How long did you keep on using the belt?

[Mono]

The point though: what I found was not about me.

[kasenutty]

That's very good, mono.

[Acturbo]

13 hours ago, Mono said:

I used a leash loosely attached to my belt for the first 3000km.

See also 

 

Bad idea in my opinion.  If you fall over(say a faceplant for example), you will not be able to grab the strap to save the wheel anyway and depending on wheel size, battery size,etc.  you could make your injury worse.  Here's a good example: when I was using the strap I tumbled forward and could not grab the strap properly, it got wrapped around my hand and drug me to the ground.  I had a leg injury that took a week to heal.  Without the tether "tied" to me I would have simply just stumbled forward.  All it takes is a small tug from a 30-80 pound EUC tied to you to pull you to the ground.  

Just my opinion but strap is ok.  Strap tied to you is not a good idea.  

[Mono]

I indeed also didn't tie the leash to myself, I was just looping it from below under the belt such that it could slide out in the worst case scenario.

[WARPed1701D]

10 hours ago, WARPed1701D said:

I've tested the power button and anything over a very very slight crawl disables its operation. I also accidentally rode with the kill switch enabled one day (after calibration). I had been practicing 20 minutes until as I mounted i tugged the tether causing the button to activate and the wheel to disable (still at a standstill at that point). I just stepped off as it leaned forward without moving.  I suspect if the kill switch worked while riding I would have found out that day. I will test this properly though.

So, initial tests in my living room tonight suggest that the power button is disabled at anything above 1 km/h but the kill switch remains active up to 5km/h after which point it becomes disabled (i guess this is to allow the speedy dismounter to hop off and grab the wheel while still moving). This isn't conclusive. It was tested by me spinning in circles with the wheel going around me at arm length while constantly pressing buttons and watching the speedo on the app.

In short, I'd hate to have the wheel dump me unexpectedly even at 5km/h so definitely disable the kill switch while learning and tugging the the strap occasionally or if experienced and using the strap as a safety device for others be VERY mindful that until you get moving it could surprise you.

[Mono]

1 hour ago, WARPed1701D said:

I'd hate to have the wheel dump me unexpectedly even at 5km/h

It would be a good exercise though before to go to higher speeds  I once in a while train mounting the wheel when it's off, in the hope this will prepare me for the 5km/h kill switch failure.

[JimB]

7 hours ago, kasenutty said:

I got rid of the strap as soon as possible.

And I'll just say this; I have never gotten back from a ride and thought to myself how I really wished I had been tied to my wheel during the ride. 

OK, so it's a one in a million chance that your wheel will roll into traffic, causing an accident, and killing someone.  On that day, you'd wish you had a safety tether.

And I agree, you don't want it "tied" to you.  Just loop a knotted strap/rope through your belt - takes no time or effort.

(The Inmotion/Solowheel cutoff is an issue though.  Definitely need to keep a strap clear of that!)

[kasenutty]

I don't want to crash with a 30+ pound weight tethered to me. It's a personal choice, and I'm ok with it. 

 

You strappers are welcome to keep tying on, but I won't. 

[ir_fuel]

5 hours ago, WARPed1701D said:

So, initial tests in my living room tonight suggest that the power button is disabled at anything above 1 km/h but the kill switch remains active up to 5km/h after which point it becomes disabled (i guess this is to allow the speedy dismounter to hop off and grab the wheel while still moving). This isn't conclusive. It was tested by me spinning in circles with the wheel going around me at arm length while constantly pressing buttons and watching the speedo on the app.

In short, I'd hate to have the wheel dump me unexpectedly even at 5km/h so definitely disable the kill switch while learning and tugging the the strap occasionally or if experienced and using the strap as a safety device for others be VERY mindful that until you get moving it could surprise you.

I got the v8 out, with belt attached. Without realising it I pulled too hard on the strap when getting on it for the first time (bad habit and I don't need to do it. I can mount perfectly without strap, but anyway ...) and I nearly faceplanted as the device cut out because of the button and I got launched forward. Luckily no harm done and I could land on my feet and keep the euc upright.

But for riding I don't see an issue. The belt is loosely attached (had enough slack) so you won't pull it by accident, and once you do fall it's imo even better that it pulls the cutout switch as it will stop the wheel from rolling.

[Tom Fagerland]

Surely the perfect analogue is the red strap you're supposed to fasten to your shirt when you're using exercise equipment. If you're tugging at it, you're doing it wrong...

[Mono]

3 hours ago, ir_fuel said:

once you do fall it's imo even better that it pulls the cutout switch as it will stop the wheel from rolling.

Interesting point, though that will not happen if the wheel has a notable speed, so it will not prevent the more problematic events.

What I believe I found is that a free running wheel will go down more quickly if it is dragging a leash behind. So the leash helps even if the rider didn't have the opportunity to grab it.

[MarkoMarjamaa]

For the first two hours of practicing. Then I realized I learn faster without it.

[WARPed1701D]

3 hours ago, ir_fuel said:

But for riding I don't see an issue. The belt is loosely attached (had enough slack) so you won't pull it by accident, and once you do fall it's imo even better that it pulls the cutout switch as it will stop the wheel from rolling.

Once experienced in riding, then I agree it won't be an issue but you should be mindful of it. As a learner I think (as you experienced) the button should be off as there is lots of slow riding and arm waving/strap tugging that can happen.

Also the cutout is a momentary switch so unless the button remains depressed in a fall the wheel can start up again, at least until it reaches 55 degree tilt where the wheel shuts down anyway.

[LanghamP]

You guys have never had a runaway wheel? I've had it once and had to search around in the bushes to find it.

I feel if it hadn't hit those bushes then it would have just kept going clear across the park to the next block. Mind you it went uphill before hitting those bushes.

Try this; gently push your wheel to slightly above jogging pace and see how far it goes.

Hey, new sport; wheel curling!

[zlymex]

I got rid of the belt the 2rd day after I had my first EUC. One month later I started to use the belt again because I was learning revere ride which is very difficult for me that I can only ride reverse for about 20 meters after a week's practice. BTW, I lean forward ride for 20 meters in just three minutes.

[Keith]

3 hours ago, MarkoMarjamaa said:

For the first two hours of practicing. Then I realized I learn faster without it.

That has to be because you tried to use it as a rein which, far from helping, upsets your balance. It isn't a learning aid it is a safety aid. If you held it properly (i.e. loosely and just short enough that it doesn't get eaten by the wheel). it would not have had any impact on learning whatsoever, other than the added confidence of knowing you are not going to damage the wheel so much when you fall off.

10 hours ago, kasenutty said:

I don't want to crash with a 30+ pound weight tethered to me.

When I had reached that really dangerous stage where confidence exceeds ability, I was riding fairly fast on wet autumn (Fall) leaves when I got the wobbles, attempts to correct them made it worst until the wheel twisted enough to throw my forwards and sideways. I landed on my feet running but with a barbed wire fence beside the path now immediately in front of me. At that point the wheel, having fallen pulled me up short by the strap saving me. Several times earlier than that I came off in such a way that the wheel spun under power giving me painful clouts on the ankle and being difficult to stop as well. Once I had the sense to use a strap, I just lifted it off the ground when that happened until it shut down. 

I really cannot see the downside to using a strap when you might still lose control, unless it just doesn't go with your macho image ?

[Catlord17]

The upside to using a strap:

1. The wheel immediately ceased doing cartwheels down the road when I fell off;
2. The wheel immediately stopped suffering 98% of the scratches, damage, etc. that it was suffering when I fell off and waited for it to finish flipping out.
3. I don't have to worry about the wheel hitting someone or something when I dismount without full intent.

The downside to using a strap:

1. Once I fell off the wheel doing slightly too much speed to find balance on my feet fast enough, and the wheel began to "flip out" trying to correct for not having consistent contact with the road.  Before I was able to get balance and lift it up, it spun around, jumped off the road, hit me hard in my left upper thigh and nailed me in the nuts.
2. The strap catches on the side of, and the velcro of, my right knee pad, which causes me to fall off the wheel occasionally, as my range of movement immediately drops to zero for my right arm.

I have concluded that I am definitely not enjoying the strap, but I will keep using it until I feel like I have genuinely mastered intentional dismount and have no problems riding in public, alongside traffic, or around people.  At that point, I will evaluate getting rid of the strap.

[RayRay]

@Catlord17 These are devastating injuries to be sure, but are you holding on to the strap with your right arm?

For me, the "worry about the wheel hitting someone or something" is the biggest reason I use a strap. I attach mine to my belt (but allow it to escape by looping it in after the buckle). You might want to try rethinking or re-positioning your tether arrangement in order to avoid interference and injury.

[Catlord17]

Just now, RayRay said:

@Catlord17 These are devastating injuries to be sure, but are you holding on to the strap with your right arm?

For me, the "worry about the wheel hitting someone or something" is the biggest reason I use a strap. I attach mine to my belt (but allow it to escape by looping it in after the buckle). You might want to try rethinking or re-positioning your tether arrangement in order to avoid interference and injury.

They took me about 10 minutes to walk off and keep going from.  It wasn't fun, but it also won't be a regular occurrence, given how oddly the wheel had to act while flipping out to do that.  It was probably a 1 in 10,000 chance.

I think there is no re-positioning the tether, as I don't see myself tying it to my belt, given the potential consequences, and doing the "tied loosely" thing does not strike me as being very effective for A 50 pound MSuper V3s+ out of control.  Seems like asking for torn clothes, additional injuries or having the wheel do anyway what I was trying to avoid with the damned tether in the first place.

 

[OneWheeler]

I use a harness line for windsurfing instead of a line. It's easier to use than an original handle and doesn't impede.

[kasenutty]

What a controversial issue, I had no idea dudes

[nute]

My one and only over lean was on a canal tow path near where i live. I was going over a small bridge which crossed a small ditch and overleaned going down the other side. I ended up on my backside but kept hold of the leash. If i hadn't the wheel would have gone straight into the water. 

As most of my wheeling is beside roads i always use the leash and I've been riding 18 months.  I had one incident where the wheel would have been in the water but for the leash but it showed me just how easily it could have ended up in the road and under a car. 

[Keith]

14 hours ago, kasenutty said:

What a controversial issue, I had no idea dudes

I think this video may well be why the strap gets a bad reputation. This demonstrates very bad use of the strap, pulling it tight like it is a balancing aid i.e. Completely misunderstanding it is NOT a training aid it is a safety aid. Here we have a far too tight strap held like a rein actually restricting his body movements and making it harder to balance. The strap should be much longer so both hands are free to move and help balance. Note how it is held in his left hand and he tends to keep falling to the left. By the end of the video he starts holding the strap much more loosely and then he manages a good distance and turns under control. I.e. As soon as he stops pulling on the strap his balance improves noticeably. 

At some point I'm sure he will ditch the strap (shame it isn't in this video) find it all gets a whole load easier and proclaim to the world that the strap was a piece of crap that he wished he had never used - having completely misunderstood why he was supposed to be using it in the first place.

 

[Mono]

I don't know. The visible progress this guy makes in 3 minutes I never made even in 30 minutes without using a learning strap. In hindsight, I rather feel it was a mistake not to use a strap for learning.

[Acturbo]

11 minutes ago, Mono said:

I don't know. The visible progress this guy makes in 3 minutes I never made even in 30 minutes without using a learning strap. In hindsight, I rather feel it was a mistake not to use a strap for learning.

In my opinion the strap is an absolute hindrance for learning.  Getting myself free of the strap was a big help for me.  Really the only reason I used the strap was to prevent sustaining damage to the EUC.  I started without the strap and after the EUC looked like it went through a war I decided it would be a good idea to be able to prevent constant abuse to it.  It is great in that regard.  For everything else I found it to be a hindrance.    

Just one persons opinion of course as it does not seem to be the opinion of the majority...........................