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Newbie here - why am I wobbling?


thatguy802

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Hi all 

Stilly attempting to learn how to ride my v8 and took it out for a training ride today.  I am now able to ride 1/2 a mile (gentle turns) at a time before the fatigue sets in.  One thing I noticed today was wobbling when I started to pick up speed... Could this be from under inflated tires, I haven't checked my air pressure... 

 

Thanks

 

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I’m new to EUC as well.

 

on my V11, it wobbled quite a bit during practice. I contacted my vendor for suggestions. After installing my V11 powerpads, the wobbles went away. I attributed that to feet placement. As a new rider, I used the powerpads as a template to ensure my right and left feet are placed in the same spot when I hop on. In turn, the powerpads help me grab the wheel better so it is not moving back and forth in-between my shins. 

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Speed wobbles are the worst. I hate the reminder that I'm likely having too much fun for my skill level. Practice patience and go slow—sneak up on the speed and little by little you'll find that the wobbles don't start until you're going faster and faster. If it's tire pressure, usually it's because the pressure is too high so if you've pumped it up hard as a rock you could try experimenting at lower pressures. High pressure makes the tire bouncy-er and the whole thing more squirrley. Low pressure makes it sluggish to respond, harder to balance, and risks rim damage if you hit a big pothole or go down a curb so you don't want to go too low either. Experiment and you'll find where it's "just right".

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12 minutes ago, ALL said:

I’m new to EUC as well.

 

on my V11, it wobbled quite a bit during practice. I contacted my vendor for suggestions. After installing my V11 powerpads, the wobbles went away. I attributed that to feet placement. As a new rider, I used the powerpads as a template to ensure my right and left feet are placed in the same spot when I hop on. In turn, the powerpads help me grab the wheel better so it is not moving back and forth in-between my shins. 

It took me a bit to get used to the feel of the v11 too What really helped me was staggering my stance slightly and bending my knees. Even without modifications your stability is much better when putting your dominant foot just a couple of inches forward. This allows your stance to have a stronger grip on the wheel with your legs able to grab onto more surface area when gripping the body of the EUC. Then your feet staggered and knees bent will help cushion the blow and prevent you from  falling.

Try to have stance on the ground with feet shoulder length apart and with the ball of one of your feet aligned with the arch of your heel while bending your knees slightly and have some one try to push you out of your stance. You will notice that it is harder for someone to remove your feet from the ground as your base is more stable like the V11 suspension will just bounce back naturally. Compare this to having a stance where your feet are placed at hip level or connected to each other without being staggered or having your knees bent. You will be taken out of your stance very easy when pushed and have a harder time maintaining balance in the latter stance. 

I remember the v11 being hard to work on for stability because of my inexperience with EUCs in general and it having a heavy weight where it take more effort and be more difficult for the newer rider to get a proper grip while maintaining balance of the wheel. I got used to this with practice and training my muscle memory to adapt to the weight of the wheel I am working with.

If you have the powerpads already I would recommend trying out some trails or riding on nonroad surfaces in order to work on your own stance making up for the lack of grip on the road. Best thing to know when wobbling on an EUC is to stay on the pedals and keep moving forward using the wobbles to eventually wobble you back in place. 

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Sometimes speed wobbles are caused by the rider squeezing the wheel, we just had a case of that today. As speed went up he got a tighter grip on the wheel; we find this causes rider to wobble in sync with the wheel, making for a very unstable ride feel. A looser grip generally prevents wobble occurring at all, but prevents the wobble sensation/action from being so directly transferred to the rider. If a wobble does occur with a loose grip, the rider has more play to interrupt the oscillations, normally by applying a bit of extra pressure with the dominant leg.

 

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Folks, thanks for the responses!  All good suggestions and will give em a shot.  

Check my tire pressure, it was low as well... 15psi yikes.  Pumped up to 27ish and will give that a go, hopefully today.  

Definitely feeling some pain in my shins, so probably had a death grip on the wheel while riding. 

 

Thanks

 

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6 hours ago, thatguy802 said:

Definitely feeling some pain in my shins, so probably had a death grip on the wheel while riding. 

 

When I first started riding my MSX I did the same thing and from what I've experienced, that death grip leads to speed wobbles as well. It gives you a lot less fine control over the wheel which will obviously come with time. All I can recommend is just practice and learn to carve on the wheel it will allow for you to recover if you start wobbling at high speeds. Good luck and happy riding!

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The speed oscillation sets in at high speed if the acceleration lasts a long time, according to my impressions, the ankles weaken with a long effort, they have to be muscle often but over short distances at reduced speed. We notice it and we control on the road, but it is bigger on a path we oscillate harder on stones and we slow down in greater proportion.

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  • 4 weeks later...

For me, it's the leg fatigue. As you get tired, you slowly lose your balance or control of the wheel, and wobbles are an indicator of this. As you ride more, you gain more endurance and are less likely to get fatigued and wobble. Carving helps because it keeps your legs fresh by increasing blood flow, kind of like how shaking your legs out helps when you've been standing for a long time.

 

Ride a little bit day by day to continue to increase your endurance. Over time, your limit will surpass your wheel's battery life, and you probably won't experience wobbles again until you go on longer rides with wheels with more battery size. Just keep riding and increasing that endurance, and carve to keep your legs fresh! Take breaks if you feel tired, even if it's just to get off the wheel for a little bit to shake off the fatigue.

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