Hi, I just bought my first unicycle and have undertaken the tedious(yet highly entertaining) task of trying to ride it! So far, all i’ve done is ride around holding someone’s wrist in a giant circle, but i’ve noticed that if i lean forward a bit, it becomes ALOT harder to pedal, but if I back, it gets alot easier, but I tend to put too much force on the pedals as oppose to the saddle (plus my unicycle tends to have a mind of its on and wants to race me from underneath and wabbles like crazy every once in a while) So I was wondering if you guys can give me a few pointers in terms of staying on the unicycle. thank
Progress update: I just rode 10 feet by myself with the help of a hanging chain (only for mounting). But when I tried to repeat the process, I biffed after 4 feet and the saddle shot straight up my groin.
Current conditions: Bruised shins, scratched cav, excruciating groin =(
Hi, welcome to the sport.
The secret to riding is to be relaxed, but to be determined.
The phenomenon you described about it being harder to pedal when leaning forwards was partly the result of someone trying to steady you.
Try this experiment:
Get a broom and balance it on your finger, with the head at the top.
It should be fairly easy for you to balance it as long as you look at the head of the broom, and you make small adjustments to the position of your hand to correct any wobbles.
What you have here is a high centre of gravity (center of mass) which means that the broom starts to fall very slowly, and you have plenty of time to move your hand to balance it.
Now try the same thing with a smaller object, like a sink plunger, hair brush or pencil. It will be much harder to balance it, and you will need to move your hand much faster and more precisely.
Now, let’s go back to the big broom.
Balance it, then try to walk a few metres. You can do it one of two ways:
You can let the broom start to fall, then follow it, not quite catching up with it. If you get it right, then your journey will be smooth and the broom won’t fall.
Or you can keep trying to regain the balance, which means that your hand is sometimes in front of the centre of gravity of the broom, and sometimes behind. Sometimes you’re correcting forwards, and sometimes you’re correcting backwards. This is hard work.
So, the way that you ride a unicycle is the first of these two ways. You let the centre of gravity fall slightly forwards, then you move the support (the contact patch between the tyre and the ground) to keep up with it. The perfect smooth ride is the one where the wheel moves forward at exactly the same speed as the centre of gravity falls. You pedal smoothly, and never hit the ground.
Think of an object in orbit: it’s always falling, but it never lands.
The bad way to ride a unicycle is to keep trying to regain balance after every “step” which means that sometimes the wheel is behind you, and sometimes it is ahead of you. You are constantly correcting and re-correcting, until you overcorrect and fall.
How do you achieve this smooth forward progression? By keeping your weight on the seat, rather than the pedals, and by pedalling smoothly, rarther than pumping the pedals down and stopping at the end of each pedal stroke. Let the unicycle start to lean ever so slightly, look a long way ahead (it helps balance) and pedal confidently and decisively - with your weight on the saddle.
Good luck.
sweet, thanks! I’ll keep trying
So far, I’ve managed to fall really far =) I can peddle like once or twice and by then my body is moving faster than my uni so intertia shoots me forward while my uni stands there watching and laughing at my tumble lol. But I’ll keep trying
yeah, you fall alot. Such is the uni.
Remind yourself that you have complete control over the wheel. If you need it to go foreward, pedal. Mikefule gave you a good experiment to visualize what is happening when you start to ride. It sounds like you are getting your body weight beyond the balance envelope, so you biff.
Try to be graceful. Put light pressure on the pedals, but rest yourself on the saddle. Ride slow and controlled, and don’t give up.
WOW! Unicycling is the most rewarding experience EVER!!!
I just wobbled 30 feet by myself and the addrenaline is AMAZING!
I don’t think a pound of assorted illegal substances can get you that kind of andorphine rush!! sooo sweeet (though i’m now drenched in sweat but it was more than worth it)
very brilliant explanation mikefule!
I have just one but: how come most unicyclists appear to have their seatpost leaning slightly backwards?
that is surprising: how does it stick with the broom-forward theory (the seatpost should be leaning slightly forward).
I think you are right but that there is something more in the position to have this combination of fall-forward + seatpost slightly backwards …
any hint?
bear
Congrats Jack, It’s a wonderful feeling 
There will be plenty more of them to come, trust me.
The post I made when it clicked for me is at http://www.unicyclist.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=32486
If you carefully examine the position of a person on a unicycle you’ll notice that most of the riders mass is positioned in front of the frame. This is especially true if the rider is leaning forward.
In order to maintain balance you need to have the rider’s center of gravity - which is slightly in front of the frame - directly over the wheel. To accomplish this, it is necessary that the frame lean a little bit to the back. The exception to this rule would come into play only when accelerating. In that case the frame might angle forward more. Usually, however, the rider simply leans forward more and the frame remains roughly vertical.
Now if human knees bent the other way it would be a different story.
-mg
Re: Center of Gravity (newbie unicyclist)
Mikefule-
THANK YOU THANK YOU
Your description was GREAT…
My 11 year old and I have been “riding” for two weeks.
He soars and zooms and cuts cool corners and flies
I struggle jerkily along, tiring out my 62 year old legs
after half a block.
I DON’T SIT…I suspend myself on the legs.
Now, we’ll see if I can convert brain understanding
to physical performance…
THANKS!
Al
Santa Monica
oster.at.Unicyclist.com>…
> Hi, welcome to the sport.
>
> The secret to riding is to be relaxed, but to be determined.
>
> The phenomenon you described about it
being harder to pedal when leaning
> forwards was partly the result of someone trying to steady you.
>
> Try this experiment:
>
> Get a broom and balance it on your finger, with the head at the top.
>
> It should be fairly easy for you to balance it as long as you look at
> the head of the broom, and you make small adjustments to the position of
> your hand to correct any wobbles.
>
> What you have here is a high centre of gravity (center of mass) which
> means that the broom starts to fall very slowly, and you have plenty of
> time to move your hand to balance it.
>
> Now try the same thing with a smaller object, like a sink plunger, hair
> brush or pencil. It will be much harder to balance it, and you will
> need to move your hand much faster and more precisely.
>
> Now, let’s go back to the big broom.
>
> Balance it, then try to walk a few metres. You can do it one of two
> ways:
>
> You can let the broom start to fall, then follow it, not quite catching
> up with it. If you get it right, then your journey will be smooth and
> the broom won’t fall.
>
> Or you can keep trying to regain the balance, which means that your hand
> is sometimes in front of the centre of gravity of the broom, and
> sometimes behind. Sometimes you’re correcting forwards, and sometimes
> you’re correcting backwards. This is hard work.
>
> So, the way that you ride a unicycle is the first of these two ways.
> You let the centre of gravity fall slightly forwards, then you move the
> support (the contact patch between the tyre and the ground) to keep up
> with it. The perfect smooth ride is the one where the wheel moves
> forward at exactly the same speed as the centre of gravity falls. You
> pedal smoothly, and never hit the ground.
>
> Think of an object in orbit: it’s always falling, but it never lands.
>
> The bad way to ride a unicycle is to keep trying to regain balance after
> every “step” which means that sometimes the wheel is behind you, and
> sometimes it is ahead of you. You are constantly correcting and
> re-correcting, until you overcorrect and fall.
>
> How do you achieve this smooth forward progression? By keeping your
> weight on the seat, rather than the pedals, and by pedalling smoothly,
> rarther than pumping the pedals down and stopping at the end of each
> pedal stroke. Let the unicycle start to lean ever so slightly, look a
> long way ahead (it helps balance) and pedal confidently and decisively -
> with your weight on the saddle.
>
> Good luck.
The seatpost appears to be tilted backwards because when we sit, our butts are not always under our center of gravity. In the case of a unicycle, it’s a little further forward, so, in order to keep the center of gravity over the center of the wheel, the seat tilts back slightly.
Or in the broom example, it’s as if the head is not balanced, meaning it is much heavier on one side than the other. This would make the center of gravity fall on a point not along the broom handle. In order to keep it balanced, that point must rest directly above the point of contact on your hand, even if the handle isn’t perfectly vertical
Re: Center of Gravity (newbie unicyclist)
Hi everyone. Here is another beginner. I also have a problem with not
sitting down. Instead I stand on the pedals.
During my short rides back and forth between the walls in the attic (my
present dojo) I shout at myself SIT! SIT! but I am too busy trying to
control my limbs and don’t listen to what the better half of me has to
say.
So I stopped shouting and instead raised the seat so much it became
impossible not to keep weight on it. It does help a little. It also
lessens the risk for any neighbour to come up wondering what the hell
all that shouting is about.
GC
Six days of training, still not in plaster. Success!
goldenchicken, whaqt ever works for you, works for you, but my suggestion would be to drop the seat just a smidge from where you have it.
What do you tell the new rider? I’ve been riding for a few years now and everytime I try to figure out how I stay up, I fall off.
The best way to learn is by practicing the easiest skill you can do without hurting yourself. So maybe buy some pads for your shins/knees/hands/head. Next for riding, start along a wall. Even if every once in a while you can go a distance without falling off, you have to balance this with the need to get good feelings into your system.
In the beginning the easiest skill is simply getting on the unicycle and learning to sit on it without too much weight on the pedals, the pedals being kept in a line parallel with the ground, giving you maximum control. (If you haven’t guessed it by now, unicycling is all about control)
Next you can try to do a half revolution of the wheel so the pedals are again parallel with the ground. Note: you are trying to do this in good form with most of your weight on the seat.
Eventually you will be able to do a number (3-4) of complete revs in good form, with good balance (control). At this point you can venture away from the wall and see how far you get. If you start riding when you are under control you have a good chance of getting one or two revs away from the wall and see what controlled riding feels like. This is how you learn, you have to experience the right feeling, enough times, and then you get it.
The wall teaches you lots of things on the cheap: number one is how to fall off without hurting yourself (by landing on your feet).
You can learn the same thing with a helper or two, but then you need to get folks to help out.
If you have trouble getting on at first, get a 2x4 or so to use as a stop for the tire. This holds the wheel steady as you mount.
(Also note that a thin hallway is a great place to learn, but is hard on doorways and walls when the uni shoots out.)
In summary, my opinion is that there is very little to think about except your choice of practice area and technique. Try to maximize your on seat time by using supports, and use supports to minimize injury as you learn to fall off first in a safe way.
Re: Re: Center of Gravity (newbie unicyclist)
u’re caught on the wrong end of the law of diminishing returns
the harder u fight the unicycle for some semblance of stabillity, the less of it u’ll find
the harder u fight for it, the more likely u r to try n find it on your feet
we are used to stability being communicated thru equal pressure under our feet
on the unicycle (as in horseriding), the feet are not the main source of stability
your sitting-machine is
(i’m so tired of the trans-atlantic ass vs arse controversy…)
the more u sit, the more stable u’ll feel
for a variety of reasons, one of them being the fact that your super-tense legs wont stab at the pedals causing the jerky movements everyone experienced at some point during the learning curve
“…just relax, take it easy…”
MIKEFULE, the ‘Walking with Broomsticks’ analogy was truly inspired
i can see myself quoting that at people for a very long time
thank you