How long is it supposed to take to learn?

[NewB]

I took some time last night and reseated the tire just in case all the wobbles weren't all me. It has to be someone else's fault, right? I also redid my shock pressure. I was going to get on it, but winter is when the four trees from outside come in (along with the Christmas tree) and we don't have as much space. At least I touched it and lived on it. My understanding is that it will appreciate the attention and go easy on me next time. If not, I can always use the whip and chair method I learned in the circus. 

I'm sure I'll be fine - all I need is some dry pavement and no onlookers! 

 

[Cerbera]

1 hour ago, NewB said:

I'm sure I'll be fine - all I need is some dry pavement and no onlookers! 

Lols, yeah - that's the difficult bit hey ? No onlookers. The only thing that makes people look more than at an EUC being ridden well is one that is being ridden by someone who looks unsure, and might be about to have an exciting crash !

[Paul A]

Dry pavement is all that is needed........stop making mountains out of molehills.....

 

 

[Funky]

1 hour ago, NewB said:

I'm sure I'll be fine - all I need is some dry pavement and no onlookers! 

Put the wheel in car and drive somewhere - where no one is around.  

That's how our family learned. And because we learned on grass/gravel/sand. We learned much faster. 1 hr off-road is like at least 5 hrs on smooth straight pavement. First time i rode on smooth pavement. I was like WTF!! It felt like i'm flying, because no bumps and nothing. It was so effortless riding on smooth ground.

If you are new ridder - wobbles ARE YOU.. Not the wheel. I weigh 280lbs and i could not go any PSI higher than 28. Or wheel would start wobbling, if i went over 25km/h speed. And overall it felt like i was riding on "knife edge", if i went over 30.

Try lowering PSI while you are "learning". I could ride 35+psi only after ~400km ridden. (And i had zero problem riding from the start.. No falling over, etc.. First day i was already going left/right and in circles.)

 

Till "new" riders have put at least 500km on the wheel - They don't know anything. I'm closing to my first 1000km. (I don't ride long "distances" much..) And only now i can do most of the things. Like hard braking. Duck down riding - while touching ground. One legged riding. Mounting on/off with both legs. Pendulum. (Still learning backwards riding. As i never really need to do that..)

 

 

How to check if tire is centered: Lift the wheel by pedals and let it "speed up" while holding it by pedals. If it isn't shaking left~~right very much at speed. Tire is straight.

 

 Free spin test: His wheel isn't shaking left/right at high speed = centered tire. (Little shake is okey.)

 

How to check if tire is "centered"

 

Edited December 15, 2022 by Funky

[NewB]

22 hours ago, Funky said:

Put the wheel in car and drive somewhere - where no one is around.  

That's how our family learned. And because we learned on grass/gravel/sand. We learned much faster. 1 hr off-road is like at least 5 hrs on smooth straight pavement. First time i rode on smooth pavement. I was like WTF!! It felt like i'm flying, because no bumps and nothing. It was so effortless riding on smooth ground.

If you are new ridder - wobbles ARE YOU.. Not the wheel. I weigh 280lbs and i could not go any PSI higher than 28. Or wheel would start wobbling, if i went over 25km/h speed. And overall it felt like i was riding on "knife edge", if i went over 30.

Try lowering PSI while you are "learning". I could ride 35+psi only after ~400km ridden. (And i had zero problem riding from the start.. No falling over, etc.. First day i was already going left/right and in circles.)

 

Till "new" riders have put at least 500km on the wheel - They don't know anything. I'm closing to my first 1000km. (I don't ride long "distances" much..) And only now i can do most of the things. Like hard braking. Duck down riding - while touching ground. One legged riding. Mounting on/off with both legs. Pendulum. (Still learning backwards riding. As i never really need to do that..)

 

 

How to check if tire is centered: Lift the wheel by pedals and let it "speed up" while holding it by pedals. If it isn't shaking left~~right very much at speed. Tire is straight.

 

 Free spin test: His wheel isn't shaking left/right at high speed = centered tire. (Little shake is okey.)

 

How to check if tire is "centered"

 

I checked the tire last night and it was unbalanced. I reseated it and this morning was way, way smoother!

[UPONIT]

On 12/15/2022 at 8:04 AM, Paul A said:

Dry pavement is all that is needed........stop making mountains out of molehills.....

 

 

Please fill in the blanks here: I believe this man had to practice at least ________ hours over the course of _______ months to become this skilled.

Example: I believe this man had to practice at least 3,000 hours over the course of 36 months to become this skilled.

Seriously. I'd love to hear educated guesses.

[360rumors]

5 hours ago, UPONIT said:

Please fill in the blanks here: I believe this man had to practice at least ________ hours over the course of _______ months to become this skilled.

Example: I believe this man had to practice at least 3,000 hours over the course of 36 months to become this skilled.

Seriously. I'd love to hear educated guesses.

The skills he shows are probably based not just on practice with EUC but other disciplines as well such as gymnastics, in addition to strength conditioning. So I’m not sure if you want to include his years of practice with those other activities. 

[Paul A]

6 hours ago, UPONIT said:

I'd love to hear educated guesses.

 

The YouTuber is Damien Gaumet.

He is a professional circus/acrobatic performer.

He trained at the École Supérieure des Arts du Cirque in Brussels.

He was the winner of the 2016 EUC talent contest.

 

https://www.acolytes.asso.fr/en/companies/cirque-hirsute

[Cerbera]

There we go, thank goodness for that, he is the exception rather than the standard we should all be aspiring to

Interesting that he started on an Airwheel X5 like I did - that is arguably the lightest and most responsive wheel I have ever ridden, despite its lack of power and range - I can see how he got good fast on that sort of thing.

I did see a video the other day of someone doing similarly amazing things, and equally tight turns on a Master, which I want to watch again, because that is orders of magnitude more difficult to control, but haven't been able to find it since. So hope remains.

Edited December 22, 2022 by Cerbera

[Mono]

On 12/22/2022 at 10:19 AM, UPONIT said:

Please fill in the blanks here: I believe this man had to practice at least ________ hours over the course of _______ months to become this skilled.

Example: I believe this man had to practice at least 3,000 hours over the course of 36 months to become this skilled.

Seriously. I'd love to hear educated guesses.

Given that Damien is a trained circus artist and could most likely ride a unicycle before he started riding EUCs, I'd guess no more than 200-300 hours over 6-18 months. I am neither a trained circus artist nor a gymnast or anything alike, yet after 500ish hours of rather enjoyment driven training most of Damiens skill set doesn't seem totally out of reach anymore even to me.

[M640x]

On 10/18/2022 at 5:17 PM, johninbaltimore said:

Had mine for a week and been on it maybe for an hour or two?  I went 6 inches before I fell off; now I can go about 6 feet.  I don't know if this is supposed to be fast or slow, but I don't seem to be getting much practice and I'm still making notable improvement.

One oddity:  it seems easier to balance when not moving than when moving, unlike a bicycle where the rear tire tries to steer under a falling bike and rights it automatically.  I guess without a second wheel in line, there's nothing adding lateral stability when moving, so should I be practicing balancing while still?

I'm approaching 5000 miles of EUC riding but still remember the first days when I started.  I tend to pick up physical things pretty quickly but learning the EUC wasn't one of them.  It was 6 weeks before I could ride straight down the road more than 50 yards without falling.  My experience isn't typical, most people pick it up much faster than me. 

Here's the one biggest item that fast forwarded my riding skills over anything else I tried.... as many miles as possible each time you ride!  Once you get to a point where you can ride and continue riding, go on longer rides.  I was still wobbly but went on a group ride.  It was 26 miles and was the best thing I ever did.  Until then I only would ride approx. 4 miles at any given event.  That was my mistake, I wasn't doing enough miles each time I went to ride.  My riding ability improved 10 fold on just that one group ride.  After that I made it a point to ride at least 10 to 20 miles a day.  After a month my ability had improved enormously.  The brain and body learn every second you're on the EUC.

My mileage experience: (others may vary)

Up to 500 miles: better rider but still very cautious overall when riding.  Not completely comfortable and didn't take much for me to fall on my arse.

1000 miles: much more comfortable when riding, able to relax more.  Switching to a different EUC takes 100+ miles to get used to.

1500 miles:  started learning to ride backwards, holy crap it's difficult.

2500 miles:  riding is more second nature and am able to ride out almost any surprise obstacle that I run across.

2500+ miles:  Learned to ride backwards, (took a year to become comfortable and proficient), which greatly improved all riding ability on almost any terrain. Every time I ride I throw in backwards riding.

4000+ miles:  Approaching 5000 miles and can ride any EUC and get used to it in 5 minutes.  Riding is therapy and always has been. 

Edited March 15, 2023 by M640x

[techyiam]

36 minutes ago, M640x said:

Approaching 5000 miles and can ride any EUC and get used to it in 5 minutes.

As an exaggeration, I can understand the part where advanced riders can take much less time to learn a new wheel.

However, in the literal sense, I can see how it is possible to start riding a new wheel wheel in 5 minutes, but to get used it in that time frame for big heavy wheels such as 22” wheels, like the Abrams, Master Pro and V13, would mean you have a gift for riding electric wheels, especially if you have never ridden that types of wheels before.

[mr_guns]

While I was waiting for my V11 I kept reading posts about how hard it’s going to be. I watched so many YouTube videos on learning and when I got my wheel I found some of the techniques didn’t work for me, but some did. I’ve only had my V11 for 10 days and I logged 130+ miles so far. Find what works for YOU and Practice, practice, practice. 

[mr_guns]

After my post yesterday I changed the tire pressure. I was using 25 psi per numerous comments that said it's easier to learn on the V11 with lower pressure. I figured I was doing so good I wanted to increase the tire pressure to the manufactures recommended pressure, so I increased it to 35 psi.

Today I went riding and I couldn't figure out why I was having such a hard time. I felt like I went backwards in riding skill. I started out on dirt, and it wasn't pretty. I finally realized what was going on. The machine was way more maneuverable on pavement, but it took me a while to get the hang of it. I like doing dirt, so I'll probably let some air out to compromise.

Moral of the story, suggest starting with lower pressure then work it up as skill is obtained.

[Funky]

1 hour ago, mr_guns said:

After my post yesterday I changed the tire pressure. I was using 25 psi per numerous comments that said it's easier to learn on the V11 with lower pressure. I figured I was doing so good I wanted to increase the tire pressure to the manufactures recommended pressure, so I increased it to 35 psi.

Today I went riding and I couldn't figure out why I was having such a hard time. I felt like I went backwards in riding skill. I started out on dirt, and it wasn't pretty. I finally realized what was going on. The machine was way more maneuverable on pavement, but it took me a while to get the hang of it. I like doing dirt, so I'll probably let some air out to compromise.

Moral of the story, suggest starting with lower pressure then work it up as skill is obtained.

I at start could not ride anything over 28psi.. When i went over 15mph, i started to get wobbles. And my weight is 280lbs.

After ~400km ridden i could go to 35psi without any wobbles and without that "riding on knife edge" feeling. (I still like to ride at 30psi personally, but don't have any problem riding at 35/40psi anymore.)

Simply ride and over time you will get used to wheel. Some learn faster, some slower. My biggest problem was mounting the wheel. I tried right out free mount the wheel. Without any help of fence/support.. It took me 4 days, each day around 20 mins trying to mount. (My mistake was not leaning forwards enough.. Each time i put the feet from ground on pedal - i lost balance. Because i was standing in place..)  At 4th day i said duck it and did superman lean forwards. That got me going.. 30 min later i was going left/right and in circles without any problems. Riding gave me ZERO problems. Second day i was already riding true city/people. Sure i dropped the wheel time to time when stopping. As i placed my feet on ground to fast or didn't catch the wheel in time. But after 2 weeks i didn't have any problems stopping and controlling the wheel with one leg.

Best thing one can learn right-out is one legged riding. Stopping/Starting you can place feet already on ground before stopping. Or kick off like with skateboard, afterwards putting the feet on pedal, while wheel is already moving. (First time i tried riding one legged was on beach. I figured if i fall - it will be soft landing in sand. Right-out i did it without a fail.) 

Edited March 25, 2023 by Funky

[mr_guns]

I went with 30 psi and have been doing pretty good. I've also been practicing one leg and sitting. It's coming along!