Top speed you can control on electric unicycle

[Rywokast 2,288]

2 hours ago, WI_Hedgehog said:

The speeds some people find "annoying" are interesting. Coming from a motorcycle background and living in the same city as Harley Davidson's world headquarters,

40 MPH / 65 KPH is a light breeze

45 / 70 is where wind resistance becomes a significant factor 

50 / 80 is a comfortable cruising speed where the wind is still gentle

60 MPH / 95 KPH is the limit of comfort, without gear. 

 

Mind you, that's on a motorcycle with no windshield and only sunglasses on a hot day (there's not much of a helmet law). There is a front wheel though, so there's no fear of the things that cause unicycle issues at those speeds.

I'm already wondering if King Song will release a 22" wheel this Spring...i have a 12.5 mile (20 click) drive to work.

yea i agree with that, but now would you stand straight up while going those speeds?

[WI_Hedgehog 492]

@Rywokast That is a good point, to balance and steer on one wheel, any wind gust could be a problem.

 

@Unventor I have two miniPROs and something like 600 mi / 1,000 km on them, which is fun, though I am looking for an upgrade. To me it is better to listen and learn before learning the hard way, so I am here (for about a year I have only read). It has been a lot of learning, which is good, so there is less chance of serious mistakes (we hope).

Now that I am serious about buying an EUC I have gotten more involved and people like you are helping tremendously, thank you. 

Edited March 29, 2020 by WI_Hedgehog

[AngryJackPCB 92]

I've  been riding for about 6 weeks now and have about 300 miles on my KS-16X. I curise at 15-20 mphH (24-32 kph) and when the paths are empty, like now, I go 28 mph (45 kph). The top speed of my wheel is listed at 31 mph (50 kph) . I think if I had the power available, I'd go faster when I become more comfortable with it. 

[KiwiRoller 49]

I ride the MSX 84v, and I (in normal times) ride around 50kms day most days.

I ride a lot of different terrain, including roads, cycle-ways, sidewalks and dirt trails.

My rules for speed are:

If I am on the road, I have to be cruising at a minimum of 40km/hr and in general, I aim to keep pace with the traffic around me.

If I am on the sidewalk, I try keep it under 15km/hr so I can stop quickly enough to react to a car coming out of a driveway.

On the cycle-ways, if the path is good, and I have clear visibility for more than 100 meters, I open it up and cruise at around 50km/hr.

If it's a windy road and I don't know what is coming, I cruise at 35km/hr.

Generally I find I move 25-35km/hr on any terrain where I don't know the road, and I open it up a lot more when I know the road.

In NZ we have a unique hazard - there is a kind of tree called a Pohutakawa tree that someone has planted alongside every sidewalk. The roots grow under the asphalt and cause a raised 'bump' of a few inches which can be hard to see. That gets you air when you hit it at 30km/hr and that can be pretty scary when you are not expecting it.

TLDR - when it is safe, I cruise 45 - 55km/hr. When it isn't I go slower to suit the conditions.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[WI_Hedgehog 492]

I just finished reading Rehab1´s Accident(s) thread... 
@Unventor and several other members were in there too though...

I really don't know what to say...

Wheel is on hold for a year.
I really wanted one, and was looking at getting one and safety gear for this Summer.
Needless to say, speed over 31MPH (28 MPH in real life) is no longer a concern.

 

 

Edited March 30, 2020 by WI_Hedgehog

[Unventor 6,483]

3 hours ago, WI_Hedgehog said:

I just finished reading Rehab1´s Accident(s) thread... 
@Unventor and several other members were in there too though...

I really don't know what to say...

Wheel is on hold for a year.
I really wanted one, and was looking at getting one and safety gear for this Summer.
Needless to say, speed over 31MPH (28 MPH in real life) is no longer a concern.

I didn't mean to scare you  into not buying an EUC. 

But speeds are different on an EUC. It is like nothing else. I had a few accidents in my 2 years of riding. Some in controlled areas some not. 

The main difference here is you ride almost effortless and this means you easily lose how much energy you have put into motion. I can honestly say that it was hard in the start, then I wanted to push the envelope but safely and I had my first major accident. Today it was my blessing it happened. It though me respect of speed. 

So I feared up even more raised the bar further in the illusion that I taken the necessary precautions. It turns out my assumption was wrong. 

This is why I tried to say speed as you know it from a car and mc can't be transfer to EUC. It takes a lot of ks before your body react naturally to accidents to your benefit.  Most "natural " response in accident situations is not in your benefit. For me it took about 3000-3200km.

But but you should see the big fat smile as I ride. Leaving parking spot hunting to others, car queues behind me. I ride home 1.8 km in about 5min. That is haft the time I spend looking for parking at work. At its worst I have been sitting in car queues 40+min. 

I accept there is a risk, but that is why we gear up. With anything in life there are pros and cons. I will not give up riding my EUCs as they keep me in a much better shape than not riding. Even at hospital they have never seen someone improve so fast with level of stiffness due to my rheumatic disease. 

I suggest you test it out get some km in your legs. Then you can raise the bar. As you do you will have fun. 

Edited March 30, 2020 by Unventor

[Rehab1 17,908]

4 hours ago, WI_Hedgehog said:

I just finished reading Rehab1´s Accident(s) thread... 

 

Oh God please don’t share that story with my wife!   

As @Unventor alluded to.... don’t be scared. Caution is the key. My accident was preventable. My circumstances:

1) Dusk was setting in

2) I was riding too fast on an unfamiliar bike path when I encountered a deep pothole. 

3) I was tethered to my wheel via some pedal spikes the idiot owner had installed.

Stay away from pedal spikes! They caused an uncontrollable airborne summersault while the wheel was coupled to my shoes.

That built up kinetic energy was immediately released when my elbow contacted the hard pavement. Those forces translated up to my humeral head which then shattered into 50 segments....so say’s my trauma surgeon. 

I elaborate on those specific details only because my accident was foolish!   I learned a huge lesson that day and hopefully my long chronology 2 years ago has kept a few riders safe along the way. 

BTW.... I love my scar. It has become my guardian angel. 

 

 

[Rywokast 2,288]

41 minutes ago, Rehab1 said:

Oh God please don’t share that story with my wife!   

As @Unventor alluded to.... don’t be scared. Caution is the key. My accident was preventable. My circumstances:

1) Dusk was setting in

2) I was riding too fast on an unfamiliar bike path when I encountered a deep pothole. 

3) I was tethered to my wheel via some pedal spikes the idiot owner had installed.

Stay away from pedal spikes! They caused an uncontrollable airborne summersault while the wheel was coupled to my shoes.

That built up kinetic energy was immediately released when my elbow contacted the hard pavement. Those forces translated up to my humeral head which then shattered into 50 segments....so say’s my trauma surgeon. 

I elaborate on those specific details only because my accident was foolish!   I learned a huge lesson that day and hopefully my long chronology 2 years ago has kept a few riders safe along the way. 

BTW.... I love my scar. It has become my guardian angel. 

yikes.. dont understand the pedal spikes myself, i can go on a two hour ride and my feet might move a few mm.. takes all of two seconds to adjust them again.. i dont want my feet to be stuck on to the pedals in case i have to bail like when i had a similar situation, dark path at night saw a huge pothole right in front of me inches away so i bailed.. not sure how i didnt wipe out but i was able to just keep running and didnt fall, the euc somehow managed to bounce out and keep on going for like another 50 feet before landing in a huge pile of mud, that was fun to clean...

[KiwiRoller 49]

8 hours ago, WI_Hedgehog said:

I just finished reading Rehab1´s Accident(s) thread... 
@Unventor and several other members were in there too though...

I really don't know what to say...

Wheel is on hold for a year.
I really wanted one, and was looking at getting one and safety gear for this Summer.
Needless to say, speed over 31MPH (28 MPH in real life) is no longer a concern.

 

 

Crashes are gonna happen, even when you do nothing wrong. I got hit by a courier van at 40kms/hr, which wasn't fun.

Some of the guys at work asked me if wheeling was safe. I said yes, but really it isn't.

It is the equivalent of skiing on pavement. Around cars.

My safety formula is:

1. Know the roads you ride on, and the traffic patterns of those roads.

2. Wear at least a helmet.

3. Know your wheel's behaviors and capabilities and ride within those.

4. On roads you don't know, or on new wheels, keep your speed down until you do know them. Ideally keep your speed to a level when you can jump off safely and run a few steps.

5. Expect everything around you - humans, dogs, cars to suddenly stop or change direction and ride to suit.

6. (This is why I was hit) - Wear highly visible gear and turn on all your flashy lights.

Much like Skiing or Scuba Diving or Jujitsu, wheeling caries risks. But it is so rewarding. The adventures I have had on my wheel, the places I have seen, the detail I have of the city I live in, and the feeling I have when I arrive in the office, like I just skiied to work - I wouldn't have gotten it any other way. For me, it is worth the risk.

 

 

 

 

[DS 424]

Interesting, for a long time I have not visited this forum and recently started to get emails because of this followed thread from 2016

Well, I'm still happily riding my KS16 (some 9000 km) and I'm intentionally holding my desire for bigger and faster wheel. Reasons:

1. I prefer to ride with minimum protection gear - gloves and helmet (sometimes only gloves) and I'm aware that speed over 20 km/h is tricky to step out/overrun which inevitably means fall down.

2. My wheel is 17 kg and I comfortably care it up stairs, which would not be the case with 24 kg wheel (the current KS 16 inches per example).

3. I do not need rides more than 10-15 km and then for this range speed up to 30 km/h is enough for me. Time saving is not significant for such ranges.

4. Most of the time wherever I go, I'm still the only one EUC rider, so what is the point to ride faster when there is no competition (or envy).

5. Last but not least, doing my other adrenaline hobby motor paragliding when flying close to the ground and after some incidents I realized that 30 km/h is kind of the body limit not to get devastated by touching the ground.

Ride safe and enjoy the ride

Edited March 31, 2020 by DS

[WI_Hedgehog 492]

--> I'm in.<--

I wanted something for learning, and based on my impressions from reading volumes of posts on this forum:

KS14M

• Sturdy and not huge, so It can be dropped without breaking or having that gut-wrenching feeling that comes with dropping a $1,000+ wheel.
• Similar 800W motor as in a 10" GW MTen3, but with a 14" wheel it shouldn't be as twitchy, and is also more affordable (especially since I purchased it used).
• Big enough to ride around on smoothly. (10" wheels don't like running over things, 14" should be "reasonable")
• The range sucks (~5 miles). With a booster-pack it might keep up with a miniPro hoverboard. (I'll worry about that if/when the time comes.)
• It won't kill me (I hope). It probably doesn't have that much power. (Though I've learned never underestimate a fall)
• It's fairly light. (That's probably important for when it tries to eat my ankles.)
• The battery is reasonably affordable. In Wisconsin weather the wheel will sit more than it's used, and the batteries will probably die of age instead of use. (Distance is the big issue, 15 miles is a reasonable outing on the hoverboards.)
• It's a reliable, popular brand. (help/parts are available, easy to fix, shouldn't break unexpectedly)

Obviously I won't be speeding....

Edited April 3, 2020 by WI_Hedgehog
Forgot to say it is used, seems to be in good shape, and the exchange was reasonable..

[mrelwood 7,939]

 

5 hours ago, WI_Hedgehog said:

 

• It won't kill me (I hope). It probably doesn't have that much power.

I don’t think the power ”kills” you as easily as a lack of power. It’s after all power that keeps us upright when the surprise bump comes up. And it will come up.

But the KS14M should definitely be a solid wheel for a 14”!

[Rywokast 2,288]

6 hours ago, WI_Hedgehog said:

--> I'm in.<--

I wanted something for learning, and based on my impressions from reading volumes of posts on this forum:

KS14M

• Sturdy and not huge, so It can be dropped without breaking or having that gut-wrenching feeling that comes with dropping a $1,000+ wheel.
• Similar 800W motor as in a 10" GW MTen3, but with a 14" wheel it shouldn't be as twitchy, and is also more affordable.
• Big enough to ride around on smoothly. (10" wheels don't like running over things, 14" should be "reasonable.")
• The range sucks (~5 miles). With a booster-pack it might keep up with a miniPro hoverboard. (I'll worry about that if/when the time comes.)
• It won't kill me (I hope). It probably doesn't have that much power. (I've learned never underestimate a fall)
• It's fairly light. (That's probably important for when it tries to eat my ankles.)
• The battery is reasonably affordable. In Wisconsin weather the wheel will sit more than it's used, and the batteries will probably die of age instead of use. (Distance is the big issue, 15 miles is a reasonable outing on the hoverboards.)
• It's a reliable, popular brand. (help/parts are available, easy to fix, shouldn't break unexpectedly)

Obviously I won't be speeding....

i think the 14D is much better bang for your buck.. 14S is in the more expensive territory though, but its range is phenomenal especially given how tiny and light it is