Antic Bike Review: This Self-Wheelie Mini Bike is FUN and FAST

The Antic from Future Motion is the first production ready self wheelie bike on the market, and after two separate sessions including one crash that served as a hard learned safety lesson, the Freshly Charged team came away with a nuanced take on a product that is genuinely exciting but not without its rough edges. The wheelie system works, the speed is real, and the experience of doing something most people assumed they could never do is as rewarding as advertised. But the stock tires are a notable compromise, the seat design becomes uncomfortable during extended wheelie sessions, basic accessories are missing at a price point that should include them, and the mode indicator system is not prominent enough to prevent the exact kind of accident Jimmy experienced firsthand when he forgot wheelie assist was disabled. Stacked against the Wheelie Fun Bike prototype the team also tested, the Antic trades a more polished ride experience for immediate availability and a lower price point, with Andrew favoring the Wheelie Fun Bike for safety feel and ride comfort, and Jimmy leaning toward the Antic for its real world accessibility. If you want to understand the full picture of what this bike gets right, where it falls short, and whether it belongs in your garage, the following review is worth the read.

Video Review

Written Review

The self wheelie bike category didn't exist a couple of years ago. Now there are two serious contenders vying for the same rider, and the Freshly Charged team is one of the very few to have spent meaningful time on both. The new Antic brand and bike from Future Motion — the company behind the OneWheel — is one of them, and after an extended real world session that ended with one Jimmy crash that absolutely should not have happened, here is the complete picture.

• Link to the current pricing of the Wheelie Fun Bike: https://bit.ly/3XIEL97
• Link to the current pricing of the Antic Bike: https://bit.ly/4kyWhYh

What the Antic Is

At its core, the Antic is a compact electric mini bike built around Future Motion's self balancing wheelie technology. The bike connects to the same app used for OneWheel products, runs on a 986Wh battery (confirmed from the label on the unit itself, since this spec is not on their website), and uses what Future Motion calls a 75V system — though the team suspects this is peak voltage and the nominal operating voltage is closer to 62V. The rear is powered by a Hypercore motor, claimed top speed is 35 mph, and in real world testing the team hit 34.62 mph with room to spare. Range testing came in at 22.4 miles. Braking is handled by 140mm hydraulic disc brakes up front with a two piston caliper, paired with electric braking through the rear motor.

Assembly out of the box requires attaching the handlebars, brake lever, throttle, and foot pegs — more involved than a OneWheel, which ships fully assembled. There are no printed instructions in the box, only what is printed on the packaging itself. The team noted early on that the brake lever should be mounted on the left side, a detail that was initially missed and corrected by the team's intern Eli before the ride.

How the Wheelie System Works

This is where the Antic differs meaningfully from the Wheelie Fun Bike, and understanding that difference is essential to evaluating both products honestly. On the Antic, there is no dedicated wheelie button. Instead, the self balancing system is always active when the bike is powered on and in ride mode. To initiate a wheelie, the rider throttles hard enough to lift the front wheel, at which point the system engages and holds the balance point. From there, control is entirely lean based — lean forward to accelerate, lean back to slow down. To exit wheelie mode, the rider either brakes or presses the activation button. Releasing the throttle alone will not bring the front wheel down, which is a detail that requires some rewiring of instincts.

The indicator light system tells you what mode you are in. Blue means the system is active and ready. Purple means you are in wheelie mode. White means wheelie assist is off. That last one matters more than it sounds, and more on that shortly. The upside of this approach is significant: no hands required. Because the wheelie does not require holding a button, the rider can take both hands completely off the bars while in wheelie mode and control the entire experience through body weight and hip position. Andrew demonstrated this cleanly and repeatedly. Jimmy, who by his own admission has historically been too cautious to attempt wheelies, was holding 40 foot runs within a single session.

What the Team Loved

Acceleration: This is the first thing that surprises you. For a small platform bike, the Antic pulls hard off the line and reaches its claimed top speed legitimately. At 34.62 mph the bike still felt composed, which is notable given the platform.

The 2-for-1 Special: The fact that this is a two in one product matters too. When you are not in wheelie mode, the Antic rides like a compact electric mini bike. It is quick, maneuverable, and genuinely fun as a straight riding machine. The wheelie capability is the headline feature but not the only reason to own it.

The Wheelie, Obviously: For riders who have never done a wheelie and assumed they never would, the Antic delivers on its core promise. The self balancing system prevents looping out, and the accessibility of being able to get into a sustained wheelie after a single session of practice is real. Several cars passed the team while they were riding and every single occupant was smiling. That reaction is not going away anytime soon.

Brakes: The braking system is well implemented, with electric braking engaging first through the motor and mechanical braking stepping in as a secondary layer. It works well and provides a linear, predictable feel.

Where the Antic Falls Short

Tires: The stock tires are the biggest riding complaint. Described as boxy, hard compound, and similar in feel to old Vega tires, they transmit every road imperfection directly through the frame. The Antic offers upgraded premium tires as an option, but they are only available on the higher tier model. Buyers on the base model cannot add upgraded tires post purchase — the team would have preferred to spec the premium tires on the base battery bike and found it frustrating that this is not an option.

Suspension: There is no rear suspension, which compounds the tire issue. For standard riding this is manageable. For extended wheelies it becomes genuinely uncomfortable. Jimmy noted that a five mile wheelie session on the Wheelie Fun Bike was enjoyable partly because of its rear suspension, while a similar session on the Antic would be punishing on the tailbone.

Seat: The seat design drew consistent criticism. It is too square and boxy at the edges, and during wheelies the rider's inner thighs make contact with those edges in a way that becomes uncomfortable quickly. For a product at this price point and designed specifically around the wheelie experience, the seat design feels under-engineered.

Pricing Concerns: Basic omissions at this price are hard to overlook. The Antic retails at $2,200 and does not come with a charge port cover, fenders, a kickstand, or a tail light. The front light is dim and non adjustable, which means when the bike is in wheelie mode the light points skyward rather than at the road. The package does include a small reflector sticker for the rear, but the team agrees a proper integrated tail light and brake light should be standard at this price, and it can be frustrating to have to purchase so many accessories on top of the original price.

Lack of Official Specifications: The spec transparency issue is a real frustration. Future Motion publishes almost no technical specifications publicly. The team found the watt hour rating by physically lifting the bike and reading the battery label, which is required to be present for shipping compliance. The nominal voltage, motor wattage output, and other core specs are simply not listed. Every other product in this category provides this information as a baseline, and buyers deserve it.

Kickstand: The lack of means the bike can only stand unsupported on perfectly flat ground, causing it to fall twice in the team's garage during testing.

The Crash That Should Not Have Happened

Part two of the Freshly Charged Antic coverage documents something that serves as an important safety warning for any prospective buyer. During steep hill testing at approximately a 21 degree slope, the bike's wheelie assist interpreted the incline as a wheelie initiation and switched into wheelie mode automatically, at which point the throttle stopped responding normally. To complete the test, wheelie mode was turned off manually through the app. The hill test concluded, and on the ride home Jimmy forgot he had turned wheelie mode off.

Attempting to initiate a wheelie with the self balancing system disabled, the bike did not catch him. He looped out completely, hit the pavement hard, and took significant impact to his tailbone and the back of his head. The backpack and helmet he was wearing absorbed what would have been a serious head impact. This is not a design flaw exactly, but it is a meaningful ergonomic and safety concern. The Wheelie Fun Bike requires an active button press to initiate a wheelie, which means if the assist is off, the button simply does nothing. The Antic requires the rider to throttle into the wheelie, which is the same physical input regardless of whether the assist is enabled or not. The consequence of forgetting the mode state is, as demonstrated, a real safety risk and will leave some damage on your bike.

The team's takeaway: the blue indicator light system is not intuitive enough to prevent this kind of error, and a more prominent warning when wheelie assist is disabled would meaningfully reduce the risk. Additionally, tire pressure matters more than the manual suggests. The team found the tires shipped at nearly 35 PSI, which contributed to the oscillation and rough ride feel documented in the review. Letting air out to a more appropriate pressure substantially improved the ride quality. The manual should specify recommended PSI more clearly.

Antic vs. Wheelie Fun Bike

Both team members rode both products, with the important caveat that the Wheelie Fun Bike they tested was a pre production prototype. Here is where each person landed.

Andrew prefers the Wheelie Fun Bike. His reasoning centers on safety feel, ride comfort, and the wheelie exit experience. On the Wheelie Fun Bike, releasing the button brings the front wheel down slowly and gently. On the Antic, exiting wheelie mode produces a noticeable thud as the front wheel drops. The rear suspension on the Wheelie Fun Bike also contributes to a noticeably more comfortable extended ride.

Jimmy leans toward the Antic for one practical reason: availability. The Wheelie Fun Bike was still in prototype phase at the time of filming. If you want a self wheelie bike in your hands today, the Antic is the answer. He also notes the price point is more accessible, characterizing it as a strong value on a "price per wheelie" basis.

Eli, the team's intern, preferred the Antic for its quality feel and practical portability.

The Freshly Charged Verdict

If you want a self wheelie bike right now and aren't sure if the Wheelie Fun Bike is for you, the Antic is a capable, genuinely fun machine that delivers on its core promise. Riders who are experienced on OneWheel products will have a shorter learning curve given the shared app ecosystem and similar lean based control language. However, go in with clear eyes on the limitations. The stock tires are a real compromise. The seat needs work. The omission of basic accessories at $2,200 is hard to justify. And the wheelie mode indicator system needs to be more prominent to prevent the kind of crash documented here, despite it being avoidable. Here at Freshly Charged, we love seeing this self wheelie category develop! It only gets more interesting by the month, and the Antic is a solid first production entry into it. It may not be a finished product in every sense, but it is a total blast.

• Link to the current pricing of the Wheelie Fun Bike: https://bit.ly/3XIEL97
• Link to the current pricing of the Antic Bike: https://bit.ly/4kyWhYh