Is this a good choice for a beginner.

[Handmade Civet]

I'm looking to learn how to ride and have found this second hand Pashley bike on eBay I was wondering if it is a good choice for a beginner. I weigh about 230lb so I don't know if this will be strong enough.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/222476320236?redirect=mobile

[AJ KJ]

If you aren't sure if you are going to stick with unicycling, then this looks acceptable for learning. However, when you start wanting to do more types of unicycling than just riding in the street, you will want to start looking into a sturdier uni.

If you are confident you're going to stick with unicycling, then probably get something a bit stronger, try the club series on unicycle.com. You'll probably upgrade to something more suited to your riding needs once you get into a specific discipline.

Good luck and welcome to the forum!

[Alucard]

Hi Handmade Civet

If you live anywhere in near me you are welcome to barrow my 20” or 24” unicycles to practice on.


PS. Have just googled 'civet' so maybe you don't live anywhere near me. But if you happen to be passing by................

[Alucard]

Ah, have just read your other post and see that you live in England, not Asia as I first thought

Offer still stands, as you may live just across the border

[Engineer on a Unicycle]

Originally Posted by Handmade Civet

I'm looking to learn how to ride and have found this second hand Pashley bike on eBay I was wondering if it is a good choice for a beginner. I weigh about 230lb so I don't know if this will be strong enough.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/222476320236?redirect=mobile

If in sound mechanical condition it may be serviceable, though you wouldn't want to pay much more for something like this.

This is an older design, with what are called "lollipop" bearing holders - those pieces that surround the axle and bolt into the frame. Apparently this causes stress concentrations and the frame can be prone to cracking at the joint. Still, lots of people learned on those.

Like most inexpensive unicycles, it uses square taper rather than splined axles. This can be serviceable as long as you are not doing serious jumps and drops, but any looseness or misalignment of the cranks on the axle will quickly get worse. One of those pictures almost looks a little suspect in how the crank is attached - it's probably just the angle of the picture, but any looseness there or uneven angle between the two sides would be grounds for rejection.

That's a little bit of an atypical saddle, but for beginner learning you may not be in it for long periods of time without a break. It looks like it uses bicycle style attachment so to change saddles you would also need a new seatpost with the usual four bolt unicycle saddle attachment. And make sure the saddle can go high enough for you while still leaving a reasonable amount inside the frame for strength.

Also make sure the wheel hasn't been installed backwards into the frame, as that would cause the pedals to loosen rather than tighten as you ride. You may be able to find markings on the pedals, or at least if a pedal ever comes off, make sure the direction of the screw thread is correct for that side of the unicycle and turn the wheel around if necessary (or just rotate the seat, it doesn't really matter that much which way the clamp on the frame faces).

I wouldn't worry about this being too basic a unicycle for the future - once you decide you like unicycling, you'll quickly develop opinions for what you really want in your next unicycle, wheras if you make a larger investment right now, you may buy something from the wide range of possibilities that doesn't fit your ultimate interest. Unless you break this, you can always put it back up for sale, or loan it to an interested friend, or save it to take out occasionally as a contrast to a larger wheel or wider tire unicycle you might buy next, hide it in the mechanical room at your office for lunch break practice, or whatever.

[Handmade Civet]

Thanks for all the response, For now I think I'll go with this Uni as it's only £25 and at that price even if it breaks after a few weeks, I haven't last much , and it'll have lasted long enough for me to know if it is something I want to continue and then I can look into buying a more rigid and upmarket Uni.

[Engineer on a Unicycle]

Originally Posted by Handmade Civet

Thanks for all the response, For now I think I'll go with this Uni as it's only £25 and at that price even if it breaks after a few weeks, I haven't last much , and it'll have lasted long enough for me to know if it is something I want to continue and then I can look into buying a more rigid and upmarket Uni.

Happy riding!

[pierrox]

Originally Posted by Alucard

Hi Handmade Civet
PS. Have just googled 'civet' so maybe you don't live anywhere near me. But if you happen to be passing by................

Civet, yummy! We like a rabbit civet. Handmade sounds even better.

Back on topic: this is the perfect uni for what you want to do. If you take up the sport, you can probably sell it for the same price, or use it to convince friends to become co-riders!