I am a second time beginner. I learned to ride when I was a teenager, took a 30 year break, and now at 46 I’m at it again. When I got my new uni (KH29) I was able to ride 30 feet after about an hour of practice. From there my skills improved very quickly. I can now ride out of my driveway and around the block with reasonable confidence. But I have some problems.
I can turn left and right, but it’s a very jerky, arm flailing process which results in a wide turn. I’ve been able to free mount about one in ten tries. When I’m cruising I seem to lose my balance a bit every hundred feet or so for no apparent reason. Easy to catch myself, but I wish that would stop.
So here’s the question: are uni skills purely a function of practice or is there a danger (as in golf) that I will groove in bad habits that will prevent achieving proficiency? I ask because I seem to have reached a skills plateau.
Also, I’ve noticed that most unicycles posted here have the seat angled up in front. Mine is parallel to the ground. What does the up angle do for you? I know the obvious answer is “try it and see for yourself.” But at this point on my learning curve even small changes to my uni setup require a lot of getting use to. A few days ago I raised my seat half an inch and was amazed at how much it changed the feel.
Uni skills are purely a function of practice. You do run the risk of getting into bad habits, as with everything. Some will inhibit your progress, but with with the right practice you should be able to correct them. Your skills and proficiency will increase… just keep at it
I find the further you tilt the saddle up in the front the more it makes you sit back. Obviously there is a point where it longer is useful or even helps. Having the saddle tilt up a little more may help you put more weight onto the saddle. Try changing it and riding for 30 minutes to see if you feel any benefit.
Even with some experience and skill, small changes in setup have an effect for me. Raising my saddle takes a little getting used to. When you make changes, try limit the changes to 1 at a time to allow you to settle with it.
By no means am I an experienced rider. I bought my 20" cheapie at 40, learned to ride a straight line, then put it away for 2 years. Several weeks ago I got it back out and have been on it about every other day for about 2-3 hours at a time.
I think (and I may be wrong) that your loss of control after 100 feet may be due to you putting your weight on your legs and not on your butt. When your legs get tired, you start flailing. I did the same thing and raising the seat helped greatly with that.
The best thing I did to help my overall balance and control was to learn to idle. It took me several days to be able to idle for 30 seconds and while it may not be too pretty, it has greatly improved my control in all other aspects of riding. At first, I didn’t think I’d ever be able to idle, but persistance, persistance, persistance…
I’ve pinned 5 different freemounts and the easiest to learn (for me) and the one I use most often with the least amount of effort is the rolling mount. After 2 days, I had this one down to where I can do it without even thinking. Next would be the jump mount, which can be more than a little intimidating at first - just keep your eyes on the pedals until your feet hit them.
Also, visit Youtube to get visuals of the skills you’re trying to learn. And remember that you may not do them exactly like the guy on the video, but I think this is a skill that has room for individual modification.
The most useful tip I’ve picked up here on the forum is to “keep at it”. Thank you all for the positive attitudes. Some of the other forums I’ve visited (MTB forum) have a tendency to get a little hostile towards beginners.
Welcome to the forums! Always good to see new people on here. Now, those questions…
Of course, everyone’s experience is different. But I find that practice is the single most important thing when it comes to anything unicycle-related. You may well find yourself getting into bad habits (veering to one side, bad posture, etc) but in my experience simply spending more time riding tends to make these things go away on their own.
Everyone has their own way of doing things, so keep at it and your body and mind should somehow work it all out on their own. If all else fails the video and tutorial sections on the forum are generally very helpful!
Good question. I never really noticed it before, and the seats on my unis are pretty parallel to the ground. I don’t really do long-distance riding so it hasn’t been an issue for me, but I imagine that the seat angle is more of a comfort thing than anything else.
It shouldn’t really matter much for a (re)beginner like your are now. If you ride longer distances though (like an hour without dismounting), the seat pointing up makes you sit on the back of the seat which is wider and more comfortable. Contrary to intuition, it provides more room for the ‘boys’ when you are male.
Angling the seat in the front makes sense for a giraffe. A giraffe wants to pull the seat to your rear if you ride withg a normal posture. But like the OP I wonder about it for a regular uni with pedal axle at the wheel’s centre. Still, it’s no harm either, so maybe it’s just more comfortable that way.
