FreeRide Posted December 25, 2016 Share Posted December 25, 2016 Day 1: King Song 1 - Free Ride 0 First impressions... SMALL, it's actually a lot smaller that I pictured it. Looks very nice all black. Didn't get far on learning to ride it. Only manage to get on it with the help of a door way, but then the fun ended as a realized the tire pressure was way to low. Turns out is basically flat, not enough air to even move the pressure gauge. I don't have a hand pump that I could find and couldn't power the compressor. I see what people say about the design of the value stem being really bad... it's horrible. What a big let down though to find the wheel you're so excited to try has arrived with "no" air in the tire. The game ended before it started with King Song taking the day. Hopefully Day 2 will be better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FreeRide Posted December 25, 2016 Author Share Posted December 25, 2016 Day 1: Round 2 King Song 1 - FreeRide 1 I got some air in the tire with the help of the MiniPro valve extension. Ya! Sun is down low and I have no padding on it yet, so no venturing outside with it today. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve454 Posted December 25, 2016 Share Posted December 25, 2016 3 hours ago, FreeRide said: What a big let down though to find the wheel you're so excited to try has arrived with "no" air in the tire. Hey, I think they all arrive with very little air, my ninebot had about 20 psi when I went to pick it up, luckily the dealer had a compressor and aired it up for me. I didn't realize until later that the tire would lose air fairly quickly, it has to be pumped up from about 40psi to 50-55psi about every two weeks. I got a Bell Airglide 500 bicycle pump at walmart for less than 20 bucks that works great with the valve extension, two or three pumps is all it takes. My mountain bike does the same thing, loses air quicker than I would like, it seems that the inner tubes are kind of porous or something. I wonder if putting a small bead of silicone RTV around the valve stem would stop the air loss? In the meantime, Duf has some good videos of learning to ride, and check out EUCextreme's videos on the video thread. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FreeRide Posted December 26, 2016 Author Share Posted December 26, 2016 24 minutes ago, steve454 said: Hey, I think they all arrive with very little air, my ninebot had about 20 psi when I went to pick it up, luckily the dealer had a compressor and aired it up for me. I didn't realize until later that the tire would lose air fairly quickly, it has to be pumped up from about 40psi to 50-55psi about every two weeks. I got a Bell Airglide 500 bicycle pump at walmart for less than 20 bucks that works great with the valve extension, two or three pumps is all it takes. My mountain bike does the same thing, loses air quicker than I would like, it seems that the inner tubes are kind of porous or something. I wonder if putting a small bead of silicone RTV around the valve stem would stop the air loss? In the meantime, Duf has some good videos of learning to ride, and check out EUCextreme's videos on the video thread. Thanks. Yes I read they often come a little low which is maybe not bad for learning, but I never read of them coming flat. If it turns out it has a slow leak then it's slime and replacement of the valve, no reason these should not hold air well. The 9Bot1 stem is likely different than the KingSong. I'll up my pneumatics with a good standalone gauge and some alternate filler chucks. I think I'll try even a quick release mechanism as with the car I just use the gauge on the compressor which is good enough for me for that as in that case i"m mostly concerned about getting them all equal. I might look into that manual pump as well, I think I had a good full sized hand pump not so long ago so I'll look a bit harder before getting a new one. Maybe I'll get my new tires on my bike at the same time. Yes I've watched most of Duf's videos already I think. I don't mind starting slow just want it to be my pace and not interrupted by external factors like equipment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
One Posted December 26, 2016 Share Posted December 26, 2016 Could you please post some pictures? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FreeRide Posted December 27, 2016 Author Share Posted December 27, 2016 22 hours ago, One said: Could you please post some pictures? My photo editing machine is down, so I'm not going much photography right now. What kind of pictures were you looking for? Nothing really different on my wheel except I did put two line green bumpers on it so that pedals don't hit the side panels when folded up. They are pretty much hidden when the pedals are folded so I went with the green to save the black for more exposed areas and the green gives it just the right amount of color accent to make the black stand out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
One Posted December 28, 2016 Share Posted December 28, 2016 I was looking for pictures of a Free Ride unicycle (don't know that brand). Unfortunately I couldn't find any... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaxLinux Posted December 28, 2016 Share Posted December 28, 2016 1 hour ago, One said: I was looking for pictures of a Free Ride unicycle (don't know that brand). I think when he said Kingsong 1, Free Ride 0 he was referring to himself, not an EUC brand (note his user name is FreeRide). Like you, I was trying to figure out exactly what is FreeRide, and I found in Wikipedia it is a cycling term I was not aware of: Freeride is a discipline of mountain biking closely related to downhill biking and dirt jumping focused on tricks, style, and technical trail features. It is now recognized as one of the most popular disciplines within mountain biking. The term freeriding was originally coined by snowboarders, meaning riding without a set course, goals or rules on natural terrain. In mountain biking, it is riding trail with the most creative line possible that includes style, amplitude, control, and speed. Many in the cycling industry suggest that the Laguna Rads were the first to freeride, that is riding terrain that didn't already have an existing path or network of trails. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FreeRide Posted May 10, 2017 Author Share Posted May 10, 2017 Well after a 5 month Break, I'm trying again. I had a bit of a technical issue with the wheel (see KingSong 14C Balance Issue thread), but thanks to this forum I was able to get around that. Still in EUC kindergarten, but making progress although baby steps. I have found these things to help. Looking into the distance rather than down or even close range, it does seem to help balance, maybe because one naturally stands straighter when looking in the distance. Someone on this forum had mention doing that would help a beginner and I concur. The other thing I found today is that maybe I was standing too far back on the pedals, by feet were centered, but I think for me and my posture need to be little more forward. I thought of this as I've curiously always had better balance going backward than forward which I thought was very strange. Tried moving my feet more forward and I believe it helped my balance left right and my posture for initiating forward acceleration. I did land on my butt once, first time I hit the ground ground I think. Reminded me to where full safety gear, but I was not hurt, but wrist guards should have been on. I have not been wearing them because I like to wear heavy gloves and they don't fit over my guards. Trying to do another thing people have said and that is try to ride a little bit each day. That might be helping also. Hope I can stick with it, or I'll have to be modifying that MiniPro or something. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FreeRide Posted May 11, 2017 Author Share Posted May 11, 2017 One more small win; my loves won't fit over my wrist guards, but my guards will fit over my gloves! Duh. This is actually better because my cheap JBM guards are so uncomfortable, over gloves though everything is comfy. It's good to be comfy and relaxed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith Posted May 11, 2017 Share Posted May 11, 2017 12 hours ago, FreeRide said: The other thing I found today is that maybe I was standing too far back on the pedals, This is mentioned fairly regularly. Your centre of gravity needs to be over the centre of the wheel which is, pretty much straight down through your legs. So your legs need to be centred on the peddles and, unless you are somewhat anatomically challenged, that will mean your feet overhang the peddles more at the front than the back. Do not overdo this though, too far forward will make stopping difficult, so the correct position is where both acceleration and deceleration feels like similar effort or lean. I learned to ride a KS-14C at 60 years old by spending 2 days riding up and down my hallway with walls to lean on before then taking it to the local park. A loosely held strap through the handle helped hugely by allowing me to lift it off the ground when I lost control. Before that the peddles banged into my ankles a lot when I tried to step off. Sturdy walking boots also helped protect my ankles and made riding easier as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FreeRide Posted May 11, 2017 Author Share Posted May 11, 2017 Thanks! I wish I had a hallway I could use, but alas no. I've Heard the pros and cons of a strap and so far in my learning have gone without the strap. May try it when I graduate to larger practice area. I wear good boots so no worries there. I was thinking about switching to a super stiff boot, but decided I'd stick with my regular ones they are an Asolo hike boot and work well with my feet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duaner Posted May 13, 2017 Share Posted May 13, 2017 On 5/10/2017 at 3:31 PM, FreeRide said: ... I have found these things to help. Looking into the distance rather than down or even close range, it does seem to help balance, maybe because one naturally stands straighter when looking in the distance. ... Maybe, but also because your view of the horizon is a _major input for your brain to help you balance. Your eyes, if the horizon is clearly in view, provide immediate high resolution data to your brain on how much / how rapidly you are tilting one way or another. This is also why balancing tends to be more difficult at night. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveThomasPilot Posted May 14, 2017 Share Posted May 14, 2017 I'm probably at about the same stage you are. I can get on and off the wheel, though sometimes it takes a couple of tries to get going. Turns to the right are easy now, turns to left getting better. I was struggling with foot pain, when I rode more than a few minutes without dismounting. Today, I tried using very thin socks and not tightening the shoe straps on my hiking boots so tight. I wanted to be able to "squirm" a little in the boots to shift weight. It worked! Moving my feet at all is very scary at this stage in my learning, but with the thin socks and looser fit boots, I can move them just enough inside the boot to relieve pressure points. I guess at some point, I'll actually be able to move my feet around on the pedals while riding, but I'm not there yet. Good luck and keep the progress reports coming! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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