Tethering your wheel to your leg

[Guga]

I saw in one video the guy was riding with the wheel tethered to his leg via Velcro’s strap and a springy cable, which I believe would prevent the wheel from riding away on it’s own in case of “unplanned dismount”. Anybody knows what it is? Any opinions about it?

I’m also thinking that it would be nice to have a safety feature, like they put on the threadmil - a cable with a magnet on the end, that if gets pulled out of it’s place, stops the threadmil. I Think it could and should be done with a strong magnet and probably roll in cable like dog leash. With a yard long tether that would allow for leg movement on and off the wheel, but when it goes too far it would pull out the magnet - hard stop, but without pulling on your leg too much... Thoughts?

[Chriull]

7 minutes ago, Eugene Sazhin said:

stop, but without pulling on your leg too much

That's imho the important point - one does not want the wheel "tangling" around one in case of an accident! A small impulse on the wheel should be sufficient to prevent it from driving on ...

[Bob Eisenman]

9 minutes ago, Eugene Sazhin said:

With a yard long tether that would allow for leg movement on and off the wheel, but when it goes too far it would pull out the magnet - hard stop, but without pulling on your leg too much... Thoughts?

Your EUC weighs a goodly number of kilograms. If you survive a walk off do you really want that kind of force tugging on your leg, from a short leash attached to an EUC a short distance away?

[Mono]

As much as I like the leash idea and have used a leash for a long time, running off is a valuable safety option and I don't like my legs to be constrained by a wheel pulling on them  I also would never install an emergency switch which would be effective while I am on the wheel. That means, the mechanism either must never activate while the wheel is spinning (which defeats the hole purpose) or it can detect whether I am on the wheel.

[Bob Eisenman]

Sorry to read that you recently crashed. Get well.......

[Bob Eisenman]

@Eugene Sazhin

"Took my v10f for a ride around neighborhood. All was good , made a trip around, even went to shopping plaza couple of miles away and back. But....."

I know little about the V10F automatic shutdown. There are various posts on the virtues of Gotway fast shutdowns since the early models. When I purchased my Gotway Monster, currently unusable due to a 'discombobulated' motor axle, I made a shutdown video comparison of my Ninebot One E+ vs the Monster's. The 84 volt motor Monster can be somewhat scary to watch or come into contact with following a tumble. Monster went 8k kilometers without the recent problems, dismounting awkwardly no more than about 6 to 10 times in 8,000 km.

The shutdown comparison

 

Monster's shutdown in slow motion

 

[Guga]

40 minutes ago, Mono said:

As much as I like the leash idea and have used a leash for a long time, running off is a valuable safety option and I don't like my legs to be constrained by a wheel pulling on them  I also would never install an emergency switch which would be effective while I am on the wheel. That means, the mechanism either must never activate while the wheel is spinning (which defeats the hole purpose) or it can detect whether I am on the wheel.

Imagine a tether like on the picture USB cable about a yard long:

 

One end is on velcro strap on your leg - the other is having a magnet like this:

when you're riding literally no cable is around, but if you dismount improperly you can walk it off , but the wheel gets shut off. I think i'd like this better then hard tether of a leash, without such fast disconnect option.

[Guga]

But then this needs to be "overridable" i guess, for the purpose of wheeling it around, like detect if the handle is extended, then this break would be disabled... 

[Guga]

38 minutes ago, Bob Eisenman said:

Sorry to read that you recently crashed. Get well.......

Thank you! luckily it had no consequences for me - ATGATT (All The Gear All The Time)

[Guga]

 

1 hour ago, Chriull said:

That's imho the important point - one does not want the wheel "tangling" around one in case of an accident! A small impulse on the wheel should be sufficient to prevent it from driving on ...

I'm starting to think that even DUI magnet based tether would be a good idea... put a somewhat strong magnet on the wheel cover or the handle and connect with another magnet tethered you your leg. Even if you dismount in a wrong way, like @Chriull said, this small pull might be enough to force the wheel to fall vs running away. 
Cabinet door catch like below might do the trick - it is pretty strong to apply enough pull, and not to fall off for no reason: 

and this kind of stuff to connect:

https://www.amazon.com/T-REIGN-Retractable-Retraction-Polycarbonate-Attachment/dp/B007IJZPE2/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1542585806&sr=8-1-fkmr0&keywords=rolling+badge+tether

[FreeRide]

I like the idea of a strong magnetic release or something that will hopefully destabilize the wheel, but not be a safety issue for the rider.  I would not trust a DIY electronic shut off.  I could see the possibility of one designed into the shell being safe, but not with the current engineering and build standards.

[Bob Eisenman]

You must have visions of after dismount scenarios that play out like this:

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=10215872114427457&id=1583706302

Or @2:57, @3:48

 

[who_the]

If you're intent on a tether, consider a surf leash. A coiled leash is strong enough to retain your wheel but flexible enough to allow it to travel away from you somewhat in an "unplanned dismount." I bought this leash in 2016 but only used it a few times. Has never proved necessary in more than 10,000 miles of EUC riding. https://amzn.to/2DvwQnK 

[Mono]

8 hours ago, Eugene Sazhin said:

Imagine a tether like on the picture USB cable about a yard long:

 

One end is on velcro strap on your leg - the other is having a magnet like this:

when you're riding literally no cable is around, but if you dismount improperly you can walk it off , but the wheel gets shut off. I think i'd like this better then hard tether of a leash, without such fast disconnect option.

Never ever I would install a switch on my wheel that can turn the wheel off while I am riding. This is bound to be activated accidentally and that I do not want to have, not even once.

[meepmeepmayer]

The leash idea is insane. It has zero benefits. Nobody has ever been hit by a riderless wheel. And it is basically asking to make a nasty fall of any harmless runoff and a catastrophic injury of every more serious fall.

[dieterGRAMS]

Imagine your leash getting snagged on car while passing...

[Guga]

Interesting, thanks for the insights, gents. I believe @who_the is exactly right - that was the thing i saw the guy used on a video. I agree that hard tether even like surfing cable is too dangerous, - i wouldn't want 45 lbs to pull on my leg at 15-20MHP with full force. So i thought that making it "breakable" could mitigate some of the concerns. But if statistically cases where the wheel runs away are very low, then may be it doesn't make sense at all.

[LanghamP]

This is silly, you don't need a leash because you can unbalance your wheel by stepping off with one foot later than the other. If you get spooked and leap off evenly the wheel obviously runs away, so don't do that.

Wheel is a pretty minor weight placed low. Not adult will ever be hurt by a runaway wheel.

[FlyboyEUC]

While I was learning a bought a dog leash bungee cable thing that I attached caribeeners to the wheel and my belt loop. Lucky I've never tested it but before that purchase I had 3 runaway wheels on me that hit curbs and poles pretty hard. Leash was 3 ft compressed and 5 ft when stretched out. I don't wear it much anymore but it was worth the $7 investment. 

 

[ir_fuel]

On 11/19/2018 at 5:18 PM, LanghamP said:

Wheel is a pretty minor weight placed low. Not adult will ever be hurt by a runaway wheel.

Don't know about that.

A 25kg mass travelling at even a lousy 20km/h, hitting a child, a car's door, a cyclist.

You tell me that there would be zero consequence?

[LanghamP]

1 hour ago, ir_fuel said:

Don't know about that.

A 25kg mass travelling at even a lousy 20km/h, hitting a child, a car's door, a cyclist.

You tell me that there would be zero consequence?

We need to line up several EUC volunteers, and see if we can knock them down by rolling a wheel towards them.

While I did do exactly this at a playground at several kids and one adult, it was at a low speed; nevertheless the wheel seemed pretty harmless. There just doesn't seem to be much energy in a 30 pound wheel. Floopy, like a big wet hamburger.

Try hitting your wife or girlfriend or whatever with a rolled wheel, and then tell me if you or they felt much energy at all in it.

[ir_fuel]

All depends on the speed.

FYI I no longer use a tether either.

[LanghamP]

24 minutes ago, ir_fuel said:

All depends on the speed.

FYI I no longer use a tether either.

A tether would be appropriate when going downhill where there's a  body of water at the bottom, or riding on a narrow trail with water on one or both sides, and indeed I either tether the wheel or (more often) simply walk the wheel in those situations. A dunked wheel is a dead wheel.

[FreeRide]

7 hours ago, LanghamP said:

A tether would be appropriate when going downhill where there's a  body of water at the bottom, or riding on a narrow trail with water on one or both sides, and indeed I either tether the wheel or (more often) simply walk the wheel in those situations. A dunked wheel is a dead wheel.

That's true, there are some situations where a tether of some sort may be advisable. I still vote for a quick release that destabilizes the wheel.  you don't want too go off the cliff with your wheel if it comes to that.

[Hunka Hunka Burning Love]

It might help when accidentally falling near expensive sports cars parked at the side of the road?  Or maybe not.  Hard to say.