What got you started riding EUC's?

[Chaotropic]

There’s a local guy that rides a car one wheel in my town. I was like, “wtf” that looks fun. I could use that to go to work. 
 

I started looking up the one wheel. My first video I saw Jimmy Chang’s you tube review. The second video I watched his video where he compared the one wheel to the EUC and it was no contest. More speed, more range = price. And the newer wheels look more professional than the one wheel which was a good selling point. I’ve gotta be professional when I show up to work (lol), and the V11 was perfect. 

Put a preorder in for a V11 and bought an MTen3 to practice on. I honestly thought it would be harder, but I guess all the years I’ve spent skate boarding and long board had conditioned me.

I haven’t convinced anyone to get one, and I haven’t taught anyone yet. My daughter will likely be the first person I teach. She seems interested. I see some neighborhood kids interested as well. It won’t be long, I’m sure. 

[Jam]

1. I'd never heard of an EUC until I saw an article about Segways which led me to look at Ninebots. I'd been considering buying a bike for commuting for a few years but have never been into cycling or boarding so I was surprised when something about EUCs really struck me. I did some research, heard it feels similar to skiing (which I can do) and two days later ordered one! 

2. No one yet but I'm trying!

[Scottie]

15 hours ago, Jam said:

I was surprised when something about EUCs really struck me.

That seems to be what happens. We get struck, bitten, smitten, stung, etc. by the EUC form factor. That seems to be the common thread, whether it was a real life sighting, or YouTube, most of us here could not let that go none of us here could let that go!

Thanks for making this your 1st post, and welcome to the forum!

[Jam]

Thanks for the welcome, I'm happy to be among fellow riders!

[Kai Drange]

1. I follow a runner known as Barefoot Ted (known from the book "Born to Run") on facebook. He started riding around on a Solowheel and selling them. It must have been 5+ years ago now, I guess. I have wanted one since then, but felt I couldn't justify it, as the exercise I get from running/riding a bicycle to work is good for me. Then, when the corona situation hit, public transport wasn't allowed, and I got fed up with riding my bicycle all the time to get anywhere. So then I had the excuse I needed and ordered an V8F. I had no idea there was a learning curve involved, nor did I realise it was this dangerous. So in hindsight I didn't know what I got myself into.
 

2. Before ever trying to ride one, I talked about them a lot to friends and colleagues, thinking it was the perfect transport for commuters. Now that I actually have a bit of experience riding one I tend to be more reluctant to recommend them. I say that I love mine and that it is a lot of fun. But also mention that getting good at riding takes effort and that it is more dangerous than I thought it would be. I don't know anyone else who have bought one yet.

[bartm]

1. For improving my commute bicycle-train-foot I was looking for a foldable bicycle, until I discovered electric unicycles on youtube. So much more efficient!

2. No.

 

[Scottie]

13 hours ago, Kai Drange said:

Now that I actually have a bit of experience riding one I tend to be more reluctant to recommend them. I say that I love mine and that it is a lot of fun. But also mention that getting good at riding takes effort and that it is more dangerous than I thought it would be.

That is probably the way many/most of us are. I've only tried to get one friend of mine to give it a try, because he is very athletic. He stood on it a little and that was enough for him.

Once I was flagged down by a guy a bit older than myself to play twenty questions. He was very interested, and said he wanted to try one. I told him you have to be stubborn and half crazy. He said, "that's me". I told him where he could order one. I never saw him again. Maybe he thought about it for a while, maybe not. That was about the closest I've come to seeing another person give it a go or even talk about it. Although, many folks take notice.

Edited July 21, 2020 by Scottie

[null]

Looked at alternative means of transport after getting tired of public transport and bicycle. A rental kick scooter convinced me of the benefits of PEVs, and interest went immediately to EUCs. I had ridden monocycles so it was quick and extatic. After 9000km I still ride laughing by myself.

My parents (both 60+), brother, a cousin, three friends. About half are showing further interest, two got their own EUC.

Edited July 21, 2020 by null

[Tazarinho]

During my recent holiday trip to France I taught two people how to ride and three others tried it at least once.
 

[Scottie]

8 hours ago, Tazarinho said:

During my recent holiday trip to France I taught two people how to ride and three others tried it at least once.

WOW! I am very curious. How old were the two that you taught? Did you get them up and going in one day? Did they have similar skills, such as skateboarding, skiing, surfing, etc.? This is very nice. Tell me more!

[Johnny Rocket 98908]

I have taught 6 people in my town how to ride, but they only borrow my wheels, none of them want to buy one   Currently there is one other person in my town that owns an EUC, and I haven't met him yet.

[Tazarinho]

17 hours ago, Scottie said:

WOW! I am very curious. How old were the two that you taught? Did you get them up and going in one day? Did they have similar skills, such as skateboarding, skiing, surfing, etc.? This is very nice. Tell me more!

They were both in their mid thirties. One was a former skater and took to it really quickly. After about an hour he was riding around by himself. In the next couple of days he joined me for a few tours on the V8, while I was on the 16X. The other needed two sessions, spread over two days before she felt ready to let go of my arm/wall/fence. She didn't have the confidence yet to join me on an actual tour, but was getting close. She does roller derby as a sport, but I would say that this actually held her back a little, because she was slipping into bad habits and bad posture that are good if your legs can move independently on roller skates, but not so much when they have to stay together on a wheel. 

[UniMe]

1) it was simple --  I saw a guy on an EUC and stopped to ask how fast and far it went. He told me up to 50kph and 70+ kilometers! I decided then and there that I wanted one.

2) I'm so new to the EUC that I haven't spread the bug very far yet. Lots and lots of people look and smile when I'm practicing in my suburban neighborhood though, and I've been yammering about my wheel to a guy at work, so who knows what will happen. My wife has an interest though, and already ordered some gear. I can't wait until we get to go shopping for another wheel!! Fingers crossed that she takes to it

Edited August 6, 2020 by UniMe

[WILSONEUC]

I started with the Onewheel XR  a couple months ago after watching Jimmy Chang. 

Then, I watched videos about the electric unicycle on his channel. I looked up other youtube channels that featured EUC's.

Isthereanyfood gave me a good idea of what i would be expecting riding after watching him teach others how to ride on his channel, and DUF too.

U-strides content furthered my interest even more. 

Bought a KS16S, ebike, escooter, then a second euc KS16X, and now im hooked and broke. but it was worth it

 

 

2nd) Im still new, but my friend tried my KS16S and he found it hard to get into and needs practice, but he is more into my Onewheel and wants that more. The area that I live in, people are set in their ways and kind of behind on the times, so when i encounter people they ask me about it but no one wants to try it or anything like that. Im sure it will change more the more i make my self visible to others. 

Edited August 10, 2020 by WILSON-YT

[pandel]

1) I saw a bunch of videos over the last couple of years with people riding EUCs and was very interested but always thought I would not be able to learn riding them, because of my non-existing body balance  - then I saw a video of @Mike Sacristan teaching a friend how to ride and I thought I should try it regardless of my concerns. So I bought an Airwheel X8 as learning wheel and started practicing. A bit later I bought my KS18L :-)

2) A girlfriend of mine was interested in trying to ride and I practiced with her using my old X8. She was verrrry good and only needed about an hour. Being used to do artistic cycling a few years ago helped a lot, her body still knew what to do. As said, about one hour later she took a ride around the block with me. She won't buy a wheel I guess, but she likes to go on a short trip every now and then :-)

Edited August 10, 2020 by pandel

[WebDev]

For me, it was watching Chooch & Chang videos on YouTube.

Somewhere along the way, I discovered Jimmy Chang's channel and it got me really interested in a OneWheel.  In one of his videos, I noticed some people riding some other sort of contraption.  It was then that I discovered the EUC.  I watched more and more videos, and it soon became clear that this was something that I really wanted to get into, especially after watching how Chooch was able to ride these things offroad.  Seeing that really inspired me!

Tomorrow I'll be learning to ride my first EUC, a V8F, and I hope to one day blaze through some trails like Chooch does on a S18 or V11.

Edited August 10, 2020 by WebDev

[Scottie]

7 hours ago, pandel said:

I saw a video of @Mike Sacristan teaching a friend how to ride and I thought I should try it regardless of my concerns.

The fun he is having with his crew is infectious. I enjoy seeing all the people he rides with. It is amazing the number of people in his area buying EUC's.

[Retrovertigo]

I was looking on YouTube at folding electric bikes. I can't walk very well/far so wanted something to give me some independence that was also a little out of the ordinary. I believe the first channel I saw as a recommendation that featured EUC's was TheTopher. I think he was riding his wheel around a multi-storey carpark and stopped to explain to a couple what he was riding. From there I found Chooch, Kuji etc etc and was hooked.

This was just over a year ago, and I saw recommendations for speedyfeet here in the U.K. The Z10 was due to arrive (the euro build one) and I decided after seeing how cool it looked, that it was the one I wanted as my first wheel. And now I'm looking at adding either a V11 or S18.

I haven't ever taught anybody ese, but have had a lot of questions from either passers by, or guys on electric bikes. A few of the electric bike guys have been familiar with them and the first question is always "is it easy to ride". It's a difficult one for me to answer as I could ride a traditional unicycle which I think helped immensely. I have a friend who I have kept it secret from, as I know he will want to try it, but basically I don't want him dropping it!  Plus he never lets me ride his motorcycles (I'm a former biker myself and used to ride with him all the time) so I'm following his lead  

[Scottie]

19 hours ago, Retrovertigo said:

I can't walk very well/far so wanted something to give me some independence that was also a little out of the ordinary.

Same here. When I saw one go by me, I instantly knew that those things were going to give me back some freedom to get around. The form factor was appealing ... very easy to put in a car and go, unlike a scooter or bicycle.

[Unventor]

My reason is medical. I  have different rheumatic decreases. Some are due to my psoriasis arthritis and the damage it caused in my left knee. Others places are due to osteo arthritis and yet others are skeletal changes that is irreversible. 

To illustrate how bad this is I marked it on this picture.

It limits what I can do for exercise and the less exercise I do the worse it gets. So for me it us to find d the right level and type of movement and motivation to breathe the down spiral I were in. 

Starting to ride EUC was very very hard. But I kept at it in the basement due to determination and motivation. 

Now 2.5 years later and about 6000km totally I am entering next level of riding, with s Inmotion V11 landing on my doorstep any day now.

I will add a video link in here soon to this post. It is something I wanted to do and now is the right time. I will be filming this in a few days. It is the prologue of a series of planned new V11 videos comming from me. 

Now back to the start. I were looking at e-bicycles as government had an incentive were you could get 25% payback (max about 1000€) but the more I looked st it this the more I found the EUC would be so much better for me. So I ended up with buying an Inmotion V8 not too expensive but just enough for me not to put it in a corner. Then I  set a goal to ride to work my end of May. (Got it delivered in End of Marts with snow outside). All my colleagues at said that is impossible for me to do. So my Dane-gene kicked in and kept me motivated. By the 17th of April I did my first real traffic ride to work 1800m. And home again in the afternoon. 

No matter how hard you try, I doubt you can imagine how proud this made me feel. So the trip to work looked like this (recorded a bit later).

It has been a lifesaver for me. Had I not done this, I would properly still be glued to the couch. 

Edited August 11, 2020 by Unventor

[Scottie]

21 hours ago, Unventor said:

I will be filming this in a few days.

Ending with your reflection in the window was a nice touch!

[Vagrant Sneaker]

1st) I'm interested to know what got you started riding. Do you remember that 1st spark of interest? How did you 1st find out about EUCs? What made you take the leap?

I've been looking into getting a P.E.V. for some time now to get to work. My ride is short and since I wasn't getting a car for quite a few months, I was looking at what was out there. Plus parking is a pain in the ass where Im at. Even when I get my car, I wont use it unless its raining or bad weather. Before the EUC, I was looking at different options;  electric skateboards (Boosted), One Wheel, scooters (Unagi) and EUC. After some tiring research, my goal was to get the latest product since most of those brands had releases that were over a year old. Some even reaching 2 years. After watching Kuji Rolls video on the V11, I was hooked. That would be my first P.E.V. It was perfect timing since my goal was to get the latest model for whatever I chose. It would suck to buy something with over a year old and then a couple of months later, that company would announce something new.

I just thought it would be fun to ride and was also sold on all the features it had and how that would be useful to me. The biggest thing that stood out was the suspension. As you get older, your knees get weaker. Even when I workout my legs, I wear wraps on certain exercises (Im now wearing knee wraps under my knee pads. Works wonders). So, when I saw that it had shocks, that was probably the biggest feature that sold me on making my purchase. I think It's really important to have something like that on an EUC because it will help tremendously in damping the rough roads.

 

2nd) Have you persuaded anyone else that you know to try riding one? Did anyone you know approach you and ask that you teach them from the beginning, from where they could not ride at all? And the same question but for a stranger that possibly saw you riding and got very interested? Did you help anyone choose a wheel? These kinds of questions are related to you helping someone in person, not over the internet.

Actually, a co- worker of mine is now interested in one. He's thinking really hard right now on a choice. I've already had plenty of people approach me about the wheel; What is that? Is it hard to ride? How fast does it go? That's the future man. Is it hard to ride? Where did you get it? How much does something like that cost? etc. Obviously, if my co -worker gets it, I'll teach him. 

[houseofjob]

1. When I started was when PEV's were first starting progress into proper commuting options, speed-wise & design-wise, right around the time companies like Boosted, FutureMotion OneWheel, and Ninebot & King Song came onto the scene. I live in a weird armpit of Upper West Side Manhattan where there are no subway stops close by, bus options are super slow, and I had been cycling through all manners of manual options (Kick Scooter (Xootr, Kickped), Penny Nickel kick push board, etc.) for my then commute to my work office in Hell's Kitchen / Theater District. Like most NYC early EUC riders at the time, what caught my first attention to EUC's was the at-the-time-revolutionarily designed brand new Ninebot One in an Uncrate blog post (https://uncrate.com/ninebot-one-self-balancing-scooter/). But I didn't think much of this on first read. It was only when I was seriously considering taking the jump to electric transport that I started researching various options. I almost went Boosted Board LOL, because of their slick marketing. But it was 3 things that tipped me over the edge: 1.) discussing with my best HS friend over lunch about the search, he very nonchalantly said, why not EUC? since it has the smallest form factor (he doesn't ride anything BTW); 2.) after my friend said this, that night I saw Dave @Citi Wheel ride past me on a Ninebot One E+ as I was walking back home, and I took that as a sign LOL (I didn't know Dave at that time, but since then, we've become friends, which guys who've watched our Z10 vid runs last year with @Tishawn Fahie might already know LOL); and 3.) @Tim Haden conveniently still ran his NYC local based Hood Riderz shop + local NYC group rides, so I was able to meet up with them to see the wheel, then purchased a Ninebot One E+ online right after.

2. I've never directly in-person and in-the-flesh helped anyone learn how to ride or pick a ride, but I get hit up all the time by guys from all over the community asking about selecting wheels. Oh, and the only one I know that I've directly influenced in the flesh (not YouTube or on these forums) into getting and learning an EUC was a now rider friend Jerome, who like when I saw Dave, saw me riding past (we didn't know each other at the time, but we live next building away from each other) and said he got a wheel shortly after. It's funny because for awhile, me, Dave and Jerome did many a trip together.

[rainystateguy]

i came across a EUC video on YouTube.  I knew as soon as I watched the video that I was going to buy one and learn to ride it.  I've been riding motorcycles for more than 50 years and I could tell just by watching the videos that EUCs offer everything I like about motorcycle riding and more.  Last week I started to teach my 45 year old nephew how to ride, but within 5 minutes of putting his feet on the pedals for the first time he was circling through the parking lot on my V10F.  He is also getting a V10F.  Hopefully it will be here tomorrow.  

[Philip W]

I live in New York City and I love to drive around to the parks in the northeast states. Yet my car is too small to hold a bike, and a bike rack seems unsafe to me and too much trouble. So I had been actively looking for something to replace a bike. I bought some roller-skates with big wheels; I took over my neighbor's hoverboard; and I purchased 2 folding bikes... In the end it was a small EUC that seized my heart. It was so convenient to put it in my car! I went to a park and started riding. People mostly smiled at me. Children wowed after me. It was mostly a great feeling riding it everywhere.