I think I'm starting to get the hang of it

[onewheelkoregro]

So almost three weeks ago I got me a KS 16x couldn't even mount it the first week, boy what a difference! Tonight I will try going down and then back up the big hill that takes me from my neighborhood to the main street. Is there any tips to riding downhill or will leaning back be enough? I would hate to just let gravity take me and ride it out but I will if that is what is recommended.

[Tawpie]

8 minutes ago, onewheelkoregro said:

Is there any tips to riding downhill or will leaning back be enough?

I prefer to assume (slowly and gently) the s*itting position, like you're about to sit in a chair. That keeps me from getting braking wobbles because it kind of forces your heels down on the pedals. If you tend to ride with more weight on your toes, braking can be quite wobbly. I'd try level ground—get going and practice a quick stop. Repeat until your comfortable, then repeat that (gently) on the downhill.

This is where you want to be careful with your wrists and elbows, while you're learning it is possible to fall off the back. (rare, but 'has happened')

[Cerbera]

Don't speed up as you approach the down-slope, begin it slowly, with most of your weight in the heels. Don't grip the shell with your legs, keep a relatively wide stance and don't let the wheel speed up on you - the key is nice, steady, even, controlled descent.

Of course hills are where the wheel can do the most damage to themselves and everyone else should it get away from you, so if it's a particularly steep hill, or dodgy terrain, or perhaps you don't fully trust the wheel or yourself to do it in a controlled way yet, a leash will help mitigate the consequences if it all goes horribly wrong.

But it'll probably be fine - on the whole it's not the downhills that are difficult 

 

Edited March 13, 2023 by Cerbera

[onewheelkoregro]

Thanks for that Tawpie I could not find a single video explaining what to do when slowing down downhill so as a result I have not left the neighborhood because of this. I was just going to have a "let Jesus take the wheel" this morning but chickened out

[Cerbera]

1 hour ago, onewheelkoregro said:

"let Jesus take the wheel"

Jesus can't take the wheel - when he was around they only had donkeys, and fairly sure the skills don't translate  Nope, once you are up on that wheel, only YOU can save it...

[Tawpie]

haha, funny how we're all so focused on going, and stopping—well, the ground or something attached to the ground will stop you soon enough I guess.

I still practice emergency stops before every ride in my little pre-ride checklist. Figure 8, mount with either foot, get up to speed and emergency brake. Early on I only practiced emergency braking while going straight, I've added emergency braking while turning to the routine because that's not the same!

The emergency stop is a little different than going down a hill slowly, but not that much actually.

 

Edited March 14, 2023 by Tawpie

[Tawpie]

recent video of the technique... not this severe for going down a hill, but you get the idea

 

[onewheelkoregro]

11 minutes ago, Tawpie said:

recent video of the technique... not this severe for going down a hill, but you get the idea

 

thanks for the video. Idk why but my brain knows that there are no mechanical brakes so my brain thinks that as soon as I begin to brake going downhill I will immediately cause the wheel to throw me because it will want to go forward because of the momentum of gravity pulling me down but when I pull back on the wheel it will rotate the other way.

[Hellkitten]

Keep in mind you’ll be recharging your batteries while braking downhill. Inmotion wheels give you tiltback and yell at you to get off so you don’t overcharge them. Not sure what kingsong does. You may want to ride a little first before heading down the hill. 
You sound like you’re well on your way, have fun! 🎉🎉

Edited March 14, 2023 by Hellkitten

[Tawpie]

16 minutes ago, onewheelkoregro said:

thanks for the video. Idk why but my brain knows that there are no mechanical brakes so my brain thinks that as soon as I begin to brake going downhill I will immediately cause the wheel to throw me because it will want to go forward because of the momentum of gravity pulling me down but when I pull back on the wheel it will rotate the other way.

…when the wetware conflicts with the soft and hardware. My head was the worst thing to train—you're going to crash! (no I'm not), you're going to hit that post! (no, I'm not), you're gonna fall down and go boom! (yeah, get used to it)

[Punxatawneyjoe]

Go downhill around 20 feet and then try stopping completely on the hill. If you can't turn up the hill, problem solved. It's ok to stand back on the pedals if descending a steep hill. I do it all the time, it just makes it harder to accelerate but at the bottom you can move your feet forward again. The further back you stand the better braking you will have.

[rcgldr]

Leaning back will be enough. The self-balancing logic will keep you from being thrown forwards, be similar to decelerating. I'm spoiled because I have  an Inmotion V8F, and Inmotion EUCs auto-lean the rider and auto-tilt as needed during transitions onto inclines or declines without any significant rider input. For declines, the sensation is similar to tilt-back.

 

Edited March 14, 2023 by rcgldr

[mhpr262]

A good trick for effective braking is an asymmetric stance  - one of your feet is positioned farther back on the pedals than the other foot. This works best for me if I place the weaker foot (not the one you place on the pedals first, that one is usually considered the strong foot)) further back than the other.

 

This also works well the other way round btw, when trying to accelerate hard or having to go up a steep hill - you place your weak foot farther FORWARD on the pedals than the other foot.

[Cerbera]

10 hours ago, Punxatawneyjoe said:

It's ok to stand back on the pedals if descending a steep hill. I do it all the time, it just makes it harder to accelerate but at the bottom you can move your feet forward again. The further back you stand the better braking you will have.

You can also stagger your stance so that one foot is more forward than the other, for the best of both worlds, so to speak. I have my leading / mounting foot forward of the other one, and constantly resting against the forward power pad. Meanwhile, my 'rear leg' is in constant contact with the braking pad on the other side, which gives me superb control whether braking or accelerating, and in general carving / turning. I appreciate that you don't have power pads as such on the 16X but the principal still applies, and served me equally well on my old MS3V.

EDIT: typed at same time as reply above recommending same thing !

Edited March 14, 2023 by Cerbera

[rcgldr]

On 3/14/2023 at 2:46 AM, mhpr262 said:

This also works well the other way round btw, when trying to accelerate hard or having to go up a steep hill - you place your weak foot farther FORWARD on the pedals than the other foot.

For really steep hills, most of the riders move their feet back so that they can put all of their weight at the front edge of the pedals with their heels lifted off the pedals, and "standing" on the pedals with only the front part of their feet. Wrong Way on a 16X, on a 40 degree incline:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w2W3fFhILDw&t=497s