Onewheel Tyres - Thundercats are go!

I love riding off-road — forest trails, beaches, and especially sandhills. They offer the most diverse and interesting terrain (at least for my skill level!).

The stock slick tyre actually isn’t terrible in these conditions. It performs surprisingly well, but once you hit wet mud or soft sand, all bets are off.

So the quest began. I’ve now been through a few tyres, and here’s my journey so far.

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August 2021 — The Beginning

That’s when I first started riding. Not long after, I began exploring tyre options. I rode about 800 miles on this tyre.

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September 2022 — TFL Enduro Tyre

Ordered from floatlife-europe.com

First tyre change! I ordered this in June and it took until September to work up the courage to take my board apart! But it was a lot easier than I thought, so if you haven't tried, don't be afraid! Just be careful...

At the time, this tyre was getting rave reviews. People were calling it a miracle — which probably set my expectations too high. I liked it, but honestly, it didn’t offer much more grip than the slick in most of the conditions I rode in.

It’s definitely more pliable than the stock Vega slick, and more comfortable overall, but it wasn’t an instant hit for me. Having said that, it also did about 800 miles for me, as I put it back on a couple more times after trying other tyres!

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January 2023 — Vega 11.5 x 6.5-6 Treaded Tyre (from Craft & Ride)

This one was a pleasant surprise. A harder compound, but with an aggressive tread pattern that really dug into the ground — and it showed!

Grip-wise, it was the best I’d tried so far. However, the hard compound made it less comfortable on pavement. Still, it was a great off-road performer. Has this on for about 400 miles.

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May 2023 — Hoosier Racing FF2 (11x6x6)

After seeing it on another local board, I decided to give the Hoosier a try. I didn’t keep it on for long, though — the rounded profile just didn’t suit me.

It felt unstable, especially on narrow sandhill trails where it’s hard to avoid your toes or heels brushing the edges of the ruts. I realised I needed a flatter profile for better balance in those situations. I replaced this with the Enduro after a few weeks

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A Break from Riding

After that, I took a break. I mostly used my OneWheel as a utility vehicle — perfect for getting around the house or farm. Hands-free, and almost any terrain. Super handy.

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2025 — Getting Back Out There

This year, I’ve been trying to get out riding more intentionally again. When I checked back into the forums, I found a whole range of new tyres on the market — and one in particular caught my eye.

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October 2025 — TFL Thundercat (Mid Compound) (2150 miles on clock)

I went for the “mid” softness, which I read is roughly equivalent to “soft” on other tyres — and I wasn’t disappointed.

The tread pattern is incredible, and the compound feels just right. When I first unboxed it, I thought it might be too soft, but once installed, it felt perfect.

It’s definitely noisier than the Enduro it replaced, and a bit bumpy when carving hard on pavement — but that’s a small price to pay for the grip it delivers on sand.

When you do fall, the holes it digs are massive — but that happens far less often than with the other tyres. I’ve climbed some pretty steep stuff on my old XR that I don’t think I could have managed on any of the others.

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Bonus: The Low PSI Surprise

I recently picked up a tyre inflator and was shocked to see a reading of 4.5 PSI! It just goes to show how low you can run the Thundercat — and even at that pressure, it delivers tons of grip, even in very soft sand.

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Final Thoughts

Each tyre taught me something different, but the Thundercat has finally hit the sweet spot for my kind of riding — forgiving on sand, great grip, and confidence-inspiring on the trails.

If you love off-road riding as much as I do, especially beaches and sandhills, it’s definitely one to try.

OneWheel Safety Gear

OneWheel is great, but I want to be safe when riding. After my (unrelated) accident in 2020 I'm super cautious about everything, so I got lots of safety gear. To help others, I have listed it below.

My main advice would be to ask advice, read reviews, and if possible go to a shop and try out the gear. For the knee and elbow guards I ended up going to a cycle shop and trying on ones to get something I liked. The one I ordered at the start were cheaper, but much less comfortable.

Wrist Guards - Triple 8 T8 Wrist Saver (Medium) Amazon

Sturdy and comfortable, not super easy to get on and off

Shoulder Brace - Amazon

Some padding for below a T-shirt, not sure how effective it might be, but I'd rather have it than a broken shoulder

Light Motorcycle Jacket - RXL Motorbike Softshell Hoodie - Amazon

Good jacket with built in padding on shoulders and elbows. Waterproof, windproof and warm, very easy to put on for winter/wet riding

Helmet - Core Protection Helmet - Amazon

Comfortable helmet with back of head protection. I remove the back internal pad and wear with a beanie inside it for wintertime.

Padded Shorts - Bodyprox - Amazon

Comfortable shorts with hip and tailbone protection. I wear these below shorts or jeans.

Elbow Protection - Fox Racing Launch Pro D3O - Chain Reactions

Comfortable and very good protection

Knee Protection - Nukeproof Critical Enduro Knee Sleeve - Chain Reactions

Good protection, and stay easily in place

Shin Protection - Footprint Painkiller High Socks -

Smaller fitting than I expected, but still great protection for the shin
 

Kitesurfing - 13th Oct 2020 - Benone

Back to Benone tonight after work, NE wind, which is my un-favourite direction, but huge flats, mushy waves, and a great time! I actually really enjoyed the challenge of working on my 'bad' direction, and I'm constantly surprised how much more difficult it is to go in one direction than the other!

My first run out, I had one of those little double waves, and normally I'd jump from one to the other, but this time the second one put me in!

Anyway, it was great to be on the water for an hour between work and tea - working from home really works for this, I can be on the beach for 4:15pm, and home for tea, and the whole evening is still available. 

Kitesurfing - 12th Oct 2020 - Benone

 Crazy wind all day, really nice direction, but I only had a short session, as the wind dropped about an hour after I arrived. Should have went earlier :)

Photos don't do justice at all - the views were epic, as rain blew through to the south - such gnarly skies!

Kitesurfing - Benone - 19th August 2020

 Great wee session, there has been no wind at all for weeks (which is quite nice) but tonight we were getting the start of a storm. The forecast was for E or SE, but I thought I'd chance Benone, to see if the wind was strong enough, and had come round far enough - and it had.

It was cross, sometimes very slightly cross off, but at Benone that's ok, as with the curve towards Magilligan you'd always blow back to shore.

It was 9m weather, on the meter blowing between 15mph and 21mph, although on the water I never felt underpowered, if anything a bit overpowered sometimes.

It was my bad direction, I dont like it, but I used it as practice. The wave frequency was high, it was one after another, relentless on the way out, but on the way in it was great. I did some toeside riding, which is the first time I tried it to that side, and it seemed ok, better than I thought, I also tried some jumps on the way in (my good direction) and I also *almost* pulled off some jump transitions. I say 'almost' because it wasnt that beautiful.

Short but super session.

Kitesurfing - Downhill - Sunday 19th July 2020

Short session today at Downhill, perfect wind on the 9, big to huge waves, at least 10 ft at the outside. Short session as the tide was coming in. No problem staying upwind today. Huge flats between the waves, but very deep very quickly today.

Kitesurfing - Ball's Point - Thursday 16th July 2020

I drive past Lough Foyle every day, and every day I wonder if there isn't some really nice flat water spot on it. Well, it turns out there is.

A couple of the local guys invited me for a session out here today, and it turned out to be pretty epic. This is a high tide spot, and when I arrived there was still some sand exposed, although the tide was coming in quickly.

I got set up, it was a bit marginal for the 12, but after a while it picked up. The amazing thing about this spot is how far out the water is shallow, you could go out for ages and fall, and still only be waist deep.

There are a few post stumps very close to the launch spot, and you need a sand anchor to launch, which was exposed when I got there, and submerged when we left.

Did an accidental kiteloop jump today. Oops.

Kitesurfing - Downhill - Monday 13th July 2020

What a lovely evening - with the bank holiday the beach was crowded at the entrances, I had trouble finding a quiet area on the beach today!

The wind was cross, blowing nicely, sometimes too much for the 12 sometimes too little, but I was going fine for around 2 hours on the water with some trim.

Didn't get to try much today, the chop was unreal, it actually reminded me of Fuerteventura (without the razor sharp rocks :) ) but it was very difficult sometimes just to ride. There was also a weird wave pattern, where waves all came in twos, and it was the second one that was the good ramp, but it wasn't possible to get to it because of the first one.

Very little flat water today, even in the shallows, although the flats came and went a bit. Upwind was fine today, even with big jumps I was staying in the same spot - maybe something to do with the currents?

I had one incident today, the kite went down (a few times today!) and as I was steering to get it back up, it suddenly powered up, but the centre lines were wrapped around the bar, or more accurately wrapped around my hand. It powered up, trapping my hand on the bar; couldn't pull it out at all, very painful. I got it freed, got the lines round the side, and was able to sail on. I was a bit concerned that I'd done something, but the pain quickly subsided, and I kept going. When I got home, I see a little swelling and a couple of small bruises - not too bad!

Anyway, it was a great session out on the water, and I came in just before it looked like it was going to rain (although I'm not sure it ever came)

Kitesurfing - Downhill - Friday 10th July 2020

Another after work session today, I was determined to try to improve some skills today, so I spent a lot of time standing and falling. I decided to work on a non-sitting waterstart, but that turned out to be a disaster in the fast moving shallow water. The board is moving too much, the sea is travelling too fast. If you stand on it, it sticks to the sand etc etc. It didn't work. Or more accurately, I couldn't make it work.

The second thing was backrolls. It is quite some time since I tried this stuff, and I haven't tried it since I got my new kites last year. This was a lot more successful, nice flats, nice ramps, and I was able to land a couple sometimes plopping into the water, sometimes riding on. 

It was really enjoyable, the next time the conditions are right, I'll be doing that again!

Kitesurfing - Downhill - 6th July 2020

A little bit of North Coast gold :)

Quick session today after work, wind was blowing well, had a driver with me to make it easier with a couple of short downwinders. Great.

Kitesurfing - Downhill - 29 June 2020

Nice surprise today, it seemed the forecast was a bit strong and also a bit too much south, but it came through! The direction of the windmills looked good, so I took a look, and it was perfect cross (normally that forecast would be cross off)

It was messy, I have never seen as much chop in the shallow water, or the wind rise and drop so much. There were also huge waves further out, and lovely flats in between. A complete mixed bag.

It was good to get out, I didn't ride well at all, I dont know what it was but I didnt land many jumps etc. 

Anyway, it was still great :)

Kitesurfing - Benone - Thursday 11th June

Bit of a rollercoaster of a day/evening today. This was the only forecast day for this week, and so I wanted to make the best, hitting the beach at 6am I spent an hour on the water before work. By the end I was completely juiced on the 9, it was actually a bit too strong.

I was expecting the wind to drop completely by the time I finished work, but it turned into a beautiful sunshine day, and the wind seemed to stay, so I headed back to the beach after work. However it did seem a lot lighter, I tried a couple of places on the 12m from Downhill to Benone, but it didn't work well at all.

A nice surprise, I was chatting to one of the guys I used to kite with, and he said he was going to try. I watched him struggling to get going in a light direct onshore wind, and it wasn't going too well.

Just as I was about to pack up, I thought since it was so nice with sunshine, warm sand, and gentle wind, and since I had the kite ready, I thought I'd have a quick fly on the beach before I went home. When I launched, it seemed to pick up, and I ended up out on the water for about 45 minutes. Direct onshore meant no deep water, and no real opportunity to jump, but it did mean you could cruise as far as you wanted, and it ended up being a lot of fun (and good exercise!)

Kitesurfing - Downhill - 7th June 2020

A real quick one today, with a driver. Started off at the main river, and got picked up at the next wee river. There seems to be a choppy spot between the two, and a quiet flat spot at the wee river.

Kitesurfing - Downhill - Friday 5th June 2020

Third day in a row, wind great again. Brought a driver for some downwind action today.

Also made a video.

Kitesurfing - Downhill - 4th June 2020

Bit more grey today, a little mist, but still epic conditions. Wind a bit further around to the west, so better for waves, and nice ramps.

Kitesurfing - Downhill - 3 June 2020

What great weather! Twice to the beach today, morning and evening, very straight onshore wind, but great. Out on both kites today. In the morning it was so straight you could have sailed from Benone the whole way to Downhill!

Immersun MyImmersun ImmerLINK now working!

We had a power cut this morning, and when I got home my Immersun unit was not working. It displayed "Radio Resets xxx" where xxx was a slowly incrementing number. No problem, I'll turn it off and on again.... nope, that didnt work.

I thought that someone has surely had this issue before, and began googling, but to no avail. People had had it, but no one offered any great solutions.

Long story short, I figured out that if I powered the unit on while holding the 'x' button, it did a soft reset, and powered up properly.

I had bought a second hand MyImmersun unit a while back, but was unsuccessful at getting it connected up. However, as part of my googling I found this page (https://www.marshflattsfarm.org.uk/wordpress/?page_id=4154) which filled the missing piece of the puzzle, the cloud IP, which had to be set to 62.30.9.158

I had actually completely given up at getting it connected, and even put it away, but I got it out again, and set the cloud IP. The next step was to try to log on, I'd been unsuccessful at that too, as the "register" page on http://www.myimmersun.co.uk/ seems broken. So I downloaded the android app, and managed to sign up on there, and all of a sudden I can see how my house is performing, solar, hot water tank, import and export. Now I just need to wait for some actual sunshine to see it really performing.

Power cut, and broken Immersun unit prompted the best thing that happened today!

Kitesurfing - Downhill - 4th Nov 2019

Sunset session at 5pm :)

The nights are getting shorter, and the winter is on its way. However, it was really nice to get out in this easterly wind, even though that's not my favourite direction. It was unseasonably warm at 11 degrees too!

It was a good session, still my bad direction, getting a bit better, slowly.

The wind was quite consistent, a little more cross than I was expecting, but that only made it better. Upwind was no problem today. It was pretty dark about 5:15pm when I was packing up!

Kitesurfing - Benone - 9th Sept 2019

Back out again tonight on the new kites, arrived at the beach after work at about 5:30pm, and was glad to see another couple of kites already there. The wind was quite up and down, but I set up the 12. This is the first time this 12 had ever been on the water.

The wind was quite onshore, which is not my favourite, and it was also quite weak, even on the 12, and so I did a couple of runs and then came in. Tried again a little later and it was the same. One of the other lads was going home so I asked if he'd help me leave my car downwind, and do a downwinder, and he obliged :)

What ensued was a fantastic hour of travelling about a mile downwind, sometimes lit, sometimes underpowered, some big waves, some big flats.


With the lighter wind I tried a couple of bigger boosts in the quite shallow water on my 12, and it is definitely a lot more boosty than my old kites.

With the lighter winds I also managed to do a few downloop transitions, both sliding and toe to heel, all sketchy, but fun, and definitely something to have in the toolbox for these lighter winds.

Kitesurfing - Downhill - 6th Sept 2019

First opportunity to try the new kites on the water tonight, went to Downhill as usual, and it was blowing well.

I was going to self launch by pulling the kite around, but the wind felt a bit uncertain, so I used the car as an anchor to launch, and that worked very well.

The session was epic, the waves were nice, the conditions were almost directly cross shore, and there were nice flats between the waves. With the shifting of the sand this year, it is almost like there is a lagoon in the shallow water, with knee deep water for quite a distance out before it gets deeper.

Staying upwind no problem tonight on this kite, not sure if it is the kite or the current or other conditions, but it was pretty good to be able to jump etc and still make it back easily to the same place.

Kite is fast, light, and easy to fly. Didn't do too many exciting things, as I don't want to tempt injuries; I'll go out a few times before getting too overexcited :)