The search for a new wheel.

[Esash]

2 hours ago, mrelwood said:

For me what contributes to a sharp handling wheel is mostly the height of the side pads. 16S: Lowish pads, snappy to turn and handle. V10F: Quite high pads, needs a lot more effort to turn sharply. Msuper V3 (old): Snappier than V10F, despite the 18”.

I wouldn’t worry about losing too much agility when going 18”, the difference can be learned into. But I would definitely not recommend a tall wheel for you.

One thing is also the tire profile. V10F default Kenda is not nearly as nimble as the CST that comes in an Msuper. These together I believe is what makes the Msuper feel more agile to me with the way I have learned to ride on my 16S (2.5” mod). I am 193cm, 95kg.

This is why I think you should choose between 18L and Msuper X (or Teslarized). 18L is about 2” taller but 2” narrower than Msuper X. I don’t know how the width comes into play here.

 

Ps. PLEASE ride carefully amongst pedestrians! If someone runs your over, you are NOT insured and you will end up paying for the damage. And you can’t see a small kid jumping in front of you from behind someone until its too late.

Besides, scaring people with fast and sharp riding might hinder the legal position of EUCs.

Thanks for explaining that. I guess that's why my 14" MCM3 is so twitchy, the low pads that appear to end at about 16"-17" height:

And the Rockwheel GT16 is supposed to be freakishly agile for a 16" wheel. Probably because of the compact shape and low pads:

 

I guess the short and boxy design style went out of style 2 or so years ago, and with it some agility/snappiness/twitchiness performance.

And I guess that's what makes Marty's MCM5 so twitchy, is that the contact point is so low on the leg, to the point that your leg isn't even touching the wheel unless you're leaning:

 

Maybe that fat egg shape will become more popular, where you get the aesthetic enhancement of the taller, rounder wheel, but the agility enhancements of the old compact boxy wheels because of the fat width of the egg shape, curving away from your ankles.

Another option for manufacturers would be to have adjustable, extendable pads so that you can set the pad height you want depending on your riding style that day. The concept would be just like the extendable handle, except there would be one on each side of the wheel near the pedals that you could adjust in height.

Another idea would be that the pads would be not one large pad, but 2-3 narrow pads, so you could remove the top pad or two for lower pad height, and then on long distance rides or whatever you could put those upper pads back on so you get more padding hitting more of your leg, and higher up.