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How to ride an electric unicycle - understanding the dynamics


John Eucist

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When mounting, place the second foot toe first instead of heel first.

This will prevent jamming your foot into the side of the EUC, will help maintain forward momentum (heel first pushes on the back), and will keep your body leaning forward as it should. I noticed once I finally leaned to mount I had also learned to ride one legged.

Edited by LanghamP
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16 hours ago, Bert08 said:

.Mounting using the 'triangle': I have to admit I didn't know about this technique and it took me a huge amount of failures before getting it right. If only I had seen it before!. Essentially do not keep your feet close together or at strange angles between each other. Put one feet well on the pedal and the other on the ground, fairly distant and parallel to the other, so the weight is all on the feet on the ground. Let the wheel lean on one side (the side on where your weight is) and don't force it to be straight up. Now put your lower feet on the other pedal and you're good to go. Don't forget to accelerate, it greatly helps your balance. On a still wheel is impossibile to keep balance. As mentioned before, I find useful to start with my first foot a little bit more forward on the pedal than where I think it should go. In this way when I mount the other feet my weight is already a bit leaned forward and the acceleration comes natural. Now I start with no issues and I don't need a "moving start" (skateboard-style).

I think it is also key to have your second foot (mostly) in line with the axle as you "push off" - If you have it too far forward or back, the shift in your centre of gravity will make things a lot harder,

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  • 3 weeks later...

IMHO leaning on fences to mount is a crutch. Move on to 'triangle' as quickly as you can! Once you get going, there's never a handy fence nearby. I didn't master this skill and wound-up realizing I had learned most of the basics (balance, momentum, steering, and stopping), but I wound up stranded in space on a wheel with no handle (older model).

On my third (brief) practice run, I figured 'what the heck' and decided to see how far I could go... A little wobbly at first, soon I was past the fences and on a meandering park path. After about a kilometer, I hit a little bump that knocked me over. I tried and tried to remember every last tip on mounting EUC's from the forum/videos; (I just kept shifting to far to my right).

I hated myself for doing it, but eventually I had to pick up my wheel and walk it to a bench for mounting/balance support. :angry:

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9 minutes ago, RayRay said:

IMHO leaning on fences to mount is a crutch. Move on to 'triangle' as quickly as you can! Once you get going, there's never a handy fence nearby. I didn't master this skill and wound-up realizing I had learned most of the basics (balance, momentum, steering, and stopping), but I wound up stranded in space on a wheel with no handle (older model).

On my third (brief) practice run, I figured 'what the heck' and decided to see how far I could go... A little wobbly at first, soon I was past the fences and on a meandering park path. After about a kilometer, I hit a little bump that knocked me over. I tried and tried to remember every last tip on mounting EUC's from the forum/videos; (I just kept shifting to far to my right).

I hated myself for doing it, but eventually I had to pick up my wheel and walk it to a bench for mounting/balance support. :angry:

I found that the wall/fence was very helpful in learning how the EUC behaves and allowing me to get a rhythm in a straight line to the point that could ride around for a while but needed to lean on something to start.  Once you get this down then it makes it that much easier once you can start without the wall.  I do agree though, you don't want to stick too long with one "crutch".  Move on to the next step as soon as possible.

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Mounting and going forward is much much easier with your arms in a somewhat counterintuitive position.

Because you need to move your center of balance forward and to the side of your mounted (not mounting) foot, positioning your arms works.

If you're mounted foot is the right foot, then raise your left arm to your front and your right arm to your right as if you were pushing someone away from you. Left arm to your front, right arm to your right.

Like a traffic cop stopping traffic to his front and to his right.

This will give you juuuust enough off-balance to move the EUC forward.

I also really like poking the EUC with just the front inside foot, then take a running leap at it before it falls over, because then my feet are symmetrical which never happens with the triangle method. I've observed a lot (most?) of the experienced riders transition to this method. I'd bet if you held up a wheel for these riders then they'd all be able to hop on it with both feet with little to no problem or practice. For sure.

Edited by LanghamP
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On 25/7/2017 at 4:19 PM, LanghamP said:

I also really like poking the EUC with just the front inside foot, then take a running leap at it before it falls over, because then my feet are symmetrical which never happens with the triangle method. I've observed a lot (most?) of the experienced riders transition to this method. I'd bet if you held up a wheel for these riders then they'd all be able to hop on it with both feet with little to no problem or practice. For sure.

Is there a video showing this?

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Hi there!

New owner here. Spent some time looking at what wheel to buy, started looking at the Ninebot, ended up on this forum, discovered the Inmotion VF5+ wheel here and in the end decided to go for the V8. As anyone else here it's hard getting started (I did a lot of skateboarding, so I know what foot to use first :) ) and this wheel is just such a nice piece of kit that even with the cover they sell for it I find it a waste of money scratching it all up (even the bottom of the pedals is nicely finished). So after practicing a bit in the grass (boy was I sweating ...) I decided to just buy another wheel, a very cheap one compared to the V8, and a lot of padding to stick on it, just to learn to ride. I don't care that the wheel is not so fast or that you can't do 20 miles with it, or that it won't mount steep hills. As long as it can get around a parking lot it's more than enough for me :)  With this one I'll go train on pavement. And with that one I won't mind other people having a go at it either.

I don't want to use it in the city or for commuting, it will be used to ride around in the paddock of the race tracks I visit (nothing is close together and some paddocks have some decent slopes to mount).

Anyone else here chose the option of getting a cheap wheel, just for training purposes?

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On 7/28/2017 at 3:56 PM, ir_fuel said:

Anyone else here chose the option of getting a cheap wheel, just for training purposes?

Yes.  Ebay step-n-roll.  I have no regrets, it took >90% of my falls; and being an inexpensive wheel, I don't hesitate to let other folks learn on it.  Probably about 20 folks have learned to ride on it now.  Only problems: The front and rear fenders screws stripped long ago - even with epoxy reinforcement.  So, I've used gorilla tape side-to-side on the fenders, and this is working quite well.  The tape has lasted longer then the original screws and will be easily replaced when the time comes.

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1 hour ago, ir_fuel said:

First step: get a cheap wheel (250 euro)

What is that wheel, it has a good look to it, that was only 250 euro?  Where did you get it, and what is the battery and motor size?

Edited by steve454
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19 hours ago, steve454 said:

What is that wheel, it has a good look to it, that was only 250 euro?  Where did you get it, and what is the battery and motor size?

It's this one, but it was even cheaper.

https://www.amazon.fr/Beeper-Road-R1-Gyroroue-Électrique/dp/B01MTQ45ID/ref=pd_cp_200_1?_encoding=UTF8&refRID=5KJ5GPM9P9G5RQKDWHV7

 

Amazon and their pricing :) This one is 299.

 

Here a screenshot from my order confirmation

5986297beff86_ScreenShot2017-08-05at22_24_03.thumb.png.126f80a5551c3f944afc47afc703b00a.png

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Specs:

20km max range, 18 km/h max speed, warning from 12km/h

132Wh Li ion Samsung battery

 

So really nothing exceptional, but for riding around the parking lot and learning it's more than enough. Especially for what I paid. 

 

Just went out for the third time. Keeps on going better and better. Now I can 8/10 times simply hop on and drive off and do some large radius corners (sometimes a bit wobbly :P ). I just kept on riding for a minute or so and stopped when I wanted to. Still not super confident and a long way to go (not ready at all to hit the streets), but it's impressive how fast it improves every time I get on again.  

Only major issue this time is getting my second foot positioned correctly when starting. It's hard getting it at the exact same position as the one that's already on the euc, and moving it around can be tricky.

This is what's included

 

beeper-road-r1bb-ice-blue.jpg

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1 hour ago, ir_fuel said:

Specs:

20km max range, 18 km/h max speed, warning from 12km/h

132Wh Li ion Samsung battery

 

So really nothing exceptional, but for riding around the parking lot and learning it's more than enough. Especially for what I paid. 

 

Just went out for the third time. Keeps on going better and better. Now I can 8/10 times simply hop on and drive off and do some large radius corners (sometimes a bit wobbly :P ). I just kept on riding for a minute or so and stopped when I wanted to. Still not super confident and a long way to go (not ready at all to hit the streets), but it's impressive how fast it improves every time I get on again.  

Only major issue this time is getting my second foot positioned correctly when starting. It's hard getting it at the exact same position as the one that's already on the euc, and moving it around can be tricky.

This is what's included

 

beeper-road-r1bb-ice-blue.jpg

Looks like a decent learning wheel, the side pads look thick, and they even included a pump.  It looks a lot more modern than the TGT3 I started with.

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1 hour ago, ir_fuel said:

Only major issue this time is getting my second foot positioned correctly when starting. It's hard getting it at the exact same position as the one that's already on the euc, and moving it around can be tricky.

That gets easier with time, and also shifting the feet.  I still have to shift my foot most of the time, it's best to be going slowly while doing it, and then speeding up.  I never try to shift feet when going fast, it's not safe.

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10 hours ago, steve454 said:

That gets easier with time, and also shifting the feet.  I still have to shift my foot most of the time, it's best to be going slowly while doing it, and then speeding up.  I never try to shift feet when going fast, it's not safe.

I managed to get them next to one another. The clue was to stop doing the "skateboard style" starts where I first launch the wheel on one foot and then hop on. Now I am able to do standing starts. Just put one foot, hop the other on and start riding. A lot easier.

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As you advance in riding skill (especially after you have learnt riding one footed), you may want to go back to the skateboard style start, it's a lot easier on the batteries and the MOSFETs... By the way, I will often only put the right pedal (which happens to be my dominant foot) down when I want to start, then while mounting the wheel and already riding one footed I flip down the second pedal with a quick flick of my left foot. Of course this will only work if the pedals can be easily flipped down in such a way. It certainly looks cooler doing it this way than hopping on at standstill and then lean in and hope for the best.

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Seriously, hoping on is perfectly fine. Yet, moving the feet is an important skill as well and not as difficult as one might think. I good trick is to simultaneously put (almost all) weight of one foot on the heel and of the other foot to the front while driving normally. Then, turning the foot a little back and forth will also move the foot. The one with weight on the heel tends to move back this way, the one with weight on the front tends to move forward. I think it works that way, because the feet don't fully cover the pedal.

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yeah that's the next phase. It's like learning who to ride a bike first, and then riding with one hand, and then with no hands. Once you get the hang of it it's super easy, but until then .... :D

Some more practicing today. Standing starts go fine most of the time. Managed to drive through some gutters without falling off (except for once :p). Left hand turns are harder than right hand turns. Time to go somewhere where I have to follow a trajectory instead of deciding myself when to turn and how big of a radius.

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It's so funny feeling like a complete beginner again after all these years. Sometimes you carve a smooth arc, next time you are wobbling your way through and nearly fall off. Looking where you want to head to is so important in keeping stable. 

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