kasenutty Posted April 8, 2017 Share Posted April 8, 2017 I rode all around my neighborhood today. Almost ready for all over town. I love this thing. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Marty Backe Posted April 8, 2017 Popular Post Share Posted April 8, 2017 7 minutes ago, kasenutty said: I rode all around my neighborhood today. Almost ready for all over town. I love this thing. As a safety reminder, avoid riding near people until you're ready. When are you ready? When your skills are such that you don't even give it a second thought that you're riding among people. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kasenutty Posted April 8, 2017 Share Posted April 8, 2017 I rode in between a couple old ladies and even told them it was an electric unicycle when they asked. Slow too. Practicing tiny slow turns right now. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Carlos E Rodriguez Posted April 8, 2017 Popular Post Share Posted April 8, 2017 Skills: -Master Mounting using triangle method and a purposeful one leg launch and then landing the other leg on the other pedal as the EUC glides forward under control. -Master Accelerating to speed, cruise and then slowing down to a complete stop and dismounting gently. This is important because you might have to dismount in the middle of a crowd. - Master gliding at people walk speed. You will need to do that a lot and you don't want to force people to jump out of your way because you can not go slow enough. - Master cruise speed and smooth "S" turns. Important to weave through sidewalks and pedestrians. Although weaving thorough pedestrians should be avoided. -Master "It is OK to stop to avoid a disaster". If you are not sure of the situation, stop!. Let the situation clear (people, cars) then mount. -Master "It is OK to walk your wheel". Don't force the situation. If you fail control someone will be hurt. 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ombre Posted April 8, 2017 Share Posted April 8, 2017 I'd second everything @Carlos E Rodriguez said, and add these skills to the list if you are going to ride on sidewalks: tight turning (hip turns) in the width of a sidewalk. This is hard to do but very useful. ability to handle unexpected bumps, cracks, holes, etc in the surface without flailing! ability to look 90 degrees left and right without weaving, flailing, or changing direction. You need this skill to watch for cars and cross streets safely. An alternative is to always stop & dismount at every intersection, driveway, alleyway, etc., but that gets old quickly. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carlos E Rodriguez Posted April 9, 2017 Share Posted April 9, 2017 Yeah. It took me a couple of time to be able to look left or right without having the wheel want to turn on me. Every time I turned my head myvwheel would turn also. But after a week or two I got the hang of it. And yes. Always plan ahead for the bumps and blockages. Make sure you have plenty of time to prepare or avoid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slaughthammer Posted April 9, 2017 Share Posted April 9, 2017 looking to the sides at 90° was a nobrainer to me. 180° took me a while to figure out, because you need to turn the hips for that. I think it's also quite important, at least if you ride in traffic, not only on sidewalks. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post kasenutty Posted April 9, 2017 Popular Post Share Posted April 9, 2017 I took a 12 mile ride this morning with stop lights, crosswalks and everything with plenty of traffic and pedestrians. I'm starting, stopping and weaving with precision. I've clocked 41 km and I think I've got it. Thanks for all of your tips and advice everyone 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post LanghamP Posted April 10, 2017 Popular Post Share Posted April 10, 2017 (edited) I did figure out how to mount easily and gracefully. It wasn't any one thing but a combination of several factors. There is an instinct to be in an athletic stance but this makes it difficult to move forward; rather, stand tall and mount by leaning forward. If you have your butt sticking out then the unicycle will move forward only with difficulty. It's amusing, though, at how the feedback loop works; with greater difficulty mounting, one takes a more athletic stance which in turn makes it more difficult to mount, and so on. EDIT: I've gone back into an athletic stance, actually a very athletic stance. I believe the stand tall stance works better for beginners because locked knees allows the wheel to track steady but I feel the stand straight stance to be just plain dangerous because it's hard to absorb bumps and also much much harder to bail safely at higher speeds. I dislike sand on concrete more than just about anything other danger because there's just nothing to work with. Most other dangers you can work it out by doing something but there is no grip and no possibility of doing anything much except keep that wheel directly under you. My advice is to practice crashing. Obstacle avoidance of course works great until you get into those edge cases. Do you know what your natural response is when your wheel gets stuck in a rut? No? Then practice as very low speed on the grass, and see if your reaction is appropriate, then practice and adjust accordingly. Personally, I practice off-road where grip is questionable, and where it's challenging enough to fall off quite often. This doesn't mean when I am on the city pavement I go looking for trouble; I take due care and diligence avoiding obstacles and cruise at a lower speed, but with the added skill and experience of being able to do something (anything) if I hit an obstacle. Which is better than doing nothing and just taking it. Example: a few days ago I went down into a sidewalk pothole that I did not see. The drop surprised me but it was the climb out of the other side that got sketchy. I ended up leaning way forward but then hopped the wheel over the edge so it could catch up with me. Example: I went into another rut that I did not see due to leaves covering its depth. In this case the wheel got suddenly stuck and I was floating in the air without it. In this case I managed to run off the wheel when I hit the ground, and managed to catch the wheel before it hit the ground (it got moving once I got off it). So my recommendation is to make up a list of all those unusual situations, and then go out and try them at very low speeds. Here's my extemporaneous list: --Wheel gets caught in a pothole/rut. --Wheel gets knocked to once side or another as one tries to get onto a sidewalk from grass at an angle. --Pedal gets caught on an obstacle, say a lamppost. --Run over slick mud while braking or accelerating. --A person tries to hit you or scare you off as you pass them coming the opposite direction (ie face to face). This will happen for sure; be sure you know how to react and I don't mean with dumb kung-fu or NRA crap. I mean in a way that gets you home safely. --You're carrying an open umbrella on a windy and rainy day. Can you stay on? And the car next to you is so busy looking at you they crash into a brick wall. Do you know what to do? (true story...I saw that go down and got out of there 'cause I'm not messing around with a guy who just crashed his beautiful new Toyota Camry) --A bicyclist hits you gently as he passes you, thereby rotating your body. Can you recover? --At the very last instance you spot a waist high chain across the sidewalk preventing passage. Jump or dump? --Cars not being concerned with you being in the crosswalk. Edited April 21, 2017 by LanghamP Extra information. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atmadams Posted April 15, 2017 Share Posted April 15, 2017 On 11/7/2015 at 3:20 AM, Mono said: is the best how-to-balance vid that I know of. Another illustration can be found in this post: I think the main reason why the (necessary) compensation magnitude goes down with increasing speed is that the effect of the compensation in a given time (i.e. the magnitude of the side-displace of the wheel) increases linearly with increasing speed. For the same reason, the compensation becomes effect-less with zero speed, i.e. balancing becomes impossible without moving the wheel. Additionally one needs less effort to twist the wheel at higher speeds (because of reduced tire friction), making compensation less difficult in particular on sticky grounds. I've been ridding the struggle bus since I bought my V5F+ from Jason last week... This post finally made it all come together and it finally "clicked" today. Thanks! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MichaelHensen Posted April 16, 2017 Share Posted April 16, 2017 The only real problem I have is tension in the legs.. In case of a wobble of the wheel I notice my legs starts trembling and although I know you need to 'relax' the legs, I cannot stop them from trembling.. I guess this is something that will go away over time, but that is still my main problem.. As soon as the surface is a bit uneven I notice it the most and makes the driving even more worse.. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marty Backe Posted April 16, 2017 Share Posted April 16, 2017 5 hours ago, MichaelHensen said: The only real problem I have is tension in the legs.. In case of a wobble of the wheel I notice my legs starts trembling and although I know you need to 'relax' the legs, I cannot stop them from trembling.. I guess this is something that will go away over time, but that is still my main problem.. As soon as the surface is a bit uneven I notice it the most and makes the driving even more worse.. Once you have total control over the wheel, most of your riding will occur with relaxed legs that barely touch the sides. Unless you're a savant, that's just going to takes hours on the wheel to accomplish. Fortunately most of those hours are fun Hang in there. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wax Posted April 17, 2017 Share Posted April 17, 2017 23 hours ago, MichaelHensen said: The only real problem I have is tension in the legs.. In case of a wobble of the wheel I notice my legs starts trembling and although I know you need to 'relax' the legs, I cannot stop them from trembling.. I guess this is something that will go away over time, but that is still my main problem.. As soon as the surface is a bit uneven I notice it the most and makes the driving even more worse.. I'm into about 10 days since I bought my first wheel and basically I noticed the similar wobbling issue in my first few days due to: foot cramp, weak stabilizer muscles, fatigue etc. it's much better now because the muscles have become stronger and the brain has figured out the correct and most optimum muscle coordination. I would recommend taking it easy and take your practice with lots of breaks in between! I know I needed the breaks from all the weird foot cramps. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maximus Posted April 17, 2017 Share Posted April 17, 2017 (edited) For what it's worth, I've been struggling with the wobbles a bit, but being a new rider, I just assumed that it would go away as I got better, so I haven't been stressing too much about it, just slowing down when I get them. However, today I decided to try something that I believe @Chris Westland had suggested (maybe others too), which was to reduce the tire pressure a bit. I have an inmotion V8, which apparently has a tire tread that some believe to be conducive to the "wobbles"...anyway, after lowering the pressure a bit, it was like night and day, no more wobbles! I can't say exactly what pressure I'm currently at, but I think I was previously riding around the 50 psi mark and I simply let a bit of air out mid-ride. Once I get access to a pressure gauge, I'll follow up with my current psi is at in case others want to try that mark. In case it matters, my weight is about 185 lbs. Update: I checked the tire pressure to see what I actually lowered it to and it was at 35 psi, so a little lower than I was hoping. I've increased it to 42 psi for my ride today to see how that feels and if the wobbles are still lessened. Edited April 19, 2017 by Maximus Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carlos E Rodriguez Posted April 17, 2017 Share Posted April 17, 2017 Wobble is due to Muscle memory and fatigue when learning. also high pressure not exceeding tire rating is great for slow speed and turning but I also notice it makes the wheel too wiggly at high speed. My tire rating say 40-50PSI. I ride 40 to 45. I like 40 very much. Lower pressure risk getting a flat tire when going over stones and pinching the inner tube when the tire compresses and pinches against the rim. Tire should not be soft and mushy. look at the tire rating and try 10% below max and then 15% and 20% below max. I would not go lower than that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kasenutty Posted April 17, 2017 Share Posted April 17, 2017 Oooh, I'll have to try that. I'm getting wobbling only near max speed, 18-19 mph, and my tire is as hard as a rock. Gonna let a little out and see how it does. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meepmeepmayer Posted April 17, 2017 Share Posted April 17, 2017 I had the wobble exactly once, and ended it instinctively by pressing both legs against the wheel for a moment (as soon as it started). If the wheel physically can't wobble (back-forth or to the sides), you won't have any wobble problems So you could try that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carlos E Rodriguez Posted April 17, 2017 Share Posted April 17, 2017 1 hour ago, meepmeepmayer said: I had the wobble exactly once, and ended it instinctively by pressing both legs against the wheel for a moment (as soon as it started). If the wheel physically can't wobble (back-forth or to the sides), you won't have any wobble problems So you could try that. Agreed that stops it. For me personally it starts when my legs get tired specially when I was learning. It would happens after 5 minutes because I was fighting for balance in the learning process. Then I got better and then the wobbling would come later and later as I got more efficient. Meaning my muscles learned how to coordinate and not power/force balancing. I experience the same thing when learning to slack line balance. The beginners have this crazy shacking on the line until their muscles master the new way to balance. So just be patient. It will get there. Pinching the wheel will stop it but is not the reason. Also play with placing your feet a little more back. Make sure your ankle bone is centered or behind the axel of the wheel. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kasenutty Posted April 20, 2017 Share Posted April 20, 2017 Do solowheels have huge pedals or does the person in that video have tiny feet? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mono Posted April 20, 2017 Share Posted April 20, 2017 2 hours ago, kasenutty said: Do solowheels have huge pedals or does the person in that video have tiny feet? I believe it is the latter, but I am not absolutely positive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carlos E Rodriguez Posted April 21, 2017 Share Posted April 21, 2017 On 4/16/2017 at 5:30 AM, MichaelHensen said: The only real problem I have is tension in the legs.. In case of a wobble of the wheel I notice my legs starts trembling and although I know you need to 'relax' the legs, I cannot stop them from trembling.. I guess this is something that will go away over time, but that is still my main problem.. As soon as the surface is a bit uneven I notice it the most and makes the driving even more worse.. That is normal. Your muscles are retraining. When that happened you need to rest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoinPostal Posted April 21, 2017 Share Posted April 21, 2017 On 1/19/2016 at 9:10 PM, gmusser said: How long does it typically take? I've had the thing for several days and still can't go than a few meters at a stretch, whereas in all the videos, people are riding down the sidewalk within the hour. It's depressing and zero fun. This post is a year old.. did you stick with it and figure it out? A vid from Dion at MyFunWheel.biz led me to begin practicing in my hallway. It was winter outside anyway, so I went for it. I ended up putting ten miles on my EUC in my hallway. I still train there when I want to attempt something new (as long as it's straight). ? 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaxLinux Posted April 21, 2017 Share Posted April 21, 2017 9 minutes ago, GoinPostal said: How long does it typically take? I've had the thing for several days and still can't go than a few meters at a stretch After several days, that's as far as I could go too. I practiced about 30 minutes a day for about a month before I was able to ride around freely. So you're not the only slow learner! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LanghamP Posted April 21, 2017 Share Posted April 21, 2017 I saw a semi-pro surfboarder get on, step off, then get on and wobble around. Basically on his second attempt he was able to step on without support, make a u-turn on the sidewalk. I mean, he was still wobbling but it took him under a minute to ride it. Of course, this means he has lots of experience falling off other things, but still very impressive. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post HermanTheGerman Posted April 26, 2017 Popular Post Share Posted April 26, 2017 On 17.4.2017 at 0:20 PM, Wax said: I'm into about 10 days since I bought my first wheel and basically I noticed the similar wobbling issue in my first few days due to: foot cramp, weak stabilizer muscles, fatigue etc. it's much better now because the muscles have become stronger and the brain has figured out the correct and most optimum muscle coordination. I would recommend taking it easy and take your practice with lots of breaks in between! I know I needed the breaks from all the weird foot cramps. My view is that the wobbling which is experienced by beginners comes mainly from standing too far on the rear side of the footpads. From my experience nearly all beginners make this mistake. The feet should be placed on the footpads in a way that the middle of the lower leg crosses the axis of the wheel. When one stands too far behind, the wheel wobbles at forward driving, when one stands too far in front, the wheel wobbles at backward driving (the latter is not recognized by a beginner, because he doesn't try it ). 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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