Advance Idling 2025

You know Billy’s band was named, Generation X.
That’s my generation!!! Fkn materialistic 80’s kids.
Gen-X was Billy’s band and named after a 1964 book(Jane Deverson and Charles Hamblett) about the British Mod kids. Trench coats and scooters, right.

We got any mods riding unicycles here? Teddys?

…slam

thanks for the misdirect.

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First, Advance Idling Exercise.

  1. Use toe “flipping” on the top pedal when idling?
  2. Keep “foot flat” on top pedal during idling?

Try both:
-on flat pavement
-on grass

Any observation guys?

…slam

Put in some idling practice in the last couple days.

I experimented with keeping my feet flat but didn’t really notice much difference either way.

I think too much of my weight is still on my feet instead of my feet seat. Especially when when changing direction it can feel like I have to push hard so it’s tempting to come up out of my seat and then I don’t get settled back down into it. I made keeping my weight on the seat my main focus and feel like I’m making some progress. Mainly just using less force but over a longer part of the stroke, I think.

For variety I’m mixing in working on backwards (I can currently only do 4-5 half-revs at a time), and some variations of the stutter step drill I’ve mentioned before in another thread, e.g. doing a few idles on each side before going forward; doing 2 or 3 backwards half revs and then one forward half-rev, “long idles” of 2 half-revs forward 2 half-revs back, etc.

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I should note that I haven’t recorded myself doing this, so it’s possibly I just think I was keeping my feet flat :laughing:

did you mean I think too much of my weight is still on my feet instead of my seat. ?

:laughing: yes. fixed

I tried to do almost the same.
My aim was to learn idling with other foot. But it didn’t help.

.
What is wrong here?

For me, the easiest uni to idle is 24". 26" is slightly harder, then 20" follows as on the video above and below, and the hardest is 29".


Here is my idlind on my 20" uni/ What is to fix here?

Balshoei Spaceeba Hukuma,
(What country is this? I assume it is an old “federation” country).
Thank you for posting this video.
You’re skill is definitely between the intermediate/advanced level.

I haven’t clarified my personal definition of Advanced Idling. Here it is:

1.) Advanced idling feels “easy” with less energy used.
2.) You can “feel” all your weight on saddle and feet is only apply very “light pressure”
3.) You can do this forever with no need for aggressive “twist” or “deep rocking” for balance.
4.) You can do this in a very small space, and sometimes almost “stop” or pause in middle.

Now, for you Hukuma. I can observe from your video.
-You still rely on hands/shoulders/hip/turning for additional balance.
-You push straight down on pedal. Flat feet.

Okay, so this is my suggestion for practice:
a.) Put your hands on hips or fold hands across chest when you do idling. Try that. It will force you to really focus on your feet. You can also tip your upper body back/forth a little for help.
b.) Use a little bit of toe/ankle to your feet to press down the pedal. You will feel a quicker response of the unicycle. Careful, not too much and rocking too fast will throw you off.

Future sub-topic:
Now, pedal pressure will be another topic for later, because there is use for both:
a.) Ankle/toe “flipping” of the pedal = faster response and rocking frequency with less energy.
b.) However, if your balance improves and you need to “slow” the rocking, then you must stop reduce toe flipping, and go back to flat footing. Especially, for idling on uneven grass surface, where you may need to pause or even hop. You can’t toe flip that.

Also:
I think I realize what is the best distinction between Intermediate Idling vs Advanced Idling.
No using hands/shoulders/hips during idling. However, during the idle learning process it is absolutely necessary, or in moments of imbalance use it. Yet, once mastered no need.
This makes sense, because now the hands are free, so you can:
-juggle
-read a book or use notebook computer
-lift a barbell over your head

…slam

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HI Unitort,

I’ve come to realize that both flat feeting and pedal twisting has it’s use. When you want to slow or pause = flat feet time. When you need a quick rocking reverse motion = toe flipping.

Now, the goal of reducing weight on foot and “more on seat” just comes down to two thing:
a.) Equal weight on both foot pedals.
b.) Relying less on upper body motion: hands, arms, shoulder, hip twisting for balance.

However, there is a reason for all that upper body motion. You need this until you develop more foot & pedal skill to be primarily applied to the idling action.

Just being aware of that and slowly “taking away” all those factors will allow you to focus and be more sensitive to your foot action. So, if you need 20 lbs force on each side of the pedal for balance, but with practice it is reduced to 5 lbs force on each side of the pedal. It becomes easier. Less energy. More weight on the seat and you can relax more.

Make sense?

…slam

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Hi, Slam!
First, your assumption about my citizenship is correct.

In this regard, I am pleasantly surprised by such a detailed answer from you and with a careful analysis of my exercises. Now I have a lot to work on not only persistently, but also purposefully. Thank you very much for this.

Now a couple of questions.

  1. I have a choice between 20", 24" and 26" unies with 114mm, 145mm and 125/150mm cranks respectively. I would prefer 26" uni and 150mm cranks to start with. My question is about how right this choice is.
  2. At what point should I start training to idle from the other side?

Thank you once again.
Videos with the results of our joint work will follow, if it is interesting.

Makes sense to me. It’s similar to riding a uni in general: first you flail about like crazy. The better you get, the less you move your arms around. Instead you begin to compensate with your knees (legs). Next step is you make only barely perceiveable moves except for the occasional “bigger” correction.
Would love to go out and practice idling on my 36er, but I have a wrist injury (not unicycle related) at the moment - while I still ride my unis I feel that training something I’m not yet good at would be pushing it a bit too much. Especially when that reflex to grab the uni when UPDing is so strong that it will only worsen things.

I wish I saw this crucial piece of advice earlier.

But I think I am in need of some further advice before I Give up on Idling.

I either fall over to either side immediately or enter a semi stable and rather violent 3 to 9 o’clock rooking motion that looks like a banana seen from above. Idling is HARD.


Now my idling is in a condition as on the attachment. I have an unintentional shift to the left, towards the lower leg. I have no idea what to do with this.

I consider idling not as an end in itself, but as a tool that will allow me to learn how to control the load on the pedals accurately when riding. By doing so, I hope to make my ride less energy-consuming.
I am 70 years young and now it makes a sense.

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That looks pretty good! The unintentional shift will go away with more practice. Maybe try to deliberately shift towards the other side, to speed this process up a bit?
Your ride will be less energy-consuming the more experienced you are. No more flailing about, barely moving your knees to the sides to do small adjustments. I can ride a uni for about 35 years, but my riding style has become way smoother during the last year or two, since I ride almost daily (albeit only short distances, usually). And I was already way beyond the flailing stage before that.

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Hi, Wheelou,
Thank you for your advice, I will follow that and will try to shift to the right.

I’m flailing with one hand, usually right one, but sometimes with left (I’m left-handed) when riding. The other hand is on the handle of the saddle. Sometimes I take this hand off the handle to restore balance. Now I’m trying to learn how to ride with both hands on the saddle.

And also I returned to idling to advance this skill. The goal of this improvement I have mentioned in my previous post.

Of course I also continue with riding, 3 to 4 times a week, short distances (3 to 4, sometimes 6 miles a day) too.

My experience is less than 5 years and unfortunately was not regular before 2024. Unfortunately, I learned about the unicycles only 5 years ago. Before that, I thought that these were only circus props. The unicycle is little known outside the circus in our country.

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I think this is interesting and non-obvious. I think most idling tutorials I’ve seen say to use your top foot as little as possible. Certainly that makes sense if you want to work towards one-foot idling. It makes sense though that using both feet would reduce fatigue by distributing the work, and maybe make side-to-side balance easier since otherwise you need to tilt the uni to the side a bit.

I’d also like to learn SIF and ultimate-wheel idling, which of course requires equal weight on both pedals. (I can ride both but so far have only briefly tried and failed to idle on both :))

Hello Huku,
Now, I suggested to everyone in the beginning to stay indoors.
However, I forget that everyone is “sick” staying indoors.
You’all want to go outside, and idling looks like a good workout.
Especially, for intermediate Idling level riders.
It would be no fun and chilly, if you were advanced and need no “extra body motion”

Okay, but seriously(no I am not german…, but they are always serious, right?)
I reviewed your video.
Reason for leaning or turning on the “left side”.
Answer: Not enough weight on right side = top foot.

Remedy:
1.) Rock faster which results in more weight on that side. Also, faster = more gyroscopic stability. This is more energy which is good for cold weather, but I think eventually we all want to do “more” with “less” right?

2.) Add more weight on top foot. This is were you develop “advanced” touch is needed. However, in the learning process you may need to “over do it” initially. Just press down harder, and you will change from leaning “left” to “falling or maybe falling down” on your right side. Now you have some control. Now you see the effect. Next, you just learn to apply just the right amount. Okay…Harasho

One thing, to note since you are outside in cold weather you must be wearing heavy boots or something. One of my rules for unicycle to avoid injury. Always wear the same shoes. It makes a difference in feel, traction and mobility. If you are outside on hardpacked snow or ice, I think th at is an extra challenge. Also, the “cold temperature” can make your feet numb.

So, I know it may not be possible for same shoes, but maybe if you go inside your garage or hallway you will remember that. Continue and thank you for all the great video work…Balshoei Spaceeba…

…slam

Come on Pedalspre,

That 16" or 12" unicycle. What is that?
That is a trick unicycle. I applaud you for being able to ride that.

Ofcourse, idling on that will be quite difficult.
(can you do this on top of a picnic bench?)

Anyways, you are obviously advanced and Idling on a basic 19/20" is probably boring for you.
I’d suggest idling on a 36" or so for more challenge.
I am kicking you out of this intermediate Idling class!!!
Go on…learn some more tricks.

…slam