Catlord17 Posted August 9, 2017 Share Posted August 9, 2017 So tonight, I had my first fall. The tilt back was set to 9 kph, and I wasn't even doing that, but the fall was not pleasant. Thank God I was fully geared up. I landed on my left palm and elbow, and then my butt. The strap of course kept the wheel from wandering off, but it also resulted in it hitting my Achille's heel when I was falling. Through jeans and socks, it managed to make me bleed. My elbow pads and wrist guards are definitely worse for the wear. Very glad I decided to wear them; wish I was wearing my gloves also, as fingers were sore for a while. Will do that from here on out. So this comes immediately after inflating my wheel to 45 psi. The difference between 35 pounds (where it got too soft) and 45 pounds is enough to make the wheel relatively unfamiliar in it's responses, and I believe that is why I fell. Cameron also noted that it was like riding a very different wheel, and he, like me, experienced a feeling of having suddenly regressed in skill. Not sure if the experience would have been less painful if I hadn't been using the strap. Gives me food for thought. But I did notice that before the fall, my feet did not hurt, and after, my left foot was cramping like crazy all over again. It has to be me trying to balance using my feet instead of my body, which isn't helping. I'm just glad I wasn't seriously hurt. Or that anyone saw me go down. And that I was geared up. And I knew this would happen sooner or later... so the first one is over. At least I didn't face plant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WARPed1701D Posted August 9, 2017 Share Posted August 9, 2017 Glad you made it through relatively unscathed. Petty scary what can happen even at low speeds. I've yet to go down properly. So far all my incidents have been low speed while first learning to go straight and then learning cornering and I've run them off in a few steps. Now I'm commuting on my wheel averaging 15kph across the journey I'm concerned my first fall is going to be...special. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catlord17 Posted August 9, 2017 Author Share Posted August 9, 2017 Well gear up as much as possible and keep to a consistent tire pressure! But I'm sure well all master this eventually, regardless. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ir_fuel Posted August 9, 2017 Share Posted August 9, 2017 7 hours ago, Catlord17 said: So tonight, I had my first fall. The tilt back was set to 9 kph, and I wasn't even doing that, but the fall was not pleasant. Isn't that extremely slow for tilt back? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mono Posted August 9, 2017 Share Posted August 9, 2017 2 hours ago, ir_fuel said: Isn't that extremely slow for tilt back? Setting tilt back to low speed is an excellent way to get used to the feeling and prevent surprises later on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ir_fuel Posted August 9, 2017 Share Posted August 9, 2017 7 minutes ago, Mono said: Setting tilt back to low speed is an excellent way to get used to the feeling and prevent surprises later on. My wheel goes 18 km/h, starts beeping at 15 km/h and a bit before getting to that speed I feel this "weird" sensation in the pedals, which I think is the tilt back you talk about. But 9 is extremely slow. I mean, the faster you go the more stable you are. I haven't been riding for a week and I need to watch out for the speed warning at 15km/h when using the wheel to go somewhere (not when practising certain things). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WARPed1701D Posted August 9, 2017 Share Posted August 9, 2017 Everyone has their own comfort zone while learning. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mono Posted August 9, 2017 Share Posted August 9, 2017 @ir_fuel my tilt back is set at 24km/h-or-so, but I have been riding and practicing for 6000km-or-so. Even now, practicing at speeds where I can walk-off instead of run-off remains a regular routine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LanghamP Posted August 9, 2017 Share Posted August 9, 2017 I bought a helmet the very day I started learning on my EUC as things seemed "sketchy". Interestingly enough the worst injury I've suffered from EUC'S is from pumping up the tires of 3 of my EUC's. I used a tiny handpump, and said screw it these tires are getting inflated. A week later I still cannot turn a doorknob and can't push off anything as the slightest pressure causes a lot of pain. No problem pulling things though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dpong Posted August 9, 2017 Share Posted August 9, 2017 @Catlord17 I can confirm that a significant change in tire pressure makes the wheel seem like a different wheel. Every single time. Takes me a short while to readjust to the wheel's change in responsiveness. Muscle memory becomes confused. If you persist at the new pressure, you will adjust and everything should be fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ir_fuel Posted August 9, 2017 Share Posted August 9, 2017 The practice wheel I bought had a hand pump included. In the manual it stated (tire was not inflated) that it required about 60 "pumps" to get the wheel to the required 2.5 bar. I did so and then I took my pressure gauge to check it. I read ... 1.5 bar . Can imagine that it feels a lot more stable at that pressure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catlord17 Posted August 9, 2017 Author Share Posted August 9, 2017 I had the wheel set to 9 kmh tiltback for my friend, and then forgot to check wgen i started that practice session. I thought it was at my normal 15 kmh. But I'm grateful gir the mistake, if it helped lessen the fall. If it helped cause it, maybe not so much. My natural speed on the previous tire pressure was 13 kph. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LanghamP Posted August 9, 2017 Share Posted August 9, 2017 So basically you fell at a very low speed, due to tilt-back and to strange tire pressure, and landed awkwardly but with protective equipment? Me thinks this is all a very good thing because it got you used to several things that could be quite dangerous at higher speeds. If you're going to learn EUC'S then this is the way to do it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WARPed1701D Posted August 9, 2017 Share Posted August 9, 2017 1 hour ago, LanghamP said: So basically you fell at a very low speed, due to tilt-back and to strange tire pressure, and landed awkwardly but with protective equipment? Me thinks this is all a very good thing because it got you used to several things that could be quite dangerous at higher speeds. If you're going to learn EUC'S then this is the way to do it. He said In the first post that tiltback was set to 9kph but he hadn't even hit that yet so tiltback wasn't the cause. Further discussion about the tiltback speed was just to explain why it was so low (for his friend and forgot to change it back to his level of 15kph). Just clarifying the cause. Tire pressure basically. Either way you are right he fell at a good speed and in the right gear! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catlord17 Posted August 9, 2017 Author Share Posted August 9, 2017 Yes, I am familiar with tiltback and how to handle it. Part of why I started with very low speed tiltback levels and gradually worked my way up from there. But it's all experience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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