V5F+ Beginner - Help Please

[Rehab1]

Let me just say..."I love my V5F+ and the excellent customer service from @Jason McNeil!" 

 @Joe Holliday before long you will also be repeating this mantra! 

[Rehab1]

As @Carlos E Rodriguez pointed out using a tether strap is great advice! Just loop it loosely though you belt or slide it partially into your pocket!

A great deal of apprehension occurs while learning to ride that results from the fear of dropping your new wheel and scraping it all up! The belt helps to calm these emotions as you will be able to grab it quickly if you loose balance. If you are in the Continental US and can't find a strap shoot me a PM and I will mail you one. 

An Important Note: When using the tether strap Shut Off the Handle Button on your IM app so you don't inadvertently cause the wheel to stop if the strap becomes taunt!  

[dpong]

@Joe Holliday You appear to be past the 'strap phase', though others may disagree.

[Carlos E Rodriguez]

28 minutes ago, dpong said:

@Joe Holliday You appear to be past the 'strap phase', though others may disagree.

I actually added a paddle board elastic bunggy cord. Clipped to my belt. Only purpose is so the wheel does not run into others if it goes out of control for example down hill or bad flip. 

[Joe Holliday]

22 hours ago, dpong said:

@Joe Holliday You appear to be past the 'strap phase', though others may disagree.

I have to agree.  I've already scratched up both foot rests pretty bad, so I'm at the point I'm not concerned if I drop it.  Looking at the website, it looks like the foot rests are replaceable (and most other parts of the device, it seems.

[dpong]

4 minutes ago, Joe Holliday said:

I have to agree.  I've already scratched up both foot rests pretty bad, so I'm at the point I'm not concerned if I drop it.  Looking at the website, it looks like the foot rests are replaceable (and most other parts of the device, it seems.

Maybe next up is learning to turn confidently.  The best advice I received was:  Steer with your hips.  

[Joe Holliday]

After 2 days of rain and no practice, yesterday felt like lost progress. I was having a lot of the same difficulties from my first time trying. One of the biggest issues I have is that my upper body is uncontrollably twisting to the right as if to subconsciously keep my balance, and this causes me to lean to the left and makes stopping difficulty without heavily veering to the left. No matter what i try, this happens. Trying to keep myself from involunatrily twisting to the right is causing my lower back to hurt. Also, as seen in my video previously, my arms involuntarily contort to keep balance as well. Should all of this naturally go away on its own with practice, or is it something I need to fix early before it becomes habit (even though it feels as if I can't control it)?

Thanks!

[meepmeepmayer]

I had the "twisting" too, you feel like you can't stand "straight" on the wheel otherwise you can't ride in a straight line (I would always have to have one arm far in front and one further to the back and flail around to keep a straight line). It should go away with more practice without you even noticing or thinking about it.

In the meantime, I would recommend adjusting your foot positions (maybe one foot further in front than the other, how your feet are rotated, etc) until you feel you're standing properly on the wheel without too much twisting. Foot positioning is extremely important in general (for me in a bad position I could not even ride for a short distance, whereas the rare good position would make it super easy to ride as long as I wanted) so experiment with that and take your time to get it right.

Another idea, go fast! It's more stable. 15 km/h instead of 5. You can learn slow speed maneuvering later, it's the harder part in comparison.

Arm flailing is like the twisting, that goes away as you relax your stance and ride more confidently.

You're on the right path, it just takes time. No need to be worried about learning "bad" practices, it's just unrelaxed and insecure riding that produces these things (same with getting on the wheel, at the beginning you bruise your lower legs hard and with experience you step on/ride with your legs barely touching the wheel), they go away on their own.

[US69]

11 minutes ago, Joe Holliday said:

After 2 days of rain and no practice, yesterday felt like lost progress. I was having a lot of the same difficulties from my first time trying. One of the biggest issues I have is that my upper body is uncontrollably twisting to the right as if to subconsciously keep my balance, and this causes me to lean to the left and makes stopping difficulty without heavily veering to the left. No matter what i try, this happens. Trying to keep myself from involunatrily twisting to the right is causing my lower back to hurt. Also, as seen in my video previously, my arms involuntarily contort to keep balance as well. Should all of this naturally go away on its own with practice, or is it something I need to fix early before it becomes habit (even though it feels as if I can't control it)?

Thanks!

Have you checked your tyre pressure? Perhaps its to low?

I remember that i was having a lot of probs steering-moving to one direction when i was at the beginning of learning, because of to low pressure.

Otherwise i would say, just stay cool...Comes time, comes ride experience, remember learnig bicycle, you also had a learning curve of some days before the brain does everything automaticly.

[Carlos E Rodriguez]

3 hours ago, KingSong69 said:

Have you checked your tyre pressure? Perhaps its to low?

I remember that i was having a lot of probs steering-moving to one direction when i was at the beginning of learning, because of to low pressure.

Otherwise i would say, just stay cool...Comes time, comes ride experience, remember learnig bicycle, you also had a learning curve of some days before the brain does everything automaticly.

Straighten up. You muscles need to learn to balance diferent than normal standing or driving a bicycle. Your body mass needs to stay firm and centered at the beginning. Flapping around and contorting puts to much correction and you will be all over the place. 

Center and lock and do small subtle corrections trying not to be like a noddle flapping makes it worst. Your balance point is fixed. You need to trust the machine and make it part of you by planting the feet and using the ankles and the wheel to balance.  Trying to contort your body does not interact with the machine so it will feel out of control. 

[justanut]

It helps if you spread your arms wide open like on a tight rope as you start practising turns. Turn your upper body towards where you want to go first, then tilt the EUC and follow through. I actually spent WAY longer learning to go straight than I did turning. Just look ahead not down, make sure you keep your body upright.

[duaner]

3 hours ago, Carlos E Rodriguez said:

... Center and lock and do small subtle corrections ...

Note: By "lock" he meant to "hold still", he did NOT mean to lock your knees.  Do NOT lock your knees.

[Joe Holliday]

4 hours ago, Carlos E Rodriguez said:

Straighten up. You muscles need to learn to balance diferent than normal standing or driving a bicycle. Your body mass needs to stay firm and centered at the beginning. Flapping around and contorting puts to much correction and you will be all over the place. 

Center and lock and do small subtle corrections trying not to be like a noddle flapping makes it worst. Your balance point is fixed. You need to trust the machine and make it part of you by planting the feet and using the ankles and the wheel to balance.  Trying to contort your body does not interact with the machine so it will feel out of control. 

I'm not trying to contort. It's involuntary, and I'm trying not to. It's like my muscles and ligaments tighten, and they do so to a point that they hurt afterwards.

[Maximus]

Not sure how many more suggestions you are looking for, but I found that teaching myself how to turn in both directions helped me.  I would do long turns down the street like a giant slalom course, then at the end I would turn completely around using a left turn (180 degrees) then the next turn around would be to my right.  Once I felt comfortable with both styles of turns I stopped favoring one side for riding straight.

I also agree with @meepmeepmayer that your foot positioning is huge.  When you've got your feet "right" you know it and it just seems like there is less pain/cramping in your feet and the wheel seems to fight you less.  Good luck!

[houseofjob]

@Joe Holliday IMHO, it's more be balanced than you needing to be straight.

Esp for more compact 14" wheels, all relative big motions should come hip down; your upper body still.

Think of balancing a pencil on your hand. The hand provides all the motion in trying to keep the pencil upright; the top of the pencil remains relatively still.

[LanghamP]

Feet position was probably the most important aspect, and I still have problems with my feet being "correctly" positioned.

The way I figured out where my feet should go is not by comfort but by experimentation. That is, I think the wheel wants your weight in a specific place, and if you don't do that then the wheel is not neutral.

Try this: go to a playground or a place that has a sidewalk path with lots of turns and variety of turns. Then, go through those turns being mindful of the weight you feel being placed on each foot.

Here are the conditions:

--Go through the turns just learning, not accelerating nor slowing.

--If there is too much weight being placed on the inside foot then rotate your inside foot so the heel is more out. You may have to move your entire foot inward if you like to contact the side of the wheel (I do).

--Move your feet forward or back until you can go through the turns in a neutral attitude.

--Fine tune it so you can go through the turns quite fast without shortening one leg or the other leg, and you don't feel like your leaning forward or back much.

Eventually I end up with a foot position that feels telepathic. I feel like I can ask the wheel for anything and it delivers. It has now become an extension of my lower body and feels strangely...godlike. I guess like a cyborg? It's magnificent.

Anyway that's how I figured out my foot position. I still cannot ride a straight line worth a damn. I think it might be the crown of the roads; my wheels seem to simply always point themselves downhill and so I end up with a slow-fast-slow-fast weave. Kinda fun.

[Paddylaz]

Obviously it depends on the size of the shoe (there are some crazy small and/or large-footed people out there) and the particular euc  but.......

I find a solid general rule is to have about a 1/3 (or JUST under) of your shoe hanging over the front of the peddles.

[Joe Holliday]

 

Update on progress: Here's a video of me about 6 hours total into learning.  Please let me know if it looks like I'm doing anything wrong  (besides flailing, and not stopping correctly after the first straight).

[who_the]

Looking good! Great progress. Being able to start and stop under control is crucial, and it looks like you are well on the way. The flailing and body contortions will indeed diminish with more practice. One of the hardest things to do when you start is is to be able to go very slowly (i.e. walking speed) under control. Keep working on that. And in general, try to relax your body a bit and bend your knees ever so slightly, you want to have a bit of flex in your joints and not be too stiff. Keep going, awesome job!

[Joe Holliday]

3 minutes ago, who_the said:

Looking good! Great progress. Being able to start and stop under control is crucial, and it looks like you are well on the way. The flailing and body contortions will indeed diminish with more practice. One of the hardest things to do when you start is is to be able to go very slowly (i.e. walking speed) under control. Keep working on that. And in general, try to relax your body a bit and bend your knees ever so slightly, you want to have a bit of flex in your joints and not be too stiff. Keep going, awesome job!

Thanks for the words of encouragement!  I'm definitely no longer feeling buyer's remorse, and am highly enjoying it!  My only concern now is the scratches I've already accumulated on the foot rests.  Is it possible for the scratched areas to start rusting, even though I store the unit indoors, or is is stainless?

[who_the]

13 minutes ago, Joe Holliday said:

Is it possible for the scratched areas to start rusting, even though I store the unit indoors, or is is stainless?

Not sure what material Inmotion's pedals are made of, but they're easily removed (or replaced) if you want to sand and paint them to touch them up back to near perfection. 

[US69]

@Joe Holliday

you are doing incredibly Well!!!

Believe me, i have seen people that could not leave the "fence" in the first week!

Now the time will come, where you have not to use your arms anymore, fealing better at all, and it will go up to a level, where you will not even have to thought about what you are doing!

When i have a tip...it is: Do not try to move your feet on the pedals while driving because of feeling uncomfortable...at least not in the first 3-4 weeks! Your self confidence might ask you to do so....but i would not do until you are really, really good!

This fault->thinking "hey i can do it...lets move my feet to a better place" ....cost me a faceplant with three broken rips ;-)

But don't worry...that was just stupid me ;-)

[LanghamP]

It took me 2-4 weeks before I was able to mount on my own. Seems easier for most other people.

[steve454]

6 hours ago, KingSong69 said:

This fault->thinking "hey i can do it...lets move my feet to a better place" ....cost me a faceplant with three broken rips ;-)

Good point  .If your feet don't feel comfortable, just stop, get off the wheel, and try again.  That comes with time.  If you shift your feet at speeds faster than a walk you risk throwing the balance off too far.  Then, you might fall.  Foot placement is very important.  But you ride very well.  So now you are good to go.

[Joe Holliday]

Thanks everyone!  I finally got to where I can kind of do a 180 left hand turn to go back and forth on the driveway.  I'm still having some difficulty with right hand 180 turns though, for some reason (and I'm right handed)