Advance Idling 2025

Now I do exercises with turning during idling with my right leg (stronger one) in the upper position. When I turn to the left, the wheel “draws a banana” when moving forward, and when I turn to the right - when moving backward. Is this fine? Or should I force the wheel to “draw a banana” in both directions? If yes, how can I do this better?

Sorry about the basic info. I confess to being a low end intermediate idler.
Pressure on non-dominant foot is improving and weight in the saddle is almost a positive side effect.
Thank you Slamdance, for starting this thread! It has really been a source of motivation.

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For me too. Thanks you, @slamdance, a lot!

Thanks Huku, UniK and everyone else who have contributed with comments, interest and video on this subject.

Your efforts have motivated me to take a closer look at my technique. I’m always at war with the majority “natural” unicycle riders with “natural” talent on this site. I’m at awe with their talent, but fully irritated with their advice. “…just practice and develop timing and feel.” Seriously.

There is always some key mechanical principals in any kind of motion and force movement. Physics. When you get to the point of advanced skill you can easily forget. Now and then I get injured. Stop riding and lose that ability. Re-learning is always tough. I don’t have natural “timing and feel”. So, remembering a few key techniques is a great help.

At this point of our “class” the key technique is:
Gradually, transitioning “more” guidance/control with the “top foot” during idling.
This is easier said than done, right? How exactly, do you add more weight?
I can’t precisely quantify and exact answer, but these 3 points may help:

1.) When you add weight to your top foot, the circular uphill/downhill motion of the crank, will act to increase or decrease this weight. So, if you apply 10lbs of force at 12 o’clock, it will increase to possibly 12-15 lbs due to acceleration. This is the downward drop “vector” thanks to gravity that comes into play. Same happens on the back side of the idle. So, you must “fight this” and “ride thru” when you apply top foot pedal pressure.
a.) Either, apply the force as “an impulse” for a short duration.
b.) or reduce the force on the pedal at 12 o’clock, but knowing that at 1 o’clock it will increase a bit.

2.) Precision. Not too much. Not too little. I find that it’s best not to “over do” the force. Unless, you are trying to do a major correction: falling over to one side or a banana curve pattern.
When I want to apply just a “teeny tiny” bit of extra weight on that pedal, I just “think” about adding force. Not consciously press down with my feet, or leg pressure down on the pedal. I over do it.

3.) It’s also a matter of timing. This force is not applied and “held” during the idling process constantly. In actuality, if I were to apply sensors and study, the force is applied as short intervals of loading and unloading. Impulse. The exact force at the exact moment in time of the crank travel or idling rhythm.

Geeze, that’s a lot of tech crap talk, but I think you know what I mean. You don’t just stomp and hold. You also don’t just “flip” back and forth “mindlessly” without being aware of the force that you can exert. Anyways, it’s knowing that there is room to change a few things that can help us master this “cool looking” maneuver. Keep on.

…slam

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One more thing, I’m sure you advanced riders or intermediates “becoming” is this.
The “moment” you do something to add weight on your top foot(without falling) something strange happens.

All of a sudden that tire goes “straight” not bananarama to the left or right. As you look down, all you see is black rubber and tread. No more ground with the tire to the side. You know what I mean?

It’s a small “ah-ha” moment. Keep on

…slam

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“…just practice…” is the best way to pin your mistakes made at the very beginning due to a lack of understanding of the physics of the process. Practice will help only if you understand what are you doing. Or if you have a good trainer.
IMHO.

On one hand, yes. On the other hand, if you have any load on the top foot, you get something under your control. For instance, it helps me to struggle with leaning to the side of the upper leg by decreasing the load on it.

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Here’s a good practice for pedal pressure balancing. This takes away gyroscopic stability from the forward motion of “riding” a unicycle. So, it really focuses on lateral balancing.

I call it QUARTER PEDALING.
Do this:

1.) From 6 & 12 o’clock position. Say your right foot is down at 6 o’clock. Right foot = bottom

2.) Do a 1/4 turn pedal. So now, right foot is at 9 o’clock(behind you). Right foot = behind you. At the same time, the top (left) foot goes to 3 o’clock. You are at “flat pedal” position.
Now, PAUSE!! and hold for one second. Did you remember to put “back pressure” on the other pedal(right foot)?

3.) Next, another 1/4 turn. Again, hold for 1 second.

4.) Again.

Observations:
a.) You will probably feel your whole body above saddle “lurch forward” the moment you pause. This is normal, because everything below the saddle is decelerating. For first timers do not panic. Expect this and find the rhythm.

b.) If you ever ride on bumpy grass, pedaled up a steep uphill(where you cannot use upspeed momentum) you should have experience doing 1/2 pedals in a stop/go fashion. This is similar exercise, but should actually feel easier with a short increment of pedal/power burst.

c.) I don’t this is possible on a larger wheel. We are not relying on rotational wheel moment of inertia. The big heavy wheel advantage only works when it is spinning continuously. This is an exercise in stopping/starting. I would be very impressed if you can do slow quarter pedals with a 36".

So, this exercise teaches you precision of applying a short burst of pedal rotation. Most of this relies on the “back pedal” for braking. However, at 6 & 12 o’clock the deadzone. That is the real challenge. The top foot can “easily” overspeed due to leverage and gravity.

Let me know how you like it and enjoy…slam

Enjoy…slam

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Hi, Slam,

Could you please place here some video as an examle of the QUARTER PEDALLING?

What do I need this for?

My difficulty is that it’s hard to start pedalling forward when the top foot is at 12 o’clock stationary position. It is easier if I twist the uni slightly to the side opposite the top foot thus moving this a little forward and than start pedalling.

But such an action would be a deviation from the correct technique, eh? Therefore I’m asking for an example.

Thank you.

I would like videos too.
Words don’t always translate well, but a video shows everything.
Please.

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huku, canoe

i rarely make videos because get obsessed with the equipment videography and making it perfect. I think i have one short unicycle video on youtube channel: trexinvert. Most of the vids is my old hobby rc helicopters.

Maybe if enough people request, i might borrow a nice camera tripod in a perfect location and make video, soon

…slam

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I am very interested in seeing your videos. Now I cannot even idle yet,but I have been lurking, trying to glean any useful tidbits I can, and you mentioned many interesting aspects that are hard to visualize.
Truth be told, you’ve inspired me to completely change how I have been practicing. I was polar opposite of you, always focusing my practicing on riding only, trying to get more efficient and stronger to increase distance, ignoring *stationary skills". Yet you self describe yourself as more of an idler than a rider, kind of ignoring the riding.
I got a Nimbus II 20 just recently, and it is so much more confidence inspiring, responsive, and lower to the ground. Now I have been on a mission to learn idling, still stands, different mounts, and hopefully/eventually,backwards.
Its actually a nice change of pace, I am able to do this kind of practice indoors not in the winter cold/wet, and easily at a moments notice any time i can spare a few minutes to get a quick practice session in.
I am noticing progress too, which is more motivating. Hopefully I am idling soon and can reach more intermediate/advanced levels after that, and put what you’re covering here to use.

Hey Blue,
I am getting more motivated to make a video.

I wanted to show the difference between intermediate vs advance level, but I am finding that it is very difficult to show the difference in a close-up of the pedal and unicycle wheel.
From a zoomed out view the “advance” skill looks “effortless” which makes it look like magic or something. So, it doesn’t help.

However, for beginner level idling it is very easy to show on video a straightforward learning technique.

No promised, but I hope to make this video soon.
As well, as something for the intermediates here.

…slam

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Now I exercise in idling mainly with my weak leg. Sometimes it succeeds up to 20 idles. At the same time, the strong leg progresses automatically, without special exercises. Sometimes I use it to start idling for the other leg, sometimes just to check how it is.

Also l do the exercise “5 idles - 1/2 rev forward - 5 idles (other leg)” and so on. So far, I can do up to 3 sets of 5 idles with each leg, without dismount. I plan to increase the number of idles in each set with the accent on the weak leg.

Further, I plan change legs with 1/2 rev backward, not forward.

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Referencing the video above:

What he’s doing right is idling, not falling off, and keeping it consistent!

Room for improvement: Relax. Looks like lots of pressure on both pedals. Good exercise, but it’s more energy than necessary. The bottom foot does the vast majority of the work; the top foot mostly just needs to stay on the pedal but not much else. Relax your weight into the saddle, and let that bottom foot feel the stops at each end of the idle.

The top foot isn’t really necessary once you get going. One-foot idling is easier than one-foot riding. If you can relax well, you can idle nearly indefinitely. I was once hired as a “background circus performer” for a commercial for a Furniture store. This lead to a total of multiple hours of combined sessions of just “being up there” idling in my little spot. I’m so glad I had a relaxed technique; I never would have survived otherwise!

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Much respect to Mr.Foss. His message is that the top foot focus isn’t necessary for competent idling. That is true.

Another expert who does some amazing unicycle and other balance “stunts” is a youtuber that goes by the name of Hobo Dan. I don’t have his permission to link anything, but if you have the time. Click his youtube channel: hobo dan.

He’s a very burly fellow that can do many balance tricks and understands kinesiology.
His idling “looks” intermediate in that he uses a lot of “extra energy”, but the key is that everything is synchronized/rhythm. That’s how he can idle and lift up almost 200 lbs over his head while on a unicycle, while rocking back/forth.

The message is that if you think your idling is slopping and tiring.
You may not need to improve your technique, as in this Advance Idling page discusses.
Just keep what you are doing, and eventually when you find that rhythm and timing to coordinate all your extra motion. It will get easier.

However, let’s get back to Advanced Idling.
This is for people who for some “obsessive reason” want to push for perfection.
To find the perfect idle with minimal body movement and perfect balance.
Nah…there’s more.

there is much more to improving your idling technique.
If you are not eager to buy a 36" and ride 100 km at 20 km/hr with 100 micron cranks.
If you just enjoy staying in one spot and working on tricks.
If you are wondering why you are not getting better.
Then let’s keep going.

  1. It’s an exercise to focus, control and be aware of your body mechanics. Building confidence and understanding that it is not “sweat” or “natural ability” but science that allows certain things to happen. Anybody who can’t do it…can do it.

  2. This give you the coordination and foundation to learn more tricks that may seem impossible to learn.

  3. Backwards riding “without the lean back method”. Yes, I learned that way and it took a whole year. However, once I got advanced in idling I realized something. Backwards slow pedaling can be learned from idling.

  4. SIF(seat in front) or “standing on unicycle” with no sitting on the saddle, which most beginners think is impossible. It is possible, and the learning curve is greatly reduced when you have the ability of both feet.

…slam

That’s me. Let’s keep going.

But we should also keep remembering that “advanced idling” is not idling at all. At least for me it is like that

As I can see, it involves a bunch of work.

Yesterday I did a short idling session on my 29er. First, I was surprised how huge the difference was compared to the 36er. Way easier. That said, I tended to shift to the right. I could counteract that a bit by turning my head around to consiously look a bit to the left.

In motorcycling gaze guidance (I hope that’s the correct term, in german it’s Blickführung) is key, especially when cornering. I was pretty sure that this would translate to idling on a unicycle. And it did, as far as left - right is considered. But to my surprise it made no conceivable difference whether I was staring to the ground right in front of me (which I expected to be more difficult) or I chose a more distant target to look at.

Here is his video on idling: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P3rteGAe6A8

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Thanks Jim for posting, I don’t quite know the protocol for doing this, but I guess you just post it.

I have not been able to ride for a few weeks now due to a periodic bout of annoying rheumatoid arthritis in my ankle joint.

So, it will be interesting to see where I am able to leave off in my unicycle skills. I will obviously lose my advanced skills, but each time this happens I get a better understanding and awareness of the specific movement, coordination and mechanics involved in the stunt or movement. I want to also make a video soon, but now I have the added pressure on myself to get back to my top skill level. It may take a few weeks or a month or two for that.

In meantime, I welcome more discussion of individual riders who want to focus on specifically improving their idling skills.

It seems, like within the “intermediate” skill group there seems to be a clear division into 2 distinct groups:

  1. Group 1: Riders who can only idle for 5-10 times and then either fall off, turn too much or need to stop due to exhaustion.

  2. Group 2: Riders who can idle over 20 cycles and more. However, they find themselves using a lot of energy, but it’s no problem. The physical input is very efficient.

Does anyone find themselves in this category?

…slam