New i5 Newbie

[Richard Lin]

I just bought my first EUC from eWheels after having done extensive research on what model would work best for me.  After watching countless videos, and being an avid motorcyclist and workout enthusiast, I didn't think learning to ride an EUC would be so difficult lol.  I now understand why people say padding is important for a brand new wheel.  It's not from colliding into things but every time I fall off, the motor accelerates and the wheel goes flopping around on the ground smashing up the beautiful finish.  I think learning to ride an EUC is similar to learning to fly a radio controlled helicopter which was one of my hobbies when I was younger.  Meaning the need to master hovering in one place is much more crucial than forward flight because eventually you have  to land again and return to a hover.  The desire to move forward to increase stability is hard to resist.  I was pretty surprised how little I knew about how an EUC actually operates.  I was envisioning a self balancing wheel that all you had to do was stand on it then lean forward and backwards.  I wondered for the longest time how the wheel could do that, well I realize that I really didn't understand at all how the EUC works.  I was thinking Segway all this time that stood motionless while standing still.  

My i5 didn't come with an instruction manual, so I had to find how to inflate the tire via Google as well as to recommended tire pressures.  My initial inflations were too high making the wheel less stable.  I'm 5'11 and 190 lbs which is near the higher limit that's recommended for this wheel.  I'm looking forward to getting comfortable riding this thing.  

 

[The Fat Unicyclist]

It is an unexpected challenge...

But when it "clicks" - you will love it!

[Hsiang]

On 10/9/2018 at 8:55 PM, Richard Lin said:

I just bought my first EUC from eWheels after having done extensive research on what model would work best for me.  After watching countless videos, and being an avid motorcyclist and workout enthusiast, I didn't think learning to ride an EUC would be so difficult lol.  I now understand why people say padding is important for a brand new wheel.  It's not from colliding into things but every time I fall off, the motor accelerates and the wheel goes flopping around on the ground smashing up the beautiful finish.  I think learning to ride an EUC is similar to learning to fly a radio controlled helicopter which was one of my hobbies when I was younger.  Meaning the need to master hovering in one place is much more crucial than forward flight because eventually you have  to land again and return to a hover.  The desire to move forward to increase stability is hard to resist.  I was pretty surprised how little I knew about how an EUC actually operates.  I was envisioning a self balancing wheel that all you had to do was stand on it then lean forward and backwards.  I wondered for the longest time how the wheel could do that, well I realize that I really didn't understand at all how the EUC works.  I was thinking Segway all this time that stood motionless while standing still.  

My i5 didn't come with an instruction manual, so I had to find how to inflate the tire via Google as well as to recommended tire pressures.  My initial inflations were too high making the wheel less stable.  I'm 5'11 and 190 lbs which is near the higher limit that's recommended for this wheel.  I'm looking forward to getting comfortable riding this thing.  

 

You'll love the i5, it is the best gateway drug to EUC addiction! By the way one of the tips I got that I found really helpful was learning how to rapidly twist the scooter as you go. I find this helpful in slow speed and also when I am on the edge of my balance, and given thin tire profile and overall lightness of the i5 it is pretty easy to do.

To protect the i5 I bought some truck bed liner tape and basically taped up all the edges, they do a decent job protecting the finish but I imagine that any wide tape of sufficient thickness, even duct tape would probably do the same thing.

[jitesar]

I like how I5 rides, this is our padding with kid's protective foam:

but we dedicated this wheel just for home playing with this.

There is NOT ANY sealing for motor internals. It is not acceptable for outside usage!

As you can see because stator is connected to one part of the shell:

and rotor with magnets has to be moveable (connected with wheel):

there must be a gap by design:

allowing to all mud, water, sand, dust,... direct path to coils, magnets,...

I'm sharing these pictures I discovered later after my i5 purchase (thank you ecodrift.ru you disassembled it! and I can confirm it is really true). Really all other reviewers are blind??

My arrived also smelling after some epoxy. So even coated with some epoxy lacquer which is still adhesive!! So any sand, dust,... can glue to it. Really, CRAZY.

It is really insane, that this approach how to make EUC slimmest in the world produces this really BAD idea.

As I said at the beginning, I really like how it rides. But IPS vendor, you killed it for normal usage :-( So unfortunately I can't recommend it.

And with S5 (I don't have it at home so can't compare) but I think stators are connected (because motor redundancy) to both parts of the shell.

So this gap would be on both sides of the wheel.