IPS i5 foot angle experiences

[Gubbe]

A new poster here, happy to be joining this friendly community!

Moving to a new office, I'm planning to move to public transport use from driving a car and that involves a bit of travel between stations and destinations. Enter EUC! I bought an Airwheel X3 to practice on (paid 120€ for it) and I'm starting to feel a bit confident on it. Have ridden a bit under 10 km total so far and still working on stability with even milder curbs and bumps, but already I'm getting a bit irritated at the low speed limit of this thing and the beeping that it gives me whenever I try to pick up a bit of speed on a flat, smooth road.

So even before doing a single actual commute, I'm already thinking about an upgrade to something more capable.

I've considered King Songs, Inmotions and Ninebots, but I'm not necessarily looking to do very long rides at this point and the IPS i5 is looking more and more interesting. The sub-8 kg weight would make it easier to lug up some stairs and although I have no experience yet riding faster on a unicycle, it seems the speed limit would be high enough for my needs.

However, I'm a little concerned about the foot pads. I've understood that since the machine is quite narrow and the pads have a relatively steep angle, your feet end up resting in quite an unnatural looking V-shaped position. Now I have noticed with the Airwheel that I do tend to put a lot of weight on the insides of my soles, wishing for more steeply angled pads, so that seems to support IPS's decision to install such. 

My concern is the long term effects on foot physiology from riding in such a position. Riding my bike with locking pedals I've noticed that my ankles can be quite sensitive to the toe-in/toe-out position of my foot, but I don't know much about the "camber" setting. I wonder what it would do on my ankles to ride in such a steep camber position regularly, exacerbated by the narrowness of the stance.

Riders of the i5: What are your experiences with ankle strain? Do your ankles feel tired or irritated after a long ride? Do you get soreness or swelling on one side and have you experienced issues with your gait or ankle position after riding the i5? 

I'd love to have a light and nimble EUC, but if it means in five years I have chronic ankle problems, I'd rather choose a wheel with a wider stance and easier foot angles.

DISCLAIMER: For those who just skimmed my post and might think I'm trying to smear this wheel, let me make it clear that I have zero experience on the i5 and it has never hurt me. I am not claiming it is an unhealthy wheel. I'm just asking for opinions and experiences.

Thanks for hearing me out!

AR

[Marty Backe]

7 hours ago, Gubbe said:

A new poster here, happy to be joining this friendly community!

Moving to a new office, I'm planning to move to public transport use from driving a car and that involves a bit of travel between stations and destinations. Enter EUC! I bought an Airwheel X3 to practice on (paid 120€ for it) and I'm starting to feel a bit confident on it. Have ridden a bit under 10 km total so far and still working on stability with even milder curbs and bumps, but already I'm getting a bit irritated at the low speed limit of this thing and the beeping that it gives me whenever I try to pick up a bit of speed on a flat, smooth road.

So even before doing a single actual commute, I'm already thinking about an upgrade to something more capable.

I've considered King Songs, Inmotions and Ninebots, but I'm not necessarily looking to do very long rides at this point and the IPS i5 is looking more and more interesting. The sub-8 kg weight would make it easier to lug up some stairs and although I have no experience yet riding faster on a unicycle, it seems the speed limit would be high enough for my needs.

However, I'm a little concerned about the foot pads. I've understood that since the machine is quite narrow and the pads have a relatively steep angle, your feet end up resting in quite an unnatural looking V-shaped position. Now I have noticed with the Airwheel that I do tend to put a lot of weight on the insides of my soles, wishing for more steeply angled pads, so that seems to support IPS's decision to install such. 

My concern is the long term effects on foot physiology from riding in such a position. Riding my bike with locking pedals I've noticed that my ankles can be quite sensitive to the toe-in/toe-out position of my foot, but I don't know much about the "camber" setting. I wonder what it would do on my ankles to ride in such a steep camber position regularly, exacerbated by the narrowness of the stance.

Riders of the i5: What are your experiences with ankle strain? Do your ankles feel tired or irritated after a long ride? Do you get soreness or swelling on one side and have you experienced issues with your gait or ankle position after riding the i5? 

I'd love to have a light and nimble EUC, but if it means in five years I have chronic ankle problems, I'd rather choose a wheel with a wider stance and easier foot angles.

DISCLAIMER: For those who just skimmed my post and might think I'm trying to smear this wheel, let me make it clear that I have zero experience on the i5 and it has never hurt me. I am not claiming it is an unhealthy wheel. I'm just asking for opinions and experiences.

Thanks for hearing me out!

AR

I've ridden the i5 briefly and the pedal angle didn't even enter into my mind. Some wheels have flatter pedals than others, but no wheel has an obnoxious dihedral angle.

If the higher angle is going to bother anyone, it's going to be after riding for a loooong time (hour+ rides). The i5 is not a distance wheel and you said yourself "I'm not necessarily looking to do very long rides at this point". The i5 is a very unique wheel and I would own one if I needed ultra portability. The i5 is a high quality last-mile type wheel, not a "let's go visit grandmother" type wheel 

I think you're overthinking the ankle strain worry. You'll be fine.

 

[meepmeepmayer]

Whenever I tried the i5, ankles were a non-issue. It's so thin, you toch the upper shell with your leg anyways, not sure if the ankles even touch it.

--

Not sure if the i5 is right for you. It is slow (20km/h) and that might be too slow if you just reached the speed limit of your Airwheel - might repeat soon.

I'd get a V5F or V8 if I wanted a not-too-slow, easily carryable/light wheel.

The MCM5 might even be better - very fast in comparison, cut-off button for carrying, not too big, not too small. I'd go for an MCM5, but it probably costs a bit more.

[Gubbe]

Hey thanks a lot fellas!

Sounds a lot like the dihedral angle isn't an issue I should be worried about. Of course if there are differing opinions, I'm all ears, but until such time I'll ignore that concern.

Thanks meepmeepmayer for the alternative suggestions. I should do some gps-measurements to get an idea for how fast I'm actually going on the X3 when it starts beeping so I can understand where my annoyance level is for low speed. A couple times I've pushed it past the beeping to fairly aggressive levels of tiltback and it's felt almost tolerably zippy. Then again, once my confidence grows, I'm sure I can also feel differently about speeds. Based on what I've read, the X3 starts to beep at around 12 km/h, which is quite low compared to the i5's 20, but if the 20 km/h is also an absolute maximum and the i5 starts getting whiny around 16, then admittedly it's not that big a difference and might leave me wanting more.

The V5F is definitely on the top of my list of alternatives, but I hadn't considered the MCM5. Ninebot One S2 is sold locally and as such might be available on the second hand market for half the price of a new Inmotion or Gotway, which could make a good compromise. This being an IPS-specific forum, it's perhaps not a good idea to turn this into a "which wheel should I buy" thread. I might post another one in the proper forum after getting some more ride time under my belt on the X3.

Thanks a bunch for the helpful responses and feel free to add if there are any more thoughts on the i5's apparent suitability for my described needs.

AR

[IPS Malta]

I rode more than 20km on it and with a slim tire on high pressure is more concerning for comfortable ride, but it performs very well. The earlier versions of the i5 were probably more sloped to my knowledge but IPS tuned their design accordingly. The 20km is a limit imposed by the firmware for safety. IPS went for higher speeds on the s5 that has more redundancy. the warning beep goes on before the 20 of course. One time in SZ, I encountered a guy on an inmotion. He was cruising on the street but managed to keep up with a lot of beeping from the curb. if he wanted to run i wouldn't keep up but the limit is fine for normal commuting. I don't like going beyond the beeps, I feel it is an unnecessary risk to gain a few seconds on the journey