How long till it clicked for you?

[itsme_michael]

Well, I'm on day 2 of learning to ride my Ninebot.  Before it arrived, I watched every youtube video I could find on how to ride, and was quietly confident that I was going to jump on the thing and immediately ride off into the sunset.  But not so.  At this point, it's hard for me to conceive of riding it anywhere but my hallway, where I can brace myself every few feet - right now it's more like controlled falling.  And don't even ask about mounting/dismounting.  I realize that I'm not alone in having a rocky start, so I'm wondering how long it took people to get over the initial phase and get to a place where riding became easier and (dare I say it) even pleasurable?  Hours?  Days?  Weeks?  MONTHS?

[Villac]

3 days.

Was really tough before that, was really fun after that.

Skating, roller skating, inline skating, skiing, snowboarding, and skateboarding all helped.

I watched the videos too.

Just read this post tonight, it's the best expressed plan for learning I've seen:

http://forum.electricunicycle.org/topic/1467-first-week-learning/?do=findComment&comment=15363 

 

By the way, are the insides of your calves and ankles sore?

 

Good luck! Stick with it!

[Chrisxr2]

I would say probably three days to a week, after that you still make great progress with your balance etc but almost without realising it, but you need to get outside really.

[Tom]

I'd say it took me about 3-4 days (this really means 'riding sessions' around an hour long) - this was with no previous experience riding anything other than a bike. That was just to get the basics of riding down, you find yourself confident riding anywhere so quickly after the initial learning curve, it's crazy fun!

[edwin_rm]

Took me a week to learn (on an 18" euc), and after a total of 2 weeks had passed I considered myself a pretty decent rider. 

[Jag_Rip]

I trained on my Bot for a week, daily, until it hurt enough, so I'd say after 4 hours of continuous training you should be good to ride around. Add another 4 hours (again thats "standing on the bot" time) and you should be able to go out into the public. In realtime, I went on public roads after my second week and have done so ever since.

[OliverH]

Haha. I tried it one weekend on an Airwheel X3. Everyone in the family 10-15 min up to the empty battery.  So two battery charges a day. Than on the 2nd weekend i got breakthrough with free riding, circles, 8 driving, braking, accelerating and finally move on by self. Must have look crazy Teached byself. Than I ordered the IPS and learned how to ride/ get experience. I've still to learn backwards driving.

As Jag_Rip wrote. You can learn it in a couple of hours. Assisted by an experienced driver you can ride very fast. Had people teached it and they started to try free riding after 30-45 minutes. It depends on experience of the people and a feeling to balance. People riding a pedal unicycle, skateboard or are passionate dancers learn it very quick. I had one case with 5 minutes to start free riding.

[EDL]

Took me about 3 hours to just get on, go a few meters, and get off without looking like a fool.  In about a week of 1 hour per day riding I was cruising around the local side streets.  A few weeks after that I was riding on gravel, up and down small curbs, and around moving obstacles (people).  Just keep at it.  You'll get there.

[Madburn]

first afternoon with wheels indoors  about 30min (so just starting and breaking) - got outside - 100m on sidewalk and got rid of support wheels

after an hour  sweated like hell - for me hardest part was getting on EUC  - just when i step second leg on pad - I lost my balance - it seems I stepped hard. Very hard

next day I had pumped up tire and try again - lots better, few tryouts indoors (grabbing a lot of walls and furniture  and went outside - and got rid of strap  (and thats another reason why my wheel has so much scratches

it was after rain, I went to the park - it worked as a charm - only 3 times wheel got out of control (it turned out that I was forcing wheel to go faster  especially uphill) an it went flying and doing flips - it even managed to ride about 10 m on itself 

so I'v done about 3km and - Yeah - I mastered it    - sometimes one has to run before learning how to walk  

from now on i daily commute to work 2,5km and back  (instead 30 min walk - 11-13min of ride)

I have generic X3 wheel 132Wh (Chinese Wh obviously - I suspect battery is a) made from cells with lower than advertised capacity although they called it Samsung imported

b )  cells are recycled from laptops (they may be Samsung cells alright but usualy such cells are 1650mAh so 16pack would't do 2200mAh 

c) one or more cells can be out of spec and when pushed  drop voltage/capacity

I;m monitoring my tracks with GPS app - and I'm going to start warranty claim  

nonetheless I am pleased - because I bought it for about 350$ from local importer (so shipping included) and my boss bought Airwheel X3 for 550$ - and it looks almost the same

+generis is cheap

+it does what it's supposed to do 

+ people attention 

- battery most likely to be fraud ( but hey - it's cheap....

- 350W motor is to weak for me (96kg)

-no bluetooth app or LED lighting (I had put LED bicycle light and 3M reflective tape  because after 18 its dark

-advertised 20km range and 20kmh speed is for rabbits, babies and butterflies probably - my average speed is about 14kmh with max  18 in Google Track (although raw GPS data shows numbers up to 40kmh - not sure why - open areas, lots of satellites and constant beeping  

 

most likely I will purchase something powerfull soon 

 

 

 

[itsme_michael]

Thanks guys - I appreciate the encouragement.  I practiced again for a few minutes this morning (so day 3 I guess), and noticed an improvement from yesterday.  I can go maybe 5-6 feet at this point before veering off course and falling off.  My inner shins are REALLY sore, so I suspect that that, more than anything else, will be the limiting factor in practicing.  I'm considering just wrapping some of the spare padding from the ninebot around my legs.    Anyway, onward and upward.

[Jag_Rip]

the learningcurve is steep, but the rewards are sweet.. yeah, my shins also were the limiting factor, I rode for like 15 minutes each time until the hurt was too uncomfy. Left it for the rest of the day and took it up the next.

[Tom]

Thanks guys - I appreciate the encouragement.  I practiced again for a few minutes this morning (so day 3 I guess), and noticed an improvement from yesterday.  I can go maybe 5-6 feet at this point before veering off course and falling off.  My inner shins are REALLY sore, so I suspect that that, more than anything else, will be the limiting factor in practicing.  I'm considering just wrapping some of the spare padding from the ninebot around my legs.    Anyway, onward and upward.

Don't be scared to really push the speed, the 'click' usually happens for most people when they realise they simply weren't going fast enough for the balancing to kick in 

[hawkida]

Two or three weeks, 15 mins or so most days.

[Dasferm.be]

You will save a lot of learning time if you  try to ride without holding on to a wall or a "helping hand".  

[Cloud]

Took me 15 minutes to start riding, 30 minutes to ride at top speed, 1 day to be able to ride on rough terrain, 3 days to take long trips from manhattan to brooklyn on street in traffic, 2 weeks for my feet to stop bleeding, in 3 weeks i felt completely comfortable and could ride among crowds of peope on manhattan sidewalks, and in a month to 6 weeks to basically stop walking and feel like i can do anything on the wheel and and it is part of me.  

I guess i did it pretty fast. The secret is to constantly push yourself to go further. Go beyond what you think you can do ( within reason) and you will learn much faster. Dont worry about being able to get on the wheel without holding on - it will naturally come to you

[Colestien]

My son and I was riding OK within 3 days.  But it is a constant learning project.  It wasn't until the second week before we felt we had the self starting down.  My son is doing figure 8s,  while I'm still a little up tight on turns.  But I get out on it daily and always feel I'm getting better.

[Kevin]

I would definitely consider doing it in a wide open parking lot or similar. Balancing is done by turning, and at low speeds you need to turn more sharply to balance than at high speeds. So in a parking lot you have two advantages: (1) You can go faster without worrying about running into something, and (2) you can wobble all over the place when trying to balance, without crashing into a wall.

I would also not recommend using a wall very much other than for mounting, because it will actually unbalance you due to the difference in speed between you and the wall (imagine if you are standing still, and trying to balance by pushing against the side of a moving train).

[Hunka Hunka Burning Love]

I must be in the slow learning group as it took me over a month to learn how to ride my EUC.  I didn't ride it daily, but maybe once a week or two until I got the hang of it.  I set up some chairs indoors so I could glide from two chairs supporting my arms to the other set.  I went down to two chairs and then things clicked one day while I was outside.  This video really helped:

I wasn't doing the twisting motion to correct my fall when I first started so that explains my troubles, but after that clicked it made things a lot easier.  It's like when you ride a bike at very slow speeds almost stalling, you turn the front wheel in the direction of your fall to "catch yourself."  With the EUC, you do a little twist with the lower legs in the direction of your fall, and you'll find that maintains your balance.  If you don't you tend to veer off into that direction or tilt too much.  You have to also make sure you give it a forwards lean to get going, but after some initial twisting to gather your balance you get the hang of it.  I'm still no means an expert as I can only do gradual turns, but now I can roll around the neighbourhood streets fairly well.  I still use my arms to do some tightrope style balancing, but that's diminishing.

What also helps a lot is to tape some foam cushioning along the sides of the EUC.  That will save your shins.  In fact I still have mine on as it's just that much more comfy!  Don't get discouraged.  Once you get it going it's the best feeling of satisfaction that you've learned a new skill.  It can be a tough climb, but it is very rewarding.

[itsme_michael]

That video is super helpful, thanks for posting.  I went out for a while this afternoon and tried in the parking lot.  I AM improving, just slowly.  Despite very careful padding, my bot is all scratched up now, which I guess is just what happens to your first wheel.  I fell down HARD once, bruised my elbow a little bit and my ego a lot.  I do think I'll wear a helmet next time.  I'm getting to a point where I can ride about  40-50 feet unassisted.  Unfortunately our parking lot is only about that long, and I kept falling down trying to make the turn to cycle back to where I came from.  Getting on/off unassisted is still a non-starter, but I guess that will come with time.  So onward and upward I guess.

[MarkoMarjamaa]

If there are drawn lines for every car in your parking lot, you can imagine there is a pole in the end of every line and slalom those poles. You'll learn more about wheel and body control than by just riding back and forth. And don't go faster than running speed.

Remember, if it's too easy, it would not be fun.

[Douglas Ingram]

About 4 hours for me, I just held my hand against the roof of my car to keep upright, then just went for it, took a while but then it just clicked and I was away. 

 

The biggest thing I felt that helped was not looking downwards, but always where I want to go in the distance. After all a tight rope walker doesn't look at his feet. 

[Jag_Rip]

@Douglas Ingram is right, thats a good advice. Look a few meters ahead.

[itsme_michael]

Thanks for the advice and encouragement, it definitely helped me get over the hump.  I'd say somewhere between day 3-4, it "clicked" for me, and I started to be able to really ride.  Spent one day practicing left-hand turns, the next practicing right-hand turns, and figure 8's.  At this point I feel fairly proficient, and have taken the bot around the neighborhood a bit (quiet side streets only).  My major problem at this point is getting on and off the bot.  I've watched the speedy feet tutorial, which helped, but it's still slow going.  Gave myself bruised/bloody ankles today practicing that.  In a big wide open space where I can veer off wherever I need to to stay balanced, I have about a 65% success rate at getting on unassisted.  But out on the sidewalk, where there really isn't anywhere to go but forward, it's more like 25-30%.  Mostly when I get off the bot, it just drops to the side, and I just try to get out of the way.  There's no hope of an elegant dismount yet.  My neighborhood is full of retirees who love to talk, and seem to be very enthusiastic about my endeavor, which is great, but when I was out this afternoon it was really a problem, as every 3-5 minutes someone would flag me down, and I'd hop off the bot, which would go flopping to the ground, and then I wouldn't be able to get back on.  I guess it's good practice for hopping on and off, but it's rather embarrassing nonetheless.

[Hunka Hunka Burning Love]

Glad to hear that it clicked!  It's a really great feeling isn't it?  Probably more so for me after taking a month to learn it.    For take-offs from a standstill, I just put one foot on the pedal (say right foot), lean the EUC to the left slightly, then hop on and lean forwards immediately.  If I need to this is when I do some minor twisting motions in the direction of the fall until I can get going.  That seems to be diminishing over time, but a slight twist to correct a fall really helps.

I actually haven't removed all my silly looking padding that I've taped onto my EUC.  It's weird looking, but it works plus the soft carpet underlay foam kind of grips to my inner calf and gives me a lot of comfort while riding and turning.  I don't have any sore spots on my legs at all.  I took a 5 km cruise today around the neighbourhood to see how long my battery lasts.  It's pretty flat ashphalt with some minor grades so I was a little disappointed to see the battery lights drop that fast.  I hit a point where the EUC was beeping like crazy which I took as the critical low battery warning so I stopped.  After turning it off and back on, it got me home the last 100 m just fine.  I've got an el cheapo generic EUC for $300 from AliExpress, but now I'm eyeing a Ninebot One or a Gotway just for the extended range and speed.  Mine only does 14 KPH tops before the annoying beeping plus the slight tiltback occurs.  It hasn't faceplanted ever yet so I guess I should be grateful for that.

[Colestien]

• Your doing fine.  This is a "skill set ". It will take time to get the muscle memory.  Keep at it an you will see growth daily.