BrodyAbroad Posted January 17, 2022 Share Posted January 17, 2022 I am located in Gippsland, VIC and am wondering if there is anyone nearby that would let me try out your euc, I am happy to travel to Melbourne to try one, if needed. I just don't want to commit to buying one if I don't like it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Funky Posted January 17, 2022 Share Posted January 17, 2022 If you have not ridden one before, i doubt you will simply start riding from 0 skill. It isn't like bike, skateboard, scooter.. Most people who started ridding, at start thought it isn't possible to ride this.. How the hell you keep this thing up.. I for one thought this thing is stupid, how can someone ride this. After 1 week O.M.G. i love this thing. xD 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrodyAbroad Posted January 17, 2022 Author Share Posted January 17, 2022 1 minute ago, Funky said: If you have not ridden one before, i doubt you will simply start riding from 0 skill. It isn't like bike, skateboard, scooter.. Most people who started ridding, at start thought it isn't possible to ride this.. How the hell you keep this thing up.. I for one thought this thing is stupid, how can someone ride this. After 1 week O.M.G. i love this thing. xD Yeah I have ridden other electric vehicles before, I am just looking to try it out, even just for 30 mins before I go and spend a ton of money. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Felix Posted January 17, 2022 Share Posted January 17, 2022 Indeed you would need someone to loan it to you for 1 week or so. In just one session you will not "like" it. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Funky Posted January 17, 2022 Share Posted January 17, 2022 46 minutes ago, BrodyAbroad said: Yeah I have ridden other electric vehicles before As in what? Even "one wheel" can't be compared to euc quit really. I think there's nothing to compare. Can't compare apples to bananas. We simply are telling, that you won't be riding one in 1hr time. And if you do that, most of us would be amazed. (If you have not ridden one before.) Heck most people it takes days to learn. For me it took 4 days, each day around 20 min.. First 3 days i could not even move 1 feet, wheel was falling over all the time. 4th day my brain simply clicked and i was riding.. Simple straight lines and going in big circles.. After week i was quite comfortable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freeforester Posted January 17, 2022 Share Posted January 17, 2022 I think it depends on the coaching and instruction you get, to be honest; for myself, learning from scratch, alone and without anyone assisting it took a few sessions over the space of a week, and a bump and bite or two at the ankles area on the way. But, with a little knowledge gained from my own experiences, I managed to get my young nephew (18) going in five minutes, and a neighbour’s son (early 20’s) in less time. The important part is to get moving and instil the “I’m doing it -I’m actually doing it!” idea soonest, and I feel the way Afeez has done with this elderly gentleman here is great. I know as well as the prospective new rider that we have all the rest to come thereafter, the free mounting and dismounting, the turning, braking, etc etc, but if the person is keen to try or learn, I think it’s best you give them a taste of sweet success as soon as is practicable, which will go a long way toward building their confidence levels and encouraging them to stick at it and improve, as well as learning all the things we all need as basic riders, the rest comes with practice, and yet more practice. https://youtu.be/fNBBK2HoVGo My advice would be, try to find a sympathetic tutor, and as far as possible, Just do it! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HardyM Posted January 19, 2022 Share Posted January 19, 2022 Like investing in huge properties, buying also entails some risks. But buying one gear does not mean spending an amount you’re willing to waste without getting any benefit, but it’s buying a product that can give you valuable service. And while there are more expensive brands available, there’s no need to bank on them immediately for your first board. All you need is to spend on one that suits your ride and will help you learn better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zopper Posted January 19, 2022 Share Posted January 19, 2022 Getting a battered second-hand wheel that you can sell for the same or not much lower price later might be also an option. But that depends on how many riders are in your area. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RockyTop Posted January 19, 2022 Share Posted January 19, 2022 If you can walk freely you can learn. The question is, do you have the desire to learn? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tawpie Posted January 19, 2022 Share Posted January 19, 2022 (edited) On 1/17/2022 at 5:00 AM, BrodyAbroad said: I am just looking to try it out, even just for 30 mins before I go and spend a ton of money. lol. I thought the same thing. Then I realized that like test driving a bicycle before I knew how to ride one, it's just not possible to test drive an EUC. You'll only end up thinking "impossible, not for me". This is a case where you have to be willing to risk some money to find out. I figured if riding a wheel actually wasn't for me, I could resell the wheel for a bit less than I paid and chalk the loss up to experimentation. It seemed like a loss of 100USD would allow me to resell it (assuming I didn't massively overpay, but I bought new so...), and I was curious enough to be willing to spend 100USD to find out. Having a stubborn streak is very helpful. Knowing that geezers older than I and little kids could do this paved the way to me trying it out. Look for @WILSON-YT's learning videos https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0YKfknuiMo ... they're very long (real time) and basically unedited but he's an actual learner, not a pro giving tips. They gave me the confidence that this was actually learnable and just took stick-to-it-ivness. Edited January 19, 2022 by Tawpie 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RayRay Posted January 19, 2022 Share Posted January 19, 2022 (edited) On 1/17/2022 at 4:58 AM, Funky said: It isn't like bike, skateboard, scooter.. We take for granted that we learned to ride these when we were young. Place an adult on a bike for the first time and it "won't be pretty". I grew up in skate culture; but I'm terrible on a board and not likely to improve without commitment. (Although, scooters seem easy to ride.) What we're saying is: you can learn to ride; but if you're just trying it out, it will seem like you can't. (Also, once you learn, you're hooked.) Edited January 19, 2022 by RayRay catch22 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VikB Posted January 28, 2022 Share Posted January 28, 2022 (edited) On 1/17/2022 at 5:00 AM, BrodyAbroad said: Yeah I have ridden other electric vehicles before, I am just looking to try it out, even just for 30 mins before I go and spend a ton of money. That's like a newb surfer asking to demo someone's surfboard before deciding if they want to learn to surf. You can't ride a surfboard or an EUC until you learn to ride a surfboard or EUC. You'll also do a lot of damage to an EUC during that first week of learning so people are not keen to loan out wheels they care about and watch you crash them repeatedly. Unless you are lucky enough to know a friend with an old loaner wheel you pretty much have to buy an EUC and learn to ride it on faith that you'll enjoy it. I'm one of the weirdos that learned to ride an EUC no problem, but didn't fall in crazy love with it and want to buy 3 more. I enjoy it well enough, but I did not become a fanatic. That said I still have no regrets spending the money on a wheel. It's fun. I do use it. It's just not something I wake up dreaming about. If you buy a used wheel that's popular V10F/16x something like that you should be able to learn to ride and sell it again for roughly what you paid for it....assuming you don't smash it to bits learning. You can then either buy a new EUC that you are stoked for or if you didn't enjoy it you can move onto something else. Edited January 28, 2022 by VikB 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Funky Posted January 28, 2022 Share Posted January 28, 2022 12 minutes ago, VikB said: I'm one of the weirdos that learned to ride an EUC no problem, but didn't fall in crazy love with it and want to buy 3 more. I enjoy it well enough, but I did not become a fanatic. That said I still have no regrets spending the money on a wheel. It's fun. I do use it. It's just not something I wake up dreaming about. If you buy a used wheel that's popular V10F/16x something like that you should be able to learn to ride and sell it again for roughly what you paid for it....assuming you don't smash it to bits learning. You can then either buy a new EUC that you are stoked for or if you didn't enjoy it you can move onto something else. Same. xD It's more fun than regular bike. More convenient, because of size. Don't see point getting another, because more or less at the end it's the same.. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
..... Posted January 29, 2022 Share Posted January 29, 2022 (edited) Get some conviction and just spend $1k. If you can't tell yourself that you WILL learn it and you WILL enjoy it, don't bother. FIrst comes conviction. THEN comes success. If not success, it will be denial and then eventually resignation. If you enjoy any other activities that are similar, you will enjoy the euc. Altho, do not expect learning to be easy, as little directly translates. Basically, either jump in the pool or don't go. No wading in the shallows allowed! Edited January 29, 2022 by ShanesPlanet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prisondude Posted January 29, 2022 Share Posted January 29, 2022 i feel like sometimes its all about persistence and determination to want to ride and be happy with the one you bought at first. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rcgldr Posted January 29, 2022 Share Posted January 29, 2022 (edited) Old guy here, 70 years. I got a V8F about 6 months ago, when I was only 69 1/2 years old. I watched a lot of how to ride videos. The videos mentioned steer into fall for balance (obvious); similar to bicycles, that an EUC becomes stable at some speed; and from two of the videos, use support to mount and launch, learn to ride and stop, then learn how to free mount last. If you already know how to ride, then to free mount, you just need to take a step or two like a skateboard and step on. Not mentioned in the how to ride videos but seen in many beginner videos is using yaw steering via arm flailing (flail left to steer right, flail right to steer left), for slow speeds. I got advice from another rider on my first session, that mentioned to steer left and right for balance, rather than trying to go straight. It was hot, so I only got about 15 minutes of supported short rides using a rail. Later that day at a tennis court, I spent a few minutes using the fence, then veered away using arm flailing at 3 to 5 mph, able to do laps around a tennis court on my first attempt, but I didn't feel comfortable trying to go any faster in the tennis court. I then moved to a long straight with two trash bin enclosures that I could use for supported mount and launch, about 500 feet apart, where I found my V8F to become stable at 6 to 8 mph, and I didn't have to focus on balance. Leaning forwards | backwards to accelerate | brake was instinctive. I then experimented with tilt steering (inner foot down, outer foot up) to see how the V8F would respond. After getting some idea of the response, I was able to do weave patterns, and later large radius turns. At this point, I learned to free mount, my one and only time on grass (between two soccer fields), I didn't accelerate enough on the grass on the first two attempts, having to step off, but got it on my third try. This allowed me to ride at other locations. I had to estimate how much to lean my body and how much to tilt the V8F, depending on speed and turning radius. This improved over time, but for foot movements to become mostly reflex, was a transition that occurred between 1 month (75 miles) to 2 months (150 miles), with continued improvement to handle more range of speeds and tighter turns over 4 months (300 miles). Everyone learns at a different rate, but watching the how to ride videos and if possible getting advice from someone that know how to teach to ride is even better. In this funny video, one of the guys already knows how to ride a pedaled unicycle, and after doing some drills, is able to ride on his first try. The other guy was having issues until they switched to a wheel that was much more stable at slower speed, and he was riding after about 30 minutes or so. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-dDOxvmzvQ I feel this next video is a better learning how to ride video: Kuji Rolls teaching a girl to ride for the first time on a V8. He relies on getting her to ride at a somewhat stable speed on the V8 rather that teach yaw steering | arm flailing for balance, but at 7:20 into the video, when she first gets the hang of it, she arm flails a bit to make a right turn. Later she is going fast enough to be stable on the V8, and using tilt steering to guide it. Kuji does teach her one foot drills, but in this case, it's to be able to step off while keeping the other foot on and the V8 under control, so it doesn't roll off into some car in the parking lot. Other videos use these one foot drills to learn how to free mount, but she using support to mount and launch (which is what I did). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t6o8ZMlo5ko Video of a 3 year old kid using arm flailing for balance: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9YiHu5HJ6o As far as getting a loaner, some riders have an old wheel they don't use much anymore and will use that to teach other riders, but you'd have to post here, other forums, and maybe search facebook for a group in your area to find such a rider. If you decide to just buy a wheel, I'm not sure what to recommend. For me an EUC is a hobby (my other hobbies: motorcycle, radio control gliders, and my wife and I go out dancing). I bought the V8F because it is light (for easy transport), and I only ride it on our private streets (speed limit 15 mph), and a nearby bike trail (mostly at 10 to 15 mph), and for less than 1 hour rides, so I didn't need the speed or range. I don't know what EUC to recommend for other new riders, depends on how they plan to use it and if the rider is heavy, a larger EUC is probably needed. Edited January 29, 2022 by rcgldr 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GothamMike Posted February 16, 2022 Share Posted February 16, 2022 No. Next question? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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