Of course his sister doing the filming found it most hilarious.
Then I have a silly lil clip of me dropping off a little ledge between the neighbors and our house. It tapers so as I get my skills back after 20 years in storage I can just move further up the wall for bigger drops. I realized two things… my skills are soooo rusty… and the camera really does add 20 pounds
haha… thanks… well see how quick they come back. And I’ve already noticed how much work the uni is… muscles I forgot I had. I’ve been off my bike for a couple months now, but I also race BMX with my son. Though it feels as though the uni may work off the gut faster.
How old is he? He’s on a 20" or 18"? looks like a mini coker for him! I wanted to get a 20 inch for my son he’s 48" tall but the frame necks are all too long for even the stubbiest seat post to work for him. Did you cut one down or is your kid just taller.
Congrats! My son got a 16" torker for Christmas. He rides around in the house bracing on walls and chairs and dogs. Loves it!!
I learned when I was 6. My dad took the fork and front wheel off my tricycle and put a seat of sorts on it for me. I later got a schwinn.
He’s 9, but a small 9. 50 inches tall. The uni is a 20" Torker LX. I cut the frame down by about 1.5" and then cut the seat post so that the seat would go down all the way on that. While some of the adjustability range is gone, I could still get a new seatpost and be able to ride the 20" myself… so no harm done really.
Maybe I should have got a 16", but once he learns to ride, I figured it would just be too hard for him to get anywhere on it. I’d rather have something he can grow into rather than out of I guess.
I only caught him using the dog once before I put the kaibosh on that!
I don’t have a movie projector, but here’s my little guy on his torker. I don’t have a video camera, but here are some pictures.
Hey, I wish I had thought of cutting the frame down on a bigger wheel. It will probably be an easier ride for him. the wobble or Q factor? on the little wheels is terrible!!!
Unprovoked has its place, too. Most Unplanned dismounts are unprovoked, but unicyclists generally tolerate a high degree of provokation, so there is an argument for your interpretation!
It’s not that there is any trouble with the smaller wheel – it’s just easier to grow OUT of. My 9yo daughter, who is average in height, used hers thru age 8.5 or so, and then I got her a 20" uni that she loves to zoom around on instead. The 16" seems archaic to her now and was actually given to her 6yo brother. He’ll use it till he’s about 8, too.
We meet at Grant’s Tomb thru the winter. Sometimes the snow can be really fun, tho there isn’t any now (in fact, it’s been 45-51 degrees this past week). The only thing that stops us is rain… We’ve only missed 5 or 6 dates in the past 5 years – amazing luck.
Those are some precious shots…and don’t regret the 16" purchase. What kid wouldn’t love to learn on a cool looking bumblebee like that?
Dave’s reply is right on…the only real issue with purchasing the 16 is that it won’t be all that long before you’ll be in the market for a 20. We started our son at age 8 on a Torker 16, and it wasn’t that many months before he was ready for more speed and I was ready to get him something he could use for multi-mile and off-road rides. We upgraded to a Pashley 20" muni, which has served him well. He just turned 12, and while he’s probably ready for a 24, he still loves his 20. We did a couple miles of mud together just this afternoon.
Congratulations on your new rider. One more of us, one less of them.
