same thing. I saw a town where everybody makes ties. 80% of the ties made in China come from there. The tie you are wearing today may have come from there. In another town, everybody either does aluminum extrusion or makes lingerie. And, the 1000 hoverboard makers are mostly in two cities. So, whether it’s a tie, lingerie or the hoverboard, they just want to make whatever their neighbors are making to be sure they can make money. When Amazon froze all the hoverboard factory accounts, lots of people protested in front of the Amazon building in China with signs that said, “give us back the money from the blood and sweat of our labor”.  Someone told me that I was destroying the Chinese hoverboard industry if I sued. So, they only see the value of the product they made from their hard work. They are missing the fact that the idea of the product must come from someone.  I started to realize that in China, intellectual property is still a relatively new concept. And it will take time for the Chinese people to understand and respect intellectual property. In fact, the US and many other countries went through similar issues when their patent systems started. I’ve even gone through this process myself. After coming to the US I was hired to design agricultural instruments. The first thing I proudly said to my boss was that I could redesign any of those instruments in the market. Make them cheaper. Sound familiar? Instead he asked me if I could design something new, something better. After I started my own business, I bought a competitor’s instrument and asked my engineer to reverse engineer it, so we could use the technology for part of our own product. Even though there was no patent on that product, he was reluctant to do it. I have to say living in America changed the way I think. After my own inventions were on the market, I never again wanted to make anything that other people had made before. The creative culture of America helped me become creative, too. You can imagine that if I had stayed in China, I might have become one of the most successful copiers! I believe Chinese companies want to do the right thing. It’s a learning process and China will get there some day. I can already see the difference from a few years ago. Many factories now ask me to license to them. It’s a step in the right direction. We have a great country and we should also try to understand others that are working their way up to our level of understanding. My conclusion is that enforcement is often necessary and effective, but if you have a popular consumer product, don’t drive yourself crazy trying to sue everyone who copies it. Consider using the money to invest in more marketing and branding, and use your patent to support them. If your product is good, it will get copied, but don’t let it discourage you. Keep inventing.

Ever wonder how the popular hoverboard came to be? While at a trade show to showcase the Solowheel, Ywanne got bored and decided to ride two Solowheels at the same time. While watching her, Shane got a crazy idea. He decided he was going to make another personal rideable, this time with two wheels. He started with a sketch of a single board with the wheels tucked up inside, so it gives the allusion of hovering as you ride. He then created a working prototype and dubbed it The Purple Board. Unfortunately, the wheels were too small for the size of the board. So, Shane went back to the drawing board. After a few trial and errors, Shane decided to move the wheels to the outside of the board and to redesign the board to allow more independent balancing on each wheel. This also allowed the board to be more responsive to the rider during turns. This new design became the widely recognized Hovertrax design of 2013.   We’ve come a long way from those early Purple Board days. From the technological advances of the parts we use to learning how to develop rideables that are lighter, faster and more stylish. Our newest rideable, the IOTAtrax ( www.iotatrax.com ), is a perfect example! With a weight of only 15lbs and speeds up to 10 mph, this little rideable is set to be the next big thing. Pre-order yours today for only $499! But hurry, the pre-order sale ends February 28, 2018.

“The IotaTrax is far more compact and portable than any hoverboard you’ll find.” —Digital Trends PRE-ORDER NOW ($499 Until Feb 28th) One week before CES, we didn’t have any plans on attending. No booth, no media appointments, no preparation for the event whatsoever. In fact, our prototypes were still in production. Then a few days before the event we got word that we had three prototypes on the way. A couple long and tiring days later we were in Las Vegas.. And it couldn’t have gone much better. Early day 1, we were already making appointments for sneak peaks and early looks at Shane Chen’s latest creation. By the end of day 1, we had already met with Digital Trends, had an in-depth product review, were catching the eyes of everyone we passed and were reading an incredible review of the IOTAtrax. PRE-ORDER NOW ($499 Until Feb 28th) If you don’t already know, Shane Chen, the inventor of the IOTAtrax, was also the inventor of the original hoverboard (Hovertrax). Not the low-quality copy cats that never seem to go away, but the first one. He’s also the original inventor of the Solowheel. Now he’s back for round 3 with his latest innovation and the next step in rideables—the IOTAtrax. Shane took what he learned from the Hovertrax and Solowheel to arrive at what he feels is the perfect balance in rideables—something that is not only super easy to maneuver on, but also comfortable to cruise along on at higher speeds for long distances. Its also super compact and light, which makes it easy to take it with you when you’re not riding. And because its so compact and low to the ground, it’s a cinch to learn. CES was our official launch and we’re so excited we were able to make it happen. We’re currently taking pre-orders at IOTAtrax.com until February 28th, when the we will start shipping. Retail is $599, but all pre-orders will only cost you $499. Happy Riding 😊 Read the awards show article here PRE-ORDER NOW ($499 Until Feb 28th) PRE-ORDER NOW ($499 Until Feb 28th)

We recently visited with the Lake Oswego Unicycle club that meets at Lakeridge Jr. High School to introduce them to the Lunicycle. Everyone was eager to get on and start riding the Lunicycles, including the club director and a couple parent volunteers. Before they started, we explained the subtle differences between riding a traditional unicycle and riding the Lunicycle; that they need to lean forward on the Lunicycle as opposed to leaning back on a unicycle, they need to bend their knees and keep low on the Lunicycle, they need to squeeze against the leg supports while riding the Lunicycle, and when they want to turn they need to twist at their knees as opposed to twisting at their waist. Once the kids were able to get on the Lunicycles they all were riding like pros within a few short minutes. At the end of the club time the kids were asked, compared to when they learned to ride the unicycle, which was easier to learn and they all said the Lunicycle! We are excited to follow up with the club in a few weeks to see how they’ve enjoyed the Lunicycle and to see how they’ve improved!

This past summer we had the opportunity to take part in the second season of ABC’s The Toy Box , a Shark Tank type show where kids are the judges.   We had a great time participating in the show and our experience was similar to that of other national television shows that have featured our products. We decided to send Ywanne, Shane’s daughter, to Los Angeles to represent Inventist and to introduce the world to hers and Shane’s favorite invention, the Orbitwheel. It was a whirlwind of a trip for Ywanne, spending most of her time either behind the scenes or on set. “It was a fun and great experience and I’m grateful for the opportunity to appear on the show, and to compete with a group of such talented and creative inventors.” The Orbitwheel segment aired on Sunday, November 5. If you haven’t watched it already, check out the video below to see how the Orbitwheel did!

We know, we know. Our Solowheel Iota Kickstarter campaign has concluded and you’ve been kicking yourself for the past week for not getting in while you could to back the campaign and be one of the first people to receive an Iota. Well dry those tears friends, because we are now teaming up with Indiegogo and their InDemand program, giving YOU another chance to get in on the ground floor with our amazing latest creation! With the Indiegogo InDemand program we will be able to increase the awareness of our product, gain additional backers, continue to raise funds towards building the product, and collect additional pre-order sales. This is the first time we have worked with the Indiegogo team and we are excited to see where this opportunity takes us. To receive updates on the Iota and this project, (and to finally get a good nights’ sleep) click the following link and back the Iota!  https://igg.me/at/solowheeliota .

Ever wonder how we are able to keep some of our prototypes a secret? It’s not always easy; sometimes it involves a lot of trust in the manufacturer, and sometimes it involves keeping some of the products in-house until we are able to patent the product. But, building prototypes in-house can be tricky. Especially when the product requires a part that can’t be found at a local hardware store. So, what do we do when this happens? We turn to our trusty 3D printer! 3D printers have come a long way since they were first brought to the market. People have been able to successfully replicate a range of products from tools and small appliances to clothes, to musical instruments and camera lenses. By using our internal 3D printer, we are able to simply print the part or a model of what we need. Thus, streamlining the production of certain prototypes, minimizing the possibility of copycat products, and keeping our designs in-house. It’s technology like this  that make what we do possible and makes us excited for what’s to come!

Trying to come up with a captivating trade show booth can be tough. Nowadays you need to include more than just a large banner, you need multimedia capabilities to really engage the audience. But bringing, or even renting an extra screen, projector, laptop, and extension cords can be a hassle. Even more, once you get your booth set up the way you want it, you almost always end up tripping over the cords and constantly walking in front of your media display. Enter Inventist with our new patented trade show booth design. With our display, you have both your banner and screen for multimedia projection all in one! Plus, it allows a projector to hide under the display so cords are out of the way and booth attendees can walk about without interfering with their media presentations, leaving the display to be the “big screen” attention grabber! Inventor and CEO, Shane Chen, and Chief Product Evangelist, Claude Rorabaugh, will be presenting this display live at the Exhibitor Live Conference at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas March 13-15, 2017. They desire to meet with trade show display makers who might be interested in a licensing agreement. The future of trade shows just got a whole lot brighter! Photos in order from top to bottom: an enhanced image of the entire Inventist trade show booth with the pre-printed background and a video on the top screen ,  an extreme close-up of the projection screen material, and  a medium shot of our pre-printed display with the blank screen. 

In recognition of the enormous contribution inventors make to the nation and the world, Congress designated February 11 as National Inventors’ Day back in 1983 because it was the birthday of inventor Thomas Alva Edison. Edison held over 1,000 patents from the light bulb to the motion picture camera and was affectionately known as America’s greatest inventor. While it’s true we’ve all come to depend on Edison’s inventions, we’d also like to take the time to recognize another very important inventor in our lives. Our founder, Shane Chen, is the brilliant mind behind all our inventions here at Inventist. Shane has over 30 patents, from the Aqua Skipper to the new Solowheel Iota. Many of his inventions have gotten national and even worldwide attention, being featured on such programs as QVC and CNBC’s Squawk Box. We’ve also received images and videos of fans using his inventions in Australia, Italy, and Russia. Shane, as your staff, we would like to wish you a very Happy Birthday and to say a BIG thank you for all you do!  For us, this day will always be National Inventist Day! 😉

Inventist will be showing a new projection screen and back drop at the Exhibitor Live conference.  With this lightweight screen, exhibitors no longer need to rent or take large screen monitors or fight with projectors in the high light levels at trade shows. Our patented screen fabric can be your “big screen” conference attention grabber!   Inventist desires to license our patent. See the Inventist team, Shane Chen, Ywanne Chen and Claude Rorabaugh at booth 1911. The exhibit hall will be open March 13 through 15, 2017 at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas, NV.

Get ready for the smallest, greenest, and most convenient e-vehicle ever invented! Yes, we know we said that about the original Solowheel, but now that title goes to our newest project, the Solowheel Iota.  The Iota will feature 8” wheels and will weigh only 8 lbs., making it much easier to carry when you’re not able to ride it. After creating the original Solowheel and the Hovertrax, we realized that there was a definite need and desire for smaller, elegant devices which would be used more for play and less for transportation. So, we took an extended look into the human dynamics of different standing positions and wheel arrangements and adopted a lower two-wheeled stance. The Iota will be a hybrid idea between the Solowheel and the Hovertrax, making the device easy to learn and more versatile than the Hovertrax. The Iota is slated to be available for purchase in September 2017. Sales price will be approx. $600 and it will feature: Up to an 8-mile range (12.8 km) Capable of 10 mph (16 kph) Climb an incline of 15 degrees Weigh approx. 8 lbs. (3.6 kg) Width of 7” (17.8 cm)   A weight limit of 250 lbs. (113.4 kg) Inflatable 8” (20 cm) wheels 1000-watt motor 100-wh lithium ion battery Approx. 40-minute charge time Front and rear lights Plus, the Iota will be the first Solowheel to be produced right here in the US! We Kickstarted the Iota on January 24 th and was “super funded” within 3 days! For more information and a video of the Iota, please see our Kickstarter at https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/687658339/solowheel-iota-a-mini-personal-e-vehicle?token=38748cc2

Long time acquaintance of CEO Shane Chen, Claude Rorabaugh, just joined Inventist as Chief Product Evangelist. Claude is no stranger to us as he helped launch several products in late 2005 including the AquaSkipper. Claude is looking forward to the opportunities of working with our partners, reps, and retailers to improve the lines of communication and product exposure. Early in his career he developed the first practical “man-overboard” UL and USCG approved survival suit for Harvey’s of Seattle. The last few years he has been involved in high stakes licensing exams and other educational services distributed over the Internet. He and his wife Deborah live live nearby in Washougal, WA. Their son  Dr. Adam is the senior archaeologist for the Colville tribe near Grand Coulee, WA.

We are so proud of our distributor in Naples, Italy – Solowheel Italia! In May 2015, we were lucky enough to travel to beautiful Italy and be there for their grand opening. Now, a little over a year later, things are booming! They are doing an amazing job getting the Solowheel out into the public with their fantastic video promotions – showing the Solowheel all over gorgeous Naples! If you haven’t already, visit their Facebook page to see more. http://www.solowheel-italia.it/ https://www.facebook.com/solowheelita/ They are also rolling out our newest Solowheel product – the Scorpion!

Today we ventured to Naydenov Gymnastics Gym in Vancouver, WA to see if the local gymnasts would be interested in learning to ride our newest product, the Lunicycle. Not only were the girls intrigued; they were ecstatic to ride it!  Seeing these young ladies take to the Lunicycle with ease was astonishing. With minimal direction they were helping each other move across the floor flawlessly. There were definitely a few Lunicycle stars and we can’t wait to meet with them again and see their progress.   We’re hoping that we can get a few talented young ladies and gentlemen for our upcoming national campaigns (more to come soon!) with new retailers and various media outlets.  More Marketing was a New Years Resolution for the company. We’re working on that and SO MUCH MORE! Some very extreme changes are coming soon. Join us for the ride! Check us out on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram!

What can you expect? ·         More inventions! ·         More productivity! ·         More Marketing! New Year, New Inventist. 2016 is our year! Any suggestions for us? Let us know!

Happy New Year! 2015 was a great year for Inventist; new product launches, licensing deals, entering huge retail stores, and who can forget the patent wars! We’re ready for all that 2016 has in store for us! With the New Year we’ll bring new products to market, have our brands in huge retail locations (on store shelves!!), and continue to provide quality products and customer service to our loyal patrons and followers. Anything we could improve on? Let us know! We’re focusing on being the best company we can be and we can’t do that without a little input from our biggest and best critics! The Holiday Season has officially passed. Now that things have slowed down around the office we’re prepared to buckle down and get ready for all we have in store for 2016. Our New Year’s Resolution is to bring new products to life and gain more brand recognition! What’s your Resolution? Also, we would like to take a minute to thank everyone who has purchased an Inventist product since the company first began. Without the backing and support from our valued patrons and followers we wouldn’t be where we are today. Keep an eye out for us 2016! We’re coming at you with full force!

Happy Holidays from Inventist, Inc! We wish you all have a wonderful day! Warm Wishes,  Inventist Emloyees

1987: Professor Kazuo Yamafuji creates a two-wheel gyroscopic balancing device and files a patent application A paper co-written by Yamafuji: http://www.jomac.it/FILES%20RIVISTA/JoMaC08B/JoMaC08B.pdf 2001: Segway commercializes their product and patents specific refinements and improvements 2008: Toyota develops a leg-controlled two-wheel device, the Winglet Press release: http://www.toyota.co.jp/en/news/08/0801_1.html 2009: Honda develops a seated omnidirectional balancing mobility device, the U3-X Press release: http://world.honda.com/news/2009/c090924New-Personal-Mobility-Device/ 2010: Shane Chen invents the standing electric unicycle, the Solowheel and files a patent application for a standing one-wheeled vehicle concept 2012: Shane Chen begins developing the Hovertrax and files a patent application for a hands-free, foot-controlled balancing vehicle concept 2013: Kickstarter for the Hovertrax campaign launched: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/687658339/hovertrax/description

*photo by Daniel Shubin www.behance.net/SHUBIN Is Christmas already next week? It must be; products are flying out of the warehouse every day!  If you haven’t purchased your Inventist product yet- do so soon! Christmas delivery deadlines are coming very quickly (December 21 st )! Inventist will be closed Christmas Eve and Christmas day. Our USPS order processing deadline is 11am PST on Wednesday and 3pm PST for UPS. We’re all very excited for Christmas! We’re especially excited to see all of the photos of our new customers enjoying their new toys! We would also like to address the unsafe Hoverboards circulating the US and European countries. If you purchased your unit from Amazon.com and your unit was not an official Razor Worldwide Hovertrax or Inventist, Inc Hovertrax: Please follow Amazons regulations and properly dispose of your unsafe units. Refunds are being issued to those who have purchased such products. Remember, these units are not safe! The batteries cannot properly power the units which causes the unit to combust. We wish everyone a safe Holiday!

The Hovertrax has been getting a bad rap lately. Unfortunately, the reason is due to imitation boards that are cheaply made. More and more knock off boards have gone up in flames. Recently, a mall kiosk in Auburn, Washington (very close to home) selling counterfeit boards had a unit catch fire in front of customers and storefronts.  “For no reason, it just exploded,” Kelli Steiner, who recorded the video, told CBS affiliate KIRO-TV . “And not just a little fire, exploded. Like combusted, the whole thing.” http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/hoverboard-bursts-flames-washington-mall-article-1.2459742 Joalene Jolivette, our Global Marketing Director, journeyed to the CNBC office in New York to answer some very important questions about the Hovertrax. Educating consumers is very important as this problem continues to grow.  http://video.cnbc.com/gallery/?video=3000463336   A few takeaways from the video include:  The Hovertrax will not overcharge if left charging for longer than necessary There have been no incidents with explosion or fires with our Hovertrax, or our other popular items that use the same high quality battery  You get what you pay for. Consumer safety is our highest priority Quality products do come at a price. Please consider your options and choose the safest product on the market. Hovertrax can be found at Target, Nordstrom, Toys R Us, Brookstone, Dick’s, and Razor.com.

Hovertrax are made with a Lithium Ion Battery with a powerful 96 Watt Hours. This battery can handle stress. Stress from rider usage and stress from charging. This battery can handle much more stress than any user could put on it. This is why our “Hoverboard” the Hovertrax is safe, reliable, and will not catch fire or explode. Knock off Hoverboard manufacturers use cheap and low quality batteries to power their units. These batteries may be Lithium Ion but they are not stable enough powerful enough to control a Hoverboard, let alone charge one. The lower the watt hours the cheaper the battery. The battery mixed with additional low quality components gets you a very low cost board. The 200$-500$ price tag of a “Hoverboard” should be a red flag. People can grumble all day about the price of the Hovertrax. But at the end of the day, the Hovertrax isn’t made of cheap parts and unsafe components. The facts are very clear; you get what you pay for and unfortunately many people are paying a lot more than what they intended to. Not only has money been burned away, but homes have been destroyed and injuries incurred courtesy of cheap and unsafe boards. When you purchase a Hovertrax you’re not only purchasing a quality board, you’re purchasing safety for the rider, and peace of mind that the product will operate as intended.

This week is a short week for Inventist employees. The office will be closed Thursday and Friday because of the Holidays; Thanksgiving and Black Friday. We hope you’re all reading this post from your comfy couches! Don’t forget to check out our Amazon.com shop for our Human Powered sale (Check our last post for more information)! We hope you all have, are having, or did have a great Thanksgiving! Office hours will be back to normal starting Monday morning. PS. New products are on the horizon! Be sure to “like” and “follow” our various social media accounts to keep in the loop! 

A couple weeks ago we post a blog stating that Inventist would not be open on Black Friday. That statement is still true! We will, however, still participate in Black Friday deals via Amazon! Starting Friday the 27 th , we will begin our “Human Powered Sale” which will include the following products: The Alkacharger ($15.00 off), Roll Up Sail (50% off!), and the beloved Lunicycle (50% off)! Holy deals Batman! The Alkacharger is one of our oldest products. It charges non-rechargeable Alkaline, Ni-Cd, and Ni-Mh batteries. Do you have kids who go through batteries like mad for their game console controllers? Don’t want to spend $50.00 on batteries each month? Then the Alkacharger is perfect for you! The Roll Up Sail, or RUS, is another brilliant invention by Chen. As an avid windsurfer Chen came up with this idea for Paddle boarders. The Roll Up Sail mounts to a standard paddle and allows you to harness the power of the wind! When you don’t want to use the Roll Up Sail simply roll it back up into the handle and continue paddling. Don’t miss out on this great deal! When the RUS runs out, it runs out for good! Finally, we’re having a great deal on our beloved Lunicycle. The Lunicycle was a Kickstarter success earlier this year. Everyone loves the Lunicycle! It looks deceivingly difficult to ride but it truly isn’t. For most people, learning how to ride the Lunicycle is easier than learning how to ride a regular unicycle. Don’t believe us? Order one this Black Friday and try it out yourself. Since Inventist will be closed for the Holidays this deal will only be live via Amazon.com. We hope you guys check out our sale and grab some truly unique products for your Holiday Season. We have products to fit everyone on your list!

Important Things Every Hoverboard User Should Know Self-balancing devices detect when you’re tipping forward or backward. When there’s a change in angle, the motor(s) accelerate toward the direction of the change. (The vehicle accelerates forward when it’s tipping forward.) The acceleration corrects the angle change. That’s how a hoverboard stays balanced, and it’s also how you can make it move by shifting your weight between your toes and heels. Since this is similar to the way we walk and run, riding a self-balancing vehicle feels natural and enjoyable. But while we can feel whether our legs are tired and we know how fast we can move them, we can’t intuitively tell how close a hoverboard is to its maximum power while we’re riding it. If your hoverboard isn’t very powerful, you could be constantly on the verge of falling down and not know it. Here are some technical details that could help you stay safe. Motor ·         You don’t need much power to move at a constant speed on flat ground. ·         Normal electric scooters with wheels in the front and back only need around 200W of power—that’s how much a hoverboard uses while cruising at steady speed on a smooth level surface. ·         But a hoverboard will need a huge surge of power when you hit a bump in the ground, when you accelerate or try to stop quickly, or when a beginner doesn’t have good control of the vehicle (among other situations). In those cases you may need as much as 1000W in order to continue balancing. ·         So the more motor power a balancing scooter has, the safer it is. ·         For instance, Hovertrax has 1000W of power (500W on each side); of the counterfeits we’ve tested so far, we haven’t found any that have that much power. Most only have around 250W on each side. ·         When you’re choosing a hoverboard, try to find out how much power it has—the more the better. Battery ·         All hoverboard batteries are lithium ion batteries, but there are different types within that category. Some are better-suited than others for self-balancing vehicles. ·         A hoverboard’s battery must supply enough current to handle surge power when required by the motor. ·         In other words, even if a motor is capable of 1000W, it won’t do any good if the battery doesn’t reliably provide enough power at those crucial moments. ·         Among the counterfeits we’ve tested, most used name brand batteries, but chose a low-current option for a lower cost. Those batteries don’t have enough surge power capability. ·         A lightweight rider (under 120lbs) can get away with using a low-powered board. Everyone else should exercise more caution. ·         When riding a low-powered unit, you probably feel just fine most of the time, but you are in fact more likely to have an accident. Fires ·         There have been several reports of hoverboards catching fire or even exploding. ·         This mostly seems to happen while charging, but there has been at least one incident where it happened during riding. ·         In some cases this has caused house fires and injuries. ·         The fires may be caused by certain types of batteries that are easily flammable. They may also be caused by faulty charging adapters. ·         Unfortunately it can be hard to tell for sure whether your unit and/or its charger can start a fire. ·         If you’re not sure, then don’t leave your hoverboard unattended while it’s charging (that includes charging it overnight while you sleep!). You also shouldn’t charge it in a part of the room that’s very close to you, such as under a desk you’re sitting at.

Fall has truly begun. Leaves are falling, rain is falling, but Inventist is moving on up! We’re set to be in major department stores this year and early next year. Things are hectic around the office but it’s all going to be worth it! We’d love to hear from you when you can see our products in your local Target, Toys R Us, Brookstone, and Best Buy! Even though fall is setting in there is still much to look forward to and plenty of opportunities to take your Solowheel out for strolls. There’s not much better than zooming around the PNW on a Solowheel in the Fall. Get the family together and hit the trails before this beautiful season ends! Solowheels are incredibly easy to travel with. Keep it with you at all times; you never know when the need for Solowheeling will strike! Thanksgiving is quickly approaching. To all of our loyal customers and new customers: we will be closed the 26 th and 27 th of this month, as well as the 24 th and 25 th of next month . This means that we will not be shipping any products those days. All orders place on those days will be received and sent the following Monday. We apologize in advance for any inconvenience this may cause. Happiest of Holidays to you all!