so I am a noob!

[greencollar]

I read somewhere a while ago about how you should know the right size of the seat post for you to ride on. I think what I read is that when sitting in the seat your heel should be completely stright when in the down position and if you use your toes your knee should be slightly bent....is this true. Just want to make sure I cut it correctly, then I am gonna go out and start learning...thanks guys.

[pix]

Originally Posted by greencollar

I read somewhere a while ago about how you should know the right size of the seat post for you to ride on. I think what I read is that when sitting in the seat your heel should be completely stright when in the down position and if you use your toes your knee should be slightly bent....is this true. Just want to make sure I cut it correctly, then I am gonna go out and start learning...thanks guys.

just don't cut too much off. from reading, the most common problem amongst beginners is having the seat too low. i did plenty of reading before getting my first uni, knew about this tendency, and i still ended up cutting it too short

you will probably read that you will want it lower for some tricks, but just remember, you can always cut it shorter later if you are certain you need to. keeping in mind that at the beginning, statistically, your instincts are likely to be wrong about this

pix.

[greencollar]

I had to cut some off of it. I cut just enough that the seat post is still bumping into the top of the Y joint, if that makes sence as I would have to cut more in order to make it shorter...its not like I could just push it down in the Y. When my leg is at its lowest position it is almost nearly straight if not completely straight. At least this is what it seems like. Im not sure if this would cause me to go left and right all of a sudden at the end of my pedal rotations. I rode about 5 feet on it so far...once...most of the time I fall before that once I let go of anything. I would rather not cut to much of it off, I just want to make sure I am not handicapping myself anymore then I need to be when learning to ride this. I wish I lived in an area with more unicyclists so I could make sure I am at least at total fault for falling and not my uni. Is it better to pedal using your arch or your toes? I try to keep good posture when I am pedaling, but like I said before I move right and left a but more then I thought I would, any possible problems if you think the seat post is not at fault?

[pix]

if you have your heel on the pedal, then your leg should be pretty much completely straight at the low point of the rotation. then, when you ride normally, you will have the ball of your foot more or less over the axle of the pedal, and your leg should be more comfortably extended.

as for twisting, because of seat length. you will do this anyway if you are putting too much weight on your pedals, regardless of seat height. it's a little scary at first but you should be putting most of your weight on the seat, and just putting enough weight on the pedals to make the wheel rotate. once it gets started moving, you need suprisingly little force to keep it going.

but don't listen to me, i'm a perma-noob

[pix]

rethinking my comments, it is possible that i was a little bit harsh about over-cutting. if you are really having trouble riding, by all means take a little more off. just leave enough post so that you can move the seat up by at least an inch (or two), when you get over those intial learning steps.

pix.

[greencollar]

I had the best unicycling time yet. I went back out to the school, but this time I decided to go without the fences support. Most of the time I was relying to much on the fence and consequently I was falling toward it or away from it drastically when I grabbed it or pushed away from it. I ended up raising the seat about an inch as I felt I wasnt being made to sit down in the seat enough (after reading all the advice I figured I probably made it a bit to short...but I still have another 3 inches of play still in case I want to raise it again).
So I just held onto a pole in front of the school to get myself up and would attempt to ride away from the poll. At first I was barely able to pedal 2 rotations. I decided I would set a goal for myself. Make it past the fire lane marks which extended about 5 feet away from the pole. After a while I made it past that mark...I felt amazing. Well then I set a massively bigger goal...make it across to the parking spaces. This feat was more like 20-25 feet away. After a long long time...I made it. I was so excited because for the first time I was actually riding. Mind you I was going all over the place back and forth to make it there, but I made it there. I continued again and again...I still fall off early alot, but here and there I put most of my weight on the seat look foward and not at the wheel (thanks again for those tips) and I would start riding again. The furthest I made which was only one time was 40 feet, which I know is nothing to you guys who are able to do tricks and muni, but for me I felt great. After anout 4 hours total between 3 days I was figuring it out...at least somewhat.
Sorry to go on and on, but I am super excited now! One day I plan to pwn the unicycle, but for now...Im happy just figuring things out thus far.