New to Forum...never riden before...awaiting delivery

[The Man of Mead]

Hello to all on the forum. I'm new around here. Very new in fact as I have never once even ridden or tried to ride one yet.

I have an Inmotion V8 on order with Speedy Feet, which I think is expected to be delivered shortly before Christmas. Can't wait to receive it, but in some trepidation about how difficult it will be to learn. The wife thinks I'm crazy (I'm 53) and that I will injure myself. I have taken the step to buy helmet, wrist protection, elbow and knee pads!

Have watched a lot of you tube videos, both in the process of deciding what to buy and for advanced learning and tips on how to learn to ride it when it arrives. I will give updates when the wheel arrives and how I progress. In the meanwhile if anyone has any tips or advice ...please let me know. Thank you,

[US69]

11 minutes ago, The Man of Mead said:

Hello to all on the forum. I'm new around here. Very new in fact as I have never once even ridden or tried to ride one yet.

I have an Inmotion V8 on order with Speedy Feet, which I think is expected to be delivered shortly before Christmas. Can't wait to receive it, but in some trepidation about how difficult it will be to learn. The wife thinks I'm crazy (I'm 53) and that I will injure myself. I have taken the step to buy helmet, wrist protection, elbow and knee pads!

Have watched a lot of you tube videos, both in the process of deciding what to buy and for advanced learning and tips on how to learn to ride it when it arrives. I will give updates when the wheel arrives and how I progress. In the meanwhile if anyone has any tips or advice ...please let me know. Thank you,

So welcome....

.....to all the other crazy „old“ people :-) i am nearly 49, our biggest Gotway fan with 5wheels or so is (about) 4 years older than you!

I just want to say you are not crazy! Just staying young!

For the learning: it will take a while, and at first you might think „ holy moly, i will never get it“ ;-)

i would give the tip todo a maximum of 30-40minutes session a day...as then the „muscle memory“ will remember well on next session!

The most important: DONT give up....it will click from one minute to the other, and i promiss, if you can drive bicycle, you can drive an EUC,  too! Just will need some time, look all those learning video...and as hard as it sounds...as soon as possible go away from the fence/wall, while otherwise your brain will adjust to this „secure setting“.

Protection is allways good! Not only because of the learning period, also because in case of a electronic fail! Very seldom, but possible! Also: Protect your wheel by foaming it up...the v8 nice shell should definitly be protected :-)

But i don’t want to worry you anymore! you will see, you have entered a world of unbelievable fun! :-)

[Paddylaz]

15 minutes ago, The Man of Mead said:

Hello to all on the forum. I'm new around here. Very new in fact as I have never once even ridden or tried to ride one yet.

I have an Inmotion V8 on order with Speedy Feet, which I think is expected to be delivered shortly before Christmas. Can't wait to receive it, but in some trepidation about how difficult it will be to learn. The wife thinks I'm crazy (I'm 53) and that I will injure myself. I have taken the step to buy helmet, wrist protection, elbow and knee pads!

Have watched a lot of you tube videos, both in the process of deciding what to buy and for advanced learning and tips on how to learn to ride it when it arrives. I will give updates when the wheel arrives and how I progress. In the meanwhile if anyone has any tips or advice ...please let me know. Thank you,

1) Welcome!

2) V8 is a fantastic wheel

3) You'll quickly find 53 is a fairly common age bracket for these things. They're expensive and younger people simply don't have the disposable cash for one (at least not alongside their fancy iPhone). I'm 33 and I'm probably one of the youngest on here.

4) Most important protection are the wrist pads/guards. Makes sure you get ones with shock/impact protection. NOT just wrist 'supports'. 

5) It's a steep learning curve but that's half the fun. Make sure you buy a track pump if you don't already have one. The tire pressure will radically affect your learning experience. Between 40-47psi for a beginner.

6) Come down to London for the day, I'm usually in Hyde Park on most weekends, can give you some tips/direction. Congrats on your purchase!


ps. The V8 is a beautiful machine. It'd be a shame if by the time you can ride well it looks like it's done two tours of Afghanistan. Pad the hell out of it!

[LanghamP]

If you just want to get moving then the "hold the arm of another EUC rider" is far and away the best method; you'll learn to ride the EUC in around 15 minutes with no drama so see if you can get @Paddylaz to be there on your very first attempt to ride.

Consider:

--Wheels are perfectly fine rolling on their own. That is, take your V8 by the handle, turn it on, then roll it. It goes on forever without a rider.

--You already know how to ride a bicycle.

Learning to ride an EUC should be the easiest thing in the world, and it is! The problem is that while learning it any mistakes is a step off. Having a person holding your arm means forgoing stepping off when learning.

[The Man of Mead]

Thanks for the welcome and the advice so far. I may struggle for another EUC rider to hold on to while learning, what about someone riding a bike alongside me?

I also saw someone on you tube who said they rode around holding a supermarket trolley learning to ride at the beginning (or it may have been on this forum). A lot of the advice does seem to be to try to avoid holding on to (say) static objects like walls. 

[Ch.Eng.62]

Well come. You are not alone. I am 55 and my wife, and son, and daughter, they all though I am crazy. In the beginning. Later my son and daughter learned too.

[LanghamP]

5 minutes ago, The Man of Mead said:

Thanks for the welcome and the advice so far. I may struggle for another EUC rider to hold on to while learning, what about someone riding a bike alongside me?

I can't believe that never occurred to be, but f***ing duh, of course that would work.

[dbfrese]

3 hours ago, KingSong69 said:

The wife thinks I'm crazy (I'm 53) and that I will injure myself.

Welcome. I'm 55, ordered mine and got it before my 53rd birthday. You may injure yourself, but you're not crazy!

On the subject of injury, get the best safety gear you can. I broke my wrist despite wearing wrist guards, it kept me from riding for six months. Now I wear expensive Flexmeter wrist guards. Helmet, knee and elbow pads also help. Then, ATGATT: All the gear, all the time! 

Stay safe, and good luck!

[mezzanine]

20 minutes ago, dbfrese said:

Welcome. I'm 55, ordered mine and got it before my 53rd birthday. You may injure yourself, but you're not crazy!

On the subject of injury, get the best safety gear you can. I broke my wrist despite wearing wrist guards, it kept me from riding for six months. Now I wear expensive Flexmeter wrist guards. Helmet, knee and elbow pads also help. Then, ATGATT: All the gear, all the time! 

Stay safe, and good luck!

That's my big fear; I have a pair of wrist guards that I'm not confident would actually prevent a break.  I'm glad you posted because it's motivating me to get the Flexmeters sooner rather than later.  Wrist guards are the absolute last place I want to try to save a buck. 

[Paddylaz]

31 minutes ago, mezzanine said:

That's my big fear; I have a pair of wrist guards that I'm not confident would actually prevent a break.  I'm glad you posted because it's motivating me to get the Flexmeters sooner rather than later.  Wrist guards are the absolute last place I want to try to save a buck. 

go for the Hired Hands......

[mezzanine]

19 minutes ago, Paddylaz said:

go for the Hired Hands......

Ironically, those are the wrist guards I don't have faith in.  It might be because I ordered a size up as recommended and they're a bit big.  There's an ebay coupon tonight I could use to grab the Flexmeters and I'm debating it.  I hate getting nailed on duties. 

[Paddylaz]

3 minutes ago, mezzanine said:

Ironically, those are the wrist guards I don't have faith in.  It might be because I ordered a size up as recommended and they're a bit big.  There's an ebay coupon tonight I could use to grab the Flexmeters and I'm debating it.  I hate getting nailed on duties. 

oops.....sorry that was probably me making that size recommendation!

I guess my hands are even smaller than I thought! The medium is a tight fit for me. I googled those flex meters.....they look pretty heavy duty ?

[mezzanine]

2 minutes ago, Paddylaz said:

oops.....sorry that was probably me making that size recommendation!

I guess my hands are even smaller than I thought! The medium is a tight fit for me. I googled those flex meters.....they look pretty heavy duty ?

I did see your recommendation, but no, it's quite consistent across reviews...most say size up. 

[who_the]

Welcome! Pad up that wheel and join the club. I prefer teaching people with a walking stick or curtain rod. I walk/jog next to them and hold the stick across my body and extend it across theirs. They then use the rod as a support bar until it's no longer needed.

[nute]

On 12/8/2017 at 5:19 PM, The Man of Mead said:

Hello to all on the forum. I'm new around here. Very new in fact as I have never once even ridden or tried to ride one yet.

I have an Inmotion V8 on order with Speedy Feet, which I think is expected to be delivered shortly before Christmas. Can't wait to receive it, but in some trepidation about how difficult it will be to learn. The wife thinks I'm crazy (I'm 53) and that I will injure myself. I have taken the step to buy helmet, wrist protection, elbow and knee pads!

Have watched a lot of you tube videos, both in the process of deciding what to buy and for advanced learning and tips on how to learn to ride it when it arrives. I will give updates when the wheel arrives and how I progress. In the meanwhile if anyone has any tips or advice ...please let me know. Thank you,

Im 53 ... my wife said i was crazy and that i would damage myself...  you are going to have great fun with your new wheel!!

Its  a bit daunting at first, in sure you will have "what have i done" moments where you think you are never going to master it but keep trying, its sooo worth it. My wheels are the best gadgets i have every bought. I got myself a midlife crisis car a coupe of years back, something i have wanted since i was a teenager and if i had to choose between that and my wheel, well it would be a tough choice. 

As @Paddylaz said, get some good wrist guards, the best ones you can afford and don't be tempted to think  " I'm only going down the road, ill skip the wrist guards" ... thats what i did and thats when i caught the kerb

As the weather gets better there will be more group outings in london, be great to see you. 

[Keith]

On 08/12/2017 at 6:17 PM, The Man of Mead said:

I also saw someone on you tube who said they rode around holding a supermarket trolley learning to ride at the beginning (or it may have been on this forum). A lot of the advice does seem to be to try to avoid holding on to (say) static objects like walls. 

Welcome to the forum.

A supermarket trolley can definitely work. 

I would disagree about using walls. When (at 60) I got my wheel it rained solidly for three days and impatience got the better of me. I practiced going up and down my hallway into the kitchen and back. Using the hallway walls at arms length to just to check falling to left or right. The biggest problem I had was convincing my wife the tramlines on the dishwasher had always been there ?.

By the time the weather had improved enough to go to the local park I could comfortably ride from lamppost to lamppost OK and was ready to start attempting turns.

What causes the most problems (IMHO) is the natural tendency to start riding very slowly which, of course, makes balancing much harder. Not immediately obvious is that at slow speeds balancing requires a hip twisting movement exactly like the way you use the handlebars to control the front wheel of a bike at very low speed. As the wheel gets faster (just like on a bike) it’s stability improves and you go from twisting to leaning to control the direction.

Finally if you lose control at learning speeds you will simply jump off - whether you want to or not. That can leave the wheel powered up and still upright(ish) where it can then charge off or more likely spin and wack your ankles. A loosely held leash tied to the handle (well away from the lift button under the handle) allows you to lift it harmlessly off of the ground, it will spin up, beep like mad and then shut down. If you do practice indoors don’t put it down until the wheel has stopped or you end up with skid marks on your floor (I wonder how I found that out!)

[WARPed1701D]

I used a tether/strap to great effect for damage prevention with my V8 when learning (and afterwards). Don't worry too much about the kill button under the handle being engaged by the strap. It will not activate after you exceed 5kph (fast walking speed). You must be mindful of it when first learning though as that is when you are likely to involuntarily tug on the strap to maintain balance at speeds low enough for the switch to remain active, but once you gain some confidence you will rarely be under 5kph even while learning and the button will be disabled. Stepping off at those speeds are where you will really bang up your lovely V8 and the strap will save you this heartache.

I brought the official cover for mine and supplemented it with and old T-Shirt to protect the handle, and 3M Helicopter tape and baby padding on the underside of the pedals (ignore the bike in the pic).

That combined with the strap mean that despite it being my learner wheel (and I learnt on asphalt) and now having 900km on it my wheel remains basically unmarked and like new. Make the effort to protect it and you will be a happy camper with a nice shiny V8 when you are confident....like me!

[steve454]

20 minutes ago, WARPed1701D said:

I used a tether/strap to great effect for damage prevention with my V8 when learning (and afterwards). Don't worry too much about the kill button under the handle being engaged by the strap. It will not activate after you exceed 5kph (fast walking speed). You must be mindful of it when first learning though as that is when you are likely to involuntarily tug on the strap to maintain balance at speeds low enough for the switch to remain active, but once you gain some confidence you will rarely be under 5kph even while learning and the button will be disabled. Stepping off at those speeds are where you will really bang up your lovely V8 and the strap will save you this heartache.

I brought the official cover for mine and supplemented it with and old T-Shirt to protect the handle, and 3M Helicopter tape and baby padding on the underside of the pedals (ignore the bike in the pic).

That combined with the strap mean that despite it being my learner wheel (and I learnt on asphalt) and now having 900km on it my wheel remains basically unmarked and like new. Make the effort to protect it and you will be a happy camper with a nice shiny V8 when you are confident....like me!

Ignore the Brompton folding bicycle?  You must be mad!  (said in a British accent)  I actually looked into folding bikes a while back, and was amazed at the ingenuity of the design of the Brompton.  This side by side truly gives the size of it folded up.  I decided against buying one due to my size.  I am a tall person.

The V8 looks great!

[WARPed1701D]

3 hours ago, steve454 said:

Ignore the Brompton folding bicycle?  You must be mad!  (said in a British accent)  I actually looked into folding bikes a while back, and was amazed at the ingenuity of the design of the Brompton.  This side by side truly gives the size of it folded up.  I decided against buying one due to my size.  I am a tall person.

Kudos to you sir for exceptional taste and appreciation of an engineering wonder. Note the raw lacquer frame and the custom handlebar setup.  It was originally a H bar configuration.

The Brompton is awesome and I have a battle of wills when deciding if to ride the EUC or the Brompton now the weather is cooler. Few here would appreciate its awesomeness so I have to play it down next to the mighty V8! 

I'm 6'1". How tall are you? @eddiemoy has a Brompton too I recall.

[Marty Backe]

On 12/8/2017 at 10:17 AM, The Man of Mead said:

Thanks for the welcome and the advice so far. I may struggle for another EUC rider to hold on to while learning, what about someone riding a bike alongside me?

I also saw someone on you tube who said they rode around holding a supermarket trolley learning to ride at the beginning (or it may have been on this forum). A lot of the advice does seem to be to try to avoid holding on to (say) static objects like walls. 

If you have these kind of trash bins, they work too 

 

[Herbas]

On 12/8/2017 at 7:19 PM, The Man of Mead said:

Hello to all on the forum. I'm new around here. Very new in fact as I have never once even ridden or tried to ride one yet.

I have an Inmotion V8 on order with Speedy Feet, which I think is expected to be delivered shortly before Christmas. Can't wait to receive it, but in some trepidation about how difficult it will be to learn. The wife thinks I'm crazy (I'm 53) and that I will injure myself. I have taken the step to buy helmet, wrist protection, elbow and knee pads!

Have watched a lot of you tube videos, both in the process of deciding what to buy and for advanced learning and tips on how to learn to ride it when it arrives. I will give updates when the wheel arrives and how I progress. In the meanwhile if anyone has any tips or advice ...please let me know. Thank you,

At first wrap your wheel entirely and thick enough. Doing this will give you four benefits:

1) You can jump off your wheel as soon as you feel any danger without any worries about damaging your wheel.

2) Your legs will hurt less as they will be leaning against soft wrap instead of hard shell.

3) At least for me strongly clenching my wheel by legs (enabled by soft wrap) gave a better control of the wheel.

4) Your wheel will look as new after the initial training weeks (and countless of drops).

[steve454]

10 hours ago, WARPed1701D said:

Kudos to you sir for exceptional taste and appreciation of an engineering wonder. Note the raw lacquer frame and the custom handlebar setup.  It was originally a H bar configuration.

The Brompton is awesome and I have a battle of wills when deciding if to ride the EUC or the Brompton now the weather is cooler. Few here would appreciate its awesomeness so I have to play it down next to the mighty V8! 

I'm 6'1". How tall are you? @eddiemoy has a Brompton too I recall.

6'3".  Do you have any adjustment left in the seat post?

[The Man of Mead]

8 hours ago, Marty Backe said:

If you have these kind of trash bins, they work too 

 

Great idea Marty, I sit looking out the window at my wheelie bins (thats what we call them here in the Uk)...and I hadn't even thought of putting them to better use!

See a lot of your videos on youtube, really good, thank you they have been an inspitation. Only wish the weather with me was as good as yours over there!

 

[The Man of Mead]

Again, thanks for the welcome and for all the advice offered so far. Main points picked up on so far:

1. Protect the wheel while learning with some form of padding/covers.

2. Wear protection.

3. Use balancing aids walls/other EUC owners/bikes/wheelie bins!

4. Consider strap to save damage while learning.

Finally, how crazy is this, I noticed Speedy Feet have an offer on Gotway ACM at the moment, and here I am thinking of buying a second wheel before the first one has even arrived. Am I hooked or what!

[WARPed1701D]

32 minutes ago, steve454 said:

6'3".  Do you have any adjustment left in the seat post?

Yes plenty. It is the telescopic version you can select as an option. I'm 33"inseam. Feel free to PM me any questions.