Learning to ride V11

[madbikes]

8 hours later and dropping my V11 a lot, I am able to somewhat stay on the wheel and ride around a 5-floor parking lot that has light slopes. I can only practice when the sun is down most of the time, so the ideal places to learn are out of question (also my first EUC). I know I have a long way to go where I am confident enough to ride on the street and have some questions before trying more tomorrow.

So far my progression is the following:

• Getting used to the the feel of EUC next to a garage door for 3 hours on day 1 (includes mount and dismount).
• Day 2 starts with mounting with no aid
• Can Mount and Dismount within two hours, only able to travel 20-100 feet without having take a fall or bail out.
• Can only turn left shortly afterwards, but with dominant leg clinging on the EUC
• Eventually turn right, but poorly. At this point I still can't ride very slowly.
• Standing Circle with dominant foot (right) on EUC some time later
• I tried going up and down a floor, that was not a problem.
• I almost can go through all 5 floor of the parking garage, only to fall from not being able to turn right and wiped out. End of Day 2.

1) Wheel Wobble: How do I ride without wheel wobble at higher speeds? I get that at 14-15mph (according to EUC World unadjusted). Started at 30psi and seemed to help by lowering a bit of pressure. I also tried placing my foot slightly rearward and that helped a bit. Not trying to hit the top speed when I can't ride well. I usually cruise around 15mph on my Onewheel and 20mph is the fastest I will be comfortable with for the time being.

2) Starting Stability and Low Speed Riding: How do I ride very slow without the constantly tipping over? Is it because I have my feet too close towards the wheel? Most video I've seen look like their foot is relatively close to the inside and can ride all-day without problems.

3) Pedal Tilt: I noticed the wheel will stay upright going down a slope, but dips forward when going up. It also seem like the wheel dip forward slightly after I can keep going for a certain amount of time. Did I do something wrong or that's how EUC work?

That's all I can think of for now. I really enjoy it so far. Thanks in advance.

[.....]

18 minutes ago, madbikes said:

8 hours later and dropping my V11 a lot, I am able to somewhat stay on the wheel and ride around a 5-floor parking lot that has light slopes. I can only practice when the sun is down most of the time, so the ideal places to learn are out of question (also my first EUC). I know I have a long way to go where I am confident enough to ride on the street and have some questions before trying more tomorrow.

So far my progression is the following:

• Getting used to the the feel of EUC next to a garage door for 3 hours on day 1 (includes mount and dismount).
• Day 2 starts with mounting with no aid
• Can Mount and Dismount within two hours, only able to travel 20-100 feet without having take a fall or bail out.
• Can only turn left shortly afterwards, but with dominant leg clinging on the EUC
• Eventually turn right, but poorly. At this point I still can't ride very slowly.
• Standing Circle with dominant foot (right) on EUC some time later
• I tried going up and down a floor, that was not a problem.
• I almost can go through all 5 floor of the parking garage, only to fall from not being able to turn right and wiped out. End of Day 2.

1) Wheel Wobble: How do I ride without wheel wobble at higher speeds? I get that at 14-15mph (according to EUC World unadjusted). Started at 30psi and seemed to help by lowering a bit of pressure. I also tried placing my foot slightly rearward and that helped a bit. Not trying to hit the top speed when I can't ride well. I usually cruise around 15mph on my Onewheel and 20mph is the fastest I will be comfortable with for the time being.

2) Starting Stability and Low Speed Riding: How do I ride very slow without the constantly tipping over? Is it because I have my feet too close towards the wheel? Most video I've seen look like their foot is relatively close to the inside and can ride all-day without problems.

3) Pedal Tilt: I noticed the wheel will stay upright going down a slope, but dips forward when going up. It also seem like the wheel dip forward slightly after I can keep going for a certain amount of time. Did I do something wrong or that's how EUC work?

That's all I can think of for now. I really enjoy it so far. Thanks in advance.

1) Keep riding. Everyone has wobble when they first begin. I noticed it as a newbie at 15mph as well. I just kept riding below that speed primarily and gained comfort/control. Over time, you just keep noticing you can go faster and feel more sure footed about it. During this time, you also gain distance without tiring. Its all related to muscle fatigue, muscle memory, and conditioning. Keep adjusting tire pressures to find your preference and keep riding. For me, wobbles just seemed to quit for the most part. Combined with the fact that you get used to feeling the wheel track some, you will quit over compensating and riding so tightly. Riding looser but under control is the key i think.

2)See #1  You have no gyroscopic assistance when riding slowly. Just as with a bicycle, more balance is required when standing still. Start/Stop/Backwards are tougher than simply riding, because they include 'no speed balance'. Ride more and if you really want to focus on it, practice standing on the wheel and not moving at all. Slow speed balance develops faster if you ride more at slow speeds. It took me MONTHS to get slow speed comfy, as I primarily hit the street flying, before I even safely knew to stop. Meh, I dont practice things, I ride and learn it as it hits me. More than one way to skin a cat.

3)Re-check your calibration/wheel level. You shouldnt feel it dip when maintaining speeds over a period of time on flat ground(unless hitting limiters). Feeling it dip after changing grades or doing quick turn abouts or hitting repetitive bumps, isnt uncommon. ALL my wheels have their own personalities. How they handle your intentions is a lot of it, and 'pedal dip' to a negligible degree is common.

4)Keep riding. Seriously tho, keep riding and dont overthink it. Its more a feeling and a mindset than a collection of knowledge. After a handfull of miles, you will realize that you dont exactly know HOW you got where you are, you just kept riding. Enjoying the ride and not overly focusing on improvement, is key. I had FUN from moment one. Being unsure and wobbling and falling was also FUN! Don't forget to enjoy today, as tomorrow will be different.

Edited January 11, 2021 by ShanesPlanet

[Tawpie]

@ShanesPlanetsummed things up well and I'll add

1) wobble. This is often due to muscle fatigue, it will get better as you get stronger (which means: riding. regular riding). It can happen if you're too tense too, try to relax the muscles.

2) starting: Make sure you're not looking down because you go where you're looking and 'down' is rarely the destination. Look ahead about 10 meters. Again, practice practice practice. Try delaying putting your second foot on its pedal as long as you can, but free mounting like a cool kid requires patience.

2) low speed riding: Also almost entirely a function of practice, it's about training your muscle memory. You can't really think your way through balancing, I think the brain-to-muscle connection is too slow. Try going to a sport court and marking out a medium sized square, then try to stay on the wheel and not go outside the square. You can also practice the "jerk the wheel around with your feet/shins/knees by yanking your hips" technique (kind of how a manual unicycle is balanced) as it's quicker than putting more weight on one pedal or the other and waiting for the wheel to drive into the turn. I'm no good at yanking the wheel around unless I kind of stick my butt out. Even then, it's not something I can do yet. Side benefit is that low speed balancing is a good workout for your core.

3) pedal tilt: Besides calibration there is a setting that controls pedal tilt that you can adjust with pretty much all of the apps... hard/medium/soft are the basic settings but each manufacturer has their own marketing code words for them. Hard means the pedal will tilt less in response to acceleration/deceleration, medium it will tilt more and soft it'll tilt even more. It's a setting that is different for everyone, this one calls for experimentation. The feeling that it tilts forward going up hill is almost entirely an illusion. If you were to measure the pedals they're almost certainly level... but you're leaning forward into the hill in order to accelerate up, and that makes everything seem to be tilted forward. Same phenomenon happens going down but in reverse.

Sounds like you're doing fabulous though, these are keen observations and being able to make them bodes very well—you've the makings of a hopeless EUC addict (harsh news yes, but it has to be said).

Edited January 11, 2021 by Tawpie
I forgot how to type

[Griffin]

I am in the same boat with the V11 being my first EUC.  I have had it for a few day's now, and going in laps around my parking lot I hit the wobble at around 12-15mph.  But its not horrible and I can just shift my feet a little and it seems better.  As a new rider my legs get worn out quickly and after 15-20 min of riding I need to stop and rest a couple of hours.  I still can't mount without a support, however on day 2 I was able to dismount without having to grab the wheel with my hand.  And I am really having fun with the wheel so far, and slow riding is all I have really done so far.  When I turn I don't like how wide I need to make those to feel stable.  I'm sure with more practice everything will get easier, my next goal is to mount without having to lean on something first.

[madbikes]

13 hours ago, Griffin said:

I am in the same boat with the V11 being my first EUC.  I have had it for a few day's now, and going in laps around my parking lot I hit the wobble at around 12-15mph.  But its not horrible and I can just shift my feet a little and it seems better.  As a new rider my legs get worn out quickly and after 15-20 min of riding I need to stop and rest a couple of hours.  I still can't mount without a support, however on day 2 I was able to dismount without having to grab the wheel with my hand.  And I am really having fun with the wheel so far, and slow riding is all I have really done so far.  When I turn I don't like how wide I need to make those to feel stable.  I'm sure with more practice everything will get easier, my next goal is to mount without having to lean on something first.

I find two things that end up helping. Your result may vary.

1. Master Standing Half/Full Circle. This is a good technique as a quick check and build muscle memory to be in-control of the wheel. Imagine your legs as a compass to draw circle and the wheel will be the pencil. If you put your dominant foot in a good spot, your leg will cling onto the wheel instead of wanting to drop. Use your toe and heel to move the wheel with your other foot standing. As you get more comfortable, try standing circle slowly and you will be able to do it smoother over time.
2. Scoot Forward, Step on with Back Straight and Foot Out. Remember having to scoot forward before an electric scooter propels itself? It's similar except you somewhat need to try swiftly keep your back straight once you stepped on the wheel. It took some time before realizing having your foot not so close toward the wheel and stand up pretty straight tremendously improve stability.

[Griffin]

On 1/12/2021 at 1:33 AM, madbikes said:

I find two things that end up helping. Your result may vary.

1. Master Standing Half/Full Circle. This is a good technique as a quick check and build muscle memory to be in-control of the wheel. Imagine your legs as a compass to draw circle and the wheel will be the pencil. If you put your dominant foot in a good spot, your leg will cling onto the wheel instead of wanting to drop. Use your toe and heel to move the wheel with your other foot standing. As you get more comfortable, try standing circle slowly and you will be able to do it smoother over time.
2. Scoot Forward, Step on with Back Straight and Foot Out. Remember having to scoot forward before an electric scooter propels itself? It's similar except you somewhat need to try swiftly keep your back straight once you stepped on the wheel. It took some time before realizing having your foot not so close toward the wheel and stand up pretty straight tremendously improve stability.

Yes I've been doing both of those practice tests.  I can now do the scoot forward and mount thing pretty well.  Only exception is for an uphill start I can't get that right yet, level and downhill works every time.  The back straight I think was key for getting forward motion going constantly for mount and take off.  I am also finding I don't really have a dominate leg, both mounting with left foot or right are pretty much same results.  Yesterday I notice also my slow turns are getting much more controlled and sharper.  I still have my top speed set at 25km/h and hit that quite often now. 

[Tawpie]

Getting going uphill is much more difficult because you have to have your weight well forward to get the wheel to move at all (it has a lot more work to do and physics is working against you). I wouldn't be concerned about it, just keep practicing on gentle slopes. As the muscle memory and strength for low speed balance improves, so will your ability to mount+balance at very low speeds.

[Freestyler]

Make sure you have the wheel in sport mode and 100% sensitivity if you want to tackle hard inclines with the minimum forward tilt possible.

In order to avoid shifting your weight forward in steep inclines you can try using one foot as a gas pedal and press with your ball of your toes while lifting the heel.(kinda like an accelerator)

I had to do this on my v11 on steep inclines, until I placed power pads and now everything is easy mode.

Edited January 13, 2021 by Freestyler

[Scottie]

On 1/10/2021 at 8:05 PM, ShanesPlanet said:

Feeling it dip after changing grades or doing quick turn abouts or hitting repetitive bumps, isnt uncommon. ALL my wheels have their own personalities. How they handle your intentions is a lot of it, and 'pedal dip' to a negligible degree is common.

I 2nd that.

 

On 1/10/2021 at 8:05 PM, ShanesPlanet said:

4)Keep riding. Seriously tho, keep riding and dont overthink it. Its more a feeling and a mindset than a collection of knowledge. After a handfull of miles, you will realize that you dont exactly know HOW you got where you are, you just kept riding.

I 2nd this too.

 

On 1/10/2021 at 8:24 PM, Tawpie said:

you've the makings of a hopeless EUC addict (harsh news yes, but it has to be said).

Yes, a very real danger! Once you go so far ... there is no turning back without some kind of intervention or therapy. 

 

On 1/11/2021 at 8:49 AM, Griffin said:

When I turn I don't like how wide I need to make those to feel stable.  I'm sure with more practice everything will get easier,

The V11 has a natural ability to turn very tight circles with the C-1488 tire (likely what you have). And the V11 has smooth controllable power delivery which makes small circles easy to control. I will bet that within a couple of months at most, you will be making very tight turns like a boss!

 

5 hours ago, Griffin said:

I am also finding I don't really have a dominate leg, both mounting with left foot or right are pretty much same results.

Count yourself lucky! Use this as a natural advantage and keep mounting both ways. Most of us have learned to mount with a dominant leg, and consider training and mastering mounting both ways as a higher level goal.

 

On 1/10/2021 at 8:05 PM, ShanesPlanet said:

Over time, you just keep noticing you can go faster and feel more sure footed about it. During this time, you also gain distance without tiring. Its all related to muscle fatigue, muscle memory, and conditioning.

This is the key thing for all new riders. Once you are able to mount and control the wheel well enough to stay on and navigate in the direction you want (rather than the wheel taking you somewhere) then the improvements in balance, control, and conditioning come naturally with time on the wheel. And, as it has been said on the forum before ... we even learn to ride the wheel in our sleep, when the brain processes and locks things in.