Learning to Ride the Airwheel X8
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- čas přidán 21. 11. 2014
- On the Internet, you can see a lot of people riding the Airwheel without any trouble. Here I show you that it takes some time to get good at it. I did fairly well, since I have some unicycle experience. The first ride you see is my first ride. I didn't cut anything out except when I was out of frame (or moving the camera).
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best way to learn, stand next to a car, the more expensive the quicker you learn
Please post a new video showing how great you ride the Airwheel after all your practice. It would give some of us more confidence that we, too, shall be able to ride well some day. Great video, and thanks for it.
I certainly will. As you can see, I posted the above video on November 22, 2014. Since then I've learned better how to ride (and have taken it out in public, on streets and sidewalks). Unfortunately, here in the Boston Area we've had the snowiest winter in a long time! I'm really looking forward to the season of clean, dry pavement: spring! I'll post a video as soon as the streets are clean and dry.
Thanks John, tried the towels and yes much better till I lost control and gave my ankle a wack but pleased with progress so far.
I'm finally starting to get the hang of this thing. While riding I've realized that if I focus on a far away object instead of looking down at the ground, it helps me keep my balance.
Starguard ! Yes! Keep your head up. Of course, you should watch out for small obstacles on the ground. But in general, to turn left, you tilt your feet to the left (press down on the left side of each foot) and to turn right, tilt your feet to the right. And if you start falling left, turn left to catch yourself. Riding straight is all about making tiny corrections to catch yourself when you fall left or right.
Once you master riding straight, master travelling in a left circle (say riding around a car), and a right circle.
Then try figure 8s.
One you get that far, you can work on getting onto it without help from a lamp-post.
John Paquette Man this thing is LOADS of fun. I took your advice and it proved to be MAGNIFICIENT. I think I've finally got the hang of this thing. Thanks for making this video and for the advice you gave. It REALLY helped out a lot.
Starguard ! What specific advice did you find helpful?
John Paquette The part where you recommended that "Once you are good at straight travel, try some gentle turns or figure eights. Tighter turns are harder. Try to keep your speed down in the turns. The slower you can go while turning, the better you have to be. Turns where you are traveling fast will seem easier, but they are pretty dangerous. Wait to do those when you are better." That part REALLY helped me a lot with gaining control. I've also learned to press down on the left pedal to turn left and press down on the right pedal to turn right helps, and to twist my body to keep balance helps as well. This video was VERY useful :)
Glad it helped you out! Where, in general, are you located? I don't know anybody else near me who has an Airwheel! I'm in the U.S. on the East coast.
I'm like old 52 but I have to get one. It's should be here in a few days. Thanks for the great video.
Detroit12boi That's how old I am!
Im 68 and just started learning on mine ..Hey great fun just wear the pads and gloves you will be thankful when you fall..and you will. the airwheel is a good learning cycle before you get the ninbot or any other faster wheel.Enjoy.
I have to say of all the video's of mono wheels on you tube yours tells it like it is. I bought a Chinese copy because I didn't want to spend big bucks on one if I couldn't ride it, the quality isn't great but it seems to work ok. Most of the video's make it look so bloody easy but it aint! Ive only had about an hour on the thing but can go in a strait line for about 20 yards, steering it is another matter! My wife thinks I'm mad and at 63 should know better but what the heck you're a long time dead. My shins and ankles hurt like hell but I will get some shin pads and wear them on the inside, no falls so far but I am determined to master this thing if it kil.............best not say that!
Gutsy you! I'm 51 and my friends think I'm crazy to start learning something like this!
I just stuff small towels, folded wash cloths, into my socks under my pants. They really make riding it a lot more comfortable. Place the towels to cover your inner shins.
Also, since, obviously, getting on the thing to initiate a ride is the hardest part, you might be tempted to master getting on and off first. Don't. You'll just get really tired (and without towels in your socks, you'll be in pain soon).
Instead, I recommend using lampposts, telephone poles and such to help you get on the thing. Focus on learning the *riding* first. Once you are good at riding, THEN work on initiating rides without the use of standing fixtures for help getting on. One really fun way to start riding is by sitting on a bench, putting your feet on the Airwheel, then pushing yourself up and forward from a sitting position.
Stand up straight while riding! You'll be a lot more stable. Try to relax your arms, and steer with your hips. Practice speeding up and slowing down before worrying too much about turning, because speed control is essential to turning well. (Of course, you'll need to turn to avoid stuff, but don't focus so much on turning first--get speed control down).
I'm impressed. I thought they come with "Free clip-on Stabilisers" (aka training wheels) which would certainly make it much easier learn to mount it if you don't have a car to lean on handy.
+Jane Ash Oh. I should have said in my description that I spent like 5 minutes with those annoying training wheels on before I decided to take them off and record this video.
I'm sure I have some video of me using those wheels, but it was very uninteresting. I didn't find them very helpful in developing the real skills necessary to ride. They just prevent you from falling sideways, but that's what learning to ride is all about: not falling sideways.
+Jane Ash My videos start out with the training wheels. And yes, +John Paquette is right, it's boring video but was still a fun way to get the hang of the ankle motion for forward and back. You just can't turn. I think they are a good idea, but if you spend more than 1 charge on them you are wasting your time. When you take them off it will be so different and so hard that you will think you took them off too soon and want to put them back on. Don't. That's your indication that you were really not learning anything from using them.
i actually have had a better learning experience with the to training wheels that you can purchase.. I know sound kind of childish but they really did help on learning to balance and turn.
you did better than me, maybe i need to take it outside for more room.
+HELI BIGGIE KING Unless you have a really big indoor room, you should ride it outside.
Hahaha it looks so funny
Hey john i'm planning to buy one for my son is it good for adventuring my son likes to adventure i'm getting one for his bday on november i want to know what is better the x8 or q3
+INOJ 28 I highly recommend the X8. What do you mean by "adventuring"?
So how long did it take for you to learn how to master it? bought one a few days ago and took it out this morning for my very first attempt. I did nowhere near as good as you did in your video and could use a little advice.
Starguard ! It might be good to find a friend whom you can lean on as you are learning to ride it. That way, you can ride slowly and get used to how it feels. If you don't have such a friend, then prepare for a lot of trial and error. The easiest way to get ON the thing is to stand up on it (and lean forward right away) from a seated position on a bench.
Try very hard to keep your legs straight with your knees almost locked, steering by tilting your hips left or right, rather than by bending your knees. Focus first on straight travel, turning only very gently if at all. Also, try to stand up as straight as you can. You must learn to trust it to catch you as you lean forward or backward.
Don't worry about "cold starts" (starting without using a bench or pole to help you) until you get good at riding it starting from a bench or a pole. Once you are good at straight travel, try some gentle turns or figure eights. Tighter turns are harder. Try to keep your speed down in the turns. The slower you can go while turning, the better you have to be. Turns where you are traveling fast will seem easier, but they are pretty dangerous. Wait to do those when you are better.
I rode it for 4 or 5 hours (of errors) in parking lots and tennis courts before I felt comfortable taking it out on a street.
Pad your shins! Tuck some towels in your socks under your pants. That feels pretty good. Otherwise you'll be bruised on your shins.
Are you able to pump up and replace the tire like a normal bicycle tire?
It's a normal tire, with a tube inside, and a Schrader valve. The valve stem is actually brass, and it's a bent stem so that the valve lies adjacent to the wheel rim. To pump it up, you attach an extender to the stem so you can more easily attach a pump.
Replacing the tube or tire is certainly possible, but I suspect it will be more complicated than doing so on a regular bicycle.
The process is probably a lot like this process, for the SoloWheel: czcams.com/video/lKwW3uWaz7o/video.html
good
I've watched your video and if you haven't caught it by now, you should have. The main problem is you are riding the Airwheel exactly as if if were a pedal unicycle, bending your knees way too much and trying to center it in order to be balanced, the problem also is that you kept failing to understand that the gyros inside of it is what keeps it balanced and you don't have to worry so much on maintaining your balance. Just stand on it and lean at the direction you want to go, turn just by leaning and counter it by not leaning so much to slow down as you turn, not trying to turn as if you were riding a unicycle with the pedals and seat. Study any of the other videos that have people on it, there basically just standing on it, with not so much bending of the knees, it becomes intuitive but by thinking too much on balancing it, it becomes work rather than being effortless. Just go with it, let IT do the work, not you.
I'm a much better rider now. I'll say that when I was a beginner rider, even though I *knew* that the proper way to ride would be to stand up straight, it's easier said than done when you are a beginner. I agree that having straight legs makes a huge difference. Eventually one can ride the thing with straight legs and relaxed arms, but not in the beginning.
I think that there are stages of learning to ride the airwheel, and that simply describing to someone how to ride it *properly* isn't enough to get them there. Sort of like trying to *tell* someone how to dance. It can't be done.
One thing that really helped me was to stuff towels into my socks to protect my inner shins. Another was to start riding from seated position on a bench, or to start riding from leaning on a lamp-post. Once you master those, THEN you have a better chance of starting riding without any assistance.
But yes, standing straight is crucial.
Any update on your progress riding the electric unicycle? Waiting for mine to show up.
Getting a Ninebot 1 E
After several sessions riding around a tennis court, I took it out in public, on sidewalks and streets, and rode it into the center of my town. It was great. But now there's snow on the ground here in Massachusetts. After the melt, I'll try to get some more footage of how I ride now.
Thanks, you must be getting pretty good then . I live in Longwood Florida so snow wont be an issue. I also rode unicycles (could only go forwards) Did that knowledge help or hurt you in the learning curve ? (different habits) Still waiting.. Should be here any day now .. Can't wait!
Well, riding a unicycle was about pedaling to catch yourself, and it was also sometimes about making quick twists sometimes to change direction. The Airwheel is, instead, about keeping straight legs and steering by tilting your hips, and trying to relax your arms. On a unicycle, my arms were always up to help keep balance. With time, you can relax your arms on the Airwheel.
It's been a long time since I've ridden the unicycle.
High wall or railing works best.
I got my x8 today, with the helper wheels I could go fast and whenever the helper wheels touch ground the whole thing twitches. Then I took them off. I couldn't initiate a ride, was full of sweat, had to put the helpers on. It was hard to initiate a ride without the helper wheels. But I will try your holding method. THanks.
golferchin76 A great way to start is by sitting on a bench. Put both feet on, then stand up and ride.forward. Don't bother with starting without help before you can ride starting with help from some standing object like a bench, pole, or building.
John Paquette Thanks for the advice. I will try that tomorrow afterwork. I think it will be fun.
golferchin76 Isn't it funny that when you first saw a Solowheel in an online marketing video it looked SOOooo easy to learn to ride, didn't it? Well its NOT SOooo easy now that you have spent the bucks & bought one. You have found out the truth the HARD WAY like the rest of us haven't ya? lol
Its NOT easy to learn at-all and NOT just anyone can do it as its advertised! This pisses me off to no end!
Yeah I'm getting-there with mine and Ill eventually learn it but this is NOT what I singed on for when I bought the damn thing!
If I would have known that this thing was this hard to learn to ride I would have held-out and saved up for a real Segway or something. I didn't want to have to be a damn circus-freak daredevil in order to casually ride this expensive thing..
GeorgeBonez It is not easy to learn, but that was the least of my problem, because past a week it was really not a problem. What pissed me off was the way it broke down during an E-braking practice. I sat on my back VERY hard, on concrete floor.
All these self balancing wheel videos doing hardcore tricks, but they are not designed for that. I opened up my airwheel and wires were thermal glued to plastic inner walls. Very cheaply Chinese made quality export to western countries.
I will stick to my mountain bike, dirt jump bike, local trails, etc. If I am going to get one I will get the two wheel design which I don't have to care for side way balance. I just want to use it to walk my dog :-)
GeorgeBonez Having ridden a unicycle when I was much younger, I knew that learning to ride this thing wouldn't be trivial. When I bought mine, I certainly was signing up to learn a new athletic skill. That's part of what amazes people when you ride by them. It's such a simple device, yet it can be controlled quite well once you get enough practice.
where u able to get it for tht price on ebay that i told u about ?
The best way to learn is to lean on a car with a partially charged battery so you learn how to control it when it turns off suddenly and you throw it into the car. It is best to use a car that does not belong to you so you dont have to worry about damages. Be sure to ride goofy, all bent over and grab your knees or the handle like when you boss is yelling at you as its more fun! Then show your girl or you mom how brave you are by riding with no helmet or pads because experts dont need all that junk. Dont tie your shoes either to have cool streamers following you. Remember, it all just tricks. Clowns are overpaid learning to ride unicycles.
which is easier , this one or the two wheels segway"??
If you are talking about the real Segway, it's certainly easier to ride than the Airwheel. But if you are talking about the little two wheeled scooter without any handle, then I think the Airwheel is actually easier to ride. Yes, standing on the little two wheeled scooter without any handle is easy. but moving around and turning is hard to do safely.
How much does the speed go?
When it was brand new it would go 10 miles per hour. Now it's a bit slower. It still works, though after all these years! Pretty good batteries.
Use training belt for first timers
Yes, that would have been a good idea. But the training wheels were largely useless. But being able to catch the Airwheel when I fall off would have been good.
Why didn't you use the training wheels first?
I did. They got really boring really fast. Yes, it's easy to get on with the training wheels, but you can't really turn. So you don't learn very much when on the training wheels.
John Paquette Well, you can turn but not in such a tight circle. I am going to try with just one training wheel to see if helps me! With one training wheel I should be able to get on without the need for a wall to assist. :)
John Paquette I now own the Q3, you should be using the flat knee pads but slide them to the inner shin/leg under the knee, and why no strap? For several reasons, you don't have to bend over hardly ever to grab it, and if you ever dismount abruptly, it will never crash or take off from you. I will probably will never go with out the strap, if I going to ride around other people....
SolarizeYourLife Well, perhaps the strap would have helped me. But I thought that having both hands free for balance was more important when I was starting out. Yes, some knee pads used as shin guards would have been nice.
And how long did it take
+7641955 It took me about 5 hours of practice across about 5 sessions. And, of course, the longer you ride, the better you get. But after 5 hours I was good enough to ride on sidewalks and avoid pedestrians as long as the sidewalk wasn't too crowded.
Now, after riding for the whole summer, I can ride very slowly (which I must do if the sidewalk is clogged) and get around obstacles very adeptly.
5 hours is quite a lot. If you are familiar with balance sports like snowboading, wakeboarding, skateboarding and other stuff, you get the hang of it within an hour....
+striker98 Perhaps younger people can learn it faster. But I'm over 50 years old. It took me 5 hours, in 4 or 5 sessions--at least before I felt confident riding it on sidewalks, rather than in parking lots and tennis courts.
But I also recently learned to ride the Ripstik Caster board, and that took me less than an hour. So I think there's an important difference between the Airwheel and those balance sports boards you mentioned. I also own a Vew-Do Indy balance board, and that easy to learn to stay on. So I'm quite coordinated and athletic for my age.
I think that perhaps the reason it took 5 hours rather than 1 hour is that the Airwheel is an active, powered system, and you must learn to predict how it will respond to what you do (and how it responds is not pure physics, but is the result of a sophisticated computer algorithm). You must *learn* how to trust it.
As well, there are lots of riding situations that you will never experience within your first hour of riding.
Now that I know how to ride it. I'd say that the motion of riding it reminds me most of is skiing.
+John Paquette respect for that at the age of 50. I hope I still enjoy these kind of things after 15 years (when I'm 50)...
Stay fit, and keep trying new, crazy gadgets (and wear safety equipment).
Is it hard to learn
+7641955 It takes persistence. In the beginning, you will fall off a lot. The Airwheel will get scratched unless you apply some kind of cushioning to it. Wrist guards and gloves are probably a good idea. Shin guards, or towels stuffed in your socks, are essential, to protect your inner shins, otherwise they will get really bruised.
Start riding by getting up off a bench or chair. Then start by mounting the Airwheel while supporting yourself using a lamp-post.
Only after you master riding by starting in both of the above ways should you try mounting without any help from benches or posts or fences.
If you are on a smooth surface, straighten up and lock your knees (not like I started). Focus on using your ANKLES to steer, by tilting your feet left and right. It's actually very subtle. A tiny tilt makes a big difference.
Stop riding by reaching down to grab the Airwheel, then jump off. That's easiest.
Bend your knees to deal with bumps. But otherwise, the straighter you stand, the better you will ride.
To go faster, send your feet back a bit. To go slower, send your feet forward a bit.
Kool!!
Heres First outdoor with my yellow TG-T3 Electric Unicycle : Day 1 First outdoor: czcams.com/video/w5zdtQzqLeg/video.html
Not wise to practise near a car, u may accidentally scratch the body paint