Dai Morgan Posted December 31, 2018 Share Posted December 31, 2018 Hi, Got a Ninebot for Christmas and have almost mastered riding around my back yard! Did 3 loops without falling off 😊😊 Is it normal for your ankles to hurt whilst you are learning? Thanks, Dai Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marty Backe Posted December 31, 2018 Share Posted December 31, 2018 Yes, we've all been through that. It can take a couple of months for your feel/ankles/legs to fully adjust to the EUC riding experience. Many of us added additional padding to our legs and/or wheels to help during the transition. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stephen Posted December 31, 2018 Share Posted December 31, 2018 Oooh i forgot about how much my ankles hurt while learning +bruises 😊 and now it's just natural 😊... Yeah it's normal it will go Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dai Morgan Posted December 31, 2018 Author Share Posted December 31, 2018 Great, thanks. I've just taken mine out to a larger area. I have it set to 10km and a sensitivity of 8. I tried lower speed but kept getting thrown off backwards. Any suggestions for a new rider? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stephen Posted December 31, 2018 Share Posted December 31, 2018 1 hour ago, Dai Morgan said: Great, thanks. I've just taken mine out to a larger area. I have it set to 10km and a sensitivity of 8. I tried lower speed but kept getting thrown off backwards. Any suggestions for a new rider? Well it sounds like you've got the feel of the tilt back just set it higher you don't have to go the speed your set at just take it steady and get used to the wheel ,it will kick in and feel natural no rush for anything Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dai Morgan Posted December 31, 2018 Author Share Posted December 31, 2018 Thanks for the advice. Having a right blast learning how to fall off 😂😂😂 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Fat Unicyclist Posted January 2, 2019 Share Posted January 2, 2019 On ‎1‎/‎1‎/‎2019 at 8:35 AM, Dai Morgan said: Having a right blast learning how to fall off 😂😂😂 That must be a challenge... Luckily I turned out to be a natural at this and picked it up instantly!   Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MonoGerman Posted January 2, 2019 Share Posted January 2, 2019 Awesome, welcome to the Ninebot clan :-) It's going to be awesome, the feel, the freedom, the excitement is none other! About your ankle, your muscle has to get used to the new-strange activity; it's all good. My method for new movement such as flying with the z10 is simple but highly effective. Don't train - ride full out 100%  till your body hurts, no matter which sport you are training-doing. If you do, you need to rest your body, and those days are lost >>, so it is much smarter and better to train 60-80% without pain BUT more often. Example 2x30 minute 100% riding week = 60 minutes/week 3x30 minute 80% riding week = 90 minutes/week 4x30 minute 60-70% riding week = 120 minutes/week So, let me ask you, do you want to ride faster and better, then the total time you spend on the activity will give you the results. And not balls out, nurse yourself back up and repeat, cheers... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dai Morgan Posted January 2, 2019 Author Share Posted January 2, 2019 Thanks for the tips.  Haven't been on it a huge amount to be honest. Probably about 3 hours total. Still very wobbly and have to bail quite often before I fall. Currently using it on the seafront and in a car park and averaging about 400 mts before I need to stop. Mainly due to feeling like I'm going to fall off the back. My biggest issue is getting a consistent speed without tilting backwards and forwards, but I'm definitely getting better. Doing alright for a 50 year old I think. 😉 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darkflame808 Posted January 13, 2019 Share Posted January 13, 2019 Hi Dai, I wrote this a few days back for a group I am on in FB. Maybe you might find it helpful. This is just my take, everyone else has their own experiences and views. Learning to ride an EUC. My take on things. Get used to the feel. Adjust the times based on your personal comfort level. Practice in any order you like. This worked for me. Best advice I can give is ride every day. 20 minutes 7 days a week is better than 1 hour twice a week. Always start each new day of learning by taking it back 4-5 steps and revisiting what you just learned. Just because you think you've mastered it one day doesn't mean you don't need to refresh yourself the next. Always reinforce when you just learned. Always wear protective gear (wrist guards, helmet, elbow pads, knee pads, azzpads <----I learned a painful lesson without these) The first few steps I detail as much as I can since you might be new to all of this, afterwards it's your own creativity that will carry you forward. These are my ideas based on my limitations. I had zero experience in this before my Z10. You might have experience from some other sport or wheel(s) thus this might seem like baby food to you so adapt as needed. 1 - Baby steps (all safety gear however do NOT wear wrist guards for this step. They can get caught in the fence when you have a panic moment and cause more damage to your wrists than the benefit you could expect to gain from them as you will only be going 1-2mph and the fence is your fallback) 1a. (10 min) Start with a fence, hold on to the fence and just jump on the wheel. Rock forwards and backwards gently. Get a feel for how one wheel feels beneath your feet. 1b. (10 min) Now get a feel for the motor. Without moving your hands from the fence, rock and roll the wheel forwards and backwards. As the wheel gets away from beneath you your body angle will change the response of the wheel so that you can feel it braking and reversing power to compensate for the angle of the pedals you are putting on it. 1c. (30-60 min) Holding on to fence, lean slightly forward so that the wheel begins to accelerate. Use your hands on the fence to allow you to slowly maneuver the wheel forward. When you get to the end of the fence line, use your weight to rock forward and backward so you can spin the wheel around and continue back and forth along the fence line. 1d. (30-60 min) Do the same as you did before but this time as you progress forward, let go of the fence for longer periods of time to get an idea of how it feels to actually ride and balance on your own. (Use a fence for these steps because you can grab on to it if you feel you are going to fall). 1e. (10 min) Do the same as you did before but this time rather than seeing how far you can go befoe you have to depend on the fence again, accelerate and let go of the fence and practice leaning slightly back to allow you to feel the braking action. Grab on the fence as necessary but try to achieve the goal of being able to accelerate and come to a complete stop before reaching for the fence line. 1f. (15 min) do the same as above but aim to ride as slow as possible without having to depend on the fence in panic. Slow if fast here. 1g. (10 min) Stand on the ground next to fence with EUC between legs, leaving dominant foot on pedal, grab fence and practice mounting and dismounting. With dominant foot on EUC, bring non-dominant foot onto EUC and stand motionless for 2-3 seconds then take non-dominant foot and plant it back on ground. Get used to the feeling foot leaving stable ground surface and planting on to non-stable wheel. 2 - Toddler workout (here comes the pain) All safety gear here. At this point times don't matter because you will naturally progress when you feel you are ready to. 2a. Find an open space with ideal riding conditions (tennis courts are best IMHO) Place dominant foot on wheel, while planting your non-dominant foot on the ground, pretend your non-dominant foot is on a coin. Press the toes on the foot that is on the EUC down towards the pedals. The EUC will feel like it's starting to move forward... Spin your outer leg that is on the euc while pivoting on the coin. 2b. Same as above but press on the heel of the foot that is on the EUC. The EUC will go backwards, rock the euc while keeping your foot planted on that coin. Get a feel of what it feels like to maneuver the wheel beneath your feet. The goal is to find the comfort spot on the pedal where you feel like the EUC is moving in relation to how you are rocking your feet. If you have to literally PRESS on the wheel, you are not in the optimal position. If you have to PRESS on the wheel, plan your feet further away from that direction on the pedals. You should have your ankle bone somewhere in the vicinity of where the axel in the tire would be as that is your center of gravity. If you feel like the wheel is becoming an extension of your leg and is responding exactly how your mind would expect your leg to react if you dragged it along the pivot point. You are in the right direction. Take visual note of where your foot is on the pedal. This will the bullseye for future steps. 2c. Standing up right. Place dominant foot on wheel. dominant foot and wheel so that the wheel is pressing into your calf. Here comes the pain. While wheel is pressing on calf, practice mounting the wheel my quickly placing the remaining foot on the ground onto the pedal. Immediately after hop off and plant your non-dominant foot on the ground. The entire time you’re doing this you will keep your dominant foot on the wheel. Only one foot should be practicing this hopping motion. The goal is to hop on, hop off, hop on, hop off...it will feel more like an exercise routine rather than a learning thing. When you hit this point, challenge yourself by hopping on and balancing as long as you can without moving before hopping off. You are not really aiming to LEARN anything. You are just conditioning your calf and ankles because this is where the pain will come. The next few days you will have bruising on your legs...This is normal and to be expected. Do not try to avoid this part because conditioning your legs will be the foundation of everything you learn after and you are trying to make this feel like a routine so that it becomes a form of muscle memory. 2d. Now that your calf and ankles are conditioned, we will condition the core. Start with EUC ready for mounting. Using the muscle memory you learned for getting on and off. Press forward on the EUC using dominant foot and hop with the non-dominant foot. You don't have to mount the EUC, just navigate with one legged hops while the euc directs you where to go. This will work out your non-dominant leg since it's doing most of the leg work and it will work out your dominant leg since the micro controls are being done by that leg. 2e. As you progress, next step is to plant your non-dominant foot onto the pedal and have both feet off the ground. Keep your body upright. Slow is fast so try to keep the euc as slow as possible while you are doing this. When both feet are on the euc, plant one foot back on the ground. The goal here is to get used to mounting and dismounting the euc. Every mount should be started by pushing forward on the wheel gently to get a walking start. Your other foot should gracefully climb to the pedal. SLOW IS FAST! 2f. Now that you are getting on and off comfortably. Take it up a notch by going a short distance. Go as slow as you can comfortably go. Increase your distance between mounts and dismounts as you get comfortable. 2g. (OPTIONAL) Now you will learn to abandon ship. (your wheel will take scuffs and get damaged but it's going to happen anyway and you're better off testing the quality of your wheel early in its life than after the warranty or at top speed ) Mount the wheel and accelerate to 1-2 MPH and jump off the wheel. (be prepared to run!). The wheel will tumble or it'll keep going hence be prepared to run. As you gain an understanding increase your speed to 3-5, 6-8, 8-10 mph. Don't make it a habit to practice abandoning ship at 12mph, while good to be prepared, your knees will hate you. The goal is to get comfortable abandoning ship and should you fall a few times (or plenty) to get comfortable in understanding that you might fall. The more times you fall, the less likely you'll be tense and afraid when you hit the ground. Tensing up before impact does more damage to your body often than the impact does itself (this is why DUI drivers usually survive the accidents and the victims don't). This is a great opportunity to also test your safety gear and see if you have confidence in the quality of the gear. 2h. At this point you should know how to mount, accelerate and fall (because you probably will at least once practicing the above). Now we learn the braking. Accelerate and decelerate. Over and over, as you get comfortable get more aggressive in the accelerate and decelerating. 3. Big ambitions - Meet reality checks. 3a. Now that you're bruised and beat up and capable of going fast you probably think you're pro at this point. Well time to handicap you and force you to limit your ambitions. Find a court with lines and confine yourself to those lines...The goal is to ride the line like a tightrope. Now find circles and practice riding the circles so you can get a feel for turning. The larger the circle the easier so start big and aim to go small. 3b. You pretty much got the basics from here! Now you're ready for the real world. Find a sidewalk and force yourself to stay within the confines of the side walk, away from traffic as you might veer in to the road while you are learning. Avoid driveways, crosswalks and other areas that change the angles of the pavement. 3c. Introduce traffic - find a low traffic low speed limit course and ride the sidewalk with cars traveling in the same direction as you. Cars visually flying past you can be disorienting so be prepared to be influenced by their presence. Focus on the road ahead, not the road beneath your feet. So, where you want to be, not where you are. 3d. Start back on the safe roads again. No traffic. This time add driveways and crosswalks. Get a feel of how the angle of the pavement changes the dynamics of the wheel. The wheel should always be perpendicular to the HORIZON, not the road. So, in other words, your wheel should always be straight up and down regardless of the road beneath. If the pavement is on a 15-degree incline, your wheel should be prepared to make a 15-degree adjustment in the opposite direction. This is why you always look forward towards the horizon. As you scan the road ahead, identify inclines and changes to the plane so you know when to adjust. If you keep your body and legs perpendicular to the horizon your body will compensate for the changes in the terrain on the wheel. Just keep in mind that until your equilibrium has adapted to the wheel, be prepared to abandon ship if you are approaching changes to the road angles at high speeds. 3e. Same as above, with traffic. 3f. Same as above, with traffic, driveways and crosswalks. 3f. Start over, easy roads, opposite traffic 3g. Same as above, opposite traffic, driveways and crosswalks. 4. Obstacles. Get creative, ride over speed bumps, water channels, bumpy roads, pot holes etc. Always slow down as much as possible/practicable and accelerate over the obstacle. 5. Inclines and declines. Learn to mount and stop going up and down hills. Take caution stopping when going down a hill. The weight of the wheel can get away from you and send your wheel tumbling down hill and you’ll just have to watch in sadness and hope it doesn’t take out a car or get taken out by one. If you are going to opt for a tether, consider an elastic tether to avoid the sudden shock of 60lbs tearing at your leg. 6. Off roads and trails. 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Dai Morgan Posted February 3, 2019 Author Share Posted February 3, 2019 Thanks, much appreciated Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dai Morgan Posted February 3, 2019 Author Share Posted February 3, 2019 Just discovered my biggest issue was the speed limiter. Turned it off and happy days. Made controlling the speed much easier. Still need to practice turning and inclines, but it has suddenly become much more fun! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smoother Posted February 3, 2019 Share Posted February 3, 2019 On 1/2/2019 at 5:53 PM, Dai Morgan said: averaging about 400 mts before I need to stop. Mainly due to feeling like I'm going to fall off the back Just curious. Are your pedals level or near level when switched on and no rider? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dai Morgan Posted February 3, 2019 Author Share Posted February 3, 2019 1 hour ago, Smoother said: Just curious. Are your pedals level or near level when switched on and no rider? They are level. I think the issue was me to be honest Much better with the speed limiter switched off. Did around 5k this evening with no issues or spills. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smoother Posted February 3, 2019 Share Posted February 3, 2019 "thumbs up"Â imogee goes here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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