Approaching a rolling mount on 36er

Riding Advice
#1

I have a 36" Nimbus Oracle, and I’ve fitted 150 mm cranks to it because the stock 125’s scared the crap out of me. I can static mount it, but not very consistently. I have most luck with pedals in 4 o’clock/10 o’clock postion (i.e. back foot down a bit) and rolling forward as I jump off with the front foot. I’m tall (6"1’, 185 cm) and weigh 86 kg. I’m pretty sure my biggest problems are fear (failure to commit) and a slight lack of coordination (front foot doesn’t land consistently in the right place).

I’d love to be able to do a rolling mount, especially if I need to mount on a upslope. But I can’t even begin to start doing one, despite lots of youtube videos (best ones from UniMyra and Univiolin). Is there anything I can practise, short of a rolling mount, that would help get me there? Is there any point in practising on the 26" on grass in full body armour, for example?

I’ve practised landing the back foot only, but since I’m not following through with the other foot what happened is all my weight lands on the back pedal and the uni tips over. I’m also not clear on what the seat is doing during the process.

Any tips, especially from someone who has struggled with this, will be much appreciated!

#2

I have recently been practicing the rolling mount on the 36 myself. It is certainly a commitment thing but if you are landing the back foot you’re already pass the part I had to commit to.

As far as trying it on the 26 I personally wouldn’t. Quicker movements of the 26 will put you on your butt or face faster if you miss a pedal. I cannot offer too much advice as I had no learning revelations per se but just committed to it and stuck it so I truly believe it’s a big big commitment thing and once you stick it that first time you can do it over and over again

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#3

Try your rolling mount on a grassy downslope. Depending on grade, try 5:00 and 11:00 for foot placement.
Over do it in the beginning so you momentarily land your feet and then keep going right over.
Now repeat with less initial energy or less of a slope.

Don’t forget to force the saddle into place firmly. (weight it)

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#4

I’d say:

  1. Don’t bother trying to mount on a 26" to help you on the 36", for me they are a difference of night and day. I learned a rolling mount on a 36er and can’t do one on a 26".
  2. If you can do at least one rolling mount on a 36" you are most of the way there. Simply repeat a 1000+ times to become relatively consistent. It is all about timing and muscle memory and that takes time.
  3. For me a rolling mount on a 36" is easier with shorter cranks. My normal crank length is 109mm and I can put much more weight on the leading foot to boost me up then if I use a 150mm crank.
  4. For uphill mounts, just need to do the same thing but be more energetic.
    Here is up a 12% grade with 109mm cranks (71 years old).

https://a4.pbase.com/o12/18/427118/1/170408313.Fh4Q6STA.SummersetMount3.gif(image larger than 4096KB)

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#5

Other says it wouldn’t be great to start using a smaller uni while it’s the way I’ve done it. I have practiced a lot on my 20 and when I first got my 36 it was not of a big deal: just trying to be more confident and committing a bit more and it was fine. That’s basically the same movement. So if you’ve mastered it on a small uni you’ll master it on a bigger wheel.

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#6

I disagree with this. Learn to do all mounts on a smaller unicycle first. I think a rolling step-up mount is by far the easiest mount on a big wheel. But it’s scary at first. Unigeezer (Terry) has some great videos on Youtube for mounting.
Today I only use my 20" to practice on. E.g. Falling on stairs on a 29" hurts more than on a 20".

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#7

Overcoming fear is a pretty big part of learning new unicycle things. If you can do a static mount, then you are practically there. It’s actually harder to get up there and get going without the extra forward momentum you get from a rolling mount.

Maybe if you start with only a small amount of roll it’ll be easier to get confident with the motion. Get in position like you’re going to do a static mount. Then take one step back. Starting from there, you can take one step forward and then stop and do your regular static mount. If you practice this a lot, over time the step and the mount will blend together into one motion.

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#8

I found so. I just could not do a static mount for a long time on a 36". I had to do the running step-up. It’s much easier, but I had to practice that on a 29" and before that on a 20". Overcoming fear is the only way forward.
Unimyra’s video on how to do a static mount is helpful and it works.