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Inmotion V3 twin wheel


Douglas Ingram

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Here's another starting member from the continent - I purchased the Inmotion V3 Pro at a German shop at a very nice price (Rollingbull.de, for reference).

Now I'm trying to ride it - quite successfully.  It only took me half an hour to get it moving with me on it.  Riding and stopping are quite easy, the getting on the device is the hardest part. 

Primary use is home-office commuting, and occasionally showing off in town as summer approaches and I aim to be a skilled rider by then. 

The Inmotion proves to be a very forgiving step-in model, the dual wheel gives the opportunity to develop balancing skills for absolute beginners like myself.

Any good advice is welcome (as I will stroll this forum as issues pop up).

(Apologies for any spelling errors and other mistakes, as English is not my native language)  

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@Wonderland, welcome to the forum. Your post is not quite a review yet - but a review of how you get on with it - particularly over more difficult terrain, side slopes, cobbles, rough bumpy surfaces etc would be very welcome?)

Most riders here use the single wheeled electric unicycle, it takes just a little longer to learn those but then should be a lot more forgiving over difficult surfaces. So we would be very interested on your impressions of the V3 after you have ridden it for a time?

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My need has been moving around in a busy town with very poor surface conditions. Most of the time riding on the road with cars is dangerous so I need to move through or with pedestrians. Therefore being able to move very slowly or even stand still on the device is important and twin wheel design of my V3 can do it. On uneven surfaces this design does move around quite a bit, but once you understand how to use your hips and knees, so that the upper body remains stable and relaxed while the lower part moves, you get the hang of it. Also you should place your feet a bit away from the device, so that it can freely wobble as needed.

For city use, apart from twin wheels, robust handle, reasonable weight are also great. 

I think twin wheel designs with modest speeds should continue to have a market in the future. I see the trend going towards powerful and fast single wheels. I fear that this trend will cause more serious accidents and problems with authorities. I feel that, while braking, unicycles have a long reaction time. For emergency braking, not only your brain needs time to react, you also need time to shift your body weight from front to back and all that should take about two seconds when unexpected. At 40km/h, that two seconds would translate into more than 20 meters at full speed when you actually need to stop. The complete stopping distance is another story.

Therefore, I find max speeds like 18km/h... more sustainable. Speed is an attractive word these days but I remember Confucius's words: "As long as you keep moving, speed is irrelevant."

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3 minutes ago, Herman said:

My need has been moving around in a busy town with very poor surface conditions. Most of the time riding on the road with cars is dangerous so I need to move through or with pedestrians. Therefore being able to move very slowly or even stand still on the device is important and twin wheel design of my V3 can do it. On uneven surfaces this design does move around quite a bit, but once you understand how to use your hips and knees, so that the upper body remains stable and relaxed while the lower part moves, you get the hang of it. Also you should place your feet a bit away from the device, so that it can freely wobble as needed.

For city use, apart from twin wheels, robust handle, reasonable weight are also great. 

I think twin wheel designs with modest speeds should continue to have a market in the future. I see the trend going towards powerful and fast single wheels. I fear that this trend will cause more serious accidents and problems with authorities. I feel that, while braking, unicycles have a long reaction time. For emergency braking, not only your brain needs time to react, you also need time to shift your body weight from front to back and all that should take about two seconds when unexpected. At 40km/h, that two seconds would translate into more than 20 meters at full speed when you actually need to stop. The complete stopping distance is another story.

Therefore, I find max speeds like 18km/h... more sustainable. Speed is an attractive word these days but I remember Confucius's words: "As long as you keep moving, speed is irrelevant."

My worst panic braking took more like 0.2 seconds than 2 seconds. It was "react fast or become adornment on the front grill of a bloody beamer". I went from 25 kph to 5 kph in less than 10 meters. The sheer weight on my feet was such that my legs almost gave in. I actually slipped a few inches on dry asphalt.

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9 minutes ago, Herman said:

My need has been moving around in a busy town with very poor surface conditions. Most of the time riding on the road with cars is dangerous so I need to move through or with pedestrians. Therefore being able to move very slowly or even stand still on the device is important and twin wheel design of my V3 can do it. On uneven surfaces this design does move around quite a bit, but once you understand how to use your hips and knees, so that the upper body remains stable and relaxed while the lower part moves, you get the hang of it. Also you should place your feet a bit away from the device, so that it can freely wobble as needed.

For city use, apart from twin wheels, robust handle, reasonable weight are also great. 

I think twin wheel designs with modest speeds should continue to have a market in the future. I see the trend going towards powerful and fast single wheels. I fear that this trend will cause more serious accidents and problems with authorities. I feel that, while braking, unicycles have a long reaction time. For emergency braking, not only your brain needs time to react, you also need time to shift your body weight from front to back and all that should take about two seconds when unexpected. At 40km/h, that two seconds would translate into more than 20 meters at full speed when you actually need to stop. The complete stopping distance is another story.

Therefore, I find max speeds like 18km/h... more sustainable. Speed is an attractive word these days but I remember Confucius's words: "As long as you keep moving, speed is irrelevant."

If I were limited to 18km/h I think I would fall asleep on the wheel :lol:

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1 minute ago, Marty Backe said:

If I were limited to 18km/h I think I would fall asleep on the wheel :lol:

I "slowed down" today. The reason was to connect my phone with wheellog to check voltage. As it connected, I realised my "slow" speed was 25 kph...

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There were discussions about braking distance and this video was shared there: https://youtu.be/eTSaA_my4yw

13 meters of braking distance to a stop from 35km/h. It was  planned braking, therefore no reaction time/distance there. According to my motorcycle experience, noticing a hazard, deciding to break, activating your muscles to reach out the brake lever takes time and it is more like a second or two, depending on one's alertness. 

Speed, on the other hand, is all relative. You get used to your routine and take it as a reference point. I hear young motorcyclists talking as if sub 200km/h speeds were boring!

Accidents, by their nature, happen unexpectedly and they happen because there aint enough time/space to react. For speeding up there is always time, for stopping often not. Imho, this is especially important to remember when we ride along with pedestrians. 

So my point regarding V3 is that its speed is good enough for my transport and safety needs.

Regards.

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On 5/7/2017 at 1:37 AM, Scatcat said:

Every single stone, crack, dip, rope, manhole cover acts as an off-center lever unless you manage to hit them both wheels simultaneously. The wheels are 3" apart, which means it acts almost like very hard flat surface 4" tyre. It is not very relaxing, but with time you learn to compensate.

What is funny though is that on the OneWheel a wide, flat tire seems to be not a big problem at all, if any. Is it only the driver position which makes it so much easier to handle unevenness with a wide, flat tire?

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9 hours ago, Mono said:

What is funny though is that on the OneWheel a wide, flat tire seems to be not a big problem at all, if any. Is it only the driver position which makes it so much easier to handle unevenness with a wide, flat tire?

I think it is a combination of factors. One is that one wheel when deformed is still one wide wheel, the deformation is smooth. Two wheels means you in effect have one off centre wheel as soon as something makes a wave, you turn sharply or hit a curb.

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On 4/16/2018 at 10:45 AM, Scatcat said:

Two wheels means you in effect have one off centre wheel as soon as something makes a wave, you turn sharply or hit a curb.

This is what happens until you understand not to give equal weight to both feet all the time. As the surface makes a wave you let the device lean on one side (do not try to correct the lean), but your upper body remains on course. Doing this, you never turn unexpectedly on twin wheel. 

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13 hours ago, Herman said:

This is what happens until you understand not to give equal weight to both feet all the time. As the surface makes a wave you let the device lean on one side (do not try to correct the lean), but your upper body remains on course. Doing this, you never turn unexpectedly on twin wheel. 

Oh, I learnt the trick, even though by now it feels seriously strange to use the V3C, since I almost never do.

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  • 3 weeks later...
On 4/12/2018 at 11:07 PM, Scatcat said:

My worst panic braking took more like 0.2 seconds than 2 seconds. It was "react fast or become adornment on the front grill of a bloody beamer". I went from 25 kph to 5 kph in less than 10 meters. The sheer weight on my feet was such that my legs almost gave in. I actually slipped a few inches on dry asphalt.

I have to admit I need to reach that level of skill again. I did some test-braking day before yesterday and realised I've lost some of the instinctive skill... I can still do it, it's just that it comes less naturally. Have to find myself an empty parking lot and practice some, such shit is not best left until needed...

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  • 3 weeks later...
On 4/12/2018 at 11:00 PM, Herman said:

My need has been moving around in a busy town with very poor surface conditions. Most of the time riding on the road with cars is dangerous so I need to move through or with pedestrians. Therefore being able to move very slowly or even stand still on the device is important and twin wheel design of my V3 can do it. On uneven surfaces this design does move around quite a bit, but once you understand how to use your hips and knees, so that the upper body remains stable and relaxed while the lower part moves, you get the hang of it. Also you should place your feet a bit away from the device, so that it can freely wobble as needed.

For city use, apart from twin wheels, robust handle, reasonable weight are also great. 

I think twin wheel designs with modest speeds should continue to have a market in the future. I see the trend going towards powerful and fast single wheels. I fear that this trend will cause more serious accidents and problems with authorities. I feel that, while braking, unicycles have a long reaction time. For emergency braking, not only your brain needs time to react, you also need time to shift your body weight from front to back and all that should take about two seconds when unexpected. At 40km/h, that two seconds would translate into more than 20 meters at full speed when you actually need to stop. The complete stopping distance is another story.

Therefore, I find max speeds like 18km/h... more sustainable. Speed is an attractive word these days but I remember Confucius's words: "As long as you keep moving, speed is irrelevant."

Agree, on all arguments:

- commuting leads me partly through a busy town, partly down a very smooth asphalt bicycle lane.  In town, I keep switching between bicycle lane and sidewalk.  This implies low speed and quiet some agility.  On the smooth asphalt bicycle lane, however, I soon met the speed limit.  No falling asleep yet, though.

- in Belgium, for insurance reasons, max speed of these devices is 18 km/h, soon to be changed to 25 km/h.  Therefor, I'm perfectly ok with 18 km/h.

- after 6 weeks, the robust outer shell has some scratches from crashes, but hardly shows these. 

- the handle is an important asset in town, as crossing busy streets with train tracks and many bumps is preferrably done on foot and the handle is locked and unlocked easy and fast.

- However, I do have trouble with this particular situation: as soon as I'm out of balance (after hitting a very irregular bump or being touched by a passing cyclist), the inmotion starts moving left to right, completely out of control.  Slowing down hardly helps.  How do I regain control?

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On 4/12/2018 at 11:11 PM, Marty Backe said:

If I were limited to 18km/h I think I would fall asleep on the wheel :lol:

depends on your track : smooth surface and urban region allow more speed.

Crossing the (european) city centre with its pavements, cobble stones, crosswalks, contruction works causing blockings and deviations,...  you slow down.  And you don't fall asleep.

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  • 3 weeks later...
On 5/22/2018 at 4:31 PM, Wonderland said:

Agree, on all arguments:

- commuting leads me partly through a busy town, partly down a very smooth asphalt bicycle lane.  In town, I keep switching between bicycle lane and sidewalk.  This implies low speed and quiet some agility.  On the smooth asphalt bicycle lane, however, I soon met the speed limit.  No falling asleep yet, though.

- in Belgium, for insurance reasons, max speed of these devices is 18 km/h, soon to be changed to 25 km/h.  Therefor, I'm perfectly ok with 18 km/h.

- after 6 weeks, the robust outer shell has some scratches from crashes, but hardly shows these. 

- the handle is an important asset in town, as crossing busy streets with train tracks and many bumps is preferrably done on foot and the handle is locked and unlocked easy and fast.

- However, I do have trouble with this particular situation: as soon as I'm out of balance (after hitting a very irregular bump or being touched by a passing cyclist), the inmotion starts moving left to right, completely out of control.  Slowing down hardly helps.  How do I regain control?

Loss of balance in those situations is probably related to how you distribute your weight on your feet. In two wheel design you should be able to adapt when the device leans on one side due to uneven surface, by streching one leg and pull back the other. So while your lower body flexes and is like floating, your upper body remains level. 

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