How long can you physically ride for?

[Meghan]

4 minutes ago, nte said:

When I first started riding my Yuneec E-GO skateboard my front foot hurt a lot. It stopped hurting as my feet got stronger.

That is what I read and what I am banking on.  I try to just suck it up and ride through the pain on a Onewheel but is sure is uncomfortable.  I think my feet have a death-grip on the board at the moment.  Once I learn to loosen up I think things will improve.   

[Marty Backe]

1 hour ago, Meghan said:

Wow.  Did you have to work up to that?  ?  50 miles is quite the ride!

Yes, it certainly took awhile (months) before I built up the stamina. I think it just takes a lot of riding and I rode A LOT early on 

[DaveThomasPilot]

After two hours, it's not fun anymore.  Too many other things to do.

While riding, I need to get off for a minute or two after every couple of miles due to foot pain.

[CaptainKBLS]

After one year of riding, my feet has gotten use to riding.  I can pretty much ride almost continuously for 2 hours straight.  It actually depends on a straight ride or with lots of stops.  Every time you stop and put your foot down, you take a beating.

IMO, less stops less foot pain.  Turns also beat your feet.

[Jerome]

3 hours ago, Meghan said:

Drat.  My feet start to hurt almost instantly on a Onewheel, but I am a bit of a newbie.  Hopefully I won't end up wheeling my unicycle beside me everywhere instead of riding it.

You may or may not have foot soreness problems, but it is not likely to equate to your  One Wheel experience. Riding a EUC is a different experience. With the One Wheel you need to put pressure on your feet to stay on the board, accelerate, stop, turn, etc. The weight on your feet on a EUC is just your weight with no added pushing down. The limited size/room of the peddles is the only thing that causes problems in time, otherwise its like having a job or situation where you must stand in one spot for XX periods at a time. The One wheel has similarities to an EUC in its self balancing forward-reverse, but it is actually easier to initially ride on an elementary level than an EUC. It will be interesting to see if your One Wheel skill helps you in learning to ride an EUC. What wheel are you getting?

[Hansolo]

5 hours ago, Meghan said:

I found a pair to match!!!!

My nickname at work: Velociraptor ?

[meepmeepmayer]

9 hours ago, Meghan said:

By normal shoes do you mean flat bottomed skateboard friendly shoes?  I am guessing that these would work out better because there is more rubber gripping the surface of the pedal?

Normal just meant shoes ending below ankle height, as in normal looking as opposed to specialty shoes.

I don't think riding comfort (or the lack thereof) depends on the type of shoe, just on the specific shoe and how it fits you. Discomfort comes from 2 things as far as I can say:

• Your soles and toes trying (in vain) to grab the pedal, cramping your foot. Also a generally unrelaxed riding stance makes your feet want to grab the pedals. Sometimes you can just have good or bad days where you're always comfortable or never really comfortable no matter what you do. That's a question of your entire body being relaxed. Also a good tip for beginners is to consciously relax your feet/legs/soles/toes instead of trying to grab the pedals which you'll do instinctively.
• Constant uneven pressure distribution on your soles (even when standing relaxed). You can do short breaks or in-ride repositioning against that. Depends also on the wheel's ergonomy, not just the shoes.

I'd say comfortable riding shoes are just comfortable shoes: comfortable insoles (not too hard or soft, good pressure distribution), firmly on your feet (so you don't slide around in them), just the ones that turn out to feel good.

[esaj]

As the answers on the thread show, it varies a lot. I can ride about 1.5-2 hours non-stop in one go with hiking boots and proper foot positioning, much less with sneakers and/or bad foot positioning. If your feet start to feel numb or sore, stop for a moment. Maybe walk around a bit or sit down. Also, it's much worse at the beginning, before your feet get more "used to it". Probably varies a lot from one person to the next, also the pedals on the wheel play some role in this (although we no longer have the "gap in the middle" -type pedals the earlier ones and generics had).

[mrelwood]

For me stiff motorcycle boots that fit two bouncy and very comfortable insoles was the key, now I can usually ride 1.5hrs straight despite my connective tissue disorder that makes my feet quite tender. I used to need to stop after about 20mins.

Precise foot position is also crucial. If your calves start hurting, you probably stand too far back. But going too much forward makes emergency braking impossible, so perhaps do a quick fast braking at slow speed to make sure you remain in control.

[brianle]

It varies for me too, but I've never tried the kind of mileage that some report.  It depends on the day, the foot-ware, the particular EUC, and likely on me as well.  But typically by 4 - 5 miles I'm feeling some soreness in the area of the arches of my feet, akin to mild cramping but not actual cramping.  I do once in a great while dismount and walk it off for a while, but not too pleased to be doing that.  I don't typically have to get off my bike and walk it for a while, and I'm doing more physical work on it.

I'm still searching for ways to improve this; have tried various foot-ware and inserts, but not really extensively, nor systematically. Sometime maybe I'll take the time to experiment a bit, but hard to control for all the variables, or to know which are [most] significant for me.  I appreciate reading about what works for other people, but from hiking/backpacking, I know that feet vary a lot between individuals --- the type of hiking shoe that's perfect for me might be a bad choice for you, and vice versa.   This too might be something that people have to work out individually, to some degree at least.

[Hunka Hunka Burning Love]

Try heel toeing it.  Works just like when you stand in one spot for a long time.

[mrelwood]

1 hour ago, brianle said:

the type of hiking shoe that's perfect for me might be a bad choice for you, and vice versa.

Absolutely, personal fit is always #1. But for riders with aching feet, the single variable that will narrow down the search quite a bit is

1. Stiffness of the sole. Since EUC pedals are still way too small for western adult feet, the sole has to carry your toes.

That’s it. If your feet still hurt too soon, try better insoles.

2. Insole shape that enables you to stand for extended times. Be it arch support, heel cup, etc.

3. Insole material that isolates the numbing shaking. A thick and bouncy PU cushioning works well for this. Full gel will only distribute the vibrations differently, not absorb them.

[The Fat Unicyclist]

15 hours ago, mrelwood said:

Absolutely, personal fit is always #1. But for riders with aching feet, the single variable that will narrow down the search quite a bit is

1. Stiffness of the sole. Since EUC pedals are still way too small for western adult feet, the sole has to carry your toes.

That’s it. If your feet still hurt too soon, try better insoles.

2. Insole shape that enables you to stand for extended times. Be it arch support, heel cup, etc.

3. Insole material that isolates the numbing shaking. A thick and bouncy PU cushioning works well for this. Full gel will only distribute the vibrations differently, not absorb them.

These are my "go to" boots for riding...

 

[Scatcat]

I have three variants in shoes, depending on outside temp.

Hot: Just your typical converse all stars, the high model. Works brilliantly for me as long as they're fairly new.

Medium: I have a pair of all weather, laced city boots. Medium high to cover the ankles and pretty thin hard sole.

Cold: I use a pair of hiking boots with a rather hard sole.

All three have a few things in common: they can carry my toes to avoid cutting off the blood-flow. They're fairly flat, giving me a direkt feel for the pedals. They give good sideways support when I turn hard.

[Ayesha Khan]

On 5/16/2018 at 6:47 AM, Scouts Honor said:

Even motorcycle riders take a break every hour or two, so just take a foot break whenever you need to. Seems like just getting off the wheel for 15 seconds does the trick a lot of the time

I agree. You don't need to stress yourself out by straining your legs.

Its normal to take breaks in between.

[brjohnso]

I couldn’t ride for very long either when I first started. I had to stop every 5 or 10 minutes. Just stick with it, and take breaks, in a few months your feet will toughen up and you can ride as long as you want.

[DaveThomasPilot]

I still can't ride more than ten or fifteen minutes without getting off to rest my feet.  

That's after a couple of years and lots of miles.

It's better with hiking boots, but still not enjoyable after fifteen or twenty minutes.

On the bright side, I've never had the wobbles, or any leg muscle issues.  Really, no issue besides the foot pain.

 

[Adumb]

I've gone on many 1 hour rides with no complaints, it wasn't till I hit the 1.5 - 2 hr mark when my feet started hurting a bit. I've tried with boots(hated it), sneakers(ok feeling), and van type flat shoes(heaven) which is what I prefer. The flat sole just feels perfect to me. 

[Torsten Daerr]

I usually wear sneakers with extra insoles and can go for about an hour with no break. After that, I try to shift the weight from foot to another or even ride on one foot to relax the other for at least a couple of seconds. 

[mrelwood]

The biggest contributor to sore feet for me has been the tiny pedals on my KS 16S (and Lhotz). I now finished my second ”bigfoot pedal extensions”. THIS is heaven! No pedal scraping, but I do know I have to be more careful in accelerating as I now have a lot more leverage.

The original pedal top is there just for comparison:

 

[Circuitmage]

I had plantars facetious on both feet before starting this. EUC riding has greatly helped ease that discomfort but it now kicks in after about 10 miles of riding, so I tend to stop and take a break at that point. But it quickly subsides.

[RockyTop]

Generally, I can ride until my wife’s legs get tired pedaling her bike or as long as she allows me to stay outside and play. ?  (1.5 - 2 hrs.)

[stephen]

I've done this today while riding around the park , just riding around here and there it soon adds up the mileage .i need bigger batteries ?

 

[Meghan]

On 6/23/2018 at 7:13 PM, mrelwood said:

The biggest contributor to sore feet for me has been the tiny pedals on my KS 16S (and Lhotz). I now finished my second ”bigfoot pedal extensions”. THIS is heaven! No pedal scraping, but I do know I have to be more careful in accelerating as I now have a lot more leverage.

The original pedal top is there just for comparison:

 

Yes, if I could have slightly bigger pedals it would be awesome!  Shame that they don't sell different sizes.  Maybe that's something companies might consider one day in the future!

[Meghan]

I am happy to report that my foot pain issue is almost a thing of the past.  I am constantly having to hop on and off my unicycle while driving around the city (I walk it through intersections) so my feet get breaks.  A couple weeks ago my feet hurt the moment I started riding by now all I feel is an occasional twinge if I haven't ridden for a few days.  I haven't yet ridden anywhere further away than half an hour, but I feel more confident about longer trips after witnessing how my feet adapted so quickly.