Victoria BC eu group

[Rywokast]

26 minutes ago, Kerberos said:

On a side note, I found the parking lot at tillicum today to be AMAZING for practicing, I was doing laps without having to stop to turn around, did a few sharp turns, managed to mount a few times without assistance. Practiced going over the speedbumps up there, practiced going up and down slopes on the little on/off ramp from the top level parking garage down to the theater stairs. The stairs there seem very gentle as far as stairs go too, so if I ever want to start practicing stair climbing with my unicycle, that place will be amazing! I hope to find that parking lot empty next time I go too, it made for a fantastic practice session. 

nice, i used to go to parking lots a lot too when i was first learning... mostly hillside mall since its massive, they have that super steep hill going up to the upper level parking too so you can practice going up and down a very steep hill.. but im a night owl so most of my time spent practicing was after midnight when there was nobody around to save any potential embarrassment xD I just got home from a 50 km trip, great day for riding... saw one other EUC rider out 

[UniMe]

good tip on the leaves mate! Thanks

[Kerberos]

Ditto, noted on the leaves! Also, happy to say I can confidently ride the EUC, I went out on the goose this morning around 8:30 and I was out riding up and down the goose until 10:40, It's so incredible how fast my body learned to be on the EUC. I'm excited into drilling some more into turning, and emergency breaking. Also, if you're in the group, hello to the fellow EUC rider I met on the goose early in the morning by Cecilia Ravine Bike Park. 

[Rywokast]

2 hours ago, Kerberos said:

Ditto, noted on the leaves! Also, happy to say I can confidently ride the EUC, I went out on the goose this morning around 8:30 and I was out riding up and down the goose until 10:40, It's so incredible how fast my body learned to be on the EUC. I'm excited into drilling some more into turning, and emergency breaking. Also, if you're in the group, hello to the fellow EUC rider I met on the goose early in the morning by Cecilia Ravine Bike Park. 

fantastic, congrats you're in the honeymoon phase now and as long as you don't let overconfidence get you which is where new riders get in the most accidents, then you will be good to go.. just don't increase the speed to more than a sprint until you're totally confident in all of your skills and you'll be golden... emergency braking is the most important, but probably equally is quick turning/obstacle avoidance.. sometimes you simply won't have the distance to be able to stop in time and you need to make a split second decision to quickly and sharply turn to avoid an accident.. I can't even count the number of times I've had near accidents with stupid drivers who don't look where they're going.. other important but not absolutely crucial skills are being able to go and maintaining a walking pace speed in a straight line, free mounting, being able to adjust your feet on the go which is like one legged riding practice, and a skill that I like to continually work on to increase strength and balance is squatted riding.. I only recommend once you master all of the basics that you can then get into tricks to show off like jumping and going backwards.. they can come in handy to know but they're by no means something you need to know to be a great rider

[Kerberos]

My turning is pretty mediocre at the moment I'd say, last night when I was practicing at the James Bay community school, I was doing laps around the school to practice a little bit of everything, there was one portion where there's 3 sharp 90 degreee angles in a row to get around a corner, the first time I came up on that, I actually instinctively learned how to pivot with my body weight for a very sharp controlled 90 degree turn, and managed to get around the whole S shape on my first try which felt amazing. Going back through it, I would say my success rate was about 70%, I definetely want to get that up. Emergency breaking I've not felt too comfortable with, so I've just kind of been slowing increasing how fast I break each time. Walking pace speed actually came to me very easily, which was good. I've already used it a few times waiting for a chance to safely pass people or at the pass on the goose where they've got half the path temporarily blocked. Tricks like going backwards and jumping seem very cool, but definetely not for me (for now at least). Fastest I've pushed my EUC was 35KM/h which is pretty close to max on the v10f, I made sure no one was near me and had a patch of grass to my right to bail into if need be. I experienced my first wobble at high speed but managed to remember the vids, clamp my EUC and controlled the wobble. Not a fun feeling, but I felt better knowing what to expect. I'm worried about it happening around people where I might not have the same focus I had at that time, so I've been slowing down to a running pace anytime I pass someone. Definetely got a few bumps and bruises, even a bit of missing skin on a pinkie for reaching for the EUC after bailing despite knowing not to do that. No bumps or bruises today though, now it's a matter of getting more practice, finding safe places to push myself without putting anyone in unnecessary danger, myself included, and nailing down the finer skills. I hope we'll be able to get out there and do a group ride soon so I can pick up some skills from you folks as well. I imagine there's a lot to learn still.

[Rywokast]

nice nice, well youre making very quick progress... id be down to go for a ride whenever, im out every day anyways.... unfortunately supposed to get a week of rain starting tomorrow until more sunny weather :/ if you felt up to going out again today id be down

[Kerberos]

Ahh, ended up going out again, but I missed your message. I'll send you a private message with some contact info so we can get in touch and do a ride together tomorrow if we get spared from rain (it is Victoria afterall, rain is never a constant lol) if it does end up raining we can figure out a time next week. 

 

EDIT: Couldn't send you a message, feel free to shoot me a message with some contact info if you want to. 

Edited May 24, 2021 by Kerberos

[Rywokast]

28 minutes ago, Kerberos said:

Ahh, ended up going out again, but I missed your message. I'll send you a private message with some contact info so we can get in touch and do a ride together tomorrow if we get spared from rain (it is Victoria afterall, rain is never a constant lol) if it does end up raining we can figure out a time next week. 

 

EDIT: Couldn't send you a message, feel free to shoot me a message with some contact info if you want to. 

you should be allowed to send PMs now.. also, my inbox was 102% full apparently lol whoops

[Kerberos]

Just now, Rywokast said:

you should be allowed to send PMs now.. also, my inbox was 102% full apparently lol whoops

Lol, popular guy eh? Sent.

[Kerberos]

Hey all, I made an oopsie and dropped the wheel, as you do, but unfrotunately the wheel went and hit the pavement pedal first at a weird angle, snapped a pedal off and bent the metal piece that holds them together, wondering if anyone has spare pedals around they could donate or sell off for cheap? I also don't know how/if I can fix the bent piece that holds them in place, so some know-how there would be awesome. 

 

[UniMe]

you might want to try @Mike B in Victoria at Ride the Glide to see if he could order the parts for you. He carries the V11, so likely had Inmotion contacts.

I did most of my early learning in a grass field for just this reason. Learning on an uneven surface was more challenging but overall I felt a lot safer and my wheel survived being dropped dozens of times.

Edited May 28, 2021 by UniMe

[Kerberos]

17 minutes ago, UniMe said:

you might want to try @Mike B in Victoria at Ride the Glide to see if he could order the parts for you. He carries the V11, so likely had Inmotion contacts.

I did most of my early learning in a grass field for just this reason. Learning on an uneven surface was more challenging but overall I felt a lot safer and my wheel survived being dropped dozens of times.

Ahh, I ended up ordering a new set on Smartwheel.ca, I called RTG but they didn't have any in stock. I was also thinking about it in hindsight, and when I dropped it I was actually going quite slow. Basically what happen is I dropped off a regular curb, and when I landed I lost my balance, strange thing is I was still on the wheel and trying to regain it, I was probably on it shifting my weight for about 20 seconds still moving forward, I tried adjusting my speed and eventually slowed down as much as I could and let the wheel go. When the wheel hit the ground a piece of the pedal broke off and one side of the metal bar was bent about 20 degrees. So what had actually likely happen is the weight of me landing put strain on the pedal and broke it, probably on a hairline fracture I hadn't known about or even knew to look for that was already there. The reason I think this is because I had dropped off a couple of curbs like that before, and moenteraly lost my balance before. In the case of dropping I never had the smallest issue with losing my balance, and in the case of losing my balance I've always either gone down, or been able to adjust and regain my balance so that tells me that I was likely struggling because part of the pedal under me was loose so I COULDN'T balance properly. Also, the fact that only one half of the metal bar was bent tells me that the pedal must've already been in two when it hit the pavement, otherwise it makes no sense for one half of the bar to be perfectly straight and the other to be bent so severely. My last clue is that when it did hit the pavement I had slowed down to about 5-10km/hr, really not that much force to hit the pavement with to break the pedal on it's own. It also seems to be a fairly common issue with the V10/V10F pedals, doubly so I imagine for a wheel that's had 3 seperate people learn to ride on it, haha. Unfortunate timing is all, but it could've been worse. Hopefully with these new pedals I won't have to worry anymore and it'll all be smooth riding from now on! Super excited for them to come in, and my wallet will forget... in time... ^^'

[UniMe]

On 5/28/2021 at 10:01 AM, Kerberos said:

Ahh, I ended up ordering a new set on Smartwheel.ca

Nice, good to hear parts are available like that. I'm still new to the EUC and sometimes wonder how I'll fix them.

[Rywokast]

17 minutes ago, UniMe said:

Nice, good to hear parts are available like that. I'm still new to the EUC and sometimes wonder how I'll fix them.

one of the good things about them,,, besides now suspension wheels.. is how basic they are and easy to diagnose/repair.... unfortunately with such a small market though, parts are still very expensive >.> i really hope theyll become less proprietary in the future so parts are more readily available for cheaper... even the same model of euc can have different footpads, boards, wiring/electronics, lights etc from one to another.... they need to become more streamlined and user friendly..... the day someone comes out with an euc that you can change a tube without having to disassemble it i swear ill sell all of mine and buy five of them lmao

[UniMe]

18 hours ago, Rywokast said:

the day someone comes out with an euc that you can change a tube without having to disassemble it i swear ill sell all of mine and buy five of them lmao

This!!! Truly the stupidest design decision I've ever seen -- and they just keep doing it over and over.... at least some strong quick release clasps to unlock and split the shell or something.... you know, design intent where they actually CONSIDER maintenance...!

[Rywokast]

1 minute ago, UniMe said:

This!!! Truly the stupidest design decision I've ever seen -- and they just keep doing it over and over.... at least some strong quick release clasps to unlock and split the shell or something.... you know, design intent where they actually CONSIDER maintenance...!

oh yea, these things are made to work when you get them and in a way that makes them cheap to produce... i have always been envious of the craftsmanship of the onewheel for example... we need less plastic, nothing that "clips" into place and is removed by forcibly ripping pieces off, better screws.. and yes most importantly a release for getting the tire out to change the tube... ive changed about a dozen tires and it takes me 2+ hours of work every single time.... this is ludicrous, takes me under five mins on a bicycle... and speaking of not considering maintenance, they even glue on the pads with tape so strong that you literally have to destroy the 50 dollar pads in order to remove them, and then spend an hour getting off the ridiculously strong tape residue... KS is the most guilty of this, and when i get a new KS wheel i remove the pads before riding it (the tape is not stuck on nearly as well when its brand new) and put on some velcro so when the inevitable inner tube change comes i dont have to destroy them. these wheels have long moved past the category of cheap chinese toys, the prices clearly reflect that and now the design needs to reflect that also.. i dont care if i can kill myself on it going 100 kph with 3 million wh of battery, if the thing looks and is made like a toysrus pos (looking at you GW) then im not spending 4k on it, would way rather spend 4k on a modest wheel that is twice the quality of the current wheels we have that will last me 10 or more years of use

[Kerberos]

On 5/30/2021 at 4:04 PM, Rywokast said:

i dont care if i can kill myself on it going 100 kph with 3 million wh of battery, if the thing looks and is made like a toysrus pos (looking at you GW)

Literally why I only look at inMotion wheels, they're the only wheels aside from the KS-S18 that don't look like a cheap knockoff you'd buy at Wish or Toys'R'Us. 

[DaveN]

@Kerberos, glad to hear that you weren't hurt in the incident. I didnt take the v10f off a curb while I owned it (I am too old/too chicken?) but dont think I would have thought that a pedal would break. 
I ordered a V11 so when it comes in (sometime this month?) I will post and try to get a ride together.

Thanks to everyone who gave me advice on the next wheel purchase. I decided to go with VanEuc after checking in first with Ride the Glide. Good to support local(ish) businesses if we can to keep the sport moving forward.
Hope you are all out enjoying the weekend.

 

[Kerberos]

Hi Dave, no worries, shit happens I didn't suspect anything to be wrong with the pedals either. Speaking of shit going sideways though, here I am again. Just today I dropped my V10Fs charger from about shin height to the ground by accident, didn't think much of it, but when I went to charge my V10F it didn't charge. I tried messing around with it, changing the power cord to the AC adaptor, using a different wall plug, nothing is working. The most luck I've had is getting the wheel to make the charging noise, then the not charging noise 2 seconds later. The green light on the charger never turns on either (now, it did before when it worked). This is problematic for me for a few reasons 1) I'm not actually 100% sure that it is infact the charger and I'm worried about paying for a charger only to find out that the wheel itself is the issue somehow... 2) My battery is at 10% on it and I'm about to leave for a week, and I'm really worried about the battery draining down too low while I'm gone, I know it shouldn't but honestly with my luck the last couple of days I'm terrified (Saturday I walked into Thetis Lake with my phone in my hand completely forgetting about it being in my hand, cracked the screen on my back up phone on the same day, and broke a (relatively insignificant thankfully) mouth guard on my helmet...) so honestly, I don't want to take ANY chances. and 3) I can't get a charger before I leave on my trip tomorrow and that puts a huge damper on my mood because I was REALLLY looking forward to riding around the lakes and trails at the Cabin we're going to. I plan to call RTG tomorrow morning at 10 when they open, but from my experience they don't really carry parts, so my hopes are low. I was wondering if anyone in this group would be able to help me before tomorrow at 11:00AM at the latest, any ammount of help would be absolutely fantastic... thanks

 

[Kerberos]

@VikB @Mike B in Victoria Tagging Mike from RTG to see if he's able to save me the trip down there, and VikB since I see he has a V8 and maybe got an extra charger at some point? ^^'

[DaveN]

@kerberos,  I hope you found an alternative charger. I never thought about buying a backup charger before, that is an unexpected problem.

Anyways, I am not on the forums much as I am waiting for the back-ordered V11 to come in (ah, it is tough to be patient). I will check back in later in the month to see what is going on in the forums. 

 

[Mike B in Victoria]

On 6/29/2021 at 9:11 PM, Kerberos said:

@VikB @Mike B in Victoria Tagging Mike from RTG to see if he's able to save me the trip down there, and VikB since I see he has a V8 and maybe got an extra charger at some point? ^^'

Sorry but I don’t have a charger for a V8.

I wish I could help

[DaveN]

I have nothing new to share sadly. The V11 that I ordered is on the slowest boat ever   but might be here by mid september. I hope the rest of the group has had a good summer riding. See you all in the fall.

 

[Kerberos]

Figured i'd update, I needed to buy a new charger. I unforunately had no luck fixing that one or finding a replacement. Sorry to hear you've been waiting for so long Dave, that's a pretty rough wait. 

[Mantraguy]

Hi all! Are there any riders in this group that enjoy full-day rides and might be open to getting together some time? I'm up in Nanaimo but am happy to travel anywhere on the island to explore new riding areas. I've been riding down to Chemainus which is usually between 120 and 150km (return) depending on my route; my favourite routes have a mix of residential streets, share paths (paved or gravel), a bit of singletrack here and there, even a few decomissioned roads (gated at each end). Lots of little interconnecting pathways to avoid busier roads and highways (although up here, a bit of highway riding is an unfortunate requirement to get out of town). Thought it might be fun to try something similar locally to what Marty Backe is doing down in Southern California - but obviously on a much smaller scale, given our relatively low number of EUC riders. I could be convinced to start on shorter routes but like to go at least 60-80km in a day to make it worthwhile. Let me know if this sounds like your cup of tea! :-)