US69 Posted December 15, 2016 Share Posted December 15, 2016 1 hour ago, FreeRide said: US sales could take off soon with the designs maturing in aesthetics and safety. Maturing in safety? Are we talking about the same company ? ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FreeRide Posted December 15, 2016 Share Posted December 15, 2016 3 hours ago, KingSong69 said: Maturing in safety? Are we talking about the same company ? ;-) I'm saying the US market for EUCs might take off .... due to maturing ..... not specifically that Gotway specifically is maturing in all design aspects, but the industry as a whole .... and they probably don't want to miss out on that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marty Backe Posted December 15, 2016 Share Posted December 15, 2016 4 hours ago, FreeRide said: I'm saying the US market for EUCs might take off .... due to maturing ..... not specifically that Gotway specifically is maturing in all design aspects, but the industry as a whole .... and they probably don't want to miss out on that. I don't know, I'm dubious. There's too much learned skill that's required and a perceived level of (false) risk that I think will keep EUCs forever in a niche. I think the niche will grow and be large enough to sustain the manufacturers, but that's about it. Just yesterday I was riding at the beach and stopped by to talk to a Hang Glider instructor who was setup on a training hill. HE thought my wheel look dangerous to ride. That says it all Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FreeRide Posted December 15, 2016 Share Posted December 15, 2016 7 minutes ago, Marty Backe said: ..... Just yesterday I was riding at the beach and stopped by to talk to a Hang Glider instructor who was setup on a training hill. HE thought my wheel look dangerous to ride. That says it all That's an interesting perspective. He is obviously already in the comfort zone with hang-gliding though so he may not be too rational about the risks involved there. Would be interesting to know how he got started in that, either on his own or had a mentor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mono Posted December 15, 2016 Share Posted December 15, 2016 3 hours ago, Marty Backe said: There's too much learned skill that's required and a perceived level of (false) risk that I think will keep EUCs forever in a niche. I don't see how that is, or was, different for bicycles, which have become hugely popular in many parts of the world, in particular in those parts where there is no legal or social pressure to wear helmets while cycling (nurturing the perceived level of risk). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Milo Dorigo Posted December 15, 2016 Share Posted December 15, 2016 1 hour ago, Mono said: I don't see how that is, or was, different for bicycles, which have become hugely popular in many parts of the world, in particular in those parts where there is no legal or social pressure to wear helmets while cycling (nurturing the perceived level of risk). I have to agree. They haven't really taken off here in The Netherlands yet, but once they're officially allowed and insurable and all, I think you'll be seeing them everywere. Especially since 25km/h scooters(no helmet required) are also quite populair here. EUCs are just the perfect replacement for those gas-guzzeling noise makers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomek Posted December 15, 2016 Share Posted December 15, 2016 8 minutes ago, Milo Dorigo said: I have to agree. They haven't really taken off here in The Netherlands yet, but once they're officially allowed and insurable and all, I think you'll be seeing them everywere. Especially since 25km/h scooters(no helmet required) are also quite populair here. EUCs are just the perfect replacement for those gas-guzzeling noise makers Well, I'm sceptical. Knowing how the Dutch legislation has banned seatless electric scooters and "hoverboards", I'm really worried that as soon as the electric unicycles get even remotely popular here, they'll get banned too. ...oops, we got off-topic Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
9Bot1 Posted December 15, 2016 Share Posted December 15, 2016 5 hours ago, Marty Backe said: I don't know, I'm dubious. There's too much learned skill that's required and a perceived level of (false) risk that I think will keep EUCs forever in a niche. I think the niche will grow and be large enough to sustain the manufacturers, but that's about it. Just yesterday I was riding at the beach and stopped by to talk to a Hang Glider instructor who was setup on a training hill. HE thought my wheel look dangerous to ride. That says it all I think you hit the nail on the head. I agree 100%. The learned skill and perceived level of risk is what's stopping it from taking off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Milo Dorigo Posted December 15, 2016 Share Posted December 15, 2016 10 minutes ago, Tomek said: Well, I'm sceptical. Knowing how the Dutch legislation has banned seatless electric scooters and "hoverboards", I'm really worried that as soon as the electric unicycles get even remotely popular here, they'll get banned too. ...oops, we got off-topic Well, they didn't ban it, they just came out and said that it's not allowed according to current traffic law. ACTUAL segways have been legal for like 7-8 years now, and since EUCs are actual transportation devices instead of toys (hoverboards), I think they have a reasonable chance of getting legalized. Aaanndd we indeed got way off-topic.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
volavoile Posted December 16, 2016 Share Posted December 16, 2016 14 hours ago, Marty Backe said: Just yesterday I was riding at the beach and stopped by to talk to a Hang Glider instructor who was setup on a training hill. HE thought my wheel look dangerous to ride. That says it all I practice borh glider, paraglider (1200 flight hours) and wheel.... as long as you respect nature and wind aspect, wheel is definitely more unsafe than flying... my shoulder can confirm. In the flight device, you can support and anticipate some miss in technical behaviour, and you can control it (you have to!!!). With wheels, you'll not be informed! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smoother Posted December 16, 2016 Share Posted December 16, 2016 On 16 December 2016 at 6:46 AM, volavoile said: I practice borh glider, paraglider (1200 flight hours) and wheel.... as long as you respect nature and wind aspect, wheel is definitely more unsafe than flying... my shoulder can confirm. In the flight device, you can support and anticipate some miss in technical behaviour, and you can control it (you have to!!!). With wheels, you'll not be informed! @volavoile, I don't want to contradict you but there is a scale of danger, " unsafe" was your word, that should be considered. I personally have known 2 hanglider pilots and 2 paramotor pilots who died in flying accidents, not to mention the many reports of deaths of pilots I did not know. I have not heard of any dead EUC riders, although I'm prepared to be educated on that if the data exists. Don't get me wrong, I love flying, I paramotored for 6 years, but I always knew that it would kill me one day, if I stayed with it long enough. I fell out of the sky more ways than I care to remember, although mostly at very low altitudes. An " oh shit" on a wheel mostly throws you down the road with a scratch or sprain, an " oh shit at 30 feet or higher can be your last. Even if you do "respect nature and wind aspect" there's nowhere to go but down when something goes wrong, and eventually it will. I hope you fly many more safe hours and retire a happy ex-pilot.? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mono Posted December 16, 2016 Share Posted December 16, 2016 7 hours ago, volavoile said: I practice borh glider, paraglider (1200 flight hours) and wheel.... as long as you respect nature and wind aspect, wheel is definitely more unsafe than flying... my shoulder can confirm. In the flight device, you can support and anticipate some miss in technical behaviour, and you can control it (you have to!!!). With wheels, you'll not be informed! Google reveals^1 a death rate of roughly 1 per 1000 per year per member of the US Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association. That is about 100 to 1000 times riskier than cycling, if I am not mistaken. Hard to see how EUCing could be in the same ball park as paragliding. ^1 https://www.ushpa.org/page/safety Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
volavoile Posted December 16, 2016 Share Posted December 16, 2016 This is what glider has learnt me : do never trust any mechanical device to keep you in the air... So, if you fly taking in account that you do can always join a safe place to land, with a safety margin, risks are very limited. Unfortunately, paraglider pilots or (worst) motoparaglider, or airplaines pilot do not (can not) always consider this event as an highly possible fact! On a wheel, the only way to anticipate a failure of the motor is to run it at a speed you can avoid to fall... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smoother Posted December 16, 2016 Share Posted December 16, 2016 2 hours ago, volavoile said: On a wheel, the only way to anticipate a failure of the motor is to run it at a speed you can avoid to fall... Or be prepared for a spectacular face plant,. Hey! It's an option. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
volavoile Posted December 16, 2016 Share Posted December 16, 2016 My humerus broken in 4 parts was my option!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mono Posted December 16, 2016 Share Posted December 16, 2016 The problem is that we cannot possibly anticipate all possible shit that could possibly happen, including taking risks we would not have anticipated to take. I am almost certain that motor failure (in particular out of the blue) will be a very, very rare cause of death of EUCers. Unnecessary risk taking, rider mistakes and cars will always be the major reasons of severe accidents. I agree that the rider is quite a relevant factor and some riders might have a ten or hundred times smaller (or larger) risk than the average. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marty Backe Posted December 16, 2016 Share Posted December 16, 2016 12 hours ago, Smoother said: @volavoile, I don't want to contradict you but there is a scale of danger, " unsafe" was your word, that should be considered. I personally have known 2 hanglider pilots and 2 paramotor pilots how died in flying accidents, not to mention the many reports of deaths of pilots I did not know. I have not heard of any dead EUC riders, although I'm prepared to be educated on that if the data exists. Don't get me wrong, I love flying, I paramotored for 6 years, but I always knew that it would kill me one day, if I stayed with it long enough. I fell out of the sky more ways than I care to remember, although mostly at very low altitudes. An " oh shit" on a wheel mostly throws you down the road with a scratch or sprain, an " oh shit at 30 feet or higher can be your last. Even if you do "respect nature and wind aspect" there's nowhere to go but down when something goes wrong, and eventually it will. I hope you fly many more safe hours and retire a happy ex-pilot.? I didn't mention this in my original post because it didn't seem pertinent. But I was an avid hang glider enthusiast during the 80's and early 90's. It was all consuming in my life and I have many happy memories of extraordinary experiences. I felt safe doing so at the time, but there were risks for sure, and I had a few minor injuries and more near misses. I can say with some authority that flying is more dangerous than wheeling. It's almost laughable to say otherwise. Unless you have a truly freak accident you'll always be coming home at the end of the day after riding your wheel. When you're airborne, not so much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shoe73 Posted December 16, 2016 Share Posted December 16, 2016 Hi I split this talk from the original thread in hopes that @9Bot1 might be able to get some help from Gotway, the theory being they will be more likely to read his thread if it's not cluttered with general euc chitchat. Carry on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve454 Posted December 17, 2016 Share Posted December 17, 2016 17 minutes ago, Shoe73 said: in hopes that @9Bot1 might be able to get some help from Gotway, Good luck to him with that screen name Better he is using the alias Gotway MSuper Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pagsy Posted December 17, 2016 Share Posted December 17, 2016 On 12/15/2016 at 11:34 AM, Marty Backe said: I don't know, I'm dubious. There's too much learned skill that's required and a perceived level of (false) risk that I think will keep EUCs forever in a niche. I think the niche will grow and be large enough to sustain the manufacturers, but that's about it. Just yesterday I was riding at the beach and stopped by to talk to a Hang Glider instructor who was setup on a training hill. HE thought my wheel look dangerous to ride. That says it all Yep, although lots of people think it is cool, almost none of them see the benefit of having this kind of cool device ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
16bitSprite Posted December 17, 2016 Share Posted December 17, 2016 19 hours ago, Smoother said: @volavoile, I don't want to contradict you but there is a scale of danger, " unsafe" was your word, that should be considered. I personally have known 2 hanglider pilots and 2 paramotor pilots how died in flying accidents, not to mention the many reports of deaths of pilots I did not know. I have not heard of any dead EUC riders, although I'm prepared to be educated on that if the data exists. It's true. I've looked and I cant seem to find any dead EUC riders posting about the crash that killed them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smoother Posted December 17, 2016 Share Posted December 17, 2016 26 minutes ago, 16bitSprite said: It's true. I've looked and I cant seem to find any dead EUC riders posting about the crash that killed them. Well there's your proof. I rest my case. ? But, just so you know, I'll have a full write up of my EUC induced demise ( if I have one) as soon as the wake is over, promise ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smoother Posted December 17, 2016 Share Posted December 17, 2016 13 hours ago, volavoile said: My humerus broken in 4 parts was my option!!!!! Ouch. Maybe you should look at the list of options again, I didn't see that one on it. ? Were you wearing pads? What happened exactly. Maybe we should start an accident thread, or a questionnaire where you can check (tick) the euc injuries you've had. ive sprained my ankle, sprained my wrist, took skin of the back of a finger on a wall. Various scrapes and grazes on my lower legs. And all that just from getting the wheel out of its box ( kidding, that was just my ankle). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
volavoile Posted December 17, 2016 Share Posted December 17, 2016 Just faceplant with my ninebot... no bips nor alarm.... something like 20kph... You know, probably just riding fast enough and when the very small slope (10%.. I did measure) arrived, the 500w where not enough in order to prevent me by tilt back to tell me : hey man, slow down with your 90 kg! Quite common accident in fact on euc! Most of people underestimate the required power when you arrive on such small slope! This is the reason why I spent time to understand since ninebot gave me very partial information from the black box! High power +limited high speed =safety margin... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GK FlyingRat Posted January 10, 2017 Share Posted January 10, 2017 Hello?..speed kill! So ride with care and know your limit and the machine limit. Know your battery and when it is freshly charge you can do more but once level drop to below 30%.. just reduce your action on the wheel over bump and slow down. On the other hand to be totally safe ride an Airwheel X3 or X8 or Q3! What ever you do it will not go over 18km/h! You will then relax and just ride at between 12km/h and 14km/h.. on a few occasion I just jump out and run or walk to safety! And btw I have ridden from an Airwheel X3 all to way to a Monster 22?. My preferred wheel today for daily commute is an Airwheel X8? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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