Font Concave Grip Overlay for the Onewheel

Coming from a few years of commuting on a longboard for work for a few miles each direction to the train, i was needless to say excited to pickup a used onewheel. This glorious amalgamation of high voltage, racing rubber tire compounds, and balance board combine to create a fantastic blend of fun and function that make this a great last mile commuter. Even the smallest battery version can take you for ~5miles at a brisk walk/run speed. That is, if your feet don't fatigue from the constant balancing act.

Enter the idea for a concave shaped grip! Sure it's not an original, there are commercial editions of this same concept. But for the price of one commercially available concave grip overlay, i was able to re-grip a few of my boards with a nice grippy surfboard foam self-adhesive material.

If you, like me, want to DIY modify your onewheel front grip overlay, read on

Supplies

roll of foam self adhesive grip. this stuff comes in all kinds of shapes, colors, thicknesses. i suggest using a thinner pad to avoid pressure sensor sensitivity issues. i got mine on amazon for ~$50, this stuff comes in so many colors, from so many manufacturers, pick your favorite 23"x94" in ~5mm thickness
razor blade knife. preferably the type with a long extendable blade
shears, or sturdy scizors
cleaning materials for preparing the surface, i prefer alcohol and a bit of high pressure air

Step 1: Prepare Your Surface

I opted for leaving the original grip tape in place, just cleaning it with alcohol, blowing it with compressed air, and laying my strips of foam on top with the adhesive still attached for sizing. i ended up deciding to do a 2 layer rim around the footpad to give me enough of a concave surface after the final layer is applied.

Step 2: Cut the Foam to Rough Shape

I don't do any measuring with a ruler in this process, it's all just rough shaped and then trimmed to size after it's all put together. I make a brickwork pattern of rectangular shaped pieces on both outer sides and the front lip with ~1.5" wide strips, 2 layers thick on the outsides, one layer thick on the front lip. This is to help give a smooth concave shape, so the bottom layer is about 1/4" wider than the second layer outside skirts to make it a more gradual final slope.

Once the concave underlayment is done, we put a full sheet of foam on. Making sure to start in the middle and try to get full contact on the surface that doesn't already have any of the foam on it. This is going to take some pressure, and if it's cold, some heat from a hairdrier helps. I like to use a piece of scrap plywood and a piece of soft closed cell foam with some weight on it to get a nice even pressure for the first night. Don't worry about trimming it quite yet, just focus on getting a good bond between all the layers we just added.

Step 3: Trim the Excess

you really don't want to have the foam sticking to more than just the flat top of the grip. wrapping the grip around the edge might cause "ghosting" where the footpad sensors are sensing pressure from the strain of the foam wrapping around the edge even when your not standing on the board. this can cause the board to speed off when you attempt to dismount and is a common cause of dead onewheels, and personal injury.

I use an extendable razor blade, the kind that has break points along it's length, and I angle the blade so that I'll get a cut edge that angles the foam into the edge of the board, beveling it slightly by bending the blade while it cuts the foam.

Step 4: Pre-Flight Function Testing

test the function of the front sensor. with the board level, turned on, and both sides of the foot sensor active:

when you release pressure on one side, the motor deactivates like it should.
there is a clear middle line that if pressed on only one side, the motor does not re-activate
also try when the board is on it's side on the ground, look to ensure the grip is not being pressed enough to activate the sensor. this can happen if you don't bevel the foam edge enough.

Step 5: Go Wear It In

i find that no project is truely considered done till it is worn in a bit from use. as you ride the board the foam will wear and kinda mold to your most common riding position. i find riding barefoot after adding these traction pads to my onewheel to be pure bliss.