LOL, clearly it didn’t! I needed the alternate days to recover!
Every Other Day?
Yeah, I’m trying to get time in every day, but it is kind of playing out as three evenings week and an hour or two on Saturday.
Hope that does the job.
well it is a lot like having an old computer with some random hardware / software issue. yes you can type your assignments on it and email it to work / school, but you have to contend with the occasional random lock-ups and reboots, system hangs etc. you can still be productive, but the odds are working against you.
buying a new pc is almost guaranteed to set you free of any hardware and software problems and you will be able to do what you need to do without fighting against the system you are using.
if your uni just looks like crap but works, then so be it just use it. but if you feel yourself fighting against it (it leans turns to one side, peddles or cranks keep falling off) then retire it and get something decent.
and, considering i hardly ever ride my uni i still can’t say enough good things about my nimbus trials.
If you think it’s junk, and have the money, then replace it. When you are learning, it’s nice to know that what you are riding is OK so that you can concentrate on learning the required skills. If you are not happy with the uni, you will constantly wonder “is it me or this piece of crap that’s causing this problem” If you have something decent, there is no excuses, and you know you just have to keep trying.
Ya, it’s possible to learn to ride on pretty much anything given enough time and sheer stubborn pride, but why bother if you don’t have to?
Very true.
I learned on a 20" Norco from the late 80s. I new no one else the unicycled, all I had was a book. By today’s standards, that unicycle would be considered low quality, but the unicycle worked fine and I did learn to ride. Once I started crusing the length of a street it became obvious that I need something better, but I still have the original.
It’s determination that is the biggest factor to learning how to ride.
One thing you could consider is to buy something new, like what’s been suggested, and then if you really don’t enjoy it, sell it for a bit less. Unicycles tend to go quickly on the used market in this area.
Moot point maybe, But that sure looks like an old Schwinn to me.
What’s a Loyd?
BTW… I rode my preverbial wobbler (if it applies) all over the place as a kid, the outdoor mall, to School, all over the neighborhood for years. Good memories.
Sorry, got to disagree with you on the unicycle and the computer:
It may be a better situation in Australia, but around here, most new PCs come with so much crapware pre-loaded, you already have a mess on your hands. Now I have the same situation with my (Android) phone!
Parts falling off yes, but otherwise, how is a beginner rider to know why the unicycle won’t stay right-side up? That’s why I said if it’s a “real” unicycle with real parts and a real unicycle seat, it’s fine for learning. Beyond that, if you can’t ride you can’t tell the difference.
There is a tendency for beginner riders to blame the hardware. After all, it can’t be this hard to ride a unicycle… can it?
Basically an old Schwinn. Schwinn bought the design from Loyd Wicker Smith. His unicycles came first.
Crappy unicycles were the best we could get in the old days. Don’t let the quest for perfection be the barrier to finding the good.
I know two young lads who have learned on a rough uneven lawn, one on a tired old 20" with 150mm cranks, and one on a KH24 muni. The common factor is a desire to ride.
And when you can ride, you will appreciate the upgrade to a better machine.
i think you nailed it. from what i have experienced we don’t get loaded with bloat. hell, a little bloat might even be nice considering the prices of a new system and software etc.
“beyond that, if you can’t ride you can’t tell the difference.” <- that is the problem though. for ages i thought i had some issue with turning to one side and read all the threads about this and was so unsure if it was me or the uni, once i got my nimbus my riding was 100x better and no lean, no nothing, just bliss. when you don’t know you don’t know, and it goes both ways unfortunately. taking away the psychological issue of being unsure if the tool you are using is faulty or not is a big monkey off the shoulders, plus you can’t go wrong with getting a new uni… needed or not.
But if all you want to do is learn how to install an (let’s say linux ;-)) all you need is an old computer.
To learn to ride all you need is a unicycle. If it’s old, good you wont mind getting it bashed and when it breaks and you want to do more, buy a nice shiny one. I learnt on a no name second hand trainer with a terrible seat without a handle. I wouldn’t want to learn on a nice shiny KH or even a Nimbus X.
Sounds like you need to root…
** Hey oceansea, old dog new trick and ?..I’d say…yea…just relax on hurting your wallet. My first uni was one of the better ones of the day (nishiki 20"), and I trashed it real fast trying to not fall off, but did, a lot… Seat got so bad it had sharp edges like a folded tin can and tore my jeans/shorts. It’s all I had so I rode till I bled, literally, man that hurt.
Then I ended up with a 1975 schwinn 24" (and things happen faster on a 24, “zip bonk!” although not new and strong) I occasionally still ride it. It’s a 20" monty trials (conversion) rig now.
Bottom line, get an old beater and get your ride base, Don’t destroy your pretty new stuff learning, see if your really into it, then figure out what you want from there. Simple…just ride.
Maybe. But do I really need to be a hacker for my hardware to not suck?
Problem is, I’m the administrator for about 65 of those phones (Samsung Moment) and I’d prefer keeping it the same as everyone else’s…
I’m in the ride what you got team.
1985, 24" Schwinn, no internet, no book, didn’t know anyone who could ride. Figured it all for myself including free mounting in about two weeks of 15-30 minutes a day.
I sort of agree about the not beating up your new uni, but realistically a uni on flat ground can only hit the pedal and the seat. Not really a problem since dropped Unis are a given at any level of riding and today’s saddles have bumpers so seats are not as vulnerable as in days past.
Here is how I look at it. Assuming it is mechanically sound, an old beater is not what is holding you back.
In motorcycling there is an often repeated phrase. Ride more, worry less.
it seems everyone here has already forgotten that
- the OP has ALREADY got an old clunky pos.
- has had bits of it breaking
- it seems to not be centered correctly
- personally feels that the uni is creating issues on top of the already difficult learning curve and feels a struggle with the uni
the OP is already beating an old horse and is fighting against its sucky nature. time to bury it and start new. you don’t rechew a piece of old gum stuck under a desk.
Edit : OP - maybe take it to a bike shop for a good service if it isn’t too expensive. After that you will either know it’s worth continuing with or not.
My first unicycle was a Pashley 20" UMX. It had cheap lollipop bearings held in place with self tapping screws, so that the bearing holders rattled slightly in the frame. When I tried to tighten the screws one sheared off.
The seat was a solid horizontal bar of metal with a thin pice of sponge held loosely in place on top by a seat cover made of fabric about as thick as typical ripstop. It caused horrible bruising in two lines on my backside, matching the hard edges of the metal. The cranks were cottered and regularly worked loose. The pedals were plastic. Seat adjustment required a spanner - until I scavenceg a “quick release” (one winged wing nut) from a shopper bicycle.
Soon after I bought the 20" UMX, my neighbour “built” me a unicycle by cutting the seat tube and bottom bracket off a bicycle and welding it onto the front forks. He made a similar seat to the one on the Pashley UMX, but without the padding. I softened it a bit with a piece of old carpet tile.
I bought a crank set from a child’s bicycle (because I needed a small chain ring) and the cranks were probably about 110 mm long. There was a chain drive down to a child-sized wheel (12"? Maybe 14"?) with a sprocket that was not welded in place or held on with a lock ring. This produced a low-rise giraffe (seat around chest height) geared to somethign around 30 - 35 inches. If I trie to slow down too suddenly the sprocket unwound and the wheel locked.
The same neighbour made me another frame a bit taller, with similar problems.
On these three unicycles, I learned to ride, and although the two “giraffes” were never more than a novelty for short rides along the road outside my house to show it could be done, I soon got into riding around the local nature reserve (unmade muddy tracks) on the 20" Pashley. I was regularly riding 2 - 3 miles in an evening.
This was in 1987.
I bought my first “good quality” unicycle around 17 years later. That was also a Pashley, but with a 26 inch wheel. The lollipop bearings were now held in place with bolts that went all the way through, which were more secure. The tyre was cheap and nasty, with a central row of nobbles that made it squirm on hard surfaces. Square taper hub, and heavy steel cranks. It had a Viscount seat which is heavier than about three KH seats tied together with lead piping. The whole thing was about half as heavy again as the Nimbus equivalent, and about half as good.
On this I was soon riding 10 miles in an evening on roads and footpaths. I also rode “cross country” around rough field boundaries and the like.
My first Nimbus was a 20" and my second was a 24" Nimbus 1 withthe inverted Y fork crown, square taper hubs, steel cranks and a Viscount seat. The tyre was about 38mm section (?) suitable for a shopper bicycle.
None of this is exaggerated.
<<those who say it doesn’t matter and to persevere are exactly the same people who never had a dodgy uni in their lives and only ever owned a nimbus or KH from day one.>>
I say persevere. When you do get a Nimbus or a KH you will then genuinely appreciate how much easier it is.
All good points, See what it takes to fix it, go from there. Then go…!
And yes…I too am an old school “run what you brung” to the races kinda guy as well. I ride acording to conditions, bike/uni included. Onward
I learned how to ride on a Gravity uni I bought off eBay for $60. Thing lived up it’s name, being extremely heavy. I taught myself how to ride and free mount on it. I rode it till I striped the hub. Afterwards I bought a Nimbus II. Much lighter, wider tire and more responsive, I can’t say the learning curve got better.
As others have said, it’s the determination that gets you riding, not the ride itself. I would practice everyday till I could ride around the tennis court. Once I got comfty with that, I braved up and rode out the gates, and the rest, as they say, is history. Just keep at it and you will get it. When you do finally upgrade, you will appreciate it more.
It would be nice to hear back from him; we’ve only gotten the one post in this thread. Hopefully he’s out learning to ride (or shopping for an upgrade):
- He has a Loyd, not a POS. Though we don’t know what the seat is, or if it goes high enough, otherwise it’s luxury.
- The valve stem broke because the unicycle is over 40 years old. No other reports of breakage. Hopefully he didn’t take off the crank to change the tire…
- He can’t ride without holding onto a wall; how does he know if the unicycle is centered or not?
- New rider is surprised at the learning curve. Is there anyone out there that did not experience this? It is natural to question the hardware, but unless we get more information that’s all we know.
It’s important to remember the point of view of the beginner rider. They don’t know what to expect, and before learning to ride, it’s basically impossible to tell if it’s a hardware problem or a user problem (or both).
Yes. All unicycles are overly difficult to keep upright during the learning process. 
Luxury. As I’ve written about in other threads, during my attempts to learn on the Troxel unicycle I started out with, I had the opportunity to take one ride on a 24" Schwinn. While I could get maybe 3 meters on the Troxel, in my single attempt I rode the Schwinn 100+ meters down the street. It was a dream! In my case, the hardware was definitely holding me back. For those that haven’t been following along, a Loyd is essentially the same as a Schwinn, except for the unknown seat.
Yikes! I’ve seen pictures of the old DM and Pashley unicycles, and always wondered what those seats were like. Apparently worse than they looked!
I can think of a few rides where learning would be very painful. I don’t know how anyone learned to ride on this one. Although it’s true the basic motions would all be the same, practice time would be very limited.
Perhaps the answer is, you can learn on any unicycle, but some of the really low end ones will limit achievement.