glorat Posted November 18, 2015 Posted November 18, 2015 Hi, This is my first post to the forums! As a bit of an impulse buy, I decided to pick up a Ninebot One. I don't have any serious use for it so was about to go for the basic C model when I saw that for only an extra 200 RMB (~$30 US) I could get the new 2016 model being advertised on the China website (I live in China). So for a mere 2299 RMB ($360 US) I picked up the new model, delivered 2 days after I ordered it! The 2016 model C appears to be the same as the original C model except with a 160kW battery instead of the 100kW battery. This offers a higher capacity and top speed compared to the original but still less than the C+ and E (and incoming P models). What swung it for me is that at 160kW I'm within limits of carrying this thing on a plane, which I may need to in the future. Apart from the battery upgrade and resulting effects, I guess it is otherwise the same. As a total newbie to this, I had a couple of 15 minute attempts with only the help of the walls in a narrow corridor Mounting I got quickly, dismount is okayish I can only manage about 3 meters of wobbly travel My shins and ankles are killing me. The side padding is really stiff. Only later did I get the idea of using the foam padding for my legs (inside my socks!) rather than on the machine itself The machine is beautiful! The only glitch was that after setting a bluetooth pin code, after the first coded access I simply couldn't connect my phone anymore. Fortunately, I found a video on the internet to reset the bluetooth pin and I'm okay again. I'm reasonably pleased with day 1 learning progress but it seems like a really hard device to learn at this stage! I'm only encouraged by having read on the success people have had in this forum so hope I will pick it up as quick as most people here have! Wish me luci...
JFP9 Posted November 18, 2015 Posted November 18, 2015 glorat, keep at it! I am on day 3 with my 9B1 E+ and in that time I have gone from not being able to even stand on it, to doing 10 continuous right side loops, and 10 continuous left side loops (about a 10 foot circles) and I am starting to practice figure 8's. I can go straight without a problem. I am still a bit wobbly at times, but I am getting better with each practice. I have been on my 9B1 for about 4 or 5 hours, and it is amazing how quickly your body learns to adjust. My suggestion is to find an open field where you won't worry about falling - and you won't scuff up the outside too much. Then progress on to the pavement. I am using the same padding idea you did (under my socks to buffer my ankles). Keep at it, in a week you'll be much more comfortable and stable on it. Cheers, Jim
Guest Posted November 18, 2015 Posted November 18, 2015 Keep going, keep training. Yes, it hurts. But you will succeed in a couple of days and love it. My best training site at a river had a handrail to guard my first wheeling experiences. Let us know how you proceed have fun.
Nevin@Tec-toyz.com Posted November 19, 2015 Posted November 19, 2015 You will get in no time. Just keep practicing.
Colestien Posted November 19, 2015 Posted November 19, 2015 As they are saying, keep at it. Believe it, after a lot of time on it, the riding will become natural. If you start to doubts, just remember there is a 100kg fat man who is doing well.
JFP9 Posted November 19, 2015 Posted November 19, 2015 Hey, I resemble that remark - OK I'm more like 98kg...LOL Cheers, Jim
Jurgen Posted November 19, 2015 Posted November 19, 2015 Keep at it, 15-20min/day, don't hesitate to skip a few days, you just have to build your 'muscle memory' and this takes some time. Wear full protective gear, the worst falls happen when you believe you got it :) stay safe
glorat Posted November 22, 2015 Author Posted November 22, 2015 Thanks guys for all the encouragement! I should report on how I've been doing then. After some really painful shins and ankles, I skipped a day of practise and went to the local sports shop to by a pair of shin pads and full roller-blade protective gear. The shin pads are an absolute god-send. I think it should be mandatory for any new user of the Ninebot One to purchase shin pads. I don't know if other models have softer leg padding but the One pads are really tough. On the plus side, the One has "crashed" so many times I already cannot count but there is no real damage. Day 2: Was spent trying to go up and down an empty corridor at work with assistance from the side walls, trying to avoid hitting the fire alarm. Best bit of the day was making a full 20m down the corridor without assistance. Apart from that, it was largely 3-5 meters at a time before bailing out After Saturday was totally rained out, it came to Sunday Day 3: Outdoors in the quiet compound where I live. I'm starting to get the hang of things... I've managed one or two unassisted mounts and starts. I can typically go 5-10 meters at a time before wobbling and I'm starting to get some sense of steering. Towards the end, I was realising that if I relaxed, looked into the distance and stood bolt upright (not trying to bend knees etc.) it works a lot better. It's really counterintuitive trying to not-balance by standing fully upright but that is the advice I've read and it helps. When I go back to instinct and "crouch to maintain balance", I wobble from side to side and end up failing to control forward speed too. I think one more day and I'll have going straight working... I hope. In the mean time, my protective gear hasn't had any "use" yet. Any time I feel I'm about to lose control, I simply hop off the machine. I land on my feet and the One simply falls over onto its side. Obviously I'm going where there is noone near me for now! One final sidenote... this is the Ninebot One C 2016 model which is upgraded from the old C. The specs on this seem to vary widely depending on where I look. For example, some say the range is 10km (just like the old C) and the app says 10km, yet surely with a 60% bigger battery it goes further. Some suggest 16km which would indeed be sensible. I haven't had a chance to test the top speed, given my skill. Different docs put the top speed between anywhere from 14km/h to 18km/h. It may or may not be faster than the old C model
glorat Posted November 22, 2015 Author Posted November 22, 2015 I think Jurgen's got the best advice - and I'm following it. 15 minutes a day only - not every day. I feel safer with my full protective gear. Thanks all for the tips! Attached is my best moment of day 3! eucday3.mp4
Jurgen Posted November 22, 2015 Posted November 22, 2015 3 hours ago, glorat said: I think Jurgen's got the best advice - and I'm following it. 15 minutes a day only - not every day. I feel safer with my full protective gear. Thanks all for the tips! Attached is my best moment of day 3! eucday3.mp4 Quite nice for a third day! may the Big Rider be with you
glorat Posted November 28, 2015 Author Posted November 28, 2015 Day 4: It's all starting to come together! My body now instinctively knows when and how to perform a balance correction so it is now simply a matter of time and practise as to how much correction to apply. The more I ride now, the more stable I am. The morning started going 20 meters at a time. 20 minutes later, it was half way around the compound. By the end of the mid-morning, I think I covered about 6km and was pretty stable doing in a straight line and doing big turns. Unassisted mounts are now working about half the time. I feel the I'm climbing the competence curve as fast as I ever will today and it's really quite exciting! Thanks all for the encouragement. On a point of reviewing this model, since I haven't seen any review info on this 2016 model yet, I'll note a few things. I manage to bravely test the top speed with my phone out. It got to 17km/h before tilt back. That's certainly higher than the 14-16 of the original C model but less than the C+ and E/P models. This is basically as advertised. The maximum distance is still a bit unknown. The app keeps insisting the total is 10km and it seems to go down linearly. Given the new 160kWh battery, this can't be right. I think they simply haven't updated the software for the 160kWh battery. Hopefully I'll have the ability to test this in due course. The bot shipped with the infamously maligned 1.29 firmware. I haven't found any problems with it but I haven't gone far. The 1.30 firmware just became available today. I haven't decided whether to upgrade yet! Finally I have to mention that I've given this thing a *lot* of abuse over these 4 days of riding. It only had extra foam padding around the rim - which certainly helps on the frontal impacts that sometimes happen when I steer into a wall. Most of the time, I hop of the EUC and it skids over onto its side. It has taken surprisingly little damage as a result! I'm very impressed by the build quality so far.
glorat Posted December 1, 2015 Author Posted December 1, 2015 Day 5: I'm confident now in straight lines! It's amazing. I took the advice from some of the regulars in the forum - I'm at the learning stage of trying various drills Doing big circles Doing little circles maybe... Doing figure 8's. They are really good practice! Trying to go in a straight line as slow as you can Going up and downhill where available Shifting weight from one side to another Trying to adjust foot position while riding As far as Day 5 goes - no crashes throughout all the drills, just a few semi-controlled dismounts. Unassisted mounts from a standstill now are successful just over half the time! I almost prefer this over the skateboard style start. Once again, I have to say this forum has been invaluable in preparing me for what to expect. Thanks all! Perhaps I'll try to give back with a getting started guide and skills checklist as one progresses
playdad Posted December 3, 2015 Posted December 3, 2015 Hey Glorat, Where do you live? I'm in BJ around East Third Ring. Z
AlanR Posted December 3, 2015 Posted December 3, 2015 @glorat You have made very quick progress - I took about 2 x plus as long reaching each milestone. Well done. I am waiting for my NB1E+ after my generic bombed. Not sure what version will be installed [1.2.9 or 1.3.0] I am interested in how you fair before & after upgrading.
glorat Posted December 3, 2015 Author Posted December 3, 2015 @playdad I live in Shanghai. @AlanRBtw, it occurs to me I may have given out false information, I'm not sure this shipped with 1.2.9 after all. I vaguely remember on Day 1 I got a popup about a firmware upgrade and hit okay without really knowing about the consequences. So short of checking out the mobo, I don't know what it shipped with. I think I'll upgrade to 1.3.0 the next time I use it. I think this will be my last post on progress since things have gone well Day 6: I knew I had to take a 1km roundtrip journey from the office to somewhere for a pickup so brought the Ninebot on the Uber on the way to work. However, on the way to work, we hit a massive traffic jam about 1km from the office... it would have taken me 15 minutes for the car to complete the journey. No problem! I exited early, got on the Ninebot and got into work about 5 minutes later, scooting past all the traffic on the pavement! Super fun. The lunchtime journey was fine too. Before heading out, it was 10 minutes of drills first Big circles in an open area Doing S'es through obstacles Trying to brake to a standstill and resuming Unassisted remounts which are working 75% of the time now The journey itself was mostly uneventful but quick and fun. I had my shin pads and wrist guards for protection but I went through the whole day with *zero* uncontrolled dismounts. If I'm about to fall, I can brake to a standstill first and catch the Ninebot half the time. And as someone above predicted, there were stretches I was getting frustrated at hitting the speed limiter (17km/h). Already dreaming of a faster EUC! I have to keep reminding myself that 17km/h is already faster than I run I think this lack of crashing qualifies me beyond the rank newbie stage now! I'm feeling confident enough to get around. My brain is starting to think about finding reasons to make this thing useful so it becomes more than a toy and I can have more fun with it on an ongoing basis!
Jag_Rip Posted December 3, 2015 Posted December 3, 2015 Great writing, melikes! Now the mentioned stage starts when you feel confident enough but lack profound experience and muscle memory to overcome unexpected situations. Now you need protective gear more than ever since most of the problems will occur at full speed from now on. Try not to touch the bot with your shins and ankles while riding to avoid rubbing your skin off. Then try to use your hip to do small balancing actions, not the individual legs as this will just tilt the bot but wont rebalance your body on top of it. Dont bend your knees too much but also dont stand fully straight with all weight on your bones, so you still have some suspensiontravel left when you hit a bump or pothole.
AlanR Posted December 3, 2015 Posted December 3, 2015 @Jag_Rip when you say "..try to use your hip to do small balancing actions..." do you mean lean the whole body to do turns ? This seems to work for larger circles for me; for small circles I tip the EUC with legs only - wrong?
Jag_Rip Posted December 4, 2015 Posted December 4, 2015 @AlanR yes thats the general idea, when you already have some speed to use your body to lean in while the EUC stays parallel between the legs. I meant additionally the small unnoticeable balancing moves while riding should be done in the hip not the knees, that way you can keep the device stable between your legs. With slower speeds that gets almost impossible, i agree, since the rotation of the wheel doesnt generate enough stability. There I also tilt the wheel sideways trying to stay on it. I found that depending on the speed and sharpness of the turn you even need to hang-off like a racebike driver in order to keep the euc straight enough not to scratch the pedals. But thats some advanced moves after the first few kms of riding.
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