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The V8 is my first wheel. I love it.


Anthony S

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I've had my eye on EUCs for 2 years now and kept putting off buying one until now. In that time I did a ton of research, watched every video I could find and read plenty of reviews. I was a frequent lurker on this forum.

Thanks to this forum, I became acquainted with Inmotion in general, and ewheels.com. I bookmarked ewheels.com a year ago and would constantly add and delete the V8 from my cart, waiting until the day I finally saved up the cash to buy my first wheel.

A few days ago @Jason McNeil was very helpful in answering my few remaining questions and I finally added the V8 to my cart for realsies.

I picked up my V8 tonight and ran home to unpack it. Unfortunately, it's past dark outside, so I haven't had a chance to take it out. But, I managed to get my feet on it and go back and forth (albeit very wobbly) a few times up and down my hallway. 

I was lucky that Amazon delivered my pads today, as well. So, sun up tomorrow, I know what I'll be doing. Even took a day off work so I could enjoy learning how to ride my first EUC.

Also, I work tech support for a living and all my co-workers are dorks, like me, and are begging me to bring it into the office as soon as possible to show it off.

I can tell I'm going to have a blast.

V8 first pic.jpg

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Congrats! 

Probably one of the best wheels to start out on from one of the best EUC distributors in the world.

 

Might I offer things I wish someone told me when I was starting off:

Go straight to somewhere open (grass, tennis court, etc). Bracing yourself down hallways first to get a feel is good, but you won't start learning until you get away from the wall.

Start by trying to ride baby lengths. Keep your knees and legs as loose as you can (don't lock your legs), and twist like hell from your hips to stay on.

Think of balancing a pencil upright on your palm. The hand does the majority of the movement while the pencil stays relatively still, i.e. the hand is your lower torso.

Lean from your legs / hips, never lean your upper body forward. This builds good habits to prevent face planting in case of cutouts, etc.

 

Next, after you start riding, warnings about the nature of EUCs I wish someone had told me when starting out:

All EUCs if pushed too hard, i.e. Overlean, will cutout (wheel remains on, but the gyroscope stops balancing you). Overlean cutout occurs because the sudden current surge is too much for the wheel to handle, and the current is cut to protect the motor.

Also, do not try to ride past the max speed / full tiltback, or the wheel will also cutout due to overcurrent.

Tiltback is a non-auditory signal meant to help you feel when you're approaching max speed, without the need for obnoxious beeping (1st gen EUCs only had beeps; other brands like Gotway and KingSong still implement beep warnings). 

The sensation of tiltback may be uncomfortable at first (like you might fall off the pedals), but it is meant to put you in a position to lean back in order to slow down. Not locking your legs is key when tiltback occurs (I used to have this problem when starting out).

 

Happy learning / riding!

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Hi Anthony,

Congrat to your new V8. I´m in the very similar position as you right now (newbie, looking for the first EUC :-) ). I´m thinking about V8 and ACM 820 Wh. I would like to ask you, what were the main reasons to buy V8 for you? What is your weight, height? I have almost 100 kg and just worried if the V8 provides me a satisfactory ride :-)

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Get excited. Because you're going To have a blast, eventually, not today.

but before you take that lovely shiny expensive thing outside, spend some time protecting it from the inevitable crashes it is going to have, otherwise, like me, when you finally have your skills down, your wheel will look like it did three tours of Afghanistan, and you ll have one of these☹️ Instead of one of these ?

Also, if you use a leash ( held loosely) it will prevent 90% of the scar inducing accidents. I still use my leash, to prevent run-aways, and further road rash.

wear your protection, as learning produces the weirdest dismounts while our body gets used to this weird thing under your feet.  I still have a occasionally sore Ankle  from my October learning butt plant ( yeah I know, pads wouldn't have helped my ankle, but you should have seen the state of my wrist guards when I got off the ground).

don't let your geek friends ride it, they I'll tear it up because they don't know how to ride either.  I know you will let them anyway, but you have been told.

dont show off, especially speed or acceleration, or hard braking; it's almost always going to end with an embarrassing and potentially painful face Plant, and a torn up wheel.

unless you're a skateboard genius, or actual Unicyclist, you probably won't master it today.  Take breaks, be patient, it will be frustrating. Just persevere, and it will fall into place gradually.

i tell people who ask me it it was difficult to learn; " it took me three days to be bad, and three weeks to be good" 

Welcome to the "bleeding" edge club, scars are mandatory BTW ?

 

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Yeah, I've had my V8 for just under 2 weeks. My first EUC as well (shout out to @Jason McNeil). I've put almost 100 miles on it already. 

Its was REALLY hard to learn to ride the first several days (and there were many "I don't know how much I like this" moments, but it'll click and your body will just start to "get it", so keep up the practicing. 

On a related note, my poor V8 looks like it's been through a war zone, and I'm looking forward to Jason getting the outer shells in so I can take the V8 back to "new looking" status!

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1 hour ago, TechShizzle said:

On a related note, my poor V8 looks like it's been through a war zone, and I'm looking forward to Jason getting the outer shells in so I can take the V8 back to "new looking

Three tours of Afghanistan eh!?  It's a shame the timing isn't right, otherwise you could have shipped you battled scared shells to the OP and made some arrangements about sharing the cost of one pair of replacements.

oohh, I know ask Jason to take them back and ship them out with every new wheel to a new rider, that way only one set of shells get bashed up. Nahh! On second thoughts Jason wouldn't care for that I reckon.

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8 hours ago, Shveecko said:

Hi Anthony,

Congrat to your new V8. I´m in the very similar position as you right now (newbie, looking for the first EUC :-) ). I´m thinking about V8 and ACM 820 Wh. I would like to ask you, what were the main reasons to buy V8 for you? What is your weight, height? I have almost 100 kg and just worried if the V8 provides me a satisfactory ride :-)

 
 
 

@Shveecko The ACM seemed like too much wheel to start. Plus, the price was a major factor.

@Jason McNeil over at ewheels.com had the V8 for a very good price, much cheaper than the few other places I looked at. Top it off with the quick charger, etc. and it was still much cheaper than the ACM.

Also, now that I think about it. I couldn't find any mention of a warranty on the ACM, while the V8 was at least warrantied for 1 year by ewheels.com. 

I don't want sink this much cash into something and not have a firm warranty behind it.
 

Edit: You weigh much more than I do. However, the V8 is rated up to 120 kg. So I think you should be fine. I'm 68 cm and 85 kg and the V8 seems to have no problems moving me around.

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10 hours ago, Shveecko said:

Hi Anthony,

Congrat to your new V8. I´m in the very similar position as you right now (newbie, looking for the first EUC :-) ). I´m thinking about V8 and ACM 820 Wh. I would like to ask you, what were the main reasons to buy V8 for you? What is your weight, height? I have almost 100 kg and just worried if the V8 provides me a satisfactory ride :-)

I'm 200 lbs, and the V8 hasn't had any problems lugging my fat butt around. I live at the top of a fairly steep hill, and it runs me right up the hill like is was nothing.

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15 minutes ago, TechShizzle said:

I'm 200 lbs, and the V8 hasn't had any problems lugging my fat butt around. I live at the top of a fairly steep hill, and it runs me right up the hill like is was nothing.

Nice to hear that? What is your range and max speed with your weight?

I'dont care about the warranty too much, because in my country (Czech Republic) we have standard 2 years warranty for everything and price difference between V8 and ACM is around 300€, which is not "deal-breaker" for me?. Question is...Are these 300€ worth it?

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1 hour ago, Shveecko said:

Nice to hear that? What is your range and max speed with your weight?

I think the range is pretty close to 20 miles. Max speed would seem to be the rated 19 mph, but I haven't gotten it up that fast more than a couple of times.

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Congrats on your new wheel. You will have loads of fun!

My first is also a V8, had it for almost 2 weeks now and it's a blast for sure.

Max speed (which I reached for a split second) is 19.5 mph. But that's where all the tiltback and beeping is at it's full - and it can be risky due to a cutoff, so no one recommends it. However, you can ride up to around 17.5 mph before a soft tiltback begin - and this will gradually get stronger if you keep pushing past that.

Good luck and don't despair during the learning process. It's well worth the effort, trust me!

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Update.

 

I managed to get out a little bit this morning before it started to rain too much.

I'm definitely wondering how people manage to ride these things at all. Feels unnatural. But, I know I'll get it.

Despite having it pretty well padded, my V8 got it's first minor scratch. That's how it goes though and I figure once I get the hang of it, I'll get a new shell to get it looking good again.

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3 hours ago, Anthony S said:

Despite having it pretty well padded, my V8 got it's first minor scratch. That's how it goes though and I figure once i get the hang of it, I'll get a new shell to get it looking good again.

Don't worry about it! A few scratches don't hurt anything. By the time you've really beat it up you're ready for a new wheel.

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17 hours ago, Anthony S said:

I'm definitely wondering how people manage to ride these things at all.

Almost everyone who is persistent enough. It does feel impossible until it doesn't.

17 hours ago, Anthony S said:

Feels unnatural.

That's natural. 

17 hours ago, Anthony S said:

But, I know it'll get it .

exactly. 

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19 hours ago, Anthony S said:

I'm definitely wondering how people manage to ride these things at all. Feels unnatural. But, I know I'll get it.

Despite having it pretty well padded, my V8 got it's first minor scratch. That's how it goes though and I figure once I get the hang of it, I'll get a new shell to get it looking good again.

You be frustrated for awhile, and then you will have the "Ahaa!" moment, and it will all come together.  Stick with it!

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23 hours ago, Anthony S said:

 

I'm definitely wondering how people manage to ride these things at all. Feels unnatural. But, I know I'll get it.

Despite having it pretty well padded, my V8 got it's first minor scratch. That's how it goes though and I figure once I get the hang of it, I'll get a new shell to get it looking good again.

 
 
 

Congratulations and welcome to the club Anthony. I'm another InMotion rider here in Seattle. I started out with the V5F+ last October also bought from Jason. Mastering the Inmotion wheel will be a little bit harder at first, but you will get it eventually. The motor reaction will be slightly stiffer and more sensitive than other wheels, in my case compare with GotWay MsuperV3 and Solowheel. 

The important things I recalled when learning this is you got to heavily arm yourself with protective gears such as helmet, knees pads, elbows, ankles, and wrist pads. The confidence that you are well protected will speed up your learning curve a lot faster than w/o the gears. Find some flat open area, Seattle has plenty of parks. Stepping on and engaging the wheel forward is IMHO the most difficult step. That may take hours or days, depending on your experience with balancing. Once you pass that, learning to turn or keep going straight will be a lot easier. 

We have a weekly Sunday afternoon ride start at Solowheel office in SLU. Come down to meet folks there, will be great to ride as a group. In fact, I found the Inmotion wheel is the minority here, so far I have only seen another V5F+ ridden by a girl at Mercer. She is pretty skillful! :) 

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Congratulations with you're first wheel!

About protect the wheel, inmotion have these original cover.

And they are IMO better than the rubber tape striping thing.

A started with the rubber tape, but that was for me not enough foot the learning stage (V5D).

Later i found out that these covers exist, wisht that i now that before learning.

Can by them on aliexpress, an maybe other cellers.

Price between $35 and $45, i think it,s worth it:)

Inmotion have also an app.,a lot off the  inmotion riders are in Azia.

You need it also for shahing some settings if you want it.

Like the beep sound and voice for the speed ( swich it off, i found it very enoying ), or to now how much km you have done.

Anyway, enjoy the learning stage, once you have the " klick " it's a lot of fun and moments good instead of the bike:thumbup:

 

IMG_1006.jpg

IMG_1375.JPG

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1 hour ago, gotmotion2016 said:

Later i found out that these covers exist, wisht that i now that before learning.

Can by them on aliexpress, an maybe other cellers.

 

Thanks!

I do have to covers. Funny enough, my wheel flipped over and scratched the top, where the cover didn't provide protection. All in all, though, they are minor scratches and nothing I would worry about.

Thank you for the advice!

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10 hours ago, Anthony S said:

Thanks!

I do have to covers. Funny enough, my wheel flipped over and scratched the top, where the cover didn't provide protection. All in all, though, they are minor scratches and nothing I would worry about.

Thank you for the advice!

Ha! Yep, mine, too-flipped and scratched the handle even with the cover on. I don't think there's really any way to avoid scratching the heck out of it when you're learning. I had gone 2 days without laying the wheel down so I took it on a 12 mile trip without the cover' laid it down twice! :furious: So the cover went back on. Fortunately, I have another cover on the way so it'll look relatively new soon enough. I've put 119 miles on the wheel since I got it 2 weeks ago.

I just think it's going to get chewed up as you learn and there's not much to be done but accept it and replace the outer shells/cover later after you become proficient.

Happy journey!

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15 minutes ago, TechShizzle said:

I don't think there's really any way to avoid scratching the heck out of it when you're learning.

Have you considered using a learning belt? 

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4 minutes ago, Mono said:

Have you considered using a learning belt? 

Like a strap? I saw that those exist after getting my V8 and bouncing it down the street a few times. I decided at that point I would just ride it out and replace the outer shell when I got proficient at riding. I ultimately decided I didn't want anything that I might come to rely on, like a strap or training wheels. I took a "sink or swim and put a bunch of miles on it" approach, and I think it's been the best way to go for me.

I'm 50, and haven't ridden a skateboard or skates in probably 35 years, and I wanted to go all in as quickly as possible. My wheel certainly shows the effects of that approach, but I think it's helped me. Who's to say?

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Yes, like a strap.

It is only used to keep the wheel from running away and/or falling to the side. One could argue it is even more of the "sink or swim" approach, because it constrains one of the arms which beginners often use. It's probably not the best of all ideas to get used using the arms to try to keep balance. I also didn't use a learning band when I started, but I still think it's probably a good idea. 

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1 hour ago, Mono said:

Have you considered using a learning belt? 

I actually tried using a strap, but I felt like, if anything, it was holding me back.

I'll just throw some of that funny tube-padding on those parts and call it good.

However, it has started to snow today, so no riding today either. This was a horrible first weekend to have my EUC. It's been pouring all weekend and now it's snowing.

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