Popular Post DJ_Cosmo Posted January 20, 2021 Popular Post Share Posted January 20, 2021 Download Guide As PDF Here! Riding an EUC – From Never-Ever to Expert – A Detailed Written Guide Version 1 – Jan 2021 Summary This is a written guide on how to go from never-ever having been on an EUC to being an expert rider – moving with traffic, at night, in the rain, in New York City. There are lots of resources on the internet to learn how to ride an EUC, and plenty of great videos that might get you up-to-speed faster. That said, when I was learning, I couldn’t find a resource that took the time to patiently go through every step to learn how to ride and really dig in on the tiny details. So this is an unapologetically long and detailed written guide. You may want to print out the (better) formatted PDF from the link above because it will take some time to read, and we’ll be diving deep down into the weeds on riding technique to help you to continue to move your skills forward – improving your speed, safety and maneuverability. The focus here is on using your EUC for urban transportation and so there isn’t much discussion about how to do tricks (but there’s lots of YouTube videos for that). I hope you find this helpful and finish inspired to get out there and ride! About Me I’m a recent convert to the EUC and used my COVID-quarantine to teach myself a new skill – riding my wheel. A lot of people have asked how I learned, so I’ve broken this down into a bunch of easy steps. For better or worse, this is all text (no video). There are lots of great videos on YouTube (I used some of them), and so this is the written version. I’m an early-50s male, 190 pounds, reasonably athletic (for my age). I have a lot of experience in-line skating, but no other real background in “balance sports” – not a skateboarder / surfer / snowboarder / etc. I live in NYC (Manhattan) and have been skating in NYC traffic for decades, so I have lots of experience being “in traffic”. My daily commute is from the Upper West Side to Mid-town, and so I thought I’d try to learn to ride an EUC instead of taking the “corona subway”. My Wheel For reference, I ride a KingSong 18XL – and I love it. This was my first wheel and at first it was big, powerful and pretty scary. I now have it under control, and have never felt like it is underpowered. I don’t push it much over 25 mph (mostly I cruise around 15-20 mph) so having a big top-end isn’t really needed. Going 20 mph in NYC traffic is plenty fast for me, thanks. That said, having all of the acceleration power is really helpful and very much recommended. As you will learn, power = safety, particularly in traffic. I’m also a big fan of the 18” wheel – bigger wheels just do better on bumpy surfaces so for city riding the bigger wheel has been great and I think also safer. Getting Ready To Ride Choosing A Wheel There’s plenty to read out there about which EUC to buy, and which one is right for you. I won’t rehash the topic too much here, but my general advice is to buy the most expensive and powerful wheel you can afford and learn to ride on that. I advise against getting an inexpensive “starter wheel” with the idea of upgrading if you like riding. The beginner wheels tend to be small, underpowered, hard to ride and, honestly, kind of dangerous. · Brandname – try to get a well-known brand that has been around for a while, as opposed to a new company and new model. There is a lot of technology that goes into making these machines safe and reliable and so getting a wheel on the cutting edge might result in a machine that requires constant software upgrades, has electronics that “fry” early on, doesn’t do well in the rain, or is unreliably dangerous as the initial kinks are worked out of the model. o Some well-known names include: KingSong, Gotway, Ninebot / Segway, Inmotion, Veteran (new company but started by team from other companies). · Buy From A Dealer – EUCs are generally reliable but can have problems over time with electronics, battery life and from crashes. It’s not advised to buy a used machine (Had a crash? Battery won’t hold a charge) and instead get a new machine from a well-known dealer. I bought mine online from eWheels and they are apparently the biggest dealer in the US and will honor warranties without hassle. (But that’s not meant to be an endorsement, and they didn’t pay me to write this, etc.) Local stores are also a great option and you can see (and maybe try) the machines before buying one. · Power – Simply put, more power is better. If you need to accelerate out of a tricky situation, or if you want to go faster, knowing that you have plenty of “headroom” to accelerate hard without overloading the circuit or motor is very reassuring. My wheel has a 2,100 watt motor and I’m not sure I’ve every maxed it out. · Wheel Size – Again, bigger is better. While the smaller wheels (14” and smaller) are a bit easier to steer (at least initially), the larger wheels are more stable and roll over road hazards much more easily. I have an 18” wheel and have never felt like the wheel was too big (and appreciated many times the ability to roll over sticks / rocks / potholes without issue). · Battery and Range Anxiety – Lastly, again, bigger is better for the battery. My wheel’s range is 70 miles and on a recent 90-minute ride I went through about 40% of the battery – which is to say not even close to draining it. Once you get good at riding, you’ll find that you want to do 15-20+ mile rides and will want a battery rated for at least 150% of that so that you don’t end up rolling home on the bottom 20% of the battery capacity where the battery performs less well (slower, less safe). Additionally, I never have “battery anxiety” on a ride – worried that my battery might run out and leave me stranded. My wife has a scooter with a 12 mile range and this adds a constant source of stress on our rides because we’re constantly checking to see if her battery is running low and trying to figure out how to charge it if it does. Your Wheel Just Arrived In The Mail! Awesome! Exciting! Here’s what to do before your first ride: · Unbox It – But be careful and save the box. If there is something wrong and you need to return / exchange the wheel then you’ll need the box. · Check It Out – have a spin through the owner’s manual and figure out where the charging and USB ports are, how the trolley handle works and how the pedals flip down. · Charge It – Give it a full charge (overnight) before you head out on your first practice session. I know it’s hard to wait for this, and using it a little in the living room when it first arrives won’t hurt it, but a full charge is great for the long-term health of your battery. · Pair It – Figure out what app you’re going to be using, download the app to your phone and pair your wheel via Bluetooth. I use DarknessBot, but there’s a bunch of other good apps out there. (Google Search: euc Bluetooth phone app) · Upgrade It – The app should check for upgrades to the wheel’s software and so upgrade the wheel if needed. The software upgrades typically improve reliability, safety and handling. · Adjust The Wheel Settings – Every wheel has some settings you can adjust from the app. A few I suggest tweaking when you’re first learning: o Alarms / Tilt-Back: The wheel will tell you when you’re going over a pre-set speed limit (or when you’re about to max out the wheel’s power) with some beeps / alarms and then finally by “tilt back” where it tries to force you stand up and slow down by slightly tilting the pedals backward (scary the first time it happens, especially at high speed). I suggest initially setting these alarms around 10-15 mph for beginners, and then moving them up as you get more comfortable. o Performance Mode: My wheel came with a “Beginner” mode (soft pedal dip) and “Expert” (no pedal dip). It turns out, for me at least, the Expert mode was much easier for me to learn on – the pedals remain completely flat at all times (like a sidewalk). You can try different settings – but consider that the “Expert” settings might be easier to learn on. · Tire Pressure – Tire pressure is really important on an EUC, and a change of even a few PSI can really change your riding experience. Ultimately, you’re only balanced on a couple square inches of the tire so changing the pressure makes a dramatic effect on the handling (unlike on a bicycle). o As a beginner, I suggest setting your tire pressure quite low at 20-25 PSI, which will make the wheel a bit sluggish but also much more docile. o As you get better, and want to go faster, slowly creep up the PSI each time you ride to 30-35+ PSI which will make the wheel noticeably more “twitchy” and responsive, but also harder to control. Over time you will naturally develop the fast twitch muscles in your feet and legs that you need to counteract the twitchiness of the wheel, but this will take time and hours of experience riding the wheel. o I strongly recommended checking and adjusting your tire pressure every time you ride (and particularly if you haven’t been on the wheel for a few days) with a simple pressure gauge and portable bike pump (Amazon search: digital tire pressure gauge ~$10, Amazon search: mini bike pump ~ $15). o Moving the wheel from a warm house to a cold outdoors (winter) will cause the PSI to slightly drop, and moving from a cold house to a hot outside (summer) will cause the PSI to slightly rise. · Pad the Wheel – I strongly suggest a neoprene protective cover for the wheel when you’re learning (I still keep mine on today) which will prevent scratching when you inevitably drop the wheel. The wheel’s going to get scratched, but still. (Look on www.ewheels.com – Bodyguard Protective Neoprene Covers). Don’t worry about the pedals, they’re going to get very, very scratched – it’s unavoidable and they’re made to take it. · Pad Yourself – There’s a very detailed safety section later on but, at the very least, please get a full-face helmet, leather gloves and knee pads. The protection will also give you more confidence when you’re learning. And please read the safety section which has lots more detail. Let’s Learn To Ride! Charged Up! – Let’s Stand In A Door Frame · Power up your wheel, flip down the pedals, and stand on the wheel in a doorframe (indoors at this point is fine). · Try to get a first feel for having this thing under you. For me it was not like anything I had ever felt before so it took some time to just get used the balance. · Now rock forward and back… bounce up and down a bit to feel the air in the wheel. As noted, I found lower air pressure (20-25 PSI) much, much easier to learn on. · As you rock front-and-back the wheel will eventually turn in one direction. This is really, really important: to get the wheel back under you, you twist the wheel, not lean the wheel. There is a tendency to want to lean the wheel back to the correct position and this won’t work. · Picture yourself balancing over the front wheel of a bicycle, and you need to twist the wheel under you to correct when you are off balance. · I’m going to say this again, because it’s really the heart of the first learning steps – to correct / turn the wheel you TWIST not lean. This is your mantra: twist not lean, twist not lean, twist not lean. Let’s Go Outside – Find A Shopping Cart And A Parking Lot · Lots of people suggest a next step of going along a wall or back-and-forth in a hallway but this did not work for me (at all, and very frustrating). · My advice – go to a shopping center with an empty parking lot (or at night) and get a shopping cart. (I live NYC so I had to drive out of the city, but it was worth it.) · Mount the wheel while holding the cart in front of you until you can stand. Gently, gently creep forward with the cart (lean forward / put pressure on your toes), go six feet, and then stop (lean back / put pressure on your heels). · Keep doing this until you feel like you can roll in a straight line for 10 feet and then 20 feet. Here’s the key thing – when the wheel starts to track off your line, twist the wheel to get it back under you. Twist, twist, twist. · Eventually you’ll be able to go back-and-forth across the lot (dismounting to turn around) and then in big circles around the lot (in both directions!). All good. · At some point you’ll be pretty comfortable rolling along behind the cart (it took me 2-3 sessions of about 30 minutes each – you may figure this out a whole lot faster). You are learning to balance left-to-right here but the cart is not letting you fully feel the front-to-back axis yet, which is fine. Now Let’s Play Shopping Cart “Push-and-Catch” · The next step is play catch with the cart. Once you’re pretty comfortable rolling along behind the cart, start standing up straighter and put less and less pressure on the cart handle. As you stand up straighter (less leaning forward on the cart), you’ll find that the front-to-back balance on the wheel comes into play and feels different. · And then, just for second, let go of the cart and then grab it again. This will be your first time fully balanced along both axis – left-to-right and front-to-back. · Keep taking your hands off the cart and then, when you’re ready, the next step is to push the cart just ahead of you and then roll-up and catch it as the cart naturally slows down. Do a couple of these short push-and-catch sequences until you’re feeling comfortable rolling for 1-2 and then 2-3 seconds without using the cart as your crutch. You’re almost there! Starting Without The Cart · Since you’re obviously not going to have a shopping cart with you at all times, you’ll need to learn how to start without the cart. · The easiest thing to do is to lean on a post (post / street light / street sign / parked car / friend / etc.), find your balance, and then lean forward. This is harder than it looks at first because you’re starting from an unbalanced 0 mph and getting up-to-speed over the first 15 feet can be tricky at first. · There is no shame is starting off a post and I still do it all the time when I come to a traffic light and don’t want to put a foot down. I’ll always look for a handy post / car / sign to use before stepping off the wheel. Starting Without A Post · If you don’t have a post handy to start off of, you’ll need to be able to start without a post, which can be a bit tricky. · First, put your dominant foot on the wheel, slightly bend that knee, twist that foot and knee in slightly, and create pressure between the wheel and that leg’s shin. The wheel should be slightly over-vertical and tilted in when you establish this pressure (so not perfectly vertical and not leaning out). · If you have the shin pressure and wheel angle “balanced”, the wheel will not try to pivot in (wheel is probably leaning too far in) or pivot out (wheel is probably angled vertically or too far out). Slowly shift your weight up from the foot on the ground to the foot on the wheel and if the “shin pressure” and “wheel angle” are correct the wheel won’t move at all. Practice this until you can get a feel for the right combination here. · Now that you can feel that “balanced pressure”, go to an open area and do a small kick-push with your foot on the ground and roll forward a few feet on the dominant foot before putting that non-dominant foot back down. This will look a little like you’re doing a “kick-push” on a skateboard. Keep doing these little kick-push-glides until you can get your weight all the way up on your dominant foot before stepping down. You will eventually be able to roll fairly far on just your dominant foot, and being able to do this is also important when you need to unweight your other foot reposition it (see below). · Last step is to do simple kick-push with your lower foot and then step up all the way so both feet are on the wheel and off you go! · When you first start doing this, foot placement will be really important and hard to get right. It turns out that foot placement really matters and even small adjustments can really affect how you ride – which is why it’s often better to stop on a post and not step down off the wheel when you finally have your feet “just right”. To adjust your feet once you’re “up and running”, go slowly, angle the wheel in and build pressure between your dominant shin and the wheel which will take pressure off of your other foot and allow you to slide that foot into the correct place. Once in place, even out your weight between feet and accelerate forward from there. · If getting the wheel / shin / angle / pressure balance right and then getting the “hopped on foot” placement right seems hard well, that’s because it is. It just takes a lot of practice. I still need to reposition my feet probably half the time I start from standing, which is annoying, which is why I like to stop on posts. Let’s Do Some Pulsing Practice · Once you can start from standing and roll forward in a (roughly) straight line, it’s time to start getting a feel for the forward-back axis. · When rolling, practice what I call “pulsing” – leaning forward to accelerate and then immediately leaning back to come as close to a stop as I can without falling over. Keep doing this sprint-stop-sprint-stop exercise until you get really comfortable with the dynamic. · Even now, when riding quickly or in traffic, I’ll do mini-pulses to change up my speed which helps me gauge where the start-stop points are and to keep a “feel” with the road. · You may also find that accelerating up from a near-stop is hard because the wheel will lean / turn away during the first acceleration. This is very normal and goes away with practice. · Another very helpful exercise is to practice going as slowly as possible, which is obviously hard. At some point you’ll be able to come to a complete stop and then restart without putting a foot down (hard) and even come to a stop and then roll backward (harder). For now going very slowly will help you with your balancing and building up the fast-twitch reflexes you’ll need to ride faster. Time To Do Some Basic Turning · At first I found turning really hard and confusing. There are lots of videos about leaning and turning your shoulders which I didn’t find helpful. And then I saw a video that just said “bend one knee”. · So really that’s it, just bend the knee away from the direction you want to turn and keep the other leg straight (in the direction you want to turn) and the wheel will turn under you. You may also want to lighten up the pressure on the pedal with the bent leg, and this will help initiate the turn. · For your first turns, practice this slowly as turning at speed is a totally different skill (discussed below). Get a feel for bending one knee and then the other to make S shapes and carve figure-8s. · When you turn, you should probably also very gently also lean forward (accelerate) which will feel “right” when you do it. My initial tendency was to lean back when turning (scared, so I slowed down) and then I would drop the wheel. So try to get a feel for that slight lean forward into the turn. · You may also feel your heel come up on the foot when you bend that knee, which is good. As we get to more advanced turning (below), you’re definitely going to be getting those heels up. You don’t really need to do it at this point, and you may feel more comfortable with your full foot locked on the pedal right now, but we’ll be relaxing that over time so don’t be afraid if the heel wants to come up a bit. · Once you have this down, you can find places to practice turning – slaloming through parking cones, doing figure-8s in a parking lot, etc. Just remember that you’re doing these turns at slow speed so when you get out on the road you’ll need to slow down to turn using this technique. It’s Time To Leave The Parking Lot · At this point I’m sure you’re feeling ready to get out of your practice area (parking lot, athletic field, etc.) and get on the road. There’s a whole section on traffic safety below (don’t skip it, please), but since you can start / stop / turn you should be ready to do some basic rolling around town. · Find a quiet time of day for your first few rides – early in the morning can work well. Get out and roll around your neighborhood when there are minimal cars around and just get used to being on a street, turning, stopping and starting. After a few trips your confidence will go up and you’ll be ready to head out when there are more cars and obstacles to deal with. Let’s Get Some Distance Under The Belt · Now you want to go knock out a 30-60 minute trip, so here are a few thoughts. · Foot Pain – if the road is very calm, smooth and straight, you’re going to set up in a groove / speed of just standing and rolling for long stretches. This will cause your leg and foot muscles to start cramping very quickly. If this happens, start steering in large slalom S-turns and practice speed pulses to keep your leg and foot muscles engaged and working. You can also lift your heels, shift your foot position front and back, roll your ankles out to put pressure on the outside edges of your feet, switch to a staggered stance, crouch down, stretch your arms up and to the side and, lastly, just stop and get off your wheel and walk for a minute to get your legs a chance to reset. Over time this cramping will simply go away as your feet strengthen · Slow Transitions – if you come off a long stretch and suddenly have to turn or jump into traffic, your legs and balance might need a few turns to transition from standing to the turning. Make sure you give yourself some time to transition. Your head may be ready to jump right into the traffic only to find that your legs and feet are still in “straight line rolling” mode and don’t respond well. · Water / food – don’t forget to bring a little water to drink and maybe a snack. You’re not necessarily burning a ton of calories, but the wind will pull the moisture out of you which can make you dehydrated and increase foot / leg cramps. · Always have a “flat tire” plan in case your wheel hits a nail. Bring a cell phone and have a plan to get home (Uber, friend, taxi, walk, etc.) if you do get a flat. Advanced Topics Advanced Turning · Upper Body Isolation – as you ride more, and faster, you can start to isolate your upper and lower body. Your upper body will move very little and continue to point straight ahead with your shoulders square to your direction of travel. Meanwhile, your lower body will be constantly twisting, turning and adjusting under you as you carve turns and adjust to road conditions. You can think of your waist as the separation line between frantic lower body adjustments and calm upper body movement. o This is actually a big change from your initial riding where you probably felt your entire body moving, turning and leaning with the wheel as one connected mass. Now you need to break that into two pieces. o A great way to visualize this is how downhill mogul skiers use the same isolation. (Goggle Search: technical bumps mogul skiing video) Consider visualizing your movements on the wheel to be very much like skiing bumps – your feet are parallel, your upper body stays straight down the “fall line”, you alternate pressure on your feet to edge when turning, and you lean forward to go faster. I actually find that the visualization of “skiing through traffic” has really helped my riding technique improve. · Slalom Exercise – time to practice some more aggressive slalom turns to get a feel for how hard you can push the wheel in low-speed turns. I first practiced this in an empty parking lot and would slalom between the ends of the stripes for the parking spaces which are evenly spaced. Practice going in and out of these in quick S-turns. You need to really lean and crank that wheel under you… but as you push this harder (more lean on the wheel, faster forward speed) you’ll be amazed at how hard you can lean the wheel and have it out to either side while still maintaining forward control. This exercise really, really opened up low speed turning for me and I still don’t think I’ve truly pushed the limits of what the wheel can do on quick, low-speed turns. · Twist-it – at very low speeds, you can force a quick, partial turn by twisting the wheel hard under you and forcing it to pivot up to 90 degrees left or right. As you build up your control (and core strength), you can squeeze the wheel below you and just spin it. For very tight turns at low speeds, consider cranking off 2-3 quick twists to pivot the wheel around instead of forcing a tight turn. (Note this doesn’t work when you’re moving fast.) · Donuts – when you come up to a stop light and don’t want to get off your wheel, try spinning very tight circles (or figure 8s) in the crosswalk. These low-speed and tight turns take some practice but are helpful to feel how hard you can turn the wheel and still stay in control. You can try to lock or brace the top of the wheel against the upper shin of your leg when the wheel leans hard in this tight turn. This will allow you to balance using your leg pressure instead of just your feet. And if you tilt hard enough (tighter turn) you’ll eventually scrape your pedals – so that’s limit of how tight you can turn your wheel. Techniques for Even More Control · Bend Your Knees – as your ride faster, turn more frequently when riding, and have to absorb more road bumps coming at you faster, your legs are your first line of protection. Certainly keep your knees bent, but also drop down even a bit more to force your legs to absorb more of road. This will take some load off your lower back (if your lower back hurts, it’s probably because you don’t have your knees bent enough) and will also cushion unexpected road bumps to keep you from going down. If you hit a bump with straight legs, the bump will send you straight up in the air and right off your wheel. · Equal Foot Pressure – visualize four points of contact with your pedals (left heel / left toe / right heel / right toe). As you first start riding, try to keep even pressure on all four points, and make sure you are not favoring one foot or leg over the other. · Lift Your Heels – initially you’ll have your feet locked flat on the pedals, and your feet may even cramp as you try to grip the pedals with your toes to hang on harder (which obviously doesn’t help, but it’s instinct). Over time, try to lift each heel off the pedal so that you’re in a three-point stance – using just three of the four pressure points on the pedals. While this seems hard at first, eventually you’ll be very comfortable bringing up your heels and then realize that turning actually requires a three-point stance so you’ll want to lift the “outside” heel when turning. · Staggered Stance – consider sliding your dominant foot back a little on the pedal and your other foot slightly forward. Visualize this like your riding a skateboard with one foot back and one foot forward. Another visualization is water skiing on one ski with one foot in front of the other. I then think of my front foot’s toes as the “gas pedal” and the rear foot’s heel as the brake. I accelerate by “stepping on the gas” and slow down by “stepping on the brake”. There are a lot of urban riders who swear by this staggered stance so give it a try. · Wobble – as I slow down and come to a stop, I’ll either cut some short S-turns or quickly wobble the wheel below me by quickly pulsing my feet left-right-left-right. This helps me slow down and also get and keep a feel for what the wheel can do and to feel the road below. Consider doing either move at low speeds to keep improving your feel for that wheel below you. The Mandatory Safety Section What To Wear · Before you head out “on the road”, a few words of advice from someone who has had lots of experience “playing in traffic” in NYC for over 3 decades. · You will fall, and it won’t be your fault. · It’s important to understand this because I think a lot of people have this “I’ll never fall” mentality and don’t realize that the reason you have an accident is because somebody else did something stupid and you got tangled up in it. Your safety gear is to protect you from those idiots, not from your own mistakes. · You simply must wear a full face helmet (think motorcycle helmet with section to cover your chin and a clear plastic face shield). These are under $100 on Amazon, are very comfortable (and help with wind / cold in the cooler months), and hold your airpods and glasses in place. When you eventually go down, you won’t be in control and your going to slam your head into the asphalt. It’s just going to happen and you’re going to need a helmet. Don’t overthink it, just know that the one thing that comes with riding this wheel is your going to wear a helmet and then just always do it. · I’m also a huge fan of leather gloves. When you go down you’re going to put out your hands to brace yourself and you want hand protection because without your hands (or having your hands taped up / scabbed up post-fall) you can’t really do much in life. I wear basic leather motorcycle gloves (again, $25 on Amazon). · Knees / Elbows / Back – there are lots of other pads you can wear, and the more aggressive you are, the more you need them. They also help on your first few rides in traffic when your less confident and less in control. Some riders who are pushing hard and fast in traffic get very geared up, which makes tons of sense. I’m assuming you’re a more casual rider and so these choices are up to you. · So my gear list, my opinion, is you should wear: Full-face Helmet – Always. (Amazon Search: full face motorcycle helmet ~ $60+) o Leather Motorcycle Gloves – Always. (Amazon Search: leather motorcycle gloves $25+) o Knee Pads – Sure, and definitely on your first 5-10 rides. (Amazon Search: skateboard knee pads ~ $20+) o Elbow Pads – Sure, during your first few rides, why not. (Amazon Search: skateboard elbow pads ~ $15+) o Padded Motorcycle Jacket a/o Pants – If you’re being aggressive in traffic. (Amazon Search: padded motorcycle jacket ~ $60+) · Other Clothing Considerations include: o On your feet - thinner soles on your shoes so you can get a good “pedal feel” and thus “road feel”. Squishy sneakers (running shoes, for instance) are more comfortable for road vibrations and will cut down on foot cramps, but also make it harder to feel the wheel and the road. Higher cut shoes (basketball, boots) can also help when learning as they’ll provide some protection for the inside of your ankles that will be rubbing up against the wheel. Definitely no open-toed shoes or flip-flops that you could slide out of. Loose clothing to allow for easy twisting and movement. But not too loose that things flap around in the wind. o Long pants can help when learning, as they will help pad the inside of your legs and prevent some chaffing against the wheel. · Backpacks – I actually find that the addition of weight higher on my body (backpack) really challenges my balance and makes it surprisingly much harder to ride. So for longer trips consider distributing weight into lower pockets, and minimizing the weight on your back. For more aggressive riding, you’ll want as little weight on you as possible. How To Be Safe In Traffic · Overview - So you’re going to go out in the street (not the sidewalk which, frankly, is probably more dangerous because pedestrians are terrifying and erratic obstacles when you’re moving quickly). This is dangerous, it just is, so here’s some very practical advice on how to make the best of it. · You are invisible. This needs to be your mentality at all times – you can’t ever rely on others to see you / react to you / steer around you / give you the right of way. You should always assume you can’t ever be seen and therefore it is up to you to get out of their way at all times. If you only take two pieces of advice from this article, please let it be: wear a helmet and you are invisible. · Make Yourself Visible – even though you are assuming they won’t see you, you should still try to be seen, just in case. Brightly colored clothes, reflective strips, lights – everything helps. You’ll eventually pass someone at night who is wearing all black without any reflection or lights and they are, in fact, invisible. Consider adding color / reflection / light at night to stay safe. · Be a Pedestrian / Bike / Car – I like to think there are three modes in traffic: o Pedestrian – stay on sidewalk, roll at walking speed, stop at crosswalks o Bike – stay in bike lane or side of road, move at bike speed, be kind to others in the bike lane o Car – be out in car lanes, move at 20+ mph, take up the whole lane like you are a car, potentially have another car behind you o When I’m in traffic, I’m constantly switching between these modes. Usually I’m a “bike”, but sometimes I go faster / slower. I find it helpful to think about which mode I’m in, when to switch, and behaving correctly when I’m in each model (don’t go fast on sidewalks and scare the pedestrians, don’t go slow in the middle of the road and upset the cars). · Watch out for car doors opening - you should never be traveling within 3 feet of a parked car because somebody inside may blindly open their door as you pass and then you’re hitting that door and then you’re going to the hospital. Car doors are probably the single scariest thing for me on the streets and I’m very careful to stay very wide of them, or else I go very slow when I have to pass closely and watch for activity inside the cars. · Avoid the blind right turn – another dangerous situation (that I’ve been caught in twice) is when your traveling next to and on the right side of a car and the car suddenly makes a right turn and cuts you off. People forget to use their turn signals all the time, and they can’t necessarily see you when turning right. Always watch the cars that have the option to turn right, and make sure you have an “out” or can brake in time if they suddenly turn. · Watch for Potholes – bad road conditions can easily drop you so look ahead and steer around the bumpy stuff. If you have to go over or through something then slow way down, bend your knees a lot, and push your knees together to hug the wheel with your shins so you have increased control when you roll into the obstacle, and put your arms out in a T for balance. · Stay In The Back – if there are timed lights (like in much of NYC), then wait for the wave of cars to pass and then hang in the back of this wave out in the middle of the road. This can be surprisingly safe as the wave of cars ahead of you “plows” the obstacles out of the way but you have no cars behind you to hit you if you suddenly fall. Riding behind a wave of cars with timed lights is actually one of my favorite things to do in NYC. · Direct Traffic – I very often will direct the people around me by pointing at them and telling / pointing for them to go in a particular direction, or to stop. Sometimes you just have to be take the initiative with oncoming bikes, “frozen” pedestrians and cars waiting to turn. · Don’t Stare At The Person In Front Of You – I’m often guilty of blindly following a bike / scooter ahead of me and not really looking at the road past them. On many occasions they have “dragged” me through red lights which were close for them but put me smack into cross-traffic when a light turned. So remember to look ahead and make your own timing decisions. · Scary Things – a few things to be constantly scanning for, which can be very dangerous: dog on a leash that runs in front of you and you get “clotheslined” by the leash, dog off-leash that runs after you, tourist on a rental bike who stops / turns without warning, motorized delivery bikes which are very fast and very unpredictable, small kid on a bike or scooter they can’t control, anyone talking on a phone or texting, person pushing baby carriage while texting, anyone who looks like they are not in full control of their vehicle, any vehicle that tailgates you to pressure you to get out of the way – terrifying and just pull over and let them go. · Surprisingly Not So Scary Things – a few things I actually don’t really worry that much about: anyone on a bike / scooter / skateboard / vehicle that is moving very quickly – they are usually in control and will competently steer around you if you move predictably, joggers – they tend not to stop or turn erratically, large vehicles – they are slow to start / stop / turn and I view them more like harmless slow-moving whales in the ocean, police – they are used to being in traffic and know how to stay out of the way and not cause problems. Expert Topics Advanced Traffic Techniques · Idaho Stops – an Idaho stop is a (theoretically) full stop at a red light before running the light when there is no traffic coming. Legally, you can treat a Stop sign as a Yield sign and Red Light as a Stop Sign. This isn’t legal in NYC (yet) but everybody on wheels moves like it is – we run all the red lights. This is not only fast, but also fun. That said, be very careful when doing this since you only need to miss one stray car / bike / pedestrian to have an accident. When I’m rolling up to a red light that I plan to run, I always look both ways, as if my head is on a swivel, to make sure I check for hazards before rolling through. Again, you only need to miss something once to get T-boned. My mantra when “Idahoing” lights – head on a swivel, head on a swivel, head on a swivel. · Dropping Down Curbs – this really isn’t very hard at all - just roll up to the edge of the curb, look left for oncoming cars(!), squeeze the top of the wheel between your legs to stabilize it on the drop, bend your knees A LOT, and gently roll over the curb. It’s actually not that difficult to do, just be ready for a pretty jarring landing (probably no shocks on your wheel) so bend those knees. · Hopping Up Curbs – this is relatively easy on low curbs (less than 2”) and harder as the curbs get higher. Roll up to the curb with a little speed (don’t crawl into this since you’ll need the wheel to “pull” you up the curb), squeeze the wheel pretty hard between your ankles and legs, and “bunny hop” the wheel up the curb. The wheel will actually do some of the lifting with the motor once you get partially up the curb. I’m good with 3” curbs, but over that it’s pretty hard and a full 5” NYC curb is still a no-go for me. Easy to practice on low curbs, and then work your way up from there. · Bike Lanes – As discussed, bike lanes are good when you’re “being a bike”. That said, they have some real hazards: car doors, other bikes, pedestrians walking blindly out between cars, choppy pavement, slow(ish) vehicles. I tend to hang in the bike lane if the are cars in the road, and then jump into the road when it’s empty since an empty road seems safer than a tight and crowded bike lane. Depending on traffic conditions, I can move between the bike lane and the road pretty fluidly. · Drafting / Plowing – for timed lights, consider letting the lead pack of cars at the edge of the timed green lights clear out the other cars and pedestrians for you and then follow closely behind this “plow” in the relatively empty road which hasn’t yet become full of pedestrians. Generally I try to get into the “middle of the middle” when doing this – as far from either side of the road as possible to give me as much visibility to cross-traffic and wandering pedestrians as possible. · Skitching – this is hanging onto the back / bumper of a moving car to catch a free ride. I used to do this a lot on skates but it is not at all recommended on an EUC because the EUC’s motor / speed doesn’t sync well with the speed of the car. Highly likely you’ll crash so just not recommended. Going Really Fast · Getting Up To Speed – the first thing to consider is that speed will naturally just come over time as you get used to your wheel, you develop high-twitch muscles to keep the wheel stable at speed, and you get used to moving quickly. I went on a 90 minute ride in traffic one Sunday and was amazed at how much faster I could go the following day – I think it ended up being a crash course in high-twitch muscle building for my legs. I can now regularly cruise in traffic at 20-25 mph (which is pretty much keeping up with traffic in mid-town Manhattan) so the roads now feel safer than the slower, tighter and more crowded bike lanes. · Respecting Your Wheel’s Limits – as you go faster, you’re going to start reaching the limits of your wheel. This is very, very, very important – respect the limits of your wheel’s power. If you accidentally overpower the wheel, it won’t slow down (like a scooter), it will stop balancing and drop you at high speed. You simply can’t risk overpowering and EUC because it will result in you hitting the pavement. So if you want to go faster, you need to really start thinking about what power limits mean. o Your wheel’s alarms and tilt-back aren’t really set at a certain speed, they are set at a power limit which, assuming a flat road and no wind, roughly equates to a speed. But if you are traveling up a hill, or into the wind, then the top speed will be lower. So if your wheel can do 30 mph under “normal” conditions, that doesn’t mean it can do 30 mph up a hill or into the wind. o The obvious point here is to not over-accelerate into hills a/o wind because those are slowing you down. You need to get a feel for the max output of your machine, and keep that in mind as your riding conditions change. o Most importantly, do not accelerate into gusts of wind! There are many, many videos on YouTube showing riders getting dropped by their wheels because they tried to keep up their max speed when getting blasted by a gust of wind. If it’s windy, be careful… and if the wind picks up then slow-down. o Potholes – can also cause a surge in power as your wheel tries to power through the sudden dip. There are lots of on-line videos of people getting dropped by their wheels when they hit holes – so obviously watch for those when moving near peak power. · Turning – my technique for carving nice turns at high speeds is as follows: o First, I slide my feet in close to the wheel on the pedals, establishing just a little pressure between my ankles and the wheel. I want to be hugging that wheel pretty closely. o As I set up for a left turn (for example), I will start to take the weight off my left foot (inside foot) and ever so slightly use my right foot to twist the wheel to the right and out of the turn. The wheel will start to “stand up” and lean away from the turn. This is the opposite of a normal turn where you keep your inside leg straight and weighted and bend the outside foot to lean the wheel into the turn. o Next, as the wheel starts to go vertical and even tilt a bit away from the turn, I lean my body farther into the turn. This creates pressure between the top of the wheel and the upper shin of my outside leg. This is the key here – to find and build that pressure between your outer leg and the wheel. When you lean hard enough, you can literally lift your inside foot off the pedal because all your weight is working that outside pedal / outside leg pressure. o Now that you’ve established this “lock” between your outside leg and the wheel, lean further into the turn and over left side of the wheel increasing the brace pressure between your leg and the wheel. You can now carve a very controlled turn because you’re turning using your upper shin instead of balancing on your feet. It takes a while to get the hang of this, but I can now crank off 20 mph turns by bracing against the wheel instead of more delicately balancing the wheel into the perfect turning angle with my feet. o Also, just to state the obvious, with a higher PSI on your wheel, you’re turning on about 1-2 square inches of tire surface contact so there is a natural limit to how hard and fast you can turn. Given that you only have one wheel for contact (vs. two for a scooter, bike or motorcycle), you’re just not going to be able to turn as hard on an EUC. · Stopping – A quick stop from full speed is never fun. A few things to try if you need to hit the brakes – squeeze the wheel hard between your legs to prevent any wobble, bend your knees a lot to help braking and to get lower in case you fall, lean back like you’re sitting deep in a chair (which will also get you lower), yell at whatever you’re trying to avoid so they can get out of the way, look around for things to avoid hitting (stationary or moving and oncoming), put your arms out in a T to increase your balance, and try to find paths “out” to help you escape around the object you’re trying to miss. · Power Consumption – as you go faster, you’re going to naturally be pushing your motor and your battery more. Aside from hills, the only real consumption of power by your EUC is from wind resistance, which increases exponentially. So if you’re planning a long trip at high speed, consider that your battery may not last as long as you expect. And if you’re far from home and running low on battery, a slower speed on the trip back might help preserve your remaining battery life. · Slowing Down – One problem I have after a long stint at high speed is that my brain and body have a hard time going back down to “slow speed”. Something to keep in mind after a long, fast ride is that you’re slow speed reflexes won’t be quite right for a few minutes and you should allow yourself a time to reacclimate to “bike speed” if you’ve just spent 5 miles at “car speed”. · General High Speed Safety – Since you can’t stop or turn quickly, you mostly just want to get out of the way of trouble. A few other tips: keep a big buffer around you on the sides and in front, look way ahead for potential obstacles, watch for big road hazards to avoid (you’ll actually just fly right over the small ones at speed), listen for speed alarms from your wheel, slow down if you hit headwinds, think like a car or motorcycle and dress like you’re on a motorcycle (helmet, jacket, gloves, pants, boots), remember that your wheel’s headlight is designed for slower speeds so if it is night then you’re probably “blind” to objects in front of you unless you have streetlights or other lights (blind = by the time you see it, you’ve hit it). Riding In Bad Weather · Rain – I don’t like or recommend this, at all. First of all, the wheels are not really designed to be waterproof / watertight and so there is a chance of getting a sudden short-out if the electronics get wet. Second, the roads get slippery when wet and since the EUC already has a small surface area of contact, any drop in the amount of friction is just bad. Lastly, visibility is lower in the rain, so it is harder to see / be seen. If it’s raining, I just leave the wheel at home. · Not Raining But A Wet Road – I don’t really like wet roads either, but I have commuted just after the rain. In this case I just take it easy – slow acceleration, slow braking, gradual turns, nothing too aggressive. I’m also very cautious around anything that looks like it will be extra slippery when wet – leaves, metal plates on the road, oil slicks, mud, manhole covers, paint on the road. It’s doable, maybe, but go slow and take it easy. · Cold – Chilly – mostly this is just about staying warm and wearing warm and windproof clothing. I have nice motorcycle winter gloves (Amazon Search: winter motorcycle gloves ~ $20) and am also a fan of my neck gaiter. But if it’s above freezing then you should be okay. · Cold – Below Freezing – if it’s around 35 or lower you can have freezing on bridges and if it’s below 32 degrees then ice and black ice are a real factor. If you hit ice on a one-wheeled vehicle then you’re going to go down, just about every time. I have been out when it’s below freezing, but always when the roads are bone dry after days of sunshine, and even then I’m super careful to watch for ice. This is very tricky and very dangerous. · Snow – nope. · Hot – when it gets really hot, things get soft – both your tires and the asphalt. Two things to watch for – your tire getting soft and then rolling out from under you on a hard turn… and also asphalt that has softened in the sun (particularly later in the day when it’s had time to cook in the sun). Soft asphalt will suck up your wheel and suddenly slow you down and pitch you forward onto your face. In particular, watch for the darker “patch” asphalt that is more likely to be soft. · Wind – as we’ve discussed above, wind can be very dangerous. On the one hand it can push you off balance (particularly if you’re a beginner). More importantly, if you’re going fast and pushing your wheel’s limits, do not accelerate into wind. Going 20 mph into a 20 mph gust of wind is a lot like going 40 mph with no wind and will likely overload your wheel. If you hit a gust of wind (feel it push on your chest) then ease back and slow down until the gust has passed. The Stuff At The End Feedback Welcome! I hope you found this guide helpful and are inspired to get out there and ride. I’d welcome any feedback – questions / comments / additions / subtractions / rants / raves: dj.cosmo.nyc@gmail.com. Distribution I wrote this free guide as a form of community service – to help others learn. Feel free to print it / share it / forward it / post it (in its entirety). The only thing I ask is that you don’t do is put your name on it, publish it, sell it or pretend it’s your content because… well… it’s not. Disclaimer Riding an EUC is inherently a dangerous activity and you’re more likely to get hurt riding an EUC than, for instance, not riding an EUC. The information in here is to help you learn to ride and then to stay safe, but you may still get hurt. My advice here may be bad or may be just wrong and that’s why you get hurt, so please ride at your own risk. I want you to be safe, but ultimately the risks you take when you step onto your wheel are from your decisions and not from my advice. The Advanced and Expert sections (particularly on riding fast and in traffic) are not meant to encourage you to take more risk, but are to help you stay safe and in control if you choose to take these risks. Ultimately, if you’re not sure if you can accept the risks that come with riding a wheel then you’re probably better off just walking. Free advice is worth what you pay for it. If you have an accident, don’t blame me. You get the idea. Be safe out there! © 2021, Daniel R. Gilman 12 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reach Posted October 5, 2021 Share Posted October 5, 2021 Just a humble addition: I wouldn't recommend a motorcyle helmet. Full-face for sure, but rather one for Mountainbike/Downhill. They are just so much lighter and more comfortable to wear. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richardo Posted October 6, 2021 Share Posted October 6, 2021 Thanks this is great. I'm still learning and making a list in my mind of 'things to practice' and this helped me fill out that list. As an example, when you're learning to ride a fixed gear bike, you see all the little 'tricks' people are doing that help with control and understanding the bike, track stands, skid stops, etc. Those aren't as apparent on an EUC- at least I don't think they are. But they're coming clear, from the beginner stuff like being able to stop and start without holding onto something, then riding with one foot, turning in tiny circles, the pendulum. Good stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rcgldr Posted October 12, 2021 Share Posted October 12, 2021 (edited) I was lucky, using a screened fence at a tennis court was good enough for me. I used arm flailing to twist the EUC into direction of fall for balance, and to steer the EUC where I wanted it to go, flail left to steer right and vice versa. This seems to be instinctive for some new riders, including some very young kids around 6 years old in the videos I watched. When I switched to a long straight where I felt more comfortable going faster, I found that my V8F became stable at around 10 to 12 kph due to the combination of speed and steering response to tilt due to imbalance being enough to correct for the imbalance. Edited October 12, 2021 by rcgldr Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
East Coast Posted November 22, 2021 Share Posted November 22, 2021 Thank you for sharing this detailed guide! I just got my KS 18XL and I'm sure this will be a great help Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John A Peters Posted December 18, 2021 Share Posted December 18, 2021 I added a link to our article on the Wikipedia page https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electric_unicycle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John A Peters Posted December 30, 2021 Share Posted December 30, 2021 Daniel can you reply to my email. I sent it about a week ago or so.. I have some improvements to you excellent article Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mono Posted January 20 Share Posted January 20 (edited) On 1/20/2021 at 11:31 PM, DJ_Cosmo said: You simply must wear a full face helmet so not true I made a small statistics from 150 riders passing by in the wild (not YT but France) and "only" 25% wore a full face helmet. The legal speed limit in France is 25km/h (for EUCs and other PEVs). It's Europe, where the majority of cyclists and PEV users don't wear a helmet at all. I have taught dozens and dozens of people to ride. The one person that rejected trying because I didn't provide a helmet was the one north American. It looks to me quite like a cultural difference, possibly in part driven by the (correct) perception that north American streets are comparatively unsafe in various ways. On 1/20/2021 at 11:31 PM, DJ_Cosmo said: Aside from hills, the only real consumption of power by your EUC is from wind resistance, not quite, the "base consumption" of an EUC is in the order of 50-100Wh per 10km. On 1/20/2021 at 11:31 PM, DJ_Cosmo said: which increases exponentially not quite, the energy consumption from wind resistance (drag) is proportional to the speed squared when computed per mileage and cubic with speed when computed per time. Power consumption from drag when standing up is roughly 90W at 20km/h (12mph) and 1kW at 45km/h (28mph). It "overtakes" the "base consumption" only at about 20-25km/h and possibly only above 30km/h for seated riding. On 1/20/2021 at 11:31 PM, DJ_Cosmo said: Snow – nope Different riders have different opinions on this too. To me, snow rides can be quite pleasurable and interesting, while it depends very much on the specific conditions. https://youtu.be/sY_bCOBltA8?si=1Cb17bOXii0aNaeY On 1/20/2021 at 11:31 PM, DJ_Cosmo said: Legally, you can treat a Stop sign as a Yield sign and Red Light as a Stop Sign. This isn’t legal in NYC LOL, I am done here Edited January 22 by Mono Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rcgldr Posted January 24 Share Posted January 24 (edited) Turning - an EUC can be twisted or tilted to steer. Twisting directly steers the EUC, tilting steers due to camber effect (the middle of a tire has a larger radius than the edges of a tire, and when tilted, this causes the tire to roll in a circle). Twisting is mostly used at slower speeds, and tilting is the most common way to turn at normal speeds. A rider has to coordinate how much to tilt an EUC to steer it, and how much the rider has to lean for balance, depending on turning radius and speed. Generally at slower speeds, an EUC is tilted more than the rider leans, and at around 15 mph or faster, an EUC is tilted less than the rider leans. Example of slow speed tilt steering: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xqoNhGEhk2Y Turning at around 15 mph or so on a S18, the S18 is tilted a bit less than the rider leans: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-hWMwK3Cfs0&t=14s Counter-steering is used to adjust or control lean angle, regardless if the rider is aware of it or not. To initiate a lean, the EUC is steered outwards from under the rider, leaning the rider inwards. Once leaned and turning, steer more to lean less, steer less to lean more. Example video of me on my V8F, the V8F is moving side to side, while my helmet is barely moving: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yjD9sWQHoSA&t=46s At moderate speeds, tilting can be done with just pedal pressure. At higher speeds, angular momentum resists any tilting, and the rider has to apply inwards pressure on the outside upper pad to get the EUC to tilt enough to make a turn. Video of Dawn Champion on a V13 at about 35 mph. The V13 is not tilted much, while Dawn is leaning | hanging off quite a bit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IyRxroEKHas&t=2635s Edited January 25 by rcgldr Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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