Best reaction to your EUC

[xorbe]

I get tired of hearing "do a wheelie".  I've started replying with "I can't, it's all wheel drive".

[leadfeathers]

Reading these posts is hilarious.

When I first started riding, I practiced in a school parking lot.  There were some 7-8 year olds nearby playing on a jungle gym watching me fall on my ass.  One of them: "Do you even know how to ride that?"  I'm grumbling to myself "no, goddamnit, that's why I'm practicing."

2 months later I'm slowly passing by an elderly gentleman on a walk and I hear him adorably proclaim "well I'll be!"

Edited November 26, 2019 by leadfeathers

[Tazarinho]

12 hours ago, xorbe said:

I get tired of hearing "do a wheelie".  I've started replying with "I can't, it's all wheel drive".

I once had a kid on a bike that started doing wheelies just in front of me while shouting 'look I can ride on one wheel too!'
Annoying teenager!

[milesteg27]

On 11/12/2019 at 11:11 AM, Tazarinho said:

Most people react with a smile, some with instant dislike.

Funniest comment: While passing a kindergarten class, one of the kids pointing with an astonished face 'Oooh my goooood, What the f*ck is THAT!'
I was very impressed by his mastery of English at such a young age.

Funniest silent comment: Middle aged jogger sees me coming, comes to full stop, and looks at me, mouth hanging open and turns to watch me drive past.

Funny, but on the opposite side of the spectrum: Grumpy old man yelling from his porch: ' 'k hoop dat ge uw bakkes breekt op uw onnozel ding' which roughly translates to 'I hope you break your ugly face on that ridiculous thing"

That are my experiances too. 99% of all reactions are postiv or very positiv. 1% of negativ reactions comes from very old men and never from old woman. some of the old woman reacting with fear. i must add ...  since im driving the MTen3 i got only positv reactions, even if i drive slowly on the sidewalk between peoples which is not allowed here. i thing the mten3 is more seen as a toy like a scateboard or something like that.

Edited November 27, 2019 by milesteg27
adding something

[PLEASE_DELETE]

Deleted.

Edited March 18 by PLEASE_DELETE

[meepmeepmayer]

10 hours ago, Tazarinho said:

I once had a kid on a bike that started doing wheelies just in front of me while shouting 'look I can ride on one wheel too!'
Annoying teenager!

Maybe it's a problem in translation, but what is "annoying" about this? It's just some kid interacting with you

[Legend27]

This thread is awesome! So much fun reading.

 

Not really the best reactions but just reactions.

 

Once I was riding down a road (funny enough lol) and passed a man and a woman. After I passed them, I heard the lady say "whaaat theeee fuuuuck". I couldn't stop laughing lol.

 

I have also had the usual "how much does it cost", which I totally understand why they'd ask, but hella uncomfortable when it's literally the one and only thing they ask. Last time I acted like I was thinking and once the light signal turned green I said "whoops, im sorry. Light is green" and rode off.

 

I have also had one of those wtf momemts where you start to feel like you are being follow. I had a guy (and probably wife and children) drive next to me for a kilometer or so. In a light signal he was about to go in the turn-right-lane just to get right next to me EVEN THOUGH HE HAD TO GO STRAIGHT. Someone came a blocked his way though. Whenever there was nothing blocking his way, he drove onto the parking spots right next to me. Then at one point I got eye contact with him and he looked really angry and didn't say a thing or do something with his arms. Guess it was his children that wanted to see what I was riding. I ended up taking a sharp turn down a road where I could escape on an only-bike road. That was weird...

Then there is also people at work. I feel like there are three types of people.

1. The one who doesn't seem to look and doesn't say a single word about it but probably thinks "wtf". (I feel a bit awkward when working with those...)

2. The one who looks weird but doesn't say a thing. (a bit more awkward lol)

3. The one "ohh what is that" and seem interested. (Those are usually really nice if they do actually find it interesting)

[atdlzpae]

2 hours ago, Legend27 said:

I have also had the usual "how much does it cost", which I totally understand why they'd ask, but hella uncomfortable when it's literally the one and only thing they ask. Last time I acted like I was thinking and once the light signal turned green I said "whoops, im sorry. Light is green" and rode off.

You can get the cheapest ones for $500, all the way up to $3000.
You can also add Most expensive ones can go 70km/h... But that's a suicide. or Considering that a wheel can last for 20.000 km, that's a good investment.
A reasonable one that has range of 40km can be bought for around a $1000.

I honestly don't get the stigma of talking about money. It's just a conversation topic, albeit a very important one!

 

Edited November 27, 2019 by atdlzpae

[KAY GEE]

5 hours ago, atdlzpae said:

I honestly don't get the stigma of talking about money. It's just a conversation topic, albeit a very important one!

 

It makes me feel uncomfortable knowing that the EUC's are expensive and you could easily become a mark/target 🎯 for nefarious activities. 

What I tend to do is give them Speedy-feet website and they can find out for themselves. 

 

[atdlzpae]

46 minutes ago, KAY GEE said:

It makes me feel uncomfortable knowing that the EUC's are expensive and you could easily become a mark/target 🎯 for nefarious activities. 

You're right. I sometimes forget that I live in one of the safest countries on the planet. Although AFAIK UK isn't bad either...

Then you can just say You can buy one for $500. You didn't answer the question, but you didn't lie either.

[Legend27]

4 hours ago, KAY GEE said:

It makes me feel uncomfortable knowing that the EUC's are expensive and you could easily become a mark/target 🎯 for nefarious activities. 

@atdlzpae

 

THIS. If someone at work or someone I had conversation with asks, I always say the price. But random peeps, no no no....

[Ddolik]

To random peple I usualy say it was second-hand and from friend, so it was cheap. Even if I bought it as new and for full price +-500€ (v5f). I understand the discussion about money at work(the previous comment with the Adam's video), but random stranger on street asking how much my electroni device cost? Nahh... 

[Tazarinho]

13 hours ago, meepmeepmayer said:

Maybe it's a problem in translation, but what is "annoying" about this? It's just some kid interacting with you

Yeah, but before that he was cutting into the bike lane in front of me, braking just in front of me and so on.

The vibe I got was that he wanted to show he was the coolest person on the street (which I never challenged), or that he didn't like being passed by a EUC.
It felt a bit like when you're driving in your car minding your own business and some souped up sports car pulls up next to you at the traffic lights and tries to get you to race them. And then when you don't bite they'll brake just in front of you either because you annoyed them or they get a kick out of it.

[Blicky Te⚡️la]

“Yo, there goes the transformer!”

[Darrell Wesh]

Living in a college town the responses are great best I’ve got was:

A group of girls in an SUV that almost ran me over trying to chase me down, all with their phones out recording me, and as I’m making a left turn and them a right turn, one of the girls boldly shouts “we should fu*k sometime!!” 
 

I may or may not have sped up to get a name and number 

[PLEASE_DELETE]

Deleted.

Edited March 18 by PLEASE_DELETE

[bigdog]

Thursday was Thanksgiving day here, and family wasn’t going to arrive until evening, so I went for a ride. One of my first in public, I’m still learning to trust myself and the wheel. So when I say “ride”, I mean I did a lot of practice going up and down the same hill repeatedly and that it was ridiculous amounts of fun. 

(I’ve had an allergic reaction to practice my entire life. The wheel is the first thing that I don’t mind practice and I actually look forward to it and for opportunities to squeeze it in.)

When I got home, grandma (my mom) was waiting on the steps, early. She had no idea I’d started riding, and was satisfyingly surprised when she saw me roll up. I did a quick demo in the parking lot, and then we went inside to catch up.

I told her how I’d started looking into this hobby, and how learning to ride it was literally the hardest thing I’ve ever learned in my life. And I told her about stepping onto this thing and zooming  away like I’m flying—something that I would have guaranteed you just a month ago that I could never do—and how rewarding and awesome that is.

And so, as she was leaving after the delicious Thanksgiving dinner, full of family, food and the requisite amounts of gravy and joy, she told me just how inspiring it was to hear about my experiences with the wheel.

She’s retiring soon, and confessed she’s been at something of a loss about what to do now. She’s been working her entire life, and sometimes it’s hard to see past that, to be able to realize that there are more things in life than simply earning a paycheck and providing for family. I am exactly like that, and I guess I know where that came from.

I am 99 percent sure that she has no intention of getting anywhere near stepping onto a wheel.  But she told me that the very idea of me learning and doing it has made an impact on her life and her realization of the paths she may choose ahead.

It’s never too late to learn something new, even if, maybe especially if, it’s something you know in your bones has got to be impossible for someone like you.

[ElectricRemi]

The "how much it cost comment" also makes me uncomfortable.. when else would it be okay to ask someone you dont know the price of something like a car, motorcycle etc ?

I live in a ..urban city...and getting surrounded by 10 dudes late night who hang on the corner asking me how much that costs is a little awkward.  Luckily I live where you can legally carry a concealed handgun  

[Cory Brown]

On 11/29/2019 at 8:11 PM, Darrell Wesh said:

Living in a college town the responses are great best I’ve got was:

A group of girls in an SUV that almost ran me over trying to chase me down, all with their phones out recording me, and as I’m making a left turn and them a right turn, one of the girls boldly shouts “we should fu*k sometime!!” 
 

I may or may not have sped up to get a name and number 

I bet cruising around the VT campus is quite wonderful. Such a beautiful school.

[mrelwood]

An interesting one happened two nights ago around 10-11pm as I was riding home. A young woman smiled in astonishment as we rode past eachother, and after taking the next turn I could see she had stopped to stare at me go. I just kept thinking ”wow, what a reaction”... And a few seconds later as I saw her leave I realized that DAMN I should’ve turned back and gone for a chat! Catching up to her later in pitch black in the cycleway through the woods would’ve been a bit too awkward.

I think I’ll start riding in the same area every night at the same time from now on!

 

On 11/26/2019 at 9:27 AM, Ben Kim said:

I get asked and stopped too many times about the wheel, and it gets old. I just wanna ride in peace! 

Solution: Ride faster! 

On 11/26/2019 at 10:12 PM, xorbe said:

I get tired of hearing "do a wheelie".  I've started replying with "I can't, it's all wheel drive".

I started replying: ”All the time!”

[Johnny Rocket 98908]

Someone who was a friend of a friend videoed me on my way to work, after about a week I was able to get the vid from him. The comments on the original post are awesome!

I am riding my 16X, now have over 300 miles on it in 2 months. I love riding it to work, 5 miles each way.

[tenofnine]

My favorite encounter was when I went to a local pizza joint and I was in front of this really attractive mixed Indian girl who had blue green eyes. She was dressed to the nines; like she was about to do a fashion shoot or something, but here she was ordering a pizza by herself. I was thinking to myself she looked like she could be an Instagram model or something, and I caught her stealing glances at my wheel and then me. After we ordered and were waiting for our food, she started chatting me up about the wheel and how she had seen someone riding a white one yesterday. I told her that was probably me as well since I own a few different ones and was riding that one yesterday. She expressed interest in learning and we exchanged numbers after she grilled me about EUCs. She didn't call me to follow up, but nonetheless I didn't expect that reaction from someone that looked like her.

 

Honestly though I've become a bit jaded, and I found myself being sort of rude with some of the more aggressive reactions.

A lot of people just clearly want to get attention or use seeing you to give their boring life some little meaning by shouting at you and having a laugh with their friends or honking at you and shouting etc.

95% of people are very nice and seem genuinely interested though so I feel bad for them since I'm kinda of over talking about these things. My response is now - if you google "electric unicycles" you'll find a ton of info and great videos, they've been out for about 8 years now.  And I'm to the point where I just tell people it's a prototype when they ask the question "how much does that cost?" Because their reaction is pretty much always "Woah that's a lot" even though for what it does and can do it's a flippin' steal IMO. I hope these companies never find out I'd pay double easily for the wheels I own. The how much does it cost question is very dumb, I would never ask it personally.
 

Edited February 25, 2020 by tenofnine

[AngryJackPCB]

On 11/1/2019 at 11:22 AM, Joker10 said:

Went to the local pizza joint last Friday to pick up my order.  The girl at the register started asking about wheel.  I explained it to her, then she calls someone from the kitchen to look, this continues until everyone from the kitchen is at the register checking out the 18l and asking questions. Now the customers are starting to pay attention.  The entire restaurant staff had to come outside to watch me leave.  Most of the customers were looking out the window when I left.  I have been riding for 3 years now and never had that much of a reaction.

As I rode past a couple of kids yesterday, one turned to the other and said" You're looking at the future of transportation." I almost wet myself.

[Ddolik]

I went from one pub home, and when i left the pub, some tourist smoker said to other tourist: welcome to the 21st century and they both laughed. I smiled.

Edited March 2, 2020 by Ddolik

[Johnny Rocket 98908]

This vid of me was posted on FB, with the comment, would you do this? - most people said no way ...