The Master is the Most Ground Prone Wheel Ever!

[Elliott Reitz]

It's hard to grab (too easy to drop), and Slow to Balance. 

On my 1st commute I dropped it at a red light and by the time I got it up and balanced the light was yellow and it was orange by the time I went.  When I stand it up it takes longer than any other wheel I've ridden to balance itself (~ 3 seconds).  Standing beside it without the trolly handle deployed its very hard to grab and keep it from falling.  I noticed myself grabbing by the side of the seat material like it was the cheek of my dog or something like that.  Lucky I didn't tear a piece out of the seat/top-pad.  

So I will have to add a custom seat to this wheel - its great otherwise.  Oh but I'd love to get a firmware upgrade/update that can remove that excessive balance delay.  As it is trying to stand it up with 1 hand or 1 foot, its hard not to drop it again.  And that really sucks taking yet another 3seconds while the light turns red all over again, or managing the dog leash,  or holding my morning coffee on a commute. It makes me feel like an old old person trying to remember what way I was going to turn when the light turns green.  Oh well I will remember b4 it turns green again (while the kid in his father's Corvet lights up the tires and goes past me).  

Any solutions?

 

Edited October 22, 2022 by Elliott Reitz
+vid

[Cerbera]

I do enjoy your videos for the sheer amount of joy you are clearly having with these wheels. At the start of every one I am convinced that riding whilst attached to large and energetic dogs is a terrible idea, but by the end of each I am forced to admit you are making it work somehow !! I am also forced to respect (although I am not sure that's the right word!) the vaulting ambition of anyone who would add to that already seriously challenging amount of chaotic input forces to drop one foot and try and kick a ball !!

Yeah it's a heavy old wheel, hey, and it takes some practice to step off that thing right, such that it stays upright directly in front of you and you don't have to grab it !

I gotta say I would not even be trying to do that with one hand whilst holding on to the 2 dogs with the other ! I am beginning to think all those rather random extra inputs may be contributing to your problem ! I think you summed it up perfectly in the last line; 'near-impossible to prevent dropping unless you are doing nothing else', and that really is the key I reckon - don't try and do other things whilst dismounting the Master !  However, that is not very helpful, and having discovered the weight of that machine to be something I always have to watch (being just 55kg myself) I have worked out a reliable way of getting off and on it that, as it happens, does only need one hand, so may be of help to you !

Before I stop I align my bodyweight precisely over the centre of the wheel so it is running straight without any specific input. Then I do my braking, right down to almost stopped, and then give a little extra lean backwards at the end to bring it to a complete halt. It is tempting to jump off early, but don't ! We now have 1 second of balance to play with ! In that 1 second, just before I step down, which I only do with one (right) foot, my right hand pops out to gently touch the right side of the top cushion, which takes the pressure off my left leg remaining on its pedal to keep it upright, and is also able to prevent forward movement of the wheel if it got some unintended input as I stepped off !

It is actually the leg taking the majority of the weight, and that leg gets stronger with practice, but the hand is there for safety, and to give your leg a break if the traffic lights are taking ages. My right foot, planted on the ground has toes turned outwards, and is locked straight, to be more tripod-like and increase overall stability of me and wheel while we are stationary. When I get back up again, I can just push with this foot, and also slightly that right hand AS I step up, to make sure it can't tip as I remount.

This only works for me if there is no extension of my limbs as I do it - my leg, my arm, and the wheel are all pretty much right under me all the time. If that wheel stops enough distance in front of you so that when you jump off it your arm or restraining leg is outstretched, then (in my case at least) there is not enough control to hold its weight. But I can easily control it if I tuck it sufficiently under me as I stop and when I start again.

The trouble is of course, that most stages of that plan require that there are not 2 live animals exerting forces on you in directions you cannot control !  What a time to be alive !

Not sure what you mean though by 'takes ages to balance'. I have not noticed this with mine. Perhaps you mean 'takes longer to reach the speed where angular momentum does balancing for you', and if that is the case, try Medium Ride mode, which makes that initial acceleration less 'weighty' !

 

Edited October 22, 2022 by Cerbera

[Elliott Reitz]

On 10/21/2022 at 9:38 PM, Cerbera said:

I do enjoy your videos for the sheer amount of joy you are clearly having with these wheels. At the start of every one I am convinced that riding whilst attached to large and energetic dogs is a terrible idea, but by the end of each I am forced to admit you are making it work somehow !! I am also forced to respect (although I am not sure that's the right word!) the vaulting ambition of anyone who would add to that already seriously challenging amount of chaotic input forces to drop one foot and try and kick a ball !!

Yeah it's a heavy old wheel, hey, and it takes some practice to step off that thing right, such that it stays upright directly in front of you and you don't have to grab it !

I gotta say I would not even be trying to do that with one hand whilst holding on to the 2 dogs with the other ! I am beginning to think all those rather random extra inputs may be contributing to your problem ! I think you summed it up perfectly in the last line; 'near-impossible to prevent dropping unless you are doing nothing else', and that really is the key I reckon - don't try and do other things whilst dismounting the Master !  However, that is not very helpful, and having discovered the weight of that machine to be something I always have to watch (being just 55kg myself) I have worked out a reliable way of getting off and on it that, as it happens, does only need one hand, so may be of help to you !

Before I stop I align my bodyweight precisely over the centre of the wheel so it is running straight without any specific input. Then I do my braking, right down to almost stopped, and then give a little extra lean backwards at the end to bring it to a complete halt. It is tempting to jump off early, but don't ! We now have 1 second of balance to play with ! In that 1 second, just before I step down, which I only do with one (right) foot, my right hand pops out to gently touch the right side of the top cushion, which takes the pressure off my left leg remaining on its pedal to keep it upright, and is also able to prevent forward movement of the wheel if it got some unintended input as I stepped off !

It is actually the leg taking the majority of the weight, and that leg gets stronger with practice, but the hand is there for safety, and to give your leg a break if the traffic lights are taking ages. My right foot, planted on the ground has toes turned outwards, and is locked straight, to be more tripod-like and increase overall stability of me and wheel while we are stationary. When I get back up again, I can just push with this foot, and also slightly that right hand AS I step up, to make sure it can't tip as I remount.

This only works for me if there is no extension of my limbs as I do it - my leg, my arm, and the wheel are all pretty much right under me all the time. If that wheel stops enough distance in front of you so that when you jump off it your arm or restraining leg is outstretched, then (in my case at least) there is not enough control to hold its weight. But I can easily control it if I tuck it sufficiently under me as I stop and when I start again.

The trouble is of course, that most stages of that plan require that there are not 2 live animals exerting forces on you in directions you cannot control !  What a time to be alive !

Not sure what you mean though by 'takes ages to balance'. I have not noticed this with mine. Perhaps you mean 'takes longer to reach the speed where angular momentum does balancing for you', and if that is the case, try Medium Ride mode, which makes that initial acceleration less 'weighty' !

So I figured out I can comfortably ride with the trolly handle in the lift position.  That works for a grab handle.  As you outline other techniques, yes I do those too.  However, this wheel is substantially heavier than my MSX100V and S18.  Compared to the S22 the top is much lower too.  On the S22 I have a custom seat that is great for jump-off-grab, trolly, quick remount (23" above the pedals and 32" above the ground).  

Ultimately I intend to weld up a bracket to mount a seat on the Master that's similar to what I have on my S22.