can euc replace bicycle?

[1kw]

have a full suspension mtb that is a pain to service and currently have knee issues.. curious on opinions?

[Hunka Hunka Burning Love]

I don't find these EUC's that hard on the knees, but they do seem to strain the lower leg and foot muscles a bit due to tonic flexure while staying balanced at a lean.  I developed a small kink in my left calf muscle after a 17 km ride where I didn't get off and didn't move my feet enough.   If you have knee issues it might be safer to look at an electric bike maybe as an injury falling off a EUC could be looking for trouble.

[Johey]

Wouldn't say I have issues with my knees, but after riding bike I can really feel their existence. EUC on the other side, as a beginner, my feet hurts badly after 5 km but recovers in a minute after getting off the wheel. My knees aren't hurting at all. My lower legs used to hurt for the first few days, but not anymore.

I hope to develop better tolerance in my feet, as that is a bit of a problem for now. If not, I can imagine bigger pedals covering all of my feet would be a good thing. They are quite small on the Airwheel X8.

[cloudust]

I don't think it will replace bicycle. 

- it is not as fast as bicycle;

- it is not 'officially' legal in most of the countries.

- people started to learn riding a bike when they were young with a smaller and cheaper bike. 

- the rider is the power source of a bicycle and EUC depends heavily on the battery which is still quite expensive

- you have to carry EUC where ever you go. You cannot lock it at the road side or stored in a guarded shed.

[Keith]

It did replace mine.

Last week a decided to get rid of the bicycle I'd had since I was 18, it was a BSA, so would have been worth money if it had an engine but it was rusting and covered in cobwebs so not worth selling. I started to dismantle it to fit in the car to take it to the recycling centre (no pun intended) when I had a thought. I rode it around to my local station and left it, unlocked, in the bike rack. It went in less than an hour, during the day and with a security camera on the rack!

so for me:

• it is faster than a bicycle, I overtake cyclists all the time except some of those on racing bikes and mine is the slower early KS-14.
• i can keep it with me or in my locker, so it don't have to worry about it getting stolen.
• I have real trouble with my knees (they run in the family!) Walking home from work, after an 8 hour shift on my feet all the time my knees really hurt, it was a real relief to roll home on the EUC, You would think it would put more strain on the knees but experience is proving that isn't so.
• it sits ready to use by the front door, not in the garden shed having to be dragged through the house each time I want to use it ( which became never as a result) so gets readily used.
• The rider is the power source on the bike, at 60 I'm not the power source I used to be :-)
• it is absolutely no bother to take on the train or bus (I've got my free bus {and train} pass after all) even at busy time when bikes aren't allowed on the trains so it really is my "last mile" transport

[Frode]

51 minutes ago, Keith said:

I rode it around to my local station and left it, unlocked, in the bike rack. It went in less than an hour, during the day and with a security camera on the rack!

Ha ha. That was a creative way to rid an old bike!

[Juick]

I agree with Keith. It completely replaced bicycle for me. It is faster than most cyclist i meet (25km/h on my Inmotion V5F) and it can go further than I would go on bicycle anyway. 

I don't know about your country but it is legal in mine. About 6 months ago new law was made mainly for segway but it is written as self balanced vehicles, so it applies for EUC too. It states that on sidewalk I can go only as fast as pedestrians and I must not restrict them in any way. On path for bicycles I can go as fast as cyclists. The law also allows cities to restrict some areas for these vehicles but I think only our capital use this option for city centre.

[cloudust]

Ha ha, it's not the case in the Netherlands. People ride normal bikes fast and they overtake me almost every time when I ride 9B1 E+ at max speed (18km/h). This also happens when they have a child sitting at the back.

It's so good to know Czech already has a clear regulation on self-balanced vehicles. 

[tadrossi]

I could easily see them replacing a bike. Especially the $1000 plus high end eucs,(Gotway,KS,IPS).

A bike may out sprint some euc. But over the long haul EUC will win . I was riding my mcm4 and got over taken by a pretty skilled bike rider until we came to an incline. It was funny to effortlessly fly up the hill while he huffed and puffed.

If I get the new Gotway MSUPER3. I think will really be no comp any longer except against very high level bike riders. Much less huffing and puffing.. Much more development of balance and fine motor skill control. EUC fast from beginning till end. Human power will drop off after first few miles. Not knocking bike tho. I love my bike.

Police where I am at have never even seen a EUC except mine. Only stares smiles and thumbs up.

 

I had a cool kid about 14 ride along with me for a few mile talking to me about the EUC. He had enough about 4 miles in and couldn't keep up. LOl. Cool kid tho. Nice guy.

[EricGhost]

My bike. Is dusting this summer, my scooter too, I get up 15min earlier in the mornng to go to job through bike lane and park without sweating.

For knees the problems are the bumps due to bad road maintenance, there is no shock absorber on EUC  

[MetricUSA]

Literally replaced my car...but as for the knee, saves on walking/running wear but you are taking full blunt blows in every hole/bump... you can hop over this things w/out machine but timing is super critical so you can't constantly do that. While riding you have to shift your feet/heel/toes to relieve 'standing in one spot' pressures on the foot...

[Damp Rabbit]

Is the question can they replace bikes in general or in individual cases? I wouldn't use the word replace as I infer that to mean it can be used as a substitute for a bike. It can certainly be an alternate that in many cases would be better than a bike but there are many cases where it simply can't do what my bike can. There's no way I'm doing 50 miles on an EUC, or a mountain ride, or to carry any cargo. I would be terrified of riding an EUC at the speeds I ride my bike so commuting for me personally is out of the question.

I know a handful of people that use them to commute so they can definitely be used instead of a bike for many tasks. I see EUC and bikes as rather different things.

I can't see it replacing a full suspension MTB but I understand the knee pain issue as I have the same issues. I think the answer to the OP question is, maybe.