Forget pads. We need clipless pedals!

[Scottie888]

Just saw this thread & I gotta say its very interesting indeed. One idea would be to jury rig a snowboard binding on the pedals & have an easy access quick unlock (I'll leave it to the Doc Brown's to figure this out). IMO its definitely gonna be better than any power pads if the foot's locked in.

If the dismount mechanism can be solved, the only other issue is in the event of an unintended faceplant & if the unlock mechanism malfunctions, would more damage be incurred with the wheel locked in to the foot/boot rather than not.

Regardless, interesting idea for sure. The only request I have is for the person who's gonna trial this (with any method) would be to please have someone video this so we can share 😁

[DjPanJan]

3 words : Very Bad Idea 

Sorry reality is against you deal with it.

Beleve me and my angels i survived 50Km/h+ faceplant.( Angels say no clip please!)

[gon2fast]

Not my thing, but please try on your own wheel. Maybe start by cutting the toe section off of a large steel toe boot and bolting it to a single pedal (kind of like a SB/WB binding). I don't want to see any riders get hurt, be safe while testing (and use a light wheel, lol).

[Rider01]

I've also thought about clip-in pedals. I'll use my road bike pedals and design an EUC pedal around it and 3D print it, just to see if one can get in and out of the pedal. I've just had a cutout on my Nikola at 50km/h. I simply flew forward and skidded along the road on my padded clothes, only minor shoulder injury. My EUC, on the other hand, cartwheeled across to the opposite side of the road and took out the front license plate and the "Mazda" symbol on a parked car. If this had been a person walking there, I'm sure they'd been significantly injured. I think the clip-in pedals would be safer. If the EUC suddenly tilted from cutting out, the rider and wheel would simply slide along together, as you are moving in the same direction at the same speed. I could see a bit of an issue if one pedal disengaged and the other twisted your foot in case the tyre suddenly gripped again somehow. The other pedal would likely disengage in that case, though.

[rcgldr]

For steady acceleration | deceleration, the rider has to exert the same amount of torque onto the EUC that the motor exerts onto the wheel+tire, otherwise the EUC frame will rotate (tit).

Even if the safety issues are solved, there is still a leverage issue in generating a torque onto the EUC, especially when braking. Imagine standing while wearing a pair of shoes mounted to a floor: how far backwards can a person offset their center of mass? Now imagine a floor mounted padded T bar located just below and behind the knees so that the person can lean back against the T bar with their calf muscles: how much further backwards could a person offset their center of mass compared to the floor mounted shoes?

There already is an equivalent to clip-in pedals, jump pads which can be setup fairly snug, but too snug and it creates a mount | dismount issue.

EUC girl doing an acceleration test on a Begode Hero that weighs more than her. Imagine her trying to generate the same amount of torque she's able to generate with power pads and her feet shifted forwards, without the pads and just her feet locked into the pedals.

 

Edited February 18, 2023 by rcgldr