Hi there,
I’m fairly new to unicycling, and at the minute I can only do a basic ride.
My question to you all, out of interest more than anything, is which method of freemounting do you prefer and why? Which is best, in your opinion, for learning to freemount initially?
I would be very interested to hear your comments and views!
Many thanks
Mark Watson
My preferred method of freemounting is static mount. Mostly because I’m a trials rider.
The one I learn first was the jump mount.
The one I like best is the static mount. I ride a lot of trials and street.
One of my friends can only do a rollback mount, or a rolling mount, so he has the hardest times ever trying to mount on a rock or ledge. Static mount allows you to mount on a dime, and then go anywhere form there. Thats also good, cause I like to line of my gaps and stairsets to be perfectly alligned, and I usually make a little mental mark or actually place something there, and its a lot easier to static mount on that spot.
Rolling mount is my second favorite, cause most times I just walk along and step right onto the uni. Its convienent.
I also think the rolling mount is best to learn at first, cause that kinda works down to a static mount too.
Mark,
You have to ask unicycling questions in the main unicycling forum –
Rec.Sport.Unicycling
http://www.unicyclist.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=3
You will get a lot more answers and a lot fewer complains about posting in the wrong place. 
No worries, but this forum (Just Conversation) is for off-topic, non-unicycling stuff only. I’m not complaining! I’m just letting you know. Also, you should use the Search feature. Questions about mounting have been asked and answered many, many times. People are going to tell you “use the search!”. But by this point in time, probably every aspect of unicycling has already been discussed over and over, so people who complain “use the search!” are probably guilty of starting threads about topics already discussed. I mean, we have to keep talking! New conversation is good. But in this case – a super-newbie asking a very basic question – it’s probably best to use the search facility and read what’s already been said about freemounting (hey, I’ve written some pretty good stuff about it, myself). And then if you have a new angle for discussion, then, by all means, start a new thread!
You are obviously a thoughtful person who takes the effort to create well-written posts (let’s just say that not everyone here bothers to spell correctly, use proper grammar, punctuate and capitalize, proof-read, etc., or even write things worth reading). As such, I know you will become a valued member of our little community. So don’t worry if someone complains. You have to put their complaint in perspective (there’s a bit of low-quality posting going on that they are trying to clean up, but you don’t fit into that category).
Once again, welcome!
Hi there,
Thanks for all the responses!
uni57 - my apologies, I am new to this forum and so I didn’t realise that this post was in the wrong place. As you said, I do want to become a useful and helpful member of this community, but I hope you can forgive me for making this rookie mistake.
As for your suggestion of using the search function, I did use that to learn about different methods, but I was more interested in people’s favourites (hence, this post).
I will try not to make a mistake like this again, but thanks for pointing it out! As with unicycling, in life you learn by your mistakes!
Thanks for the help and advice from you all!
Many thanks
Mark Watson
Jump high, land softly.
Hey, at least you didn’t make a poll in the video forum:p
I suspect the static mount will be the most popular. It’s the easiest to do and the least troublesome. It’s also very very useful for trials for the reasons explained by Jerrick.
Then, there’s probably the roll-back mount. It’s also really easy and I think it’s the first mount learnt for many people. I don’t remember ever trying it myself.
It’d be really cool to have someone who only mounts with kick-up mounts. I could never get them consistent myself.
I’m not consistent in my freemounting just yet, but I use the rolling mount, and in the past few days, have started practicing a static mount. The static mount was scary at first since I really had to force myself to LUNGE forward to do it, but I’m starting to really see the benefits of it. It might end up being my favorite once I really start to get good at it and once I start exploring off-road.
I find i use the rollback mount most often, but use the static mount when in a situation were the rollback mount become inpractical.
Rollback
Rollback.
Because it helps you get comfortable with the basic principle of idling, which you will want to learn next.
The ‘kick-up’ mount is also very kewl.
Hey, I am in the very same situation but so far I have discussed this in the German section of this forum.
I made 2 Videos of my first tries of free-mounting. There is also a video that an experienced user made.
Look here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQAMujGclVI (This starts with holding to something but then I am trying to do it free-hand)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6YQa3lr9tNI
http://de.youtube.com/watch?v=dUJxbokAXnU
I hope this helps. I can only say that my success rate is still below 10%…
I use the side mount almost exclusively. Had problems learning static and rollback so tried side and nailed it quicker and more frequently, so just stuck with it. I can use the static and rollback now, but through habit use the side mount still.
(not on my 29" though, but I’ve nearly got it!)
If anyone explains to me how the sidemount works, I will try it …
Put your left foot on the left pedal and hold the seat in your hand. Move your right foot between your left leg and the unicycle. Swing it around the front of the seat, put the seat underneath you, and your right foot on the pedal.
or this
Hoped this helped somewhat hugo. 
HAZMAT
I’ll try it ASAP. Thanks! 