PLEASE_DELETE Posted December 11, 2019 Share Posted December 11, 2019 (edited) Deleted. Edited March 18 by PLEASE_DELETE 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meepmeepmayer Posted December 11, 2019 Share Posted December 11, 2019 (edited) @MR BRAD Disable tiltback (or maximize the speed) and see what happens then. Maybe something's wrong with your wheel? You could try if a calibration from the app changes anything. What's your weight? Are you so heavy that even a slight acceleration at low speed brings the wheel to its knees? Never hurts to ask ewheels. Also about your tiltback issue. Maybe your board is just bad. Did you ever do a range test or do you have some range vs battery % numbers? Just to check if that sounds ok. Edited December 11, 2019 by meepmeepmayer 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MR BRAD Posted December 11, 2019 Share Posted December 11, 2019 1 hour ago, /Dev/Null said: @MR BRAD: I started at 20 or 25km/h. 20 is only slightly more than 16, why not raise it to that & see if you still feel like the wheel is fighting you? I'm currently @ 30 and I did some carving in a skate park & I scraped the pedals twice I think due to lean angle It's fun, and it will come more & more naturally. What PSI are you riding at ? The wheel should be more agile @ higher PSI. Thanks @/Dev/Null. I’ll try to increase the speed limit (though I’m literally hitting tilt back at about half speed - not always, but quite a bit. I currently have the PSI at 35-38. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MR BRAD Posted December 11, 2019 Share Posted December 11, 2019 34 minutes ago, meepmeepmayer said: @MR BRAD Disable tiltback (or maximize the speed) and see what happens then. Maybe something's wrong with your wheel? You could try if a calibration from the app changes anything. What's your weight? Are you so heavy that even a slight acceleration at low speed brings the wheel to its knees? Never hurts to ask ewheels. Also about your tiltback issue. Maybe your board is just bad. Did you ever do a range test or do you have some range vs battery % numbers? Just to check if that sounds ok. Thanks @meepmeepmayer. I’ll ask @Jason to weigh in. I’ll follow your advice with a calibration (hopefully I can figure that out - I’m guessing there is a reset sort of function?). I’ll increase the speed limit after I try the calibration (I’ll try one thing at a time?). I haven’t come close to hitting a range test (I think I have about five miles on the wheel and less than three total hours). I’ll see if I can check the battery and range values tomorrow and respond. As for weight, I’m 170 pounds (sorry, I should have added that to my post initially). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RockyTop Posted December 11, 2019 Share Posted December 11, 2019 @MR BRADSounds like you are making good progress. 16km/h is really slow. That is less than 10 mph. I go faster than that in my living room sometimes. Don't tell my wife! For some reason while learning to ride some people hit a 13 mph or 20 km/h speed limit wall until they get more experience. They just don't feel comfortable above 20km/h. I would set it at about 20kp/h and keep comfortably under that. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meepmeepmayer Posted December 11, 2019 Share Posted December 11, 2019 (edited) The Jason you mean is @Jason McNeil. I guess he knows best what your symptoms (unexplained tiltbacks) mean. Calibration is somewhere in the Inmotion app. I think it has a nice picture tutorial of what to do (put the wheel on its bumper and press the button). 170 lbs is nothing for a wheel like a V10. Maybe it really is just a slightly bad board (if changing the settings and calibrating doesn't work). Edited December 11, 2019 by meepmeepmayer 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MR BRAD Posted December 11, 2019 Share Posted December 11, 2019 20 minutes ago, RockyTop said: @MR BRADSounds like you are making good progress. 16km/h is really slow. That is less than 10 mph. I go faster than that in my living room sometimes. Don't tell my wife! For some reason while learning to ride some people hit a 13 mph or 20 km/h speed limit wall until they get more experience. They just don't feel comfortable above 20km/h. I would set it at about 20kp/h and keep comfortably under that. Thanks @RockyTop. I actually meant 16MPH (so I think I’m above the 20KPH). Your secret is safe with me. My wife would kill me too! 😃 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MR BRAD Posted December 11, 2019 Share Posted December 11, 2019 20 minutes ago, meepmeepmayer said: The Jason you mean is @Jason McNeil. I guess he knows best what your symptoms (unexplained tiltbacks) mean. Calibration is somewhere in the Inmotion app. I think it has a nice picture tutorial of what to do (put the wheel on its bumper and press the button). 170 lbs is nothing for a wheel like a V10. Maybe it really is just a slightly bad board (if changing the settings and calibrating doesn't work). Thanks @meepmeepmayer. I appreciate the @Jason McNeil correction! I actually just sent him an email with a rehash of my observations. I’m sure he will have valuable input too. At least I’m getting closer to being a real member of this club! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PLEASE_DELETE Posted December 11, 2019 Share Posted December 11, 2019 (edited) Deleted. Edited March 18 by PLEASE_DELETE 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MR BRAD Posted December 11, 2019 Share Posted December 11, 2019 @/Dev/Null, I’ll double check that. I honestly don’t know Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unventor Posted December 11, 2019 Share Posted December 11, 2019 @MR BRAD it os possible someone miss typed the S/N wrong during manual registration of their wheel. The interesting part is how much mileage your wheel has done so far. Also in the inmotion app you can do a wheel diagnostic. I think reaching out to ewheels is the right way anyway. Next tip is to start a thread under inmotion as this here is moving away from this thread topic. You can copy a link of your earlier posts to that new thread if you like. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Mookie Posted December 25, 2019 Popular Post Share Posted December 25, 2019 I have put 40 miles on my Glide 3/V8 over two weekends. Have a couple observations. I learned to step mount. Saw a video online where a guy stepped on, off, on off ... as an exercise...like 60 times in a row, so I learned that. I have tried to mount with my other foot several times and I have been able to do it every time. Odd, seems I can step mount from either foot. Might come in handy. Is it good to learn to ride/mount ambidextrously? The miles really pile up quickly on this thing. Seriously, a few 20 - 40 minute runs in a day and you have 15 miles it's crazy. I did a dry run to my work. It's actually faster than I thought it would be. Have to brush by some areas of homelessness so I will carry pepper spray and stun gun. It will be slightly faster than my driving commute and save me about $15 every weekday on parking. Wheel will pay for itself in about 4 months. Foot position: When I first started, my feet were on the pedals randomly. While cruising around my neighborhood the day I got it, I tried to adjust one foot while rolling and the wheel got super unstable for a quick second. Luckily didn't crash. After that I tried gently grinding my foot onto the pedal. This works great for gently repositioning the foot. Be extremely careful doing this at first until you develop the muscle memory. It feels very unstable at first. I always drive slowly when adjusting foot position. Easier the more you do it. Problem I have now is when I mount, my feet are pointed slightly inward, so I have to move them to where they are straight. Also sometimes my feet are too far forward, and I can feel my toes hanging off the edge a bit. Having said that, it gets a little easier with each run. If my feet are slightly out of position while cruising, they will go into position on their own over time as I hit bumps and cracks in the sidewalk. I've also noticed that when I am cruising now my legs don't really touch the sides of the wheel as much as they did the first weekend. Gotta keep cruising and developing more muscle memory. I have had a single crash. First day I had my wheel, came into our cul-de-sac and did a wide turn like in the videos perhaps 8mph, the physics didn't quite work the way I expected and I spilled. Wrist guards worked as promised, probably prevented at least broken fingers. A little scrape on the forearm, lesson learned. I have been taking things very carefully since then and no more crashes. I will not be trying to force things, I am 58 lol. I figure that over time I will just get better and better irregardless of my age. Plenty of adrenalyn to be had on this thing without hotdogging it. I would compare this sport to snowboarding/skiing or skateboarding/skating as far as fun factor goes. It's a blast. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrelwood Posted December 25, 2019 Share Posted December 25, 2019 15 hours ago, Mookie said: Is it good to learn to ride/mount ambidextrously? I’d echo what you said, ”might come in handy”. I still can’t do it on my weaker side, even after riding for over 20000km. But there have been situations where it would’ve been more practical to start with the weak leg. Instead I’ve had to do a clumsy switch of sides. 15 hours ago, Mookie said: did a wide turn like in the videos perhaps 8mph, the physics didn't quite work the way I expected and I spilled. Yeah... seeing someone else do it and having learned it oneself are indeed different skills. Some riders make some things look so easy you’d never imagine how hard they are before you try them yourself. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ir_fuel Posted December 26, 2019 Share Posted December 26, 2019 (edited) On 12/25/2019 at 5:23 AM, Mookie said: Is it good to learn to ride/mount ambidextrously? In theory, yes. In practice, dunno. What is handy (and it comes with learning this) is that you will be able to lift one foot while riding without getting completely unstable. It makes repositioning your feet a lot easier. I can do this no problem with my right foot, but I can't with my left. When I start riding my right foot is the one on the ground so I am used to one-footed riding like that. Edited December 26, 2019 by ir_fuel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mono Posted December 26, 2019 Share Posted December 26, 2019 On 12/25/2019 at 5:23 AM, Mookie said: Is it good to learn to ride/mount ambidextrously? Besides that one needs to learn it, I can't see any disadvantages, while there are advantages (as already mentioned above). Are they decisive? I don't know either. I do see it as a relevant safety feature that I can tap either of my feet (with weight) on the street surface while riding, which is a similar though not identical skill to roll-in mounting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mookie Posted December 27, 2019 Share Posted December 27, 2019 (edited) 6 hours ago, Mono said: Besides that one needs to learn it, I can't see any disadvantages, while there are advantages (as already mentioned above). Are they decisive? I don't know either. I do see it as a relevant safety feature that I can tap either of my feet (with weight) on the street surface while riding, which is a similar though not identical skill to roll-in mounting. I have noticed some riders (youtube) will put one knee forward a bit and use their extended foot to push down, rather than leaning forward so much. I watch their feet on the pedals and their footwork is pristine. Must take years to get that good. Looks like it would provide a better outcome in case of crash though. Edited December 27, 2019 by Mookie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrelwood Posted December 27, 2019 Share Posted December 27, 2019 1 hour ago, Mookie said: I have noticed some riders (youtube) will put one knee forward a bit and use their extended foot to push down, rather than leaning forward so much. You might be describing an offset/staggered foot positioning, where the other foot is positioned more forward than the other. It can provide more stability and make it easier to accelerate and brake hard, especially on the MSX or other large wheels that require a lot of leaning. 1 hour ago, Mookie said: Looks like it would provide a better outcome in case of crash though. Not sure if there is a notable difference. Crashes tend to make one land in a random position, since one will inavoidingly try to regain balance by throwing hands in the air, crouching, and other bodily movements as one’s film of life passes in front of one’s eyes... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ancient Wheeler Posted December 31, 2019 Share Posted December 31, 2019 On 11/8/2019 at 11:29 AM, NerdAlert said: Nerd alert/warning... If the angular momentum (moment of inertia x angular velocity) of the unicycle wheel were significant enough ... This is more apparent on motorcycles where the moment of inertia of the wheel and the angular velocity are much more significant So a greater moment of inertia should be helpful. Bigger wheel size (easy to do) and more weight concentrated around the rim -- rather harder; maybe those wheel balancing weights they use on cars? Probably insufficient, I expect you'd need several kilograms of lead to feel any effect! Presumably if you could keep an independently spinning mass (perhaps a dummy wheel, with slightly smaller radius, alongside the real one) you could stay balanced while moving very slowly, or even stationary. That would make the wheel far more practical as a transport rather than a fun machine. Hint for wheel designers ... Though I suspect there would be a price to pay, like you would probably be spinning round on the spot. Any physics experts care to comment? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mono Posted January 1, 2020 Share Posted January 1, 2020 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrelwood Posted January 1, 2020 Share Posted January 1, 2020 4 hours ago, Ancient Wheeler said: So a greater moment of inertia should be helpful. Not for a zippy wheel though. 4 hours ago, Ancient Wheeler said: Presumably if you could keep an independently spinning mass (perhaps a dummy wheel, with slightly smaller radius, alongside the real one) you could stay balanced while moving very slowly, or even stationary. That would make the wheel far more practical as a transport rather than a fun machine. Hint for wheel designers ... Though I suspect there would be a price to pay, like you would probably be spinning round on the spot. Any physics experts care to comment? Now there’s an idea! This could even be something we’ll see in 20+ years. Two discs with a lot of weight at the edge, spinning forward on both sides of the tire. Their speed would be inversebly related to the vehicle speed, so that the wheel would still turn normally at higher speeds. But at very low speeds, as long as the wheel is upright, they would spin fast enough to create a notable gyroscopic effect, and would both resist the wheel when falling to it’s side as well as help in steering the wheel when trying to tilt it. The discs must of course accelerate and decelerate quite slowly, otherwise the wheel would be one jerky devil. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chroma Posted January 1, 2020 Share Posted January 1, 2020 I learned by leaning on the wall technique -After I got the feel for the wheel I went to an open area (without cars or pedestrians), lowered my max speed via app to 6mph, and let go of the wall. I went on a straight line until I stopped flapping my arms for balance-in all it took about 8 hrs to accomplish -it took longer to successfully loop around and doing tight turns. The key for me was to ignore my fear of falling at high speeds. After a while, I increased speed on app, but once you get it- what a sweet ride it is- 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Mookie Posted January 1, 2020 Popular Post Share Posted January 1, 2020 Third weekend with my new wheel. Observations. So I'm up to 58 miles on my wheel now. Starting my commute tomorrow. Did a nice 13 mile trip today in the rain and cold. Used 60% of the battery, not too bad considering how cold it was. Rode out to Alki Beach on the bike path and had some lunch. 57 minutes total ride time. No more spills since day 1. Ironically the "trick" I attempted when I had my spill is just routine riding now. Just a slight lean on wide turns. Also my average speed is ticking up as the wheel feels more and more stable. I don't get wobbles very much as long as my feet are positioned properly. Did get a little wobble today once while braking. My stamina is ticking up rapidly. Last week, I would have to stop every couple miles and just stand for a minute or so cuz my feet would be numb. Now I don't get that. Went almost 7 miles to lunch today without dismounting once. Am able to better reposition my feet on the pedals while riding now. Before it just felt too unstable. Getting better at step mounting too. Taking my time putting my foot on the pedal rather than jamming it on in a panic. What is the best foot position? When I am too far forward It seems to set off wobbles. Too far back and I feel like my feet are going to come off the back of the pedals. I like to try to get my ankle bones about center wheel. Still have the wheel at the factory settings. I think it's locked at 14mph. I don't set off the nag warning very often anymore as I cruise at a more steady pace now. Before I cruised in spurts. Now it feels so much more stable. I will ride with this speed setting til it feels natural, at which time I will unlock it to 19mph. Not taking chances, I will get better and better by putting raw mileage on this thing, rather than by trick riding. Having said that, I notice that I naturally slalom a bit when Im at cruising speed. It just feels a little more stable with a slight slalom while cruising. I remember how unstable it felt a couple weeks ago. Now it feels *sorta* natural. Bumps: so I saw this video on youtube where this guy rides very fast and when he comes to bumps he almost squats down as he goes over them. I try to do something similar when going over speed bumps or uneven sidewalks. Sorta squat down and bend the knees, let the thighs absorb the shock. Last week, when I saw a sidewalk crack, I would brake while going over the bump, cuz it felt more stable that way. Hitting a bump unexpectedly is a scary thing. Very important to have eagle eyes. Did a bit of offroading today! Took a shortcut of about 1/8 mile over railroad rock along tracks. I was surprised how fast I got used to it. Is a little easier with a bit of speed. Like snowboarding, bend the knees and use legs as shock absorbers. Was kinda fun. Bikes: I've noticed a few things about folks on bicycles. There is an animosity from certain of them that reminds me of the animosity I felt as a snowboarder in the early 1990s from skiers. I will smile and wave at them as I they come at me on the bike path. They have this harsh, almost angry look on their face as they pass by and they refuse to make eye contact. They angrily look strait ahead. You can feel their frigidity, it's weird how personally they take it. I passed a bicyclist going uphill over a bridge. When I went over the top and started down the other side, I looked back and noticed the bicyclist never made it to the top, he turned around and went back rather than face me. WTF? It's kinda odd how personally some folks take it. They probably have years and years invested in their bikes and riding. Like folks invested in the horse and buggy during the advent of the Automobile. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrelwood Posted January 1, 2020 Share Posted January 1, 2020 2 hours ago, Mookie said: What is the best foot position? I haven’t checked where my ankle bones are, but at the center of the wheel does sound just a bit forward for me. The optimal place for me is where braking is slightly more effortless than accelerating. In the beginning I did a few very short accelerations and brakings to get a feel for the position, then adjust accordingly. 2 hours ago, Mookie said: Sorta squat down and bend the knees, let the thighs absorb the shock. Last week, when I saw a sidewalk crack, I would brake while going over the bump, cuz it felt more stable that way. Having the knees bent does exactly that, it gives you shock absorbers! Whenever the wheel goes over a bump, curb or other obstacle, it slows down a bit because a part of the kinetic forward motion gets transformed to a vertical one. So leaning back a bit for bumps makes a lot of sense, as it’s then easier to keep the balance. Also, instead of just squatting for obstacles which increases your downwards pressure on the wheel for a short moment, I hop a bit just before the obstacle and make sure my weight is pressing on the wheel as little as possible at the obstacle. That makes the obstacles go smoothest for me. 2 hours ago, Mookie said: Hitting a bump unexpectedly is a scary thing. Very important to have eagle eyes. Many of us constantly ride with slightly bent knees exactly because of this. Lock your knees and a surprise bump will set you flying upwards while the wheel itself slows down a bit. Like an ejecting seat on a fighter jet. 2 hours ago, Mookie said: Like folks invested in the horse and buggy during the advent of the Automobile. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mookie Posted January 1, 2020 Share Posted January 1, 2020 8 hours ago, mrelwood said: The optimal place for me is where braking is slightly more effortless than accelerating. In the beginning I did a few very short accelerations and brakings to get a feel for the position, then adjust accordingly. This is exactly what I do. If my feet are too far back, when I brake it feels like Im gonna drop off the back of the wheel. Too far forward and it gets wobbly. Gotta find that sweet spot. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ancient Wheeler Posted January 1, 2020 Share Posted January 1, 2020 18 hours ago, mrelwood said: Now there’s an idea! This could even be something we’ll see in 20+ years. Maybe not that long, if some creative engineering type spots this post! Quote Two discs with a lot of weight at the edge, spinning forward on both sides of the tire. Their speed would be inversely related to the vehicle speed ... The discs must of course accelerate and decelerate quite slowly, otherwise the wheel would be one jerky devil. The speed relation could be achieved very simply, no extra smart electronics needed, just a mechanical differential connecting the main wheel to the gyro wheels, and driven by an extra motor running at constant speed. The sum of the two spin rates would then be constant, and if the MOI of the gyro wheels matched that of the main wheel, the angular momentum would be constant, and so balancing would be equally easy at all speeds. In theory! Note that the wheel would still not be self-balancing sideways, but the rider should easily be able to stay balanced while stationary - a bonus in traffic. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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