Took my first flight on a RS HS yesterday.

[Magman116]

Yesterday I took my new Begode RS HS (C30) with the Molicel P42a cells out for a short ride and had a strange cutout that sent me flying like superman and I am not quite sure why.

The wheel cut out on me right when I went from the pavement to the grass. As soon as the wheel contacted the grass I went flying forward and just had the thought of seeing my hands out in front of me like superman.  Then as I rolled across the ground I could see my wheel bouncing toward me.   I thought, how strange; I didn't even have time to feel scared. My knee and wrist guards took to brunt of the impact and I was not injured physically and no one saw me so there was no psychological damage.

I actually thought about not putting on gear before this ride because I was feeling very confident in the wheel  and wasn't going to be riding aggressively, but that little voice in my head said to put it all on which I am thankful I did. 

Back to the cutout.  I picked up the wheel and checked it over for damage.  There wasn't much but some small scratches in the shell and left pedal.  I could see, in the grass, the wheel made it about 20 inches in and that is where it cutout. The grass was short and the ground was soft from the recent rain earlier in the day.

I checked on the charge level and it was over 93%.

I saw nothing indicating why the wheel cutout. Does anyone have any ideas? I am at a loss.  I road the wheel about 8 miles afterward to make sure nothing was wrong and there were no issues.

 

 

[The Brahan Seer]

This is a common occurrence due to the difference in friction between the different surfaces. With the grass being damp would have made it more of an issue. So maybe you leaned forward a bit just as you went from the pavement to the grass and this made the wheel suddenly spike and throw you off. I haven't had an issue with it ever and from your wheel count it doesn't sound like you have either despite your experience. But I have seen it talked about on how to ride vlogs and to watch out for it.

[techyiam]

2 hours ago, Magman116 said:

The wheel cut out on me right when I went from the pavement to the grass. As soon as the wheel contacted the grass I went flying forward and just had the thought of seeing my hands out in front of me like superman.

Were you on a slope going at constant speed, or accelerating / decelerating when that happened? 

[Cerbera]

Was your weight centred over the wheel as you transitioned from pavement to grass ? And was it a straight roll or were you turning, even slightly, as it happened ? Did you look for hidden potholes / dips in the terrain under the grass where this happened ? Were you logging any wheel data at the time ?

[Magman116]

Good responses.  Thank you!

I live in the flat land of East Central Florida and don't have any hills around me.  We do get near daily rains not from the sea breeze collisions in the afternoon.

When I was approaching the grassy area, I slowed down some, but did lean forward just as I hit the grass to accelerate through it.  This might be why that happed.  I have done this transition in the same area many times and never had any issues.

I never road on this grassy area with the ground so mushy before.  When I walked on it, it was very spongy from the rain.  So that is more than likely the issue, I just have not experienced this before and thought it was very strange.  At least there was no road rash involved with this wipeout.

I will have to be more cautious in the future as not to accelerate until after being in the grass and as I am transitioning from pavement to grass. 

 

[Cerbera]

Of all the surfaces that are risky biscuits for EUCs, wet grass is pretty high up the list, along with deep sand, deep mud, thick carpet and larger, looser gravel. I try and keep my contact with these areas minimal and brief, and do my best to keep my weight as close to directly over the wheel as I can when on these bits, so you avoid side-slip...

Edited July 21, 2022 by Cerbera

[UniMe]

I have an RS HT, did exactly the same thing once. Pavement to soft grass, immediately lost control of the wheel. I'm pretty sure it wasn't a 'cut out' though, more like total failure of any sort of stability -- I would describe the ground under the grass as soft and almost muddy. Like you, made it a a meter or so, but it was obvious that the wheel was sinking and losing traction.

 

[Magman116]

Mine was pretty immediate when I hit the grass and don't know if it was a cutout or not. Due to how fast it was I thought it was a cutout. I just know I was flying through the air before I knew what was going on. The data on EUC World did not indicate any strange anomaly at that time. It just looks like my speed went to zero. There was no high current draw or free spinning of the wheel or safety margin issues.

I will definitely be more cautious when going on wet or mushy grass.

[UniMe]

Sounds like the same experience I was going slow enough to 'gracefully' step (run) off, but the wheel did an end over end. I've seen videos of people riding in mud and based on my limited experience don't really see how I could get there. If the wheel sinks it's over, the conditions would need to be quite precise for me to pull it off.

[Macboy]

I'm finding this post quite surprising. I have recently shortlisted the RS HT as my next wheel because I'm finding I enjoy a wheel that can do some nice trail riding on dirt and gravel. Thought the RS was the ticket. Perhaps I was wrong? Or does trail riding require some specific settings to maybe minimize issues like this?

[Magman116]

You are not wrong. The RS with the CST-186 tire is awesome off road!  I only had an issue when going from pavement to wet spongy grass and accelerating at the same time.  Totally my fault.  The RS performs on or off road. The knobby tire really grips in dirt.

I do think I would have preferred the RS HT over the RS HS, but I am fine with my decision.

[LanghamP]

On 7/27/2022 at 12:29 PM, Macboy said:

I'm finding this post quite surprising. I have recently shortlisted the RS HT as my next wheel because I'm finding I enjoy a wheel that can do some nice trail riding on dirt and gravel. Thought the RS was the ticket. Perhaps I was wrong? Or does trail riding require some specific settings to maybe minimize issues like this?

I've crashed going from pavement to grass, and what basically happens is that once the wheel loses traction it tips forward, thereby increasing the spin rate, thereby reducing the traction even more, and very quickly this cycle results in a crash. You have to hit transitions neutral.

[Magman116]

Sounds logical.  I almost had it happen again and the wheel took a quick forward lean and a pedal near caught.  I was able to recover and checked out the area it happened.

The grass went from real short to real long and the ground was spongy.  There was no difference in height of the grass, but the ground dropped. if that made any sense.

Right and the longer grass (lower ground) with mushy ground is where the wheel took the quick dip forward.

After my flight, I take greater care when transitioning from hard pavement to grass.