How to ride an electric unicycle - understanding the dynamics

[Rywokast]

8 hours ago, Phong Vu said:

After 4 days, I finally can drive my wheel at ease.
Fast, slow, turning, carving, up hill, down hill, stop, etc.. of course some more training will be needed before I can confidently drive in traffic.

The only problem I got now is pain in arch (bottom) of foot and ankle after driving for around 15, 20 min.
The pain only go away if I stop and rest for 1,2 minutes.

Could I ask if anyone experienced the same thing when you start driving?
If you do, what's most likely the problem, and how can I fix it?

Any advice and suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

everyone to some extent.. the pain will go away with practice, and only practice.. there are things to help it of course but nothing you can buy will make it go away.. getting used to it and building the right muscles will be the only thing to totally relieve it

Edited September 8, 2019 by Rywokast

[Mono]

10 hours ago, Phong Vu said:

The only problem I got now is pain in arch (bottom) of foot and ankle after driving for around 15, 20 min.
The pain only go away if I stop and rest for 1,2 minutes.

Could I ask if anyone experienced the same thing when you start driving?
If you do, what's most likely the problem, and how can I fix it?

Somewhat constantly changing the front-back weight distribution on the feet helps, somewhat making movements like for walking. I put more weight on the forefoot of one foot and on the heel of the other foot at the same time and vice versa. This is possible without to change the riding state. It is also a good trick to more easily adjust foot positioning.

Edited September 8, 2019 by Mono

[Planemo]

13 hours ago, Phong Vu said:

The only problem I got now is pain in arch (bottom) of foot and ankle after driving for around 15, 20 min.
The pain only go away if I stop and rest for 1,2 minutes.

Could I ask if anyone experienced the same thing when you start driving?
If you do, what's most likely the problem, and how can I fix it?

As has been said, theres no 'fix' for this other than riding. I was exactly the same when I started, with pain after a few miles and constant stopping to get off and move my feet about. It gets better - I made my longest single trip the other day at 29 miles although I still had to move my feet around at times, the good thing with experience is that you can do this whilst still riding. Its virtually impossible to do this whilst a newbie with your feet welded to the plates out of fear!

Whats actually becoming more of a problem for me now is leg strength. Being constantly bent kneed for that distance over various terrains left my legs knackered, again the only solution is to ride and ride (after recovery of course!)

My buddy who was out with me on his MSX kept riding after me, used up his battery then went back out again on his Z10 in the evening. He can do this virtually daily! He's no bodybuilder at all but he has just perfected the muscles used for euc riding.

[meepmeepmayer]

3 minutes ago, Planemo said:

He's no bodybuilder at all but he has just perfected the muscles used for euc riding.

Aren't that just the muscles used for walking and standing around?

I was a bit surprised that a lot of people here mention their muscles and building them up from riding, as that was never a thing for me in the slightest. Maybe it's because I'm still below the average age here *brag* 

[Mono]

2 hours ago, meepmeepmayer said:

Aren't that just the muscles used for walking and standing around?

I would think so too. Though we usually do not bent both knees while standing, while we preferably should do while EUCing, as for skiing.

[Werner]

On 9/7/2019 at 6:24 AM, Planemo said:

Narrow (1 foot or less) gravel paths with turf on either side are a bloody nightmare on the Z. I know cos I did about 5 miles of them today. It became tiresome in the end.

I know what you mean!

Had a bad crash last weekend just because of that. The wheel wobbled one ore two times so massive and just in the moment the grass ended and the asphalt begun. I fell off in front and could stop the most energy of the fall with my wrist support, then the knee protector and finally made a slap rock. I did only wear a armless shirt, so I did get a few scratches on my back. Luckily no other hurt! 

Now I'm not so sure at all, the Z10 always runs like a train. 

That's only right on flat surfaces. 

[Planemo]

2 hours ago, meepmeepmayer said:

 Maybe it's because I'm still below the average age here *brag* 

I think your're probably right tbh, age is a factor as younger people are just generally more active and stronger for their given body weight. Its my knees and thighs which fail me first on an euc. I find keeping bent legs for extended periods a 'thing' which I never really had to do before. Its not like they get any respite either, as I really, really dont like straight legs on an euc so they support me for 30 miles like that. I cant think of many activities which require the same posture for that length of time. The nearest I have had personally was rollerblading.

And also @stephen noticed a massive increase in his calf size after riding euc's so it must be working them more than his usual daily activities pervious!

[Phong Vu]

Thanks for all the replies, guys.

I took the advise and start build up the endurance today, running my first 5km trail.
The pain come sooner since my leg and feet have to work harder compare to just drive on the street/parking lot.

Hope it will be better eventually  

[GMan]

I’ve just started trying to ride with my right foot alone. Mostly, to get smoother, faster starts. So far I have limited success by leaning left and using my lower leg to keep  the wheel from tilting right. I don’t think I can do this with any amount of speed though. I’ve seen some videos where they recommended “shuffling “ to move you feet around. That caused a lot of wobble!

[M640x]

Took my first ride ever on a EUC the beginning of Sep.  Bought a KS14S and have been spending as much time as possible every day.  Minus 6 days for a small vacay.  I started in my yard.  Easier on the wheel and myself when I lose it and I have a lot.  Turning came pretty quick along with step on/step off.  My biggest hurdle was going straight.  If I wasn't turning I was falling.  Couldn't understand it. 

Fast forward to yesterday when I received my Gotway mten3.  Everything changed.  Rode it for 30 minutes yesterday and an hour tonite.  This wheel is so much easier to ride.  I was instantly a better rider with only 2 weeks and less than 40 miles under my belt.  Turns are effortless, step on/off pretty easy as well.  Oh and now I can ride straight as far and as easy as I want under complete control.  Only thing I changed was the wheel.  At this very moment, the 14S is still much harder to ride.  14S is on the shelf until further notice.  In my opinion, get the mten3 and learn on it.  It will accelerate you're learning.  I haven't fallen once.  I'm buying a second one.

[Rywokast]

6 minutes ago, Senior Coffee said:

Took my first ride ever on a EUC the beginning of Sep.  Bought a KS14S and have been spending as much time as possible every day.  Minus 6 days for a small vacay.  I started in my yard.  Easier on the wheel and myself when I lose it and I have a lot.  Turning came pretty quick along with step on/step off.  My biggest hurdle was going straight.  If I wasn't turning I was falling.  Couldn't understand it. 

Fast forward to yesterday when I received my Gotway mten3.  Everything changed.  Rode it for 30 minutes yesterday and an hour tonite.  This wheel is so much easier to ride.  I was instantly a better rider with only 2 weeks and less than 40 miles under my belt.  Turns are effortless, step on/off pretty easy as well.  Oh and now I can ride straight as far and as easy as I want under complete control.  Only thing I changed was the wheel.  At this very moment, the 14S is still much harder to ride.  14S is on the shelf until further notice.  In my opinion, get the mten3 and learn on it.  It will accelerate you're learning.  I haven't fallen once.  I'm buying a second one.

i would actually advise against learning on an mten3.. yes, its far easier than anything else.. this is because the wheel is absolutely unique.. meaning skills learned on it do not translate well to any other wheel, unlike learning on any 14-18" euc meaning once you learn to ride any 14-18" euc, you can hop on any other 14-18" and ride it pretty much straight away.. curious as to what it is about the 14S that you are having trouble with? yes its a bit awkward to mount relatively but i do find it a very stable and smooth ride for a 14".. why the mten3 is so ridiculously easy to ride is because of its insanely fat tire, which in itself makes it the most stable wheel ever.. not only that, but it also has the flattest EUC tire there is making it by far the easiest euc to learn on and those combined with the fact that its a 10" so you get completely instantaneous torque it is unmatched.... BUT these are not traits you will find in other EUCs so if you learn on that it doesnt necessarily mean you will be able to ride another EUC if thats all youve ever ridden and thats why i recommend against it.. say you learn on the 14S, great now you can ride any euc with only a small learning curve and that includes the mten.. but if you learn on an mten that does not mean you can now ride any EUC because tbh there is basically no balancing involved with riding the mten and you will probably find that for the most part hopping on any other wheel is like learning to ride all over again.. its fun as hell i know but i recommend you keep practicing on the 14S as much as possible until you can do anything on it and feel totally confident riding it in any situation, then you will truly have built the skills and balance so that you will be free to ride any wheel at any time

[Mark Lee]

32 minutes ago, Rywokast said:

i would actually advise against learning on an mten3.. yes, its far easier than anything else.. this is because the wheel is absolutely unique.. meaning skills learned on it do not translate well to any other wheel, unlike learning on any 14-18" euc meaning once you learn to ride any 14-18" euc, you can hop on any other 14-18" and ride it pretty much straight away.. curious as to what it is about the 14S that you are having trouble with? yes its a bit awkward to mount relatively but i do find it a very stable and smooth ride for a 14".. why the mten3 is so ridiculously easy to ride is because of its insanely fat tire, which in itself makes it the most stable wheel ever.. not only that, but it also has the flattest EUC tire there is making it by far the easiest euc to learn on and those combined with the fact that its a 10" so you get completely instantaneous torque it is unmatched.... BUT these are not traits you will find in other EUCs so if you learn on that it doesnt necessarily mean you will be able to ride another EUC if thats all youve ever ridden and thats why i recommend against it.. say you learn on the 14S, great now you can ride any euc with only a small learning curve and that includes the mten.. but if you learn on an mten that does not mean you can now ride any EUC because tbh there is basically no balancing involved with riding the mten and you will probably find that for the most part hopping on any other wheel is like learning to ride all over again.. its fun as hell i know but i recommend you keep practicing on the 14S as much as possible until you can do anything on it and feel totally confident riding it in any situation, then you will truly have built the skills and balance so that you will be free to ride any wheel at any time

So true, no problems riding backwards on Mten3.  Not so much as wheels get bigger.  Problem is Mten3 is so much fun I get lazy working on bigger wheels. 😕

[Mark Lee]

Dang it @Marty Backe got a change the tire again.  Only drawback tire wear and super short range.

[Marty Backe]

13 minutes ago, Mark Lee said:

Dang it @Marty Backe got a change the tire again.  Only drawback tire wear and super short range.

You're talking about the Mten3?

Do you have the stock tire or the other one? Mine is good by I probably have less than 400-miles on it.

[Mark Lee]

Just now, Marty Backe said:

You're talking about the Mten3?

Do you have the stock tire or the other one? Mine is good by I probably have less than 400-miles on it.

None stock the one @houseofjob Chris recommend.   It's okay I'm two tires deep in inventory, can't never run out of tire on Mten3 lol.

[Rywokast]

1 hour ago, Mark Lee said:

So true, no problems riding backwards on Mten3.  Not so much as wheels get bigger.  Problem is Mten3 is so much fun I get lazy working on bigger wheels. 😕

hehe luckily i learned on other wheels riding backwards so the mten3 is laughably easy, but a lot of fun  motor makes some freaky noises though lmao

[Mark Lee]

4 minutes ago, Rywokast said:

hehe luckily i learned on other wheels riding backwards so the mten3 is laughably easy, but a lot of fun  motor makes some freaky noises though lmao

Ya that scary grinding sound... you can really hear it when Marty works his Mten3. 

[Rotem Yakir]

Hi everyone,

I got my first EUC (ks18l) three days ago and only had time to do 1 session so far.

How long do you think it will take me to get used to it? How many times should I practice? And should I continue using my ninebot Segway mini pro until getting used to the EUC or will it make it harder for my muscles memory?

Thanks!

[mrelwood]

43 minutes ago, Rotem Yakir said:

Hi everyone,

I got my first EUC (ks18l) three days ago and only had time to do 1 session so far.

How long do you think it will take me to get used to it?

Anywhere between one hour and never. It depends on so many things.

43 minutes ago, Rotem Yakir said:

How many times should I practice?

As few or as many as you like. 

43 minutes ago, Rotem Yakir said:

And should I continue using my ninebot Segway mini pro until getting used to the EUC or will it make it harder for my muscles memory?

I don’t think it will make it harder. Just remember that the steering is quite different, and that a skill on either doesn’t translate to the other. The MiniPro might feel slightly different than it has before as you advance with the EUC, but it shouldn’t be a problem.

 

 

[Rywokast]

1 hour ago, Rotem Yakir said:

Hi everyone,

I got my first EUC (ks18l) three days ago and only had time to do 1 session so far.

How long do you think it will take me to get used to it? How many times should I practice? And should I continue using my ninebot Segway mini pro until getting used to the EUC or will it make it harder for my muscles memory?

Thanks!

nice, how long.. no one can say.. i learned in about 45 mins some people learn in ten mins some people ten weeks lol it depends on you, your physical activity level/sense of balance, your history with anything that could be similar, and how dedicated you are in training.. you should of course ideally practice as much as you possibly can or are willing to... and thats like comparing a bike to a skateboard lol, they are absolutely dissimilar, just because they both have motors and gyros doesnt mean they ride even remotely alike

[M640x]

5 hours ago, Mark Lee said:

So true, no problems riding backwards on Mten3.  Not so much as wheels get bigger.  Problem is Mten3 is so much fun I get lazy working on bigger wheels. 😕

Here's some more thought to the process.  A unicycle is a unicycle is a unicycle.  Whether it's a 10" or a 20" the same physics apply as far as riding.  For instance, once the physics of learning a left turn are learned on a unicycle, it applies to all unicycles regardless of size.  The only thing to account for is the difference in size and weight.  So after learning all of the skills, straight, turn, start and stop, a person can apply them to any unicycle of the same basic physical build type and ride it regardless of size.  Case in point.  I went directly from my 14" wheel to the 10" wheel and was able to ride it.  Not because it's got some magical properties that hold me upright or help in turns but because I already learned the physics of riding a unicycle.  Once I learned that it applies to any unicycle regardless of size as long as it's of the same physical build type.

[Rywokast]

6 minutes ago, Senior Coffee said:

Here's some more thought to the process.  A unicycle is a unicycle is a unicycle.  Whether it's a 10" or a 20" the same physics apply as far as riding.  For instance, once the physics of learning a left turn are learned on a unicycle, it applies to all unicycles regardless of size.  The only thing to account for is the difference in size and weight.  So after learning all of the skills, straight, turn, start and stop, a person can apply them to any unicycle of the same basic physical build type and ride it regardless of size.  Case in point.  I went directly from my 14" wheel to the 10" wheel and was able to ride it.  Not because it's got some magical properties that hold me upright or help in turns but because I already learned the physics of riding a unicycle.  Once I learned that it applies to any unicycle regardless of size as long as it's of the same physical build type.

"Only thing I changed was the wheel.  At this very moment, the 14S is still much harder to ride." i mean im just going by what you said... im saying that they are so different that the transition from a 14-18 wheel going down to a 10 is ridiculously easy.. but if you hand someone an 18" wheel who had only ever ridden a 10" wheel.. i can almost guarantee they will not be able to ride it and have to learn it all over again.. of course some skills roughly translate and its not the same as having never ridden any wheel at all.. but they translate very poorly

[mrelwood]

 

20 minutes ago, Senior Coffee said:

once the physics of learning a left turn are learned on a unicycle, it applies to all unicycles regardless of size.

I have to disagree with you there. There are three completely separate techniques for slow speed turning. The Mten doesn’t require learning tilt-turning much at all, and the 18XL for example requires a very prominent tilt-turning to be able to turn in any sensible space. Furthermore the physics of a tilt-turn are in a very different scale, requiring different moves and different muscles.

20 minutes ago, Senior Coffee said:

I went directly from my 14" wheel to the 10" wheel and was able to ride it.

Have you tried a 18” wheel? I ask because with a 14” wheel one can still get away without notable turning techniques, while on a 18” one definitely does not.

 

12 minutes ago, Rywokast said:

they are so different that the transition from a 14-18 wheel going down to a 10 is ridiculously easy.. but if you hand someone an 18" wheel who had only ever ridden a 10" wheel.. i can almost guarantee they will not be able to ride it and have to learn it all over again..

Exactly.

[M640x]

No one has to learn any new skills when going from one diameter wheel to another.  They've already learned how to ride.  My point is that the size of the wheel doesn't change the fact that the skills directly transfer from one to another.  The physics of the unicycles are the same.  If you can ride one you can ride them all accounting for and adjusting for the difference in size and weight.  When I say one is harder is just a basic generalization.  In detail it's not actually harder it's just that the adjustments haven't been fine tuned yet.

[M640x]

I'm not saying you won't notice the difference from one to the next, in fact I'm agreeing with you, that's exactly what you'll notice.

Turning on one unicycle is the same as turning on any other unicycle regardless of size.  The same skills apply.  It's the adjustment for the added size and weight that has to be accounted for.  It's not actually harder, the adjustments haven't been honed yet.