Guy Posted October 2, 2021 Share Posted October 2, 2021 Hey guys. My EX is back again! Also, I ran into a guy riding a 36" pedaled unicycle. Totally awesome! I bought a use 20" to learn on. Has any of you ridden or ride a UC? Any suggestions? Especially with EUC experience? Can't find how to turn on the self-balancing!!! UCs are tough to learn. Yet' it looks like, I'll get it. So far, mounting without a side assist, no wall or rail, does seem to work well. Like almost always, YT vids are very helpful. I'm hoping the UC will help me ride the EX seated. Eventually, I want one of the 36" UCs. Yet another transpo method! Cool! Oh, on the EX, anyone have ideas for a foam filter, placed inside just after the heatsink fins, so contamination, dust dirt, salt, can't get back through the cooling vent hole, to the electronics and batteries inside the EX? Many questions! Too many?! Peace EUC and UC riders...Guy 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tawpie Posted October 2, 2021 Share Posted October 2, 2021 4 hours ago, Guy said: ideas for a foam filter, placed inside just after the heatsink fins, so contamination, dust dirt, salt, can't get back through the cooling vent hole, to the electronics and batteries inside the EX? Maybe try something like a bit of furnace filter... something that's designed to pass air but trap particles. Won't trap water, but might reduce the big chunks without impacting your cooling "too much". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scottie Posted October 3, 2021 Share Posted October 3, 2021 On 10/2/2021 at 6:32 AM, Guy said: Has any of you ridden or ride a UC? Any suggestions? Especially with EUC experience? Can't find how to turn on the self-balancing!!! UCs are tough to learn. Same here! I just tried mine for the 1st time minutes ago. So far the EUC riding is not helping me ... the dynamic is so different. I think there is something wrong with the self-balancing on mine too! Let me know if you find the switch somewhere. I did not know how to even begin, so I watched a few YT's also. I took it to my back porch which has a wooden roof structure with support beams that are within reach. So I was hanging on to the overhead beams holding myself up while trying to find my balance and relax and settle myself onto the seat. I thought my legs were strong from 18 months of almost daily EUC riding, but that little bit of UC practice hit the leg muscles in a different way I felt a whole new sort of fatigue. So I am taking a break for a few hours. Sounds like you figured out the mounting already. That may be a while for me. But I think my back porch overhead structure will help get me started. I have no idea how long it will be before I can actually ride. I expect it will be a lot like the EUC learning. I never had a magic moment when I could suddenly ride. It was all slow incremental improvement. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
..... Posted October 3, 2021 Share Posted October 3, 2021 (edited) I used to ride a UC. I didnt find it as similar as you would suspect. I do prefer the laziness that is an euc tho, and my taint hasnt been bruised from it yet..... I dont like riding seated on an euc, as Im not a man with 18" legs. I didnt find it any harder than just having the courage to simply sit. Edited October 3, 2021 by ShanesPlanet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scottie Posted October 3, 2021 Share Posted October 3, 2021 4 hours ago, ShanesPlanet said: I used to ride a UC. About how long ago? Can you still ride one? Is it like the cliche of 'once you learn to ride a bicycle, you never forget' ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
..... Posted October 4, 2021 Share Posted October 4, 2021 (edited) 3 hours ago, Scottie said: About how long ago? Can you still ride one? Is it like the cliche of 'once you learn to ride a bicycle, you never forget' ? Man that was like 25 yrs ago. I got on one about 5 yrs ago and couldnt exactly ride it. However, I just KNOW it would have been only an hour or two and I'd been back at it. Remembering how to ride typically comes back much faster than the physical conditioning. I recall it took about 5 days as a youth to learn hop up and down curbs and ride sand. I borrowed a uni from a spoiled/rich friend and had to learn it fast. I'd suspect the learning curve is similar to an euc. I cant really say tho, as I learned uni as a child and euc as a bigger child. Edited October 4, 2021 by ShanesPlanet 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Giffy Posted October 9, 2021 Share Posted October 9, 2021 I have a 20" unicycle up in the garage. Haven't touched it in many years but I can definitely remember it being one of the hardest things I've learned to ride. I tried riding one a couple weeks ago and couldn't do it at all. Maybe it was because it was a smaller wheel made for a child but wow, I was shocked because I really thought I would be able to ride it even though it had been years. When I was at my best, I could ride it down the road and even go up some hills. Turning was definitely still a challenge but using my arms to swing my body seemed to help. This post might be what gets me to get the old UC out, replace the tube, and give it a go again. Maybe we can ride around the Cape sometime Guy 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bcarp Posted October 13, 2021 Share Posted October 13, 2021 On 10/2/2021 at 8:32 PM, Guy said: Has any of you ridden or ride a UC? I've been looking at UCs for longer than I've been looking at EUCs. Bought my first EUC 2 years ago & my first UC 3 months ago. I've found a flat netball court surface perfect for learning, with the wire fence to hang onto. A bit embarrassing among all the kids out riding their mini-bikes & foot scooters. And when I arrive with the UC, people expect me to put down a hat & start juggling for cash donations! I'm now able to traverse a straight line for about 40m, but not able to make sharp enough turns to ride around the court. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unipilot69 Posted October 14, 2021 Share Posted October 14, 2021 I've been riding unicycles for 41 years. I have a geared 36" I used to commute to the bus stop on. I also used it for the few group rides I used to go on. That unicycle has about 8000 miles on it. I did a complete teardown last year to refresh the whole unicycle. It was functioning fine just looking a little tattered. I still haven't got the frame painted. I want to re powder coat it. I haven't got the equipment for powder coating yet. Been busy with other stuff. I also have a vintage Miata Tall Flamingo 5' giraffe unicycle and a 26" fat tire unicycle that I can switch wheels out on. I can put a 29" wheel in the frame. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UniBlab Posted October 14, 2021 Share Posted October 14, 2021 Used to ride when I was a teen - often to school and back. IMO the skills made it easier for me to learn the euc but I don't believe they translate the opposite way very well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lex Smith Posted October 15, 2021 Share Posted October 15, 2021 I was riding a UC right up until I bought an EUC and knew instantly my pedaling days were over :-) I do believe the UC riding helped me master the EUC riding faster with the main benefit being confidence on a single wheel. The EUC was sooooooo much easier to ride and learn than the UC. Wouldn't be wanting to switch in the other direction. The UC was fun but the EUC is next level fun. Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tryptych Posted October 18, 2021 Share Posted October 18, 2021 Search for Ed Pratt on YouTube. Watch him ride around the world on a UC. Good stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scottie Posted October 19, 2021 Share Posted October 19, 2021 On 10/14/2021 at 2:48 PM, UniBlab said: IMO the skills made it easier for me to learn the euc but I don't believe they translate the opposite way very well. and On 10/15/2021 at 12:00 AM, Lex Smith said: I do believe the UC riding helped me master the EUC riding faster with the main benefit being confidence on a single wheel. The EUC was sooooooo much easier to ride and learn than the UC. Wouldn't be wanting to switch in the other direction. The UC was fun but the EUC is next level fun. So far I have to agree with you guys on this. The EUC was very tough for me to learn, taking a month of daily stubbornness just to be able to head down the road. It was about a year of daily riding before I felt that I had learned EUC riding fairly good. And after 20 months there are still many things I cannot do. But I do normal riding pretty well now and can handle almost any of the daily obstacles with ease finally. A lot of it had to do age with getting EUC muscles in shape. Now it feels almost as natural as walking. If I had tried this 30 years ago, I am sure all this would have been much easier. I am not expecting much out of trying to learn UC riding. It is just something that I am going to keep playing with for a few months or a year just to see if it ever happens. If UC riding never seems like something that will happen, I have thought about learning a skateboard. I am just so curious to see if my EUC skills can help me learn to ride anything anything else that I haven't already. Is it a one way journey ... where other skills help us learn the EUC ... but not vice-versa? There has got to be a little vice-versa ... right? Maybe EUC riding, since it is easier the UC riding, will help ... but help less. Now I am getting real curious about a skateboard! But I don't see how anything could replace an EUC for getting around town, or the wild areas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UniBlab Posted October 19, 2021 Share Posted October 19, 2021 Our experiences were our own - yours will be unique as well. Who knows, you might be that exception!!! Haha! Just have fun, be safe and don't give up! But know this, nothing will ever take the place of an EUC!!! Well, except for a better one....... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guy Posted October 21, 2021 Author Share Posted October 21, 2021 Thanks guys! I'm VERY slowly getting better. I'm trying the ski pole assisting method as there are very few places around here to learn/practice against a fence, wall, or railing. The poles allow me to practice in almost any flat area. I don't think the ski poles will become a crutch, and hamper the learning process. Some people offer their opinion of their dislike of the ski pole method. I reply, "What ever works for the individual person is right!". One woman said that I have to get used to falling 100% of the time! If that was true, I'd be on the ground 100% of the time. NO riding! No time left! New math?! I first used a dog leash, to hold up the V8, when I first started learning to ride an EUC. I dropped the leash only after a day or so. I'll let you guys know how all this UC thing goes. Hopefully, I can ditch the poles soon! Oh, a gear UC? Sounds cool! How does it work? I thought about a planetary gearing system inside the hub of an UC. Hey Giffy! Any time! Peace...Guy 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unipilot69 Posted October 22, 2021 Share Posted October 22, 2021 Another method for learning is finding a shopping cart corral and use the railings. Parking lots should be relatively smooth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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