I’ve been riding for a few weeks on one of those red 16" beginner’s unicycles, and I’m looking around for a better one, Do you have any advice as to which brand I should buy? Also, I want to get a bigger size, what size should I get? (I’m 13 years old)
Get an inexpensive 24" Taiwanese unicycle and get off the 16", you’re probably too big for it. I say 24" because you will be able to do about anything you want including short range transportation which is a bit impractical on a 20" uni. If, however, you are a smallish 13 year old OR if your burning desire is to learn all of the freestyle skills you can as quickly as possible, get a 20" uni. Light off-road stuff can be done on either size, but not much on a 20" uni; the wheel is too small.
I like Torkers because they have flat crowns and main cap bearings. They have a saddle which is considered by most (myself included) to be FAR too small. Torkers have narrow frames and will not accept wide tires.
United makes unis with round tubing crowns. United makes an OK saddle. Some United unis have main cap bearings, some have lollipops. Frames that have lollipop bearings tend to fracture at the bearing screw anchor holes. Lollipop bearings are also difficult to service. Avoid lollipop bearings.
Savage makes an inexpensive uni which has an utterly worthless seat. I hear so many complaints about the seat that I don’t know what any of the other features are.
There are many other inexpensive brands which may be similar or even identical to the above. You can usually look at a photograph of one of these three types (in the unicycle.com catalog for example) and determine what you are looking at if you don’t recognize the brand.
I am a “smallish” 13 year old so I’d probably get a 20", the 16" is pretty small.
Best unicycle for me to buy.
[B][I]See there? "Never suppose; because it makes a “sup” out of “po” and “se”.
Not everybody who posts to this forum is big enough to type and tap their toes on the deck at the same time.[/B] [/I]
So do you think I should buy a Torker, a United, or a Savage? They are the best ones in my price range.
The Torker with an upgraded adult sized saddle it by far the best of the three. The stock Torker saddle is too small for anyone larger than a 7 year old. I don’t know what the price would be for a Torker with an upgraded saddle. unicycle.com should be able to swap saddles at the time of purchase. Give them a call and see what they can do.
Second choice would be a United with main cap bearings (not the lollipop bearings like the cheaper United).
<http://www.unicycle.com/shopping/shopexd.asp?id=26>
The Savage saddle is indeed savage. It’s a bad saddle design. The metal plate under the covers will literally cut your legs after the cover gets ripped.