Jump to content

What are your most common injuries on EUC?


Recommended Posts

There's a thread on the forum titled:

If you fell off EUC and got injured in the last few years, how are you all doing now?

It was started on June 28, 2017, runs for 19 pages, most recent post February 5, 2020.

Plenty of posts of various injuries, pictures, details.

If wrists are broken, a person might need someone else to use the toilet paper to clean them afterwards, or maybe use a bidet. :unsure:

Edited by Paul A
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Eucner said:

My choice is the combination of trained falling techniques and gloves with wrist guards.

I understand that this would be your choice. But have you actually been trained and practiced falling techniques. If you have, kudos to you. I find it hard for me to actually fall or crash deliberately.

Or, are borrowing techniques and practices from marital arts?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 minutes ago, techyiam said:

I understand that this would be your choice. But have you actually been trained and practiced falling techniques. If you have, kudos to you. I find it hard for me to actually fall or crash deliberately.

Or, are borrowing techniques and practices from marital arts?

At younger age I have fallen thousands times in martial arts training. It still gives me right reflexes and basic technique for EUC use. Slight adjustments needs to be done to compensate the effect of speed and use of protective equipment.

You need to start training from easy and then work to harder exercises. Hard fall forward is the most important falling technique for EUC use. There is a lot of martial arts Youtube videos how to do it. Start from kneeling position on soft ground and it is kids play. For speed adjustment, just put your hands more forward (i.e. upwards when you are standing). If you are using elbow and knee protectors, then you can take more pressure on these parts than what is used in martial arts training.

  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hmm.. Should i belly flop from second flor balcony - i figure impact should be around the same, as euc slamming me to ground at 30mph?

Gotta start learning somewhere. Don't worry, i will call ambulance before i attempt this. :efee8319ab:

  • Haha 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Here's a post by Hsiang on this forum from four years ago.

 

Face planted hard this afternoon, right on a concrete curb and chiped a tooth as a bonus.

I wasn't planning to go fast on the ride today, But decided to stop and setup a camera in an open area to test out the brake assistance feature on the Z10. straight run with a slight curve in the beginning and a straight section where I practice braking.

First 5 run went fine but on the 6th run as I lean in to accellerate something went wrong and the z10 went flying and since I was in the curve section I flew face first into the curb.

I had fallen plenty snowboarding, rollerblading and mountain biking but the speed of this caught me completely by surprise.

Also had no idea what caused the fall. I checked the surface before hand and it was level and clean, the 6th run was no faster than the prior 5. and I was well under the speed limit of the Z10 with an 80% battery.

learned my lesson and won't be riding without a full face now. 

20181110_131408.thumb.jpg.c34018336fba5e

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

I have to confess that in the entire time I have been riding EUCs, initially only tame little Airwheels, but later something a bit more powerful in the Gotway MS3, I have never felt a pressing need to wear a helmet. And in the 7 or 8 years I've been doing this I've had my fair share of falls, at a range of speeds, and through what I now realise was probably just pure luck I never hit my head in a single accident - my hands and wrists always came out to save me, and being a piano player who used to do it for a living I had wrist braces from the start, which saved my wrists every time. I always wore elbow and knee pads, but most injuries I encountered were to ankles and shins, and fingers (if not gloved), though all joints are at risk in a fall, and moreso with me because I am so damn thin and bony ! Having grazed my fingers quite badly early on I wear cycle gloves under my wrist guards in Summer, and leather gloves under wrist guards in Winter, and have no finger scraping since !

About a year into the Gotway era I invested in some proper motorcyle boots and a complete integrated upper body kit by 661, which is better than just elbows and knees because it's also got padding all the way down the arms, shoulders, chest and back protection. The boots I have to say, are especially brilliant. I have had several minor incidents where the pedals / metalwork has twatted my ankles and shins on the way down, and with MC boots your ankles are as properly safe from falls as they are immune to those silly yappy type dogs that sometime feel the need to chase us, snapping at our heels. I actually had one of those latched on to the heel of my boot the other day, and only knew it because it affected my weight shifting ! (I resisted the urge to stop and drop-kick it into the nearby river incidentally !)

And they protect lower shin, have excellent pedal grip, even when wet and provide a wide, grippy leather base from which to communicate firmly with the wheel body during accelerations and braking.

But now I have a master coming even I have realised my days of none-helmetry will have to pass, so have begun practising riding with one so I am used to it when the new wheel arrives.

Initially I tried a cheapy 'stig style' MC full face jobby, which was comfy, and felt secure, but was very bulky and heavy on the neck, and impractical, and fogged up like a bastard, not to mention making me look like a watermelon on a beanpole ! Then tried a storm-trooper style face riser type helmet off amazon, which would have been good had I again not cheaped out quite so much - 50 quid really doesn't cut it in this arena. This one was functionally fine and fitted well, but neither the front riser, or the outer screen would stay up due to poor fit and finish, so that got sent back, and I did what I should have done from the beginning which is just get a TSG Pass Pro and be done with it.

This arrived just in time for my recent crash on the MS3 (where I also didn't hit my head at all, interestingly !) but has been the polar opposite of its MC predecessors to ride with, and is light, supremely comfortable, almost zero reduction in visibility from no helmet at all, the visor stays exactly where you put it regardless of how bumpy the road is, and you do look properly bad-ass and tron-stylee in them in a way that you don't if you go for the bulkier MC jobbies or the half head ones that I would call insufficient for use with the new breed of monster speedy wheels - we really need that jaw protection if we're going faster than 30 mph.

As my armour evolves over the years the next thing to add will be some Leatt hinged knee / shin pad combo jobbies to complete the leg protection, and then finally some fully padded MC trousers for winter use and extra protection in dodgy conditions.

Also, on a related note I tend to ride around with the main visor on my TSG up, and some Steven Seagal style orange-tint shades under the helmet. I see why he wears them now - Really clear contrast in low / mid light conditions, and combines nicely with the dark visor of the TSG when in bright sunshine. And I love that mouth foam on the TSG that (once you get it positioned right for you) really does fix the fog problem, at the expense of people being able to hear you when you try and talk at them !

 

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

First fall I sprained wrist in my first week of riding, while my protection was still on it's way to me in the mail, I decided to test the top speed of my wheel. I deserved that.

Second time I broke my wrist protector. Since I assume it was stronger than my actual wrist, I'm happy I wore it.

Third time was the most spectacular, but only hurt my pride. I sped down a short downhill dirt trail I always take after work, but went shopping before that, so it was already dark and I had a full backpack. I somehow forgot that it had been raining for days and that the trail had turned into a mudslide. I did a full somersault and my wheel did one and a half and actually landed upside down. Thankfully the mud made for a very soft landing. Both the wheel and I were completely covered in a thick layer of sticky mud, but the groceries were ok. :)

Last time I fell was not so long ago. Just changed to a new tire and went off-roading. The tire behaved slightly differently than I was used to and I misjudged the gap I had for my wheel and clipped the left pedal. Normally at 20 kph I just run it off without falling, but this time the wheel twisted left and caught my foot which flipped me forward. Ended up in classic faceplant position, landing on face, shoulder and outstretched wrists. Knocked all the wind out of me, but was  fine. First time I scraped my helmet though.   

In all instances except in the mud I have lost skin on my elbows, my fault for not wearing elbow pads, but that's a deliberate choice on my part. 
However I have been grateful for wearing Wrist guards, Helmet and knee guards. In that order.

Might seem like I fall a lot, but it's on average about once every 3500km or so and I do a lot of off-roading, MTB tracks etc

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Most common type of crash in the beginning (first 1000km, 16S) were low-speed falls and trips, unintended or clumsy dismounts. The resulting injury is typically ankle bite. Over time my body has subconsciously learnt to dismount (whether intended or not) in such a manner that I never get hurt by the EUC itself anymore. Two typical crashes remain frequent:

  1. loss of traction on ice or snow in winter (had tens of those since I stubbornly ride the stock street tire in winter). This results in a controlled fall (much more time to react than on cutout) with very minor bruises as a result (i wear knee pads, elbow pads, wrist guards, gloves, FF helmet and armored shorts in winter)
  2. Slow dismounts in technical offroad (usually an obstacle, deep sand or a difficult maneuver like turning on a dime on a slippery incline). No injuries to speak of.

The above are crashes that are supposed to happen and are part of the fun/learning process. In addition there are some higher-speed crashes every 500-1000 km that are unwelcome and resulted in nastier bruises. My helmet only touched the ground once during learning. I still consider it important since most fatal injuries are to the head. 

  • Like 1
  • Upvote 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, yoos said:

 

  1. loss of traction on ice or snow in winter (had tens of those since I stubbornly ride the stock street tire in winter).

Stud your regular tire. Heck you can even stud regular CST C-1488 < My dad did that. And he rode all winter almost no slipping at all. :D 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 months later...

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...