61 year old guy...from Portugal - day #1

[Paulo Mesquita]

3 hours ago, ShanesPlanet said:

Left shin is hurting because you are favoring that side being used a LOT on mount/dismount. Perhaps its time to bite the bullet and force yourslef practice the other way around? The shin pain will go away for the most part. You're just still conditioning those baby soft old legs. Ive stick legs and same thing happens to me if i ride a lot after a break. Totally worth it! As you get better, youll also quit grabbing the wheel with your legs so much. Youll also become a little more delicate and fast at mounting. All these will add up to your legs not taking so much abuse... now your knees are another story Instead of locking your sore leg in for leverage to be able adjust foot position on other side, you can do a light hop as your feet will more easily shuffle when you arent standing full weight on them.

I was doing the hop sometimes today due to the pain on the left leg. As the shifting goes, sometimes it's easy, others it's not. In not that easy on the EUC yet. 

I'm going to try the right leg to test the left massacred one... But honestly I dont know what will the outcome. 

I'll keep my masters posted, 😁

.. It's a pity I can't find inner shin guards. I just have the knee and ankle protection. And my sins have been hit a few times... 

[.....]

ace bandages ftw... think old school You won't need them once your legs toughen and you improve. Anything hard like a guard, will simply be a different and painful point of contact. Hard parts only help for NON points of contanct like knees and outter shins and such. Wrap it too much and you wont toughen up. Dont forget to put the metal clasps to the outside.

Edited February 8, 2021 by ShanesPlanet

[Paulo Mesquita]

Good idea. Going yo look in the pharmacy cupboard. 

 

[Unventor]

8 hours ago, Paulo Mesquita said:

It's a pity I can't find inner shin guards. I just have the knee and ankle protection. And my sins have been hit a few times... 

Some long scocces or ski socks can work too. But in time you will be used to it and it is a none issue. 

Mostly it is the ancles that take the beating. 

I only had it hit my shine once after I lost the wheel on a pothole and tried to grab it while it did the classic EUC ballet spinning arounde itself. 

[Paulo Mesquita]

2 hours ago, Unventor said:

 

I only had it hit my shine once after I lost the wheel on a pothole and tried to grab it while it did the classic EUC ballet spinning arounde itself. 

Yep that happened to quite a few times....

[UniMe]

have you tried adhering a bit more padding? I'm not sure how the pads on the 16s are configured, but they look thin. Double sided tape and a couple strips of your yoga mat? Those mats don't need to be that long, right I have these 1" exercise floor mats that would also work great.

I put a protective neoprene cover on my wheel, in addition to protecting the wheel I found the extra bit of padding to also be really helpful.

Edited February 9, 2021 by UniMe

[UniMe]

I'll add, after more practice you won't need to grip the wheel nearly as hard with your shins. If you look at the 'inspirational' video of Chooch I shared earlier on this thread you'll see that he rides with a knees out type of posture. it looks like his shins don't come in contact with the wheel much at all, the control is all through his feet. I'm not there yet, but I did notice after a month or so that I was able to relax my lower body as well. It seemed like an impossible outcome in the early days... but over time it came together.

[Paulo Mesquita]

On 2/9/2021 at 3:40 AM, UniMe said:

 

I put a protective neoprene cover on my wheel, in addition to protecting the wheel I found the extra bit of padding to also be really helpful.

I padded my left leg yesterday with a rubbery table mat and velcro strips. It worked fine and the leg didn't hurt due to that and due to have followed the Master Yodeas here on EUC Forum, and I alternated mounting with the right leg (a good surprise)

 

Edited March 29, 2021 by Paulo Mesquita

[Paulo Mesquita]

OK... Day #11...yesterday. The day before I didn't ride because 6 days in a row awarded me with too much pain on my left leg :-)

It went well with me following the advice here. I decided to do the 140m garage practice this way:

- When starting from the left side of the garage ..left leg with the improvised padding (photo above)

- When starting from the right side of the garage... the brand new right leg.

Surprisingly enough I was able to work with the right leg controlling the mount. It was hard at 1st...same old issue of a beginner ...too much palm or heel pressure while trying to adjust the hop on position, and the wheel tries to escape turning right and forward or backwards and inward. But I got it in a success/ unsuccess ratio of 1 to 5.

Most of my practice (interrupted for 15 minutes by my Russian neighbor, Mr. Kalashnikov....yes, but he's a very kind gentleman...so that I could help him with my cables to jump start his car with a flat battery) was as advised by you Yodas, a very slow one, where I started having fun going very slow and turning right and left all the way as if imaginary street cones (you know, those orange and white) were in my way. Total fun and a lot of control. In total I did about 50 minutes of practice with a lot of, as usual, on and off core gym practice. I'm saving a bundle on gyms and I arrive in the apartment soaking to the bone. You should see my underwear...well you shouldn't, it would be painful 

Outside it continues to rain cats and dogs. Actually I find it funny because if you ask any astronomer (TRUE astronomer universal joke)  in the world what happens when he buys new astronomy gear, he'll say: "IT STARTS RAINING!!!"...Well, i guess with EUC's it's the same. At least for me.

So, today I'll be back in the garage doing my slow, slow, slow practice with a lot of curving and right foot mounting training.

 

BTW, I was so happy with the EUC World app I paid the creator the $20 yearly fee. He really deserves it.

 

Edited March 29, 2021 by Paulo Mesquita

[.....]

Are you rockin an eucbg? If you aint, you must strongly consider it. Neoprene to protect the wheel and it feels oh so good on the legs. Pick a color, add some style and feel like a 'baller'! RollNZ ftw!

Edited February 10, 2021 by ShanesPlanet

[Paulo Mesquita]

17 minutes ago, ShanesPlanet said:

Are you rockin an eucbg? If you aint, you must strongly consider it. Neoprene to protect the wheel and it feels oh so good on the legs. Pick a color, add some style and feel like a 'baller'! RollNZ ftw!

Yeah, I got the Roll.nz one even before the wheel arrived 

[Tawpie]

1 hour ago, Paulo Mesquita said:

what happens when he buys new astronomy gear, he'll say: "IT STARTS RAINING!!!"

👍. I can make the wind stop blowing by saying "Good wind today, I'm heading out to fly the kites".

[Paulo Mesquita]

1 hour ago, Tawpie said:

👍. I can make the wind stop blowing by saying "Good wind today, I'm heading out to fly the kites".

did that too...many years ago I was flying power kites, long before kitesurf even existed!!! 

[UniMe]

I meant to suggest taping more padding onto your wheel, not your leg Buy hey, whatever works!

I was able to put lower profile power pads under my neoprene cover. It looked a bit weird but functioned fine. Another couple centimeters of padding taped to your wheel might just fit fine under the cover of your 16x. I'd put it along the top, where the edge of the wheel is coming into contact with the sore spot on your shin. It won't take much to make a difference, probably best to put it on both sides to it runs even.

[Tawpie]

7 hours ago, Paulo Mesquita said:

power kites

Skysails, 1981. Doubled up, had to use a curb trapeze style (hobie cat racing) to keep from getting dragged across the field

[Paulo Mesquita]

8 hours ago, Tawpie said:

Skysails, 1981. Doubled up, had to use a curb trapeze style (hobie cat racing) to keep from getting dragged across the field

With quadfoils I took 15/20m jumps on the Gincho beach sands in Cascais. Of course, I was younger and lighter... 

[Paulo Mesquita]

8 hours ago, UniMe said:

I meant to suggest taping more padding onto your wheel, not your leg Buy hey, whatever works!

I am thinking of doing that too. But with the confinement, all stores are closed.. 

[Paulo Mesquita]

Days #11 & #12

I don't want to be too boring so this one is going to be short and concise.

1) still doing alternated mounting with left (protected) leg...and right leg (starting to hurt). Almost as efficient with either legs. Thanks guys for pushing me to do the right leg too. I was a bit insecure about it.

2) I am now doing slow slaloms with big curves...in between the concrete pillars of the garage parking spaces that are empty of cars. Feels great to have more and more control every day.

3) Bored as hell in the garage without being able to go to the street. Still raining tons.

4) FOR THIS ONE I'D LIKE THE WISE ONES' OPINIONS.... i  don't have that much tech support (or saviness) in repairs where I live. If I need to send my wheel away for repair it will cost a big buck. So I thought of getting a backup wheel...just in case. But since I'm not rich, I thought about getting one cheap and in second hand!!!

At first I thought of an 18" (with or without suspension...big debate), then another 16" Gotway, Inmotion, etc.

THEN... I found a seller really close to where I live, that has a KS 16X exactly like mine and that will let me have it for 900€. He's a really nice guy, belongs to the small EUC community here and is selling because he wants to upgrade to an 18" with suspension.

So, I'm thinking of getting an second KS 16X and keeping it as an alternative wheel...just in case. Another good thing about it is.... THE WIFE WILL ALWAYS SEE THE SAME WHEEL...NO 2ND WHEEL!!!

SO, MY GURUS...WHAT DO YOU THINK?

 

 

Edited March 29, 2021 by Paulo Mesquita

[Unventor]

There are a few angles to this but let's just say I know where you are coming from. 

Having a backup wheel is not a bad idea at all in my opinion. 

I too played with the idea to have a backup wheel that shared many parts with my at the time main wheel. 

And then there is the wife parts I can't argue with that as I know how it sounds yet I don't have that problem myself. 

Having same wheel make it easier to swap between them. Yet after a time this will be an insignificant benafit. 

On the other hand having a 2nd different wheel mean you can choose a wheel that suit other needs. Like compact/light/longer range/speed/weather proofed. That just to mention some. 

In my case I got a V10f. While my KS18L needed shell change due to 1st batch weak construction. But I couldn't get parts needed for like 4 months. And my KS16X got 1st batch rain damage issues and later control board issues too. So while waiting I picked up the V10f. It was relative cheap. Good enough speed and range and lighter than any other wheels I had. Fair range and an useful trolley (yet it do have some play in the design, not perfect but could be worse). It is a fairly slim redign too and reasonably weather tolerant too. 

If that works out for you I cannot tell. But now you have a community around your area I suggest to hook up with them. You can learn a lot from them and sometime a deal pops up that the one you ask about. 

Personal I am a little reluctant to buy second hand wheels. It is very hard to tell how the wheel has been handled especially the battery. There is a fair amount of trust to stand on just 1 wheel that self balance. It is not to say all deals are bad when it comes to second hand. 

Since you are a new rider still. I would probably wait just a bit. But I fully understand your thinking. But when spring comes and new wheels hit market some will always need to sell their wheel for different reasons. 

Sorry it isn't a yes or now answer. But how someone chose to decide on this is different from rider to rider. 

I still hope the answer here assist you. 

[UniMe]

While I agree with all the rationale of having 2 wheels by the same maker with shareable parts, I'll second that variety is also a good thing. I think it depends where you're at and if you plan to wrench on the wheel or not. If a person can afford to maintain two distinct wheels, that would be my choice.

That is, unless your WIFE LEARNS TO RIDE!!! I've been working that angle for months, oh, so close.... she even bought gear! Perhaps in the spring. That way, you both have the same wheel and if anything she's probably a bit lighter so will go a smidge further and faster -- all good things, happy wife... happy Paulo!

In all seriousness though, I would ride the crap out of that 16x and then get an 18" suspension wheel just like your friend. As unventor said, It may emerge for you that the 16x is a nice little compact wheel for local commutes, getting coffee etc., and that the bigger suspension wheel is better for longer distance, higher speed touring. In this way, 2 wheels can provide a lot of diversity.

[Paulo Mesquita]

Day #13 (Friday) + Day#14 (Saturday) and Day #15 Today... I rested Sunday by superior orders from upstairs....it was Valentine's Day

Day #13 - First sunny day on Friday. FREE AT LAST!!!So I went on the horrible condominium asphalt. Great practice to learn on how to ride on a sh*tty ground. Made a video and all!!!

Notes: had some gravel grind inside the wheel and made crazy ugly noises that scared me. But it only happened 3 or 4 times....

Day #14 - I took   peek at the road asphalt outside my condo and in fact it was much better. So...I adventured onto the street on my 14th EUC practice day! Great fun!!! I did 4 laps on a shorter circuit (my condo is inside another big condo with 4.2kms diameter). 

Those 4 laps added up to about 5.2kms and in total I went over the wide asphalt speed bumps 24 times....and never fell!!!!!  My legs and feet, after those 5.2kms, were totally numb up to the knees! 

SUNDAY, AS I MENTIONED, I RESTED AND JUST WENT FOR A 5KM WALK OVER THE GOLF COURSES WITHOUT THE GUARDS CATCHING ME.

TODAY...THE GREAT DAY #15....I did the entire 4,2kms of the entire bigger condominium...and I did it 3 times!!!! did over 13kms and no falls with over 60 rides over the wide asphalt speed bumps. No falls!!!

Man, it was so much fun!!!! I even went over manholes and other irregularities on purpose to get used to surprises. All went well.

NOTES ...AND PLEASE HELP:

1) It happened a lot  that since I had my speed limit at 20km/h and because I found myself riding sometimes in the whereabouts of the 25km/h speed, I had the voice of God from the wheel repeating....OVER 100 TIMES: "Please decelerate". In combination with a Portuguese voice of a woman (probably the wife of the guy) saying the same thing in my native language.

2) WHILE THOSE TWO NEVER SHUT UP AND AROUND THE SECOND HALF OF MY 13KM RIDE, 2 BEEPS HAPPENED QUITE A BIT. Once I stopped to check on the temperature of the wheel but it was under 40ºC. 

I SUSPECT THAT ITR WAS DUE TO THE BATTERY BEING LOWER THATN 40%, SINCE THE TWO BEEP SEQWUENCES AND THE MALE AND FEMALE VOICES WERE NON STOP, EVEN AT LOWER SPEEDS...

CAN ANYONE EXPLAIN AND HELP ME PROGRAMMING THE EUC World app so that nuisance doesn't happen? or was this some kind of dangerous warning that I didn't understand? or are these beep and voice warnings just because the battery was under 50%? (i'm already charging it...)

Cheers

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited March 29, 2021 by Paulo Mesquita

[UniMe]

Have you figured out how to set the speed sensitive alarms in EUC World?

The other thing is that my KS XL had a built in speed limit of around 20kps for a number of kilometers, I don't remember the exact number but it felt like a lot so perhaps 50? This could not be over ridden and only unlocked automatically when the wheel passed a certain distance ridden. I'm guessing if you did a search on this forum for "new Kingsong wheel speed limit" or something like that, it may come up. It's a safety feature of the wheel for newbies like us so we don't hurt ourselves straight away.

It sounds like the warning started early, when the battery was charged up, so it's either a speed limit setting in EUC world or the new wheel speed limit that KS has baked into the firmware.

edit: well, euc world isn't letting me sign in and changing my pw is turning out to be a pita. I have my xl here and will peck away at the app until I get in and will then post where you can change the speed alarms.

Edited February 16, 2021 by UniMe

[.....]

Sounds like you are hitting speed alarms nowadays. Eucw has settings and like @UniMe mentioned, youll have a software limit imposed by locksong, until you hit 50km or something? I hate my voice alarms so I shut them off and rely on beeps. I like having just ONE top speed beep at a cpla-three mph less than tiltback. I keep it simple and listen to my beeps. Tiltback is not something to be scared of, just mindfull of.  Kingsong is farily conservative where they set battery level tiltback. I dont recall the exact levels, but youll encounter it as a speed cap once you get below a certain battery level. Sounds to me like you are crossing over from needing to go VERY slowly so you can run it out, into the 'i better not fall off this damn thing', territory. Don't get too over confident, as this next stage of learning is where the stakes tend to go up a bit. I try to start almost every ride with full battery. Keeping from getting very low, seems a good safety feature to maintain lean overhead. I see little harm in charging a battery when its at 80%, as I'd much rather ride with extra 'gas in the tank'. Don't train yourself to ignore beeps, you need set and understand them. I would suspect that your most recent warning were from riding at such low battery levels. Low levels means less power for abrupt changes. Even at low speeds, you can more easily 'overlean', as the wheel can't anticipate what you may do, even at a capped 12mph. Even a gust of wind can cause abrupt power demands.

Edited February 16, 2021 by ShanesPlanet

[UniMe]

Ok, so if you swipe from left to right on the EUC World app a menu will display.

from the top, the first option is General, second option is Wheel -- Select Wheel.

For my XL there are a bunch of color blocks to select how the LEDs function, below that is "Voice Messages". with a caption "Use voice announcements instead of beeps". I have this turned off and never hear the 'voice of god'.

Then further down the same menu is a heading "speed alerts & limit", with 3 different speed settings and a 4th "speed limit/tiltback" option.

@ShanesPlanet mentions that he only uses the 3rd speed alarm and has this only a few kmh below the tiltback, which should be the maximum speed you ever want to ride the wheel. My XL also has a gentle tiltback, but I would recommend setting this quite low initially and learning about how it feels prior to moving it up to 'pro' speed limits. It is a bit weird at first, but easy to respond to once you know what's going on.

I use the 2nd speed alert as well, so I have a bit of pre warning that I'm going fast. For me, 2nd alarm is 40 km/h (really the max speed I want to cruise at), 3rd is 44 km/h and tiltback is 46 km/h. Keep in mind that stock values for my xl are about 10% over rated, so 44km/h is really about 40km/h. I'm a heavier rider, so I keep my top speeds below the limit of the wheel, I also do most of my rides with a full charge out the door.

hope that helps!

By the way, I am hoping you get a second wheel!! I will definitely be visiting Portugal once all this pandemic crap settles down, it would be super if we could actually meet and go for a tour in your area. Espresso, some local wine, a light lunch?? It would be fantastic (yes, this is a bit of self therapy, our little warm corner of Canada has been under snow for the last few days. It was lovely, and is now just slush, but it doesn't take much in this lockdown to leave me itchy and craving something to do!!)

 

 

 

Edited February 16, 2021 by UniMe

[Tawpie]

Let's see. The destruction manual‡ that came with my 16 says that until you reach 10km the max speed is fixed at 40km/hr, you're well past that distance so that's not it. And you can hear the beeps so that's really good. I think you're correct: you were getting yelled at because your battery was getting low—the not-low-battery first alarm is defaulted to 18 km/hr.

Personally, I set the first and second speed alarms 'off' (-1 km/hr for the first alarm, 'off' or 0 km/hr for the second) and just use the third alarm like @ShanesPlanet. Each level of alarm beeps more than the previous. Seems the first alarm is two beeps, second is three beeps and third is basically constant beeping. I have the third alarm set to 38 km/hr with the Speed Limit (tiltback) at 40 km/hr because I want to retain some safety margin. In spite of the fact that I wear a small fortune in protective gear, I fear the pavement. Since I only use the third alarm (which also buzzes a Pebble watch on my arm), I could choose to use the voice of God but prefer the beeps... You could roll around arguing with the wheel "Please decelerate" => "NO. I'm having fun", "por favor, desacelere" => "me dê um minuto" or just let it beep, bystanders will look at you with quizzical expressions either way.

EUC World also lets you set the speed alarms so they operate based on the battery voltage... it's in Alarms > Voltage-dependent speed… They override the regular speed alarms. I haven't used them because KS automagically reduces the maximum allowable speed as your battery gets used up, but I might try them out since I only use 1 alarm anyway (with the voltage-dependent alarms and a low battery I'd expect to get beeped before tiltback kicks in). There are other options in the Alarms section as well, but so far I haven't had need to use them because I don't ride anywhere near the wheel's limits (yet).

 

‡ non-native English speakers: one of the greatest things about English is that you can pervert the language and might still be understood. so naturally I try to abuse it as much as possible. "the destructions" is one of my favorites because they always start with a laundry list of the things you shouldn't do or you will break your purchase or yourself. proper English practitioners would prefer "the instructions".

Edited February 16, 2021 by Tawpie