I started bike trials after 1 year of uni riding. I think the biggest advantage is here ^^^. I’ve found back wheel hopping completely different to trials riding and don’t think that previous bike skills help more than previous uni skills, so far.
I know youve been a bit out of the loop for a bit, so ill let it slide that you didnt put Max in your list. Though im not sure if he is a purist.
The prejudice against b*ke riders in these forums is obvious. I agree with you Terry. I have met good trials bike riders and they seem to have instantly transferrable skills for unicycling. Balance and confidence are two main ones. Ability to hop on the spot on the back (one) wheel is also an advantage. Trying to ride puts them back in the beginner category needing to figure out muscle reflexes but I think the advantages of having balance and confidence in your own abilities is obvious. A lot of learners will spend time hugging a rail or wall while the bike trials riders will give anything a go without irrational fear of hurting themselves. Whoever says being a trials bike rider is no advantage to learning unicycling has probably never loaned their unicycle to a trials bike rider.
Its also going to be different for everyone anyways. One person will take to things better than another regardless of what background they have.
While people are diverse in their learning differences, I think background plays a big part in your attitude and how fast you learn. After teaching for quite a while in a couple of urban schools, and then going to teach at a rural school for a day, the contrast in ability and attitude was vast. I know it is a generalisation but it seems that the town kids have been protected from themselves so much that they are not so connected to their own bodies- they tend to cling to the wall or hand for much longer than the rural people who seem to know their own bodies much better. There is a saying “Use it or lose it”, and what background you have can have some influence in whether or not you have used or lost your natural abilities. It is that same reason that young people tend to be better at learning unicycling because they haven’t yet lost their desire to learn, or gained unrealistic fears that put some older potential riders off like “I will break my neck!”
The bike looks way harder to ride along a skinny handrail on than a unicycle! Seeing those trials bikes hopping around on the back tire makes me think it looks like a unicycle with handlebars and no seat.
True, but I was just throwing it in there. like in this case of my friend, who is a great guitar player, which takes coordination and rhythm, cant play drums at all, or even stay on beat on a set. Where as other friends, with no music background, can sit down and easily keep a beat going. Youd think that the one with music experience would be able to keep the beat like it was nothing, but some people just dont work that way.
Balancing on a rail on a bike does look a lot harder. I know on a uni I can ride along 2-3inch wide anything and just cruise along fine. On a bike, even being on that wide of a surface, I cant maintain it for very long.
There are a lot of multi-talented musicians who sound good on both drums and guitar. I think playing guitar would not be a disadvantage to playing drums, unless you are so good at guitar and so stink at drums that it makes you want to practise the guitar more than the drums. I guess the same could be true with trials bike riders- their motivation to practise the bike would be greater than their motivation to practise unicycling since the rewards of doing something you are good at might feel better. So I think riding trials bikes may not be a huge advantage to learning unicycling but it would be a definite advantage!
I’m gonna have a go on my guitar I think!
(I’m no good at drums)…
Sorry for drifting a bit off topic.
I agree a bit w/ MuniAddict, but more w/ Sponge.
How about this:
Rider A: A typical person in good shape
Rider B: A person who is able to do a WIDE variety of ballance/coordination sports, and is even good at a few, but great at none
Rider C: A pro bike trials rider
IMO rider A would learn averything the slowest and have the least potential. Rider C may be able to do a few things pretty quickly, ie hopping onto a bench. Rider B might not be good at a few things right away like rider C, but he’d learn everything fairly quickly and have the greatest potential of the three.
I think if you want to be a great skilled rider, you should start young and do that type of riding A LOT, and to keep from getting bored, spending a fair amount doing all of the other technical aspects of unicycling ie, freestyle, street, flat, Muni, North Shore, trials, steep climbs, & high speed riding (not distance). Doing some unrelated balance/coordination sports a bit could be helpful, like skateboarding, surfing, footbag and soccer. Also challenge your ballance as much as possible when not riding.
I believe it was in the original UNIVERSE video that a pro bike trials rider tried out a unicycle. He was able to hop immediately, and ride forward in a wobbly way within 5 minutes. So yes, there are clearly some transferable skills.
There are also skills transferable the other way, as Ryan Atkins made a relatively easy transition into being a top competitive MTB rider.
^The part about hopping right away is totally true. As is for seat-in sidehops and static gaps. Wobbly riding yes also to a small extent. Still, it’s nothing particularly groundbreaking.
I tend to agrre with you on this, though it is not always true (as with every theory).
People seem to think the other way around as well, that since I know my way around a unicycle pretty well that I must be some sort of expert bicyclist. A guy I knew at work told me that he would never be able to ride a unicycle, reasoning that he couldn’t even ride without using handlebars on a bike, so riding a unicycle must be impossible. I told him that I couldn’t either, and that I suck at riding bikes. He seemed to think that was an incredulous claim. A unicycle is not half of a bike, it is its own type of machine. The vast differences in technique needed for riding each should be proof enough of that.
I’ve had people think the same exact thing. Bikes and unicycles ride totally differently.