Joining the club... Advice?

[Nebularia]

Hi everyone,

I've been thinking of buying my first unicycle. It seems, though, that I can't find a decent one from where I live (Finland). So I will probably have to order it online. Are there Finnish unicyclists here who know better than me? If not, what place online would you recommend for me for buying the uni?

Also, I wouldn't mind having tips on what the uni should be like, although I do have some idea already. Probably with a 24" tyre and a 400-mm seat post (I'm about 6 foot 4) at least. And preferrably something that isn't worn-out after a year.

I appreciate all the help. TIA!

Cheers,

- Tomi Jylhä-Ollila

Tomi

Seeing that your post hasn't drawn any replies yet I'll throw in my 2
cents. I have no idea about "decent" Finnish retailers but you may be
right that there are none. Two excellent online unicycle shops are the
Unicycle Source in the UK (http://www.unicycle.uk.com) and a similar
outfit in the USA (http://www.unicycle.com). Both are staffed by very
friendly and knowledgeable people and shipping overseas is no problem.
Fares might be lower from the UK but I'm not sure.

As to what to buy: depends on what you want. If you want to develop a
lot of unicycling skills (a.k.a. tricks but we don't like that word in
here) and do trial riding then a 20" would be best. For learning, 20"
and 24" are about equally well-suited, especially since you're quite
tall. For distance riding, people use large wheels preferentially, 26"
or 28" are often used, also 36" but the latter is definitely not
suited for a beginner. A 24" wheel is a good compromise if you
(initially!) want everything in one unicycle, or if you're unsure
about what you would prefer to focus on after the initial learning
stage. There's also rough terrain unicycling (called MUni, for
Mountain Unicycling), if you want to do that seriously you need a
dedicated unicycle with a fat tyre and strong components. More
expensive and more difficult to learn on, so not ideal for starters.

A good beginners uni is a Semcycle XL. Another good first unicycle is
a Torker. I believe the Torker is cheaper than the Semcycle. You get
what you pay for but the Torker is adequate.

Maybe others jump in with their comments, otherwise pick your choice
of the two online shops and discuss your questions with them.

Have fun!
Klaas Bil

On Mon, 11 Feb 2002 15:07:10 +0000 (UTC), Nebularia
<forum.member@unicyclist.com> wrote:

[color=blue]>Hi everyone,[/color]

[color=blue]>[/color]

[color=blue]>I've been thinking of buying my first unicycle. It[/color]
[color=blue]>seems, though, that I can't find a decent one from where I live[/color]
[color=blue]>(Finland). So I will probably have to order it online. Are there[/color]
[color=blue]>Finnish unicyclists here who know better than me? If not, what place[/color]
[color=blue]>online would you recommend for me for buying the uni?[/color]

[color=blue]>[/color]

[color=blue]>Also, I[/color]
[color=blue]>wouldn't mind having tips on what the uni should be like, although I[/color]
[color=blue]>do have some idea already. Probably with a 24" tyre and a 400-mm seat[/color]
[color=blue]>post (I'm about 6 foot 4) at least. And preferrably something that[/color]
[color=blue]>isn't worn-out after a year.[/color]

[color=blue]>[/color]

[color=blue]>I appreciate all the help. TIA![/color]
[color=blue]>Cheers,[/color]

[color=blue]>[/color]

[color=blue]> - Tomi Jylhä-Ollila[/color]
[color=blue]>[/color]
[color=blue]>[/color]
[color=blue]>[/color]
[color=blue]>[/color]
[color=blue]>--[/color]
[color=blue]>Nebularia[/color]
[color=blue]>Posted via the Unicyclist Community - http://unicyclist.com/forums[/color]

--
"To trigger/fool/saturate/overload Echelon, the following has been picked automagically from a database:"
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[Drewnicycle]

I started out with a 24" unicycle because of it's versatility. I have a freestyle tire, muni tire, and a trials tire. It's a good way (for me at least) to try different areas of the sport. The plan may have backfired because now I want a 24" muni and a 20" trials uni.
I have only dealt with Bedford unicycles here in Canada so I can't help with where to buy other than here in Canada.
Good luck