People have been seeing what looks like a storm trooper from Star Wars on the Duluth lakewalk. We set out to investigate and saw for ourselves what people are talking about.

Duluthian, Tim Osthus isn’t trying to look like he’s from the future, or a character from the popular movie series. He’s just wearing proper safety gear as he rides a curious-looking vehicle that is growing in popularity.

He can go pretty fast, but only does so when it’s safe and keeping a safe distance from other people. But no matter how fast or slow he goes, he is fun to watch as he rides his self-balancing, gyroscopic electric unicycle or EUC for short.

“I would say that most people who ride are not your daredevils or thrill-seekers,” he told us. “It’s more the engineers, the tech guys, doctors, aerospace guys. People that understand the tech and get interested and want to know more about it.”

Tim is one of a growing number of EUC enthusiasts in the northland.

“It takes your full engagement,” he said. “It takes your full awareness, your body bonds with the machine like no other vehicle out there. So it becomes an extension of you, like a jetpack.”

EUCs are classified as e-bikes, but with just one-wheel.

“As soon as you power it on, it’s going to level itself. Then, any pressure forward is going to send it forward, back will send it back,” he said as he demonstrated. “And really, it’s just the relationship between the pedals, the pressure on the pedals that’s going to either go forward, backwards, or side to side.”

9-year old Johan rides an EUC, he’s Tim’s nephew. 10-year old Chase and his dad Derek also joined us on this sunny September afternoon to show us how it’s done. WDIO News anchor Darren Danielson jumped on one and gave it a try.

“Oh wow that’s amazing!,” Darren said. “It’s so incredibly responsive, it’s kind of scary that it’s such a smart machine!”

EUCs are not cheap. They range from around $500 to several thousand dollars. Quite similar to the range of prices for e-bikes. They can go up to 100 miles on a single charge and a full charge only takes about an hour. Also, like with anything else you ride, proper safety equipment is required.

“The helmet, number one, obviously, full face preferred,” Osthus told us. “Because if you’re going to fall, the most likely thing is falling forward, right? And then wrist guards. Those would be the bare minimum, helmet and wrist guards, but knee protection is also very important.”

We asked is he sees the sport as just a fad, or if he thinks the sport will continue to grow in popularity.

“I think the future of it is extreme growth,” he answered. “It’s the most efficient vehicle in the world pound for pound. Not only that, it’s the fastest, most powerful vehicle pound for pound in the world.”

If you want to see more action-packed video, check out Tim Osthus’s YouTube channel here.