Gasmantle

My V5F has a curved trolley handle so if I'm asked what it is while wheeling it I tell them it's an electric dog that I can take for walks but don't have to clean up shit after it

It seems that the bluetooth light only comes on once a connection is established (I thought it came on to say a connection was available) I find the Inmotion app is poorly laid out and not very user friendly so like you I used it to configure my wheel settings at the start but rarely look at it now. To check my battery level and mileage travelled I now just use the Wheellog app, it's very basic but gives me the info I need.

Thanks guys, I've now managed to sort it by turning off the bluetooth then turning it back on. Not sure why it stopped working but it seems ok now @Sidewalk Enforcer I've just had a look, the symbol comes on once the wheel has made connection

Thanks, I've just checked and my tablet still has the bluetooth enabled. I'm not sure if the bluetooth symbol on my wheel needs to be lit up to connect or whether it only comes on once it is connected.

Hi all, For the last couple of days my V5F won't connect to the app (either the Inmotion or Wheellog), the small bluetooth symbol next to the battery level indicator has gone out but everything else seems fine. Any thoughts on what the problem is ? Many thanks, Peter.

Hi all, I've had my first wheel (V5F) for about 10 weeks and now that I can confidently ride it I'd like to upgrade. My plan was to save up and get something in the £1400 range but by accident I have come across a man living locally who wants to buy buy my existing wheel for £200 and at the same time I can buy a new V8 on Aliexpress for £600. It's not my preferred upgrade route but my V5F has a lot of beginner knocks and scratches that the potential buyer isn't bothered about (he's seen the wheel) so it kinda seems attractive to buy a brand new and slightly more powerful wheel for an extra £400 So guys and gals, do you think it's worth considering an intermediate upgrade to a V8 for £400? Am I likely to see any significant improvement for my money or should I keep my existing wheel until I can afford something in the £1400 range ? Many thanks

Thanks guys I guess its a bit like trying to lean backwards to the point of falling over, if you know there is a soft mattress behind you then it's easy but if it is solid concrete your mind won't let you do it. It seems to me the difficult bit is 'teaching' your primitive instincts it is safe. At this stage I'm not too worried about learning turns but just the ability to back up say 5 or 10 yards could be useful and being able to pendulumn while waiting at traffic lights etc would be great.

Firstly congrats on your new wheel - it's great fun once you can ride it 3 days isn't long to learn something new so just stick at it and you'll soon get the hang of it. At nearly 60yrs old I'm probably one of the oldest riders here but I managed to learn to ride my first wheel recently. I bought a V5F about 10 weeks ago and like you I struggled a bit at first - after maybe about 5 days I found I could stay on and felt reasonably relaxed but couldn't steer very well. After about 2 weeks I met up with another couple of riders here and could just about manage a couple of miles at a time and steer so long as it wasn't very tight turns. Now 10 weeks in I can confidently ride forwards and turn very tight turns, I can also get on and off without the need to hold onto anything - so believe me it is something you'll get the hang of shortly. Have you tried practising on grass? I know it's not every ones way of learning but in my case it allowed me to gain a bit of confidence during the falling off stage. Once I couls ride for a few hundred yards on grass I moved onto tarmac etc. Stick at it - its worth it

Many thanks for all the replies It sounds like I'm not the only one who finds backwards riding to be a challenge. I've had another go today for about an hour but don't seem to be making any progress, at the moment I find the problem is my mind won't let my body lean back. It's as if some primative survival mechanism tells me it's not safe to lean back and I can't yet override that feeling. I think a few days on grass may help, it's not as easy a surface to ride on but it may get me past the fear of falling stage.

Thanks I'll have another go tomorrow for an hour or 2 - I'd like to think after a week I ought to have managed ride a few yards in reverse. The video of Ian at Speedyfeet is useful, at the moment I've been trying from a standing start and holding onto a fence but trying to ride backwards from a forward movement has to be worth a go - luckily I can ride very slow and almost stay stationary.

A quickie question to those who have mastered backwards riding, how long did it take ? hours, days or even weeks? I just have a cheap and cheerful V5F and now that I can ride forwards in a relaxed manner I want to learn how to ride in reverse. Admittedly today is my first day of trying but after about 2 hours at it I'm getting absolutely nowhere. I'm reasonably confident I'll learn it with practice but I must say it is harder than I expected

Yea, I'd agree it maybe is a bit of an unnecessary trick but it's something I've set a challenge of learning

I could free mount most of the time when we met but still had the odd mishap or my feet would end up not evenly positioned - the idea today was just to perfect my technique so that I can manage it properly at every go :-) My next lesson is backwards riding - I think may take a while to master though

Many thanks for all the positive relies guys. I guess I kinda started the thread to encourage other newbies who are thinking of buying their first wheel and older riders in particular. If these wheels had been available 40 yrs ago I'd have bought one then - it really is great fun and a practical way of getting around on fairly short journeys. Although I've been able to ride now for a weeks I've so far struggled to get on the wheel without holding onto something - today I set myself the challenge to learn free mounting. In a local carpark my goal was 100 free mounts and dismounts without touching the wheel by hand. A hour later I'd mastered it and the freedom it gives being able to stop and start anywhere is immeasurable

Yea for a fiver I thought it worth a gamble, it arrived next day and it does the job. I don't think it would be much good if I needed to inflate tyres regularly but for the occasional use I need then it's worth the money.