My first EUC! MSuper 3

[Marty Backe]

49 minutes ago, Dingfelder said:

Will do.  But first ... the slime!  

Do you use that in your car tires too, Marty?

No. Do people still get flats in their car tires? Seems like it's been well over 30 years since I've had a flat.

[HeavyGoing]

On 5/15/2017 at 2:33 PM, LanghamP said:

Wait, you haven't ridden a wheel yet?

The MSuper is probably not user friendly in the sense that the great mass damages itself if you drop the wheel while learning. I suppose you could get lots of foam and canvas, and then it would be a crash-worthy first wheel.

I started on an MSuper Friday and I have certainly dropped it so I just order some electric unicycle bumpers from banggood.com   $5 bucks and it look like it will do the job.

I will probably have some more scratches by then.  I have been trying to find some pipe insulation for the mean time but HD and Lowes seem to be out.    So far my experience is that it holds up to mine and my son's drops pretty well.  Now, when that mass runs into the back of my ankle....  that is another story - about how my ankle holds up.

[MaxLinux]

On 5/29/2017 at 8:04 PM, MaxLinux said:

The tires of every wheel I've owned so far worked well with this extension (I do not know if it works with MSuper tire):

https://www.banggood.com/Electric-Unicycle-Air-Type-Valve-Extension-Adaptor-12_5cm-p-999165.html

Duf's MSuper unboxing video confirms this kind works. He stated it came with his Ninebot, but it looks exactly like mine from Banggood:

 

 

Here it is on my Lhotz:

[Dingfelder]

Cool.  Okay good to know of a guaranteed fit and utility.

[MaxLinux]

On 5/24/2017 at 11:30 AM, LanghamP said:

Adjust your Gotway!

There is a leveling adjustment in the Gotway application that I would recommend doing first off.

I have had several wheels that arrived with the level misadjusted. Correcting this really improves ridability. Now the first two things I do with a new wheel are inflate tire (for me, this is 50 psi) and calibrate level.

[MaxLinux]

On 5/15/2017 at 5:41 PM, kasenutty said:

Maybe some Msuper owners can chime in, but most of those handles are zip tied and duct taped from what I've seen. A fragile case for sure. 

This is an unfortunate lapse by the Gotway design team. The case seems severely underbuilt for such a big, heavy, powerful wheel. One would think that only a few drop tests would have alerted Gotway that the case needs to be much stronger. 

[MaxLinux]

On 5/15/2017 at 10:41 PM, meepmeepmayer said:

About the fast vs slow thing, fast is easier so going fast-ish in a straight line naturally comes before slow riding and turning.

Definitely, the more practice and riding experience you have, the slower you will be able to ride. At the beginning, your main concern is to remain upright, and speed helps.

[MaxLinux]

On 5/15/2017 at 11:57 PM, LanghamP said:

I never considered the MSuper until one accidentally showed up on my doorstep.

I'm interested in the story of how that happened!

[MaxLinux]

On 5/16/2017 at 10:34 AM, meepmeepmayer said:

The one thing I'm envious of with the msuper (compared to the ACM) is the nice wide fat tire.

ACM is a perfect candidate for 2.5 inch tire. I can't figure out why Gotway (and other EUC companies) do not want to put a 2.5 tire on a 16 inch wheel. IPS Lhotz proved this is a very successful idea.

[Dingfelder]

Okay so still a couple weeks till my MSuper is here, but ... I got my step n roll ebay cheapie today.

Wow it is harder than I thought.  Just getting both feet on the thing at the same time, even with a wall to hold onto, is very hard for me.  Not a natural I guess?  Trying to get on the wheel put a ton of pressure on my ankle and shin ... ankle especially.  Just like in the recent thread we had about the damage this one (or I suppose any one) can do.

Scraped it right away, so I put some duct tape on the fenders and handle.  

Nice bonus:  a valve extender came with the wheel, so I won't have to buy one.  

And ... also some training wheels.  I've seen people say you don't need them after a half hour ... but I'm going to try them.  I think I need that half hour.

And I'm glad this thing doesn't go too fast.  I actually had to lean forward quite a bit to get it to go faster than a crawl.  

[Marty Backe]

25 minutes ago, Dingfelder said:

Okay so still a couple weeks till my MSuper is here, but ... I got my step n roll ebay cheapie today.

Wow it is harder than I thought.  Just getting both feet on the thing at the same time, even with a wall to hold onto, is very hard for me.  Not a natural I guess?  Trying to get on the wheel put a ton of pressure on my ankle and shin ... ankle especially.  Just like in the recent thread we had about the damage this one (or I suppose any one) can do.

Scraped it right away, so I put some duct tape on the fenders and handle.  

Nice bonus:  a valve extender came with the wheel, so I won't have to buy one.  

And ... also some training wheels.  I've seen people say you don't need them after a half hour ... but I'm going to try them.  I think I need that half hour.

And I'm glad this thing doesn't go too fast.  I actually had to lean forward quite a bit to get it to go faster than a crawl.  

I can still remember clearly when I attempted to get on my first wheel. Kind of scary with the feeling of "how am I ever going to do this". Perseverance.

All of those videos make it look so effortless.

Hang in there. 

[Carlos E Rodriguez]

32 minutes ago, Dingfelder said:

Okay so still a couple weeks till my MSuper is here, but ... I got my step n roll ebay cheapie today.

Wow it is harder than I thought.  Just getting both feet on the thing at the same time, even with a wall to hold onto, is very hard for me.  Not a natural I guess?  Trying to get on the wheel put a ton of pressure on my ankle and shin ... ankle especially.  Just like in the recent thread we had about the damage this one (or I suppose any one) can do.

Scraped it right away, so I put some duct tape on the fenders and handle.  

Nice bonus:  a valve extender came with the wheel, so I won't have to buy one.  

And ... also some training wheels.  I've seen people say you don't need them after a half hour ... but I'm going to try them.  I think I need that half hour.

And I'm glad this thing doesn't go too fast.  I actually had to lean forward quite a bit to get it to go faster than a crawl.  

The pain is improper technique. 

Do not try to jerk vigorous to mount the second foot. You will end up snagging it and taking a spill. 

You will need maybe a week doing 1 hour training. Don't rush it.  Your brain need to re-wire how to achieve balance. 

Dont try to balance. For real. You need to stand firmly. The wheel does the balance. You need to Unlearn to try to balance when on the wheel. On the wheel stay upright and firm. Don't flap your arms around. It makes it worst. 

The balance will come when your body learns to firm up the hips and legs. Your legs are the pillars and your pelvis is the roof. Need to keep that roof not shift from the pillars. 

Dont force riding. Stand on it and hold position holding wall. Move it forward and back just a couple of inches. And feel how your body reacts and what is shifting the wrong way. You will be soar. 

Then try to forward, stop and dismount gracefully. Only do that with 5 meters or 15 feet. Practice that until you feel you got control. Maybe 2 or three days. 

Then start increasing distance mounting and dismounting often until you master. Another week. 

[Marty Backe]

13 minutes ago, Carlos E Rodriguez said:

The pain is improper technique. 

<snip>

Unfortunately there's a lot of improper technique involved with learning. If a person had a personal EUC trainer they might stand a chance, but reading instructions will only go so far. I think pain and discomfort is part of the entrance fee to the EUC life   But @Carlos E Rodriguez certainly has some good pointers.

[Carlos E Rodriguez]

7 minutes ago, Marty Backe said:

Unfortunately there's a lot of improper technique involved with learning. If a person had a personal EUC trainer they might stand a chance, but reading instructions will only go so far. I think pain and discomfort is part of the entrance fee to the EUC life   But @Carlos E Rodriguez certainly has some good pointers.

For a moment I though you where going to smack me down. Lol. Yeah. I think I included the pain part. Is part of the process. I just like to see people learn but don't get hurt in the process. Build up to it. If you rush it you might twist and anckle or sprain a knee slowing your progress. 

I took three weeks because I did not know about this forum found some videos but not ideal. So for me I think a two to three week plan building up wil work and reduce some of the learning pain. I don't think blending is a right of passage to earn riding. Lol. 

Fist master mount short distance dismount for as many day until you get it before you try to speed away. 

[Sven]

I learned how to ride on youtube, watching clips 2-3hrs every day and doing some image training until i received my first wheel. By then i already knew what "not" to do. Still struggled 4-5 hrs tho. And working at place with lots of open space and smooth floor was helpful!

[Dingfelder]

Thanks Carlos, will try to keep those things in mind.

A friend was over today and for a few minutes before he had to go, he helped me balance on the wheel and go forward a bit, and take left and right turns.  I could see it wasn't that his assistance was an incremental help -- it was enormous!  I think I would learn much much faster if I could always have someone to hang onto/help balance me for the first hour or two at least.  You folks who can count on that are very lucky!

Once he was gone, even getting on the wheel felt near impossible.  

I'm going to rewatch a bunch of training videos.  Hopefully that will help.  Right now even getting on seems all but impossible, but I'm determined not to let difficulty defeat me.

And I'll see what those training wheels do for me too.  I like that the cheapie wheel came with nice extras like wheels, a strap, and a valve extender.

It didn't say anything about tire pressure though.  Suggestions?

[Eddrush]

I used to inflate mine to 37 psi, check the max psi on the actual tire itself to be sure. I think it's 40 psi on 14' inch. 

[Marty Backe]

1 hour ago, Carlos E Rodriguez said:

For a moment I though you where going to smack me down. Lol. Yeah. I think I included the pain part. Is part of the process. I just like to see people learn but don't get hurt in the process. Build up to it. If you rush it you might twist and anckle or sprain a knee slowing your progress. 

I took three weeks because I did not know about this forum found some videos but not ideal. So for me I think a two to three week plan building up wil work and reduce some of the learning pain. I don't think blending is a right of passage to earn riding. Lol. 

Fist master mount short distance dismount for as many day until you get it before you try to speed away. 

I agree that taking it slow is the best advice. The problem is with human nature. I couldn't wait to start riding. Although I had a frustrating time (who hasn't) it was fun and exhilarating, and painful 

[LanghamP]

Mounting for most feels impossible. It's bonkers hard. I tried just once and put that aside. I'm pretty sure bashed ankles comes from mounting badly.

Once moving riding is pretty easy. Perhaps the anology of sitting on bicycle handlebars would help, with your legs as the fork assembly.

[Dingfelder]

41 minutes ago, LanghamP said:

Mounting for most feels impossible. It's bonkers hard. I tried just once and put that aside. I'm pretty sure bashed ankles comes from mounting badly.

Once moving riding is pretty easy. Perhaps the anology of sitting on bicycle handlebars would help, with your legs as the fork assembly.

How do you get moving before mounting, though?  When I had a friend on one side and a wall on the other, I could get on the wheel though still with difficulty.  But by myself, the wheel moved around under me, including starting to turn if I was leaning forward at all.  And when I couldn't mount, there was no next step to take, so to speak.

[Carlos E Rodriguez]

7 hours ago, Dingfelder said:

Thanks Carlos, will try to keep those things in mind.

A friend was over today and for a few minutes before he had to go, he helped me balance on the wheel and go forward a bit, and take left and right turns.  I could see it wasn't that his assistance was an incremental help -- it was enormous!  I think I would learn much much faster if I could always have someone to hang onto/help balance me for the first hour or two at least.  You folks who can count on that are very lucky!

Once he was gone, even getting on the wheel felt near impossible.  

I'm going to rewatch a bunch of training videos.  Hopefully that will help.  Right now even getting on seems all but impossible, but I'm determined not to let difficulty defeat me.

And I'll see what those training wheels do for me too.  I like that the cheapie wheel came with nice extras like wheels, a strap, and a valve extender.

It didn't say anything about tire pressure though.  Suggestions?

The triangle mount method is essential. put one foot on the pedal.  the foot on the ground is to the side and half way back. so basically the mounted foot is forward and the ground foot is 1/2 foot back approximately. The wheel tilted slightly to the side the grounded foot is. The tilt should be just enough so the wheel is balances. by that I mean leaning on your mounted foot/calf but very light. Remember that the leg and the pelvis need to be engaged. As you raise the other leg to mount, the tendency will be to shift the leg/hips causing the wheel to push really hard on the calf causing pain. you need to program your hips and leg to not shift. Technically you should be able to stand on one foot and not cause pain and suffering, but that is mastered later. Raise the foot from the ground towards the pedal. Hoping to the pedal is not recommended although is the easiest most instinctive way to mount the second foot. If you hop to it, eventually you will have to unlearn that because its not a good way to do it. So try to bring the other foot up and  to the pedal instead of hopping onto the pedal. Then start rolling, skip, skip skip and then land on the pedal. The skip, skip, skip is a good exercise to master. It will take time because you need to learn to control your hip and upper leg muscles.

[LanghamP]

Yes Carlos is right but let me add something about hopping onto the pedal.

It took me a long time to learn to mount but once I did I also found I could ride with just one foot. I never got bruises anywhere but looking at others attempting to learn when I lend them my wheel I see that when they hop on the wheel is sorta slack and then it smashes into their leg.

[meepmeepmayer]

You finally got your burner wheel! It's going to save your msuper V3 from a few scratches. Welcome to reality (as opposed to forum and Youtube), and enjoy, learning to ride is a wonderful thing (riding along smoothly is too, but this is special and won't come back).

Start along a wall with no crap in the way. Once you can go along the wall, go to a wide open flat space with no crap in the way (aka curbs that make you scared of falling on them). Go straight and fast before attempting any curves and going slower.

I always post this video because it's just the best, he makes all the right points.

 

[Dingfelder]

1 hour ago, LanghamP said:

Yes Carlos is right but let me add something about hopping onto the pedal.

It took me a long time to learn to mount but once I did I also found I could ride with just one foot. I never got bruises anywhere but looking at others attempting to learn when I lend them my wheel I see that when they hop on the wheel is sorta slack and then it smashes into their leg.

When I tilt over to one side too far to ride anymore but not far enough to fall off, the machine grinds hard into my shin, levered into it by my bodyweight all coming through that one leg onto the pedal nearest the ground.  

I'm practicing around our garage.  I need to go somewhere I feel comfortable just letting the machine fly if I start to fall off it.  I'm trying to do a sort of gentle slip off the machine that's actually brutalizing my leg.  I think if I just tried to hop off instead, it would be a lot easier on my shin and ankle.

[Dingfelder]

1 hour ago, Carlos E Rodriguez said:

The triangle mount method is essential. put one foot on the pedal.  the foot on the ground is to the side and half way back. so basically the mounted foot is forward and the ground foot is 1/2 foot back approximately. The wheel tilted slightly to the side the grounded foot is. The tilt should be just enough so the wheel is balances. by that I mean leaning on your mounted foot/calf but very light. Remember that the leg and the pelvis need to be engaged. As you raise the other leg to mount, the tendency will be to shift the leg/hips causing the wheel to push really hard on the calf causing pain. you need to program your hips and leg to not shift. Technically you should be able to stand on one foot and not cause pain and suffering, but that is mastered later. Raise the foot from the ground towards the pedal. Hoping to the pedal is not recommended although is the easiest most instinctive way to mount the second foot. If you hop to it, eventually you will have to unlearn that because its not a good way to do it. So try to bring the other foot up and  to the pedal instead of hopping onto the pedal. Then start rolling, skip, skip skip and then land on the pedal. The skip, skip, skip is a good exercise to master. It will take time because you need to learn to control your hip and upper leg muscles.

I'll try that.  I just did another 20 minutes or so on the wheel, grabbing onto the rack on the roof of my car and swaying back and forth, left and right.  Bending and squatting a bit, generally moving around to see what would happen.  Just trying to get a general body feel for what it's like to have that thing there.  I did already start to feel a tiny bit better.

Mounting continues to be very clumsy for me.  It's going to take some time.

This thing sure has small pedals.  Even with my inner ankle flush against the machine, my foot is hanging half off the pedals.  And I'm not at all a big-boned guy; just the opposite. I am glad I ordered the MSuper with its big pedals, because I can see already that small pedals are a problem for people with big feet.