whats the oldest age one can ride an euc ???

[VikB]

 

[Ubute]

On 4/3/2021 at 8:36 PM, ShanesPlanet said:

Mine was and even tho Im a tech, it nearly made me cry to know I had been taken advantage of in such a fashion. I am fully capable of rebuilding a stupid euc, but I am also fully capable of knowing when I don't intend to pay full price for a kit project.  I'll tell you this much, I'm waiting for a different wheel altogether, as KS scared me away. Ironic that their 18L is still my favorite wheel. Probably why i felt such betrayal. I've been eyeing the v11 instead, but meh... I've rolled the dice enough for a little while.

Well, @ShanesPlanet, I took a chance and bought a KS S18 anyway because I thought it was the right wheel for my situation, out in the country. I have to admit, after the V8F I was a bit disappointed in the S18's build quality. The InMotion is a slick little machine, perfect in every way, while the KingSong seems a bit rougher, cobbled together. The effing rubber mudguard was hanging off right out of the box because the middle lug had torn.

But step back and just look at this thing! What an amazing design, like something out of Star Wars, a friend said. And once I'd pumped it all up and sort of made sense of the suspension, what a fantastic ride.

I love the V8F, which is a very capable and nippy wheel on city bike tracks and smoother surfaces, but I have no stamina when riding it on the rough, stony tracks around here. My old legs are jelly after 3 or 4 km. But on the S18 I return from 10 or 15km on the same tracks tired but in good shape. It just glides over the rough ground and with a bit of momentum the wheel stays on track even when knocked around by bigger stones. Now I have the feeling I can ride anywhere.

Ok, the S18 is not as well made as the V8F but I'm so excited by it I'll forgive even the effing mudguard. Just glue it back on, I thought. But not so easy, the rubber is carefully formulated to frustrate any attempt at a bond at all! The greasy, oily feel is a dead give-away. After failing with all my tapes and glues I bit the bullet and pulled off the rear panel to access the original fixing points. I thought the panel might be fixed with double sided tape but it has a small plastic clip in each corner which pops open if you lever it up. Just the sort of thing you don't want to break, but mine were fine.

There's a complete S18 breakdown on this forum and he shows a method of re-attaching the effing mudguard by glueing washers to the rubber lugs. I used washers with no glue but there isn't room to put washers on the middle lug. Back to my glue tests and I'd had most success with Loctite GO2 sticking a false nail (don't ask) to the mudguard. It came off again, but needed much more force than anything else. So I used the Loctite to glue the entire edge of the effing mudguard to the bottom of the rear frame. It's survived a couple of decent rides so far.

Apart from that the wheel seems fine. I don't know technically which "batch" my wheel comes from but I guess things have moved on at KingSong since the early S18s came out. The design is the same but I suppose they have fixed the assembly problems. Such a disappointment for early adopters who might be missing out on a great wheel.

 

[Unipilot69]

19 minutes ago, Ubute said:

Well, @ShanesPlanet, I took a chance and bought a KS S18 anyway because I thought it was the right wheel for my situation, out in the country. I have to admit, after the V8F I was a bit disappointed in the S18's build quality. The InMotion is a slick little machine, perfect in every way, while the KingSong seems a bit rougher, cobbled together. The effing rubber mudguard was hanging off right out of the box because the middle lug had torn.

But step back and just look at this thing! What an amazing design, like something out of Star Wars, a friend said. And once I'd pumped it all up and sort of made sense of the suspension, what a fantastic ride.

I love the V8F, which is a very capable and nippy wheel on city bike tracks and smoother surfaces, but I have no stamina when riding it on the rough, stony tracks around here. My old legs are jelly after 3 or 4 km. But on the S18 I return from 10 or 15km on the same tracks tired but in good shape. It just glides over the rough ground and with a bit of momentum the wheel stays on track even when knocked around by bigger stones. Now I have the feeling I can ride anywhere.

Ok, the S18 is not as well made as the V8F but I'm so excited by it I'll forgive even the effing mudguard. Just glue it back on, I thought. But not so easy, the rubber is carefully formulated to frustrate any attempt at a bond at all! The greasy, oily feel is a dead give-away. After failing with all my tapes and glues I bit the bullet and pulled off the rear panel to access the original fixing points. I thought the panel might be fixed with double sided tape but it has a small plastic clip in each corner which pops open if you lever it up. Just the sort of thing you don't want to break, but mine were fine.

There's a complete S18 breakdown on this forum and he shows a method of re-attaching the effing mudguard by glueing washers to the rubber lugs. I used washers with no glue but there isn't room to put washers on the middle lug. Back to my glue tests and I'd had most success with Loctite GO2 sticking a false nail (don't ask) to the mudguard. It came off again, but needed much more force than anything else. So I used the Loctite to glue the entire edge of the effing mudguard to the bottom of the rear frame. It's survived a couple of decent rides so far.

Apart from that the wheel seems fine. I don't know technically which "batch" my wheel comes from but I guess things have moved on at KingSong since the early S18s came out. The design is the same but I suppose they have fixed the assembly problems. Such a disappointment for early adopters who might be missing out on a great wheel.

 

You think that's bad build quality look at a Begode wheel. I bought mine for the performance aspect. The build quality is shit. I would not suggest buying unless you have the aptitude to open, inspect, and fix/waterproof their lack of quality control. If you want performance in an euc the quality control suffers. The Leaperkim( Veteran Sherman) is decent quality but they only have one model at this time. All euc's could use better quality control.

[Ubute]

Thumbs down for Loctite Go2. I swear this rubber mudguard doesn't stick to anything. Looks like drill and screw or drill and tie. At least the side attachments are still in place.

[Guest]

On 03/04/2021 at 23:35, VikB said:

 

Congratulations for this wheeler, a video to see and review, a beauty.

[Ubute]

Mudguard fixed with a cable tie. Not very attractive but it's covered by the EUC Bodyguard. I'd drilled the frame in an earlier attempt to fix the mudguard with screws but missed the rubber underneath completely! This time I used the same holes but drilled downwards and through the mudguard as well. In the underneath photo you can see the zip tie and also the brass washers holding the side rubber lugs.

 

[Scottie888]

On 5/3/2021 at 11:25 PM, Ubute said:

Ok, the S18 is not as well made as the V8F but I'm so excited by it I'll forgive even the effing mudguard. Just glue it back on,

Yes sadly GW's not the only culprit in the build quality dept as IMO the S18 is lacking as well. If it weren't for the suspension, there are far better wheels to spend money on.

As for mudguard, I didn't bother once it fell off. Goodnews is my bum didn't get any dirtier with or without & I have rode in last late winter's ice, snow, slush & other such mess. Instead of a mudguard, I really want a knobby. Again sadly (& this time unlike the other GW wheels) the only dirt tire that fits lies in the island of Jpn & shipping costs more than the bloody tire.

That said, I have the 1st batch & now with almost 1000kms, the suspension works fine despite not doing any thing to it except spraying silicon lube on the obvious moving parts.

[OldFartRides]

I’m happy with the s18. It’s a cushy ride. I did two sessions today at about 5 and 4 miles each. Rough unpaved access roads with some side trips on mtb trails. Bit of technical trail riding. Was a blast. Had ridden the same stuff on the 16s before, and the difference was astounding. Went down once when I wasn’t able to dodge a rock.

[Ubute]

10 hours ago, Scottie888 said:

I really want a knobby.

My friend in Hobart put a knobby on his. I think he found one that fitted, but he didn't like the ride so he trimmed down each knob with a knife until he was happy. I might do mine too but at the moment I'm happy with the stock tyre on the sort of trails I'm riding. I've only done 75km on the S18 so far so I'm in no rush.

 

7 hours ago, OldFartRides said:

I’m happy with the s18. It’s a cushy ride. I did two sessions today at about 5 and 4 miles each. Rough unpaved access roads with some side trips on mtb trails. Bit of technical trail riding. Was a blast. Had ridden the same stuff on the 16s before, and the difference was astounding.

I have the same experience after tackling trails on the V8F. You can ride them but it's such hard work. On the S18 you float over most of the rough stuff and only have to worry about the big stuff.

Speaking as an Old Fart From Down Under, maybe we should start an Old Farts' S18 Appreciation Society? Maybe a new marketing angle for KingSong..

[Circuitmage]

Not about age...it's about personal physical health and safety. You could be a 350# 20 year old without balance and kill yourself, or an 80 year old in great physical/mental health that can ride all day. 

If I was riding these things as a teenager, I would have been abusing them. Nowadays, I just enjoy the ride and benefit from my years of experience to stay out of trouble.

 

[Nestor]

I think that the major show stopper for older people to ride EUC is their vision. For obvious reasons the ability to spot and in time properly assess road imperfections is more critical for those riding EUCs then bicycles or scooters. Being 72 I need to really concentrate and often slow down in order to process road information in time to take necessary actions. I also avoid riding in darkness.

[.....]

46 minutes ago, Nestor said:

I think that the major show stopper for older people to ride EUC is their vision. For obvious reasons the ability to spot and in time properly assess road imperfections is more critical for those riding EUCs then bicycles or scooters. Being 72 I need to really concentrate and often slow down in order to process road information in time to take necessary actions. I also avoid riding in darkness.

I would suspect its due to increasing frailty, Its also common for balance to dwindle with age, along with extended recovery times.

[Ubute]

On 6/2/2021 at 1:29 AM, ShanesPlanet said:

I would suspect its due to increasing frailty, Its also common for balance to dwindle with age, along with extended recovery times.

Yes and no to this. As a 72 year old I'm intensely aware of increasing frailty. I wear all the gear, all the time. I don't even enjoy riding around the lawn at home without my gear on because any fall can have dire consequences. I've only fallen off the unicycle once so far, on a steep road with a wild camber. I wasn't experienced enough and took a tumble onto my hands, knees and elbows. All of those could have been broken if I wasn't wearing decent protection. The worst damage was to  my hip and shoulder which also hit the concrete and here was my big lesson: I'd stopped wearing my padded shorts.

I'd slipped and fallen on a steep slope of our property shortly before my EUC arrived. Nothing was broken but my back and hip were painfully locked up for weeks and delayed learning the unicycle. I bought a pair of bumsaver shorts and wore them right from the start, even when practicing on the railing at home. But once I was out and riding they were the one piece of gear which seemed a hassle. You can't just put them on quickly in public and the bum pad is uncomfortable to sit on in the car. So I stopped wearing them and promptly fell off the unicycle. That hurt. The bruising took a week to appear and lasted a month. I couldn't even think of getting back on the wheel without that part of me protected. My compromise was to remove the coccyx pad so driving is now comfortable but my hips are still protected.

Six months in, I mostly ride trails on the S18 and am becoming more confident. For me the fun is in exploring new terrain and learning to ride rougher, more technical tracks. I'm not going fast and speed doesn't interest me. The V8F is set to beep at 25km/hr and the S18 at 30. I don't think I've heard the S18, but you can't hear it anyway over the bird calls and the wind rustling the grass!

The key, obviously, is to find the level of protection that YOU feel comfortable in. I don't want to wear more gear and I particularly don't like full face helmets. I wear the POC Arctic Spin with a chinbar as a compromise. If I started jumping or doing tricks I'd get a full face and put the coccyx pad back in.

So, @ShanesPlanet I agree with the increasing frailty and the extended recovery times, but dwindling balance is another story. My experience is that balance is rapidly restored by learning to ride EUC. I used to rock hop at the beach like any other youngster but in recent years I've become increasingly unsteady. Two months into riding unicycles we went on a wilderness camp and I was almost running down rough tracks, hopping from rock to rock. The transformation was remarkable.

[.....]

55 minutes ago, Ubute said:

So, @ShanesPlanet I agree with the increasing frailty and the extended recovery times, but dwindling balance is another story. My experience is that balance is rapidly restored by learning to ride EUC. I used to rock hop at the beach like any other youngster but in recent years I've become increasingly unsteady. Two months into riding unicycles we went on a wilderness camp and I was almost running down rough tracks, hopping from rock to rock. The transformation was remarkable.

Tis good that you find it going that way for you. I'm figuring it won't be for me. My mother and grandparents ALL started losing balance at around 50's. I think the doc told them it had something to do with the age of their inner ear and something dying in there? Hell, I dunno, I aint no doc and docs also used to reccomend menthol cigarettes for a cough. Hopefully its as you say, and its not a physical limitation of age, rather a mental limitation that can be overcome with effort. Grats on the riding. Sounds to me like there aint much left to cover up that CAN get hit. Just be careful, bone density doesnt care what you wear. With MY lifestyle choices, I doubt I"ll see 70. If I do, I bet itll equate more like 90 for any normal human.

Edited June 4, 2021 by ShanesPlanet

[Roadpower]

Use it or lose it. The physical body is more resilient than is commonly understood. You just have to feed it well, give it some sunshine (seriously and depends on skin complexion), avoid toxins/drugs, use supplements to help with diet holes, and push it at least a little bit beyond the comfort zone. Oh and avoid repetitive motion injuries/damage.

[UniMe]

It is commonly understood that there are 4 cornerstones to healthy aging. 1) physical exercise, research is a bit mixed but personally I would lean towards interval training and some weights and not too much long distance cardio. 2) cognitive activity, and not doing a crossword, instead learning something new that is difficult and effortful and continuing to do this all the time as we age. Think learning a new language, how to code, taking all the courses to be a day trader etc. 3) nutrition, with the goal of a healthy body weight, vitamins, minerals etc. and to adequately fuel your brain and muscles for all the activity you will have them doing. 4) social engagement, being fully involved in your community, sitting on a board of directors, being in a band or choir etc., ensuring you have the stimulation of social interactions and the social support that evolves from it.

There are some new assessment tools being developed these days that simply measure how engaged we are in complex daily living activities and social interactions. They are similarly effective at identifying mild cognitive impairment and dementia as traditional psychology assessments. psychology assessments are strange in that they measure maximum performance, something that in day to day life we rarely reach. being strong in the middle is probably better for the long game.

Chronological age is a poor measure of function as we age. How well we are able to maintain the above combined with the biological age of our bodies is a much better indicator. 50 is young for some (like me I hope) and old for others.

Edited June 4, 2021 by UniMe