Hello everybody!
I just get my first MUni and start to “explore” it:D ! I hace few questions about adjustment. When I start to ride I noticed that it’s very difficult to go straigth I was automatically turning to my right?!?! I begin to wonder is it my technic or is there something wrong with my bike? Saddle was bit off balance to left so I fix it right and ride again. Still bit to right. Saddle look still bit to left it’s quite difficult to see accurately when it’s in line. So my question is is it really so that saddle must be perfectly balanced or should it adjusts something else or is it my technic, what do you think? Wheel looks also like it’s bit to left (side clearance is not equal) does that matter (it’s not much on side)? Is there some other technical place I should check?
Like I said I’am just starting to MUni and so far it feels just great!! I use to ride with much smaller (20") uni some years ago. Now I have my first own unicycle with: Nimbus II, Halo Combat (black, whit black spokes), susue, Gazza 3.0, Miyata, 170mm cranks and Wellgo setup and it looks like monster (specially that tire!!).
Hope you more experieced riders can help me to enjoy even more :)!
The Rhyno Lite is not wide enough for a 3" tire. If the rim is not wide enough the tire is going to fold over whenever you put a sideload on it (ie jumping to the side, hopping sideways uphill.
With a 3" wide tire on a uni you want a rim that is 32mm wide or wider. The rim width is measured inside the rim between the bead hooks where the tire sits. Look for width first and weight second. A light skinny rim is going to be useless for actual riding even if it is impressive on the scale at the bike shop.
The Sun Doublewide rim is good. It’s a little on the heavy side (there are lighter wide rims out there) but still a good choice if other rims are hard to get. The Sun Doublewide is 33mm wide inside width and 46mm wide outside width.
It sounds like the Halo Combat rim is the easiest wide rim to get in the UK.
I had exactly the same experience, but it seems to ride straight now & the only thing I have done is to keep practicing. But my wheel WAS central in the frame
i was putting a ryhno lite on, with a 2.6 tire. I might be putting on a funn chronic or a sun BFR, btu i cant find them in many places. How much clearance is there on a nimbus 2 with a 3inch tire?
If it’s my technic can you be more specific what’s wrong? I’ve try to find balance by leaning more to my right but it feels like I’am sitting on a edge of saddle and it can’t be right (?). When I’am riding straight and look down to my legs it seems like my knees are pointing bit to left and if I turn my knees straight I start to go right. That’s why I start to look if my saddle isn’t balanced. My wheels is not middle of frame (it’s not much on side, but still) can you tell me should I fix it does it change my ride?
Manic_mark you ask about the clearance and I can tell you that there is not much of it. On side there is no proplem but on top it’s quite close!!! But where I ride (so far) it seems to be enough. Still I’am planning to encrease it by cutting everything I can (there isn’t much to cut) out at the bottom end of seat tube and I also need to cut seatpost just bit. you can find some pictures if you search the gallery (keyword: nimbus).
This forum is just great because there is so many helpful “professional” and you guys don’t keep your know-how secret!! Thank’s for that!! I’am going to ask you plenty of “stupid” beginner questions.
Sometimes a tyre lacks directional stability - especially if it has a central ridge or a central row of treads. The tyre sort of tips to one side, and once it’s on that side, that’s the side it stays on.
Try a bit more air in the tyre and see if that works.
Is it the camber of the road or pavement/sidewalk? I find that riding along a cambered road makes the uni tend to twist one way.
As for technique - it just comes with practice. Think smooth, controlled, look a long way ahead.
When you’re muniing, the ground should be so bumpy and the trail so twisty that even if the uni does have a slight bias, it shouldn’t be a major problem.
Thanks Mikefule for your tips! My Gazza is bit soft at the moment so I’ll put more air in it and check if it helps (why don’t I figure that myself??) I haven’t ride so “extreme” MUniing yet, just quite easy sections with some roots and rocks. Like you said it’s not proplem there because MUni is going “all around” anyway. When riding pavement (I know I should go ride on trails instead) or hard sand it’s difficult to stay on track, specially on those narrow paths.
How do you guys start to practice one foot skill?? I think I’ll first try with one foot idle and progress from there… any other suggestions?
I learned to one foot idle on my 20. The skill transfers fairly easily to a 24, and a bit less easily to a 26.
First, be able to idle two footedly almost indefinitely in a smooth regular pattern. Practice using the pumping action of the bottom foot, and uising the top foot as little as possible.
Briefly get the feel for the one foot position by practising whilst holding a post (I used a Doric column of a disused country house hotel, but a lamp post or bus stop will do).
Once you are comfortable with the position, try freemounting into the one foot position. You will need to use a roll back or semi-rollback type of mount.
Idling will come more quickly than you expect.
Learn thoroughly on your strong side, then learn on your week side.
Putting more air in your tire might be a good way to double check to see if the tire is giving you problems with leaning to the right, but if your going to MUni, make sure to let some of that air out again. It’s better to have a little less air pressure when off-roading.
I had, and still do have, some serious problems leaning to the right. I think I’m just a lot stronger in my right leg. I tend to twist my body to compensate, and it gets very uncomfortable. I still have the problem, but I found something to help me. Take your arms out of the equation. If you keep both hands on the saddle or hold your hands together beside your back, you can’t use your arms for balance and you force your legs to do all the balancing. This will even out the work distribution and will straighten you out.
Obviously, you may have to work up to it if your not used to riding without your arms. I had to start by keeping my right hand on the saddle and eventually, I was stable enough to keep both hands on the saddle. Clearly, you want to practice this on fairly “safe” terrain.
I’ve read some very good suggestions. I too sometimes find myself wanting to turn right. In some cases it causes my back to get sore (after only a few miles) because I’m twisting at the waist to compensate, before I even notice I’m askew. I only notice it when I’m going straight, or at a good pace on fairly level ground. -Usually during my warm-up, or while on the ‘road to the trail’ (even with hands clasped behind my back). To “straighten myself out”, I usually need to do some fast twisty trails and forget about going straight for a bit. Also the position of each foot on it’s pedal is important. If you wear a boot with a heel, it will help keep your feet at the same position.
My Coker wheel is not centered in the hub, but seems to have no effect on my “un-intentional twisting”. The funny thing is, it doesn’t happen to me all the time, and I haven’t identified the reason for it. -Well, maybe it’s not that funny, but other than having a warped sence of humor (and being twisted), I’m perfectly normal… Perfectly normal.
Jer
Some folks learn to idle one footed before riding one footed (like me) and others learn to ride one footed before idle one footed -somewhere a web page exists showing the different approaches and walks you through learning.
>
>…
>… Take your arms out of the
>equation. If you keep both hands on the saddle or hold your hands
>together beside your back, you can’t use your arms for balance and you
>force your legs to do all the balancing. This will even out the work
>distribution and will straighten you out.
>
>…
Excellent advice. Juggling when riding uphill is also good for leg
control.
Thank you all for your great tips !! I just game in after 1,5 h practice session (I’am pretty tired) and your tips are improving my ride!
First I put more air to my Gazza and that seems to help. Specially now when I’am practicing mainly at sandy (hard) school yard.
Best tip was that “take your arms out of the equation”. It was big suprice for me how much it helps!! Biggest improvement game after I start riding with my left hand on my Miyata handle. I think that forced me to keep my upper body straight. Great tip!!
I also practice my idle skills with both feet down. For me it’s harder when left feet is down, so I concetrate mainly to do it that way.
Now I just try to take everything out from your advices (specially those one feet tips). After I’ve learn these (good enough) I will come back to you guys with new questions, hopefully soon!!
I’m guilty of being a gearhead, but I can’t claim to be a master unicyclist. I’m actually not that good of a unicyclist. My only significant skills are keeping my credit card on file at unicyclist.com and putting Loctite on things that get loose.
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