I’m looking for 16" unicycles for my 5 yr old and 7 yr old. The choices are:
Jugglebug $79 United $59 plastic United $69 chrome Torker $69 chrome SemXL $165
I’m leaning toward the United plastic. Do these plastic uni’s hold up well
enough under moderate use? Are they lighter? Seems like the ruggedness of a
Sem isn’t necessary at this age. After a few years the kids will outgrow
them anyway.
Joe Merrill
RE: choosing a kids unicycle
>
> I’m looking for 16" unicycles for my 5 yr old and 7 yr old. The choices
> are: Jugglebug $79 United $59 plastic United $69 chrome Torker $69 chrome
> SemXL $165
>
> I’m leaning toward the United plastic. Do these plastic uni’s hold up well
> enough under moderate use? Are they lighter? Seems like the ruggedness of a
> Sem isn’t necessary at this age. After a few years the kids will outgrow
> them anyway.
>
> Joe Merrill
Joe, check out J. C. Penny’s, I got a 16" plastic wheel with a steel frame and a
good looking seat, all for $39.95 plus shipping. It seems to be very strong, or
at least as strong as any plastic wheel. The steel frame seems strong and it has
cotterless cranks, good looking pedals. Altogether I am well satisfied with it.
Lowell yoda@socket.netRe: choosing a kids unicycle
Of course the Sem is the best unicycle on your list, but check out the Torker. I
know a few people that have them and like them. I would stay away from plastic
if at all possible.
—Nathan
<Nycjoe@aol.com> wrote in message news:60.cbefbc0.27efa21c@aol.com…
> I’m looking for 16" unicycles for my 5 yr old and 7 yr old. The choices
are:
> Jugglebug $79 United $59 plastic United $69 chrome Torker $69 chrome
> SemXL $165
>
> I’m leaning toward the United plastic. Do these plastic uni’s hold up
well
> enough under moderate use? Are they lighter? Seems like the ruggedness
of a
> Sem isn’t necessary at this age. After a few years the kids will outgrow
> them anyway.
>
> Joe Merrill
Re: choosing a kids unicycle
Nathan Hoover wrote:
> Of course the Sem is the best unicycle on your list, but check out the Torker.
> I know a few people that have them and like them. I would stay away from
> plastic if at all possible.
>
> —Nathan
Our Scout group has six 20" Torkers. They are pretty good, and relatively rigged
unicycles. The seats, however, are small and very uncomfortable. If buying a
Torker I would get a Viscount seat to go with it. I would even look into seeing
if you could swap the seat/upgrade to a Viscount when you buy it.
The beauty of buying a Sem XL from the Unicycle Source is that it comes with
Kovachi wheel. They are excellent, probably better than a stock Miyata wheel. At
$165 I think this is the best deal you can find on a new freestyle unicycle.
As to outgrowing a 20" unicycle, I would say that that is relative. While they
may be big enough to ride a 24" uni, they may want to continue using a 20" uni
for skills and tricks. Several of our Scouts have 24" unis, but borrow our
20"Torkers to play hockey.
My families Unicycle fleet includes several types and sizes of unicycles, from
16" to 36". Woody’s favorite unicycle, at least the one he rides most is a 20"
Miyata. Woody is 5’11" and can easily reach the pedals on all of our unicycles.
John Hooten
>
> <Nycjoe@aol.com> wrote in message news:60.cbefbc0.27efa21c@aol.com…
> > I’m looking for 16" unicycles for my 5 yr old and 7 yr old. The choices
> are:
> > Jugglebug $79 United $59 plastic United $69 chrome Torker $69 chrome
> > SemXL $165
> >
> > I’m leaning toward the United plastic. Do these plastic uni’s hold up
> well
> > enough under moderate use? Are they lighter? Seems like the ruggedness
> of a
> > Sem isn’t necessary at this age. After a few years the kids will outgrow
> > them anyway.
> >
> > Joe Merrill
RE: choosing a kids unicycle
yoda wrote:
> Joe, check out J. C. Penny’s, I got a 16" plastic wheel with a steel frame and
> a good looking seat, all for $39.95 plus shipping. It seems to be very strong,
> or at least as strong as any plastic wheel. The steel frame seems strong and
> it has cotterless cranks, good looking pedals. Altogether I am well satisfied
> with it.
I also got a JC Penny uni for my kids. It seems sturdy and actually has a
decent, durable seat on it. Note that they don’t stock this in the stores, it’s
a catalog order only item. I ordered this one using their web-based order system
and picked it up at my local store a few days later. It’s a great deal.
“Wow, I didn’t know being a super hero could be so painful.”
RE: choosing a kids unicycle
>
> yoda wrote:
>
> > Joe, check out J. C. Penny’s, I got a 16" plastic wheel with a steel frame
> > and a good looking seat, all for $39.95 plus shipping. It seems to be very
> > strong, or at least as strong as any plastic wheel. The steel frame seems
> > strong and it has cotterless cranks, good looking pedals. Altogether I am
> > well satisfied with it.
>
> I also got a JC Penny uni for my kids. It seems sturdy and actually has a
> decent, durable seat on it. Note that they don’t stock this in the stores,
> it’s a catalog order only item. I ordered this one using their web-based order
> system and picked it up at my local store a few days later. It’s a great deal.
>
> Greg
Hi Greg, it’s been a while since we talked. I ordered mine shipped direct to my
house. I forgot, when you have it shipped to a local store, do you have to pay
the shipping anyway?
Another thing I forgot to mention about this unicycle is that it has the “main
bearing” style of bearing retainers. My great grandson hasn’t broken it yet. It
must be a pretty strong unicycle.
Lowell yoda@socket.netRe: choosing a kids unicycle
Hey all, I have a friend who is 6’1" and probably 160 pounds who learned to ride
in 3 days on one of these! He bought it at a J.C. Penney outlet store for $12
U.S.! It had been returned but it is perfect condition. From seeing him riding
it, it MUST be strong. Don’t ask me how he learned on such a small uni.
Jeff
On Tue, 27 Mar 2001 23:43:44 -0600 Greg House
<ghouse@spammenot.southwind.net> writes:
> yoda wrote:
>
> > Joe, check out J. C. Penny’s, I got a 16" plastic wheel with a
> steel
> > frame and a good looking seat, all for $39.95 plus shipping. It
> seems
> > to be very strong, or at least as strong as any plastic wheel.
> The
> > steel frame seems strong and it has cotterless cranks, good
> looking
> > pedals. Altogether I am well satisfied with it.
>
> I also got a JC Penny uni for my kids. It seems sturdy and actually has a
> decent, durable seat on it. Note that they don’t stock this in the stores,
> it’s a catalog order only item. I ordered this one using their web-based order
> system and picked it up at my local store a few days later. It’s a great deal.
>
> Greg
> –
> “Wow, I didn’t know being a super hero could be so painful.”
>
>
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Need help
Looking to buy my 9 year old a unicycle. He just started to learn about 2 weeks ago. He is 49 inches and weighs 85 pounds. Any suggestions?
What’s he using now? The general rule is 20" unless it’s too big for him. 16" are best for kids that can’t fit a 20". Here’s a good selection (they have other locations if you’re not in the US). The cycles are sized by leg length, so that’s the measurement to start with. Not inseam, but actual crotch to floor.
Zombie alert!
Wow – this thread lay dormant for a decade! I wonder what the record is?
Thank you for resurrecting this old thread. The title says it all. Give the kid a chance and get him the right size unicycle. My kids are 7 & 8. The 12" was helpful for “getting the feel” around the basement but it was not until she got a 16" Trainer hat she was able to ride 10 feet (still her record to date). She is almost tall enough for a 20" to pass the 16" down to him. One of these days, good Lord willing, we will all be riding 36ers leaving all the smaller wheels to the Tiger Cub Scouts and Brownie’s.
I think John put it very well in this (below) thread. I am over anxious (an understatement) to teach my kids to ride because a family that plays together stays together and besides, Louisville Kentucky needs two more unicyclists to bring the grand total to three. I’m raising my own herd of riding mates.
suggestions for 4.5 ft kids 8 and 10
My kids are in circus camp and have been exposed to unicycling. They are both about 4.5 ft tall with decently long legs and weigh about 65 and 75 lbs. I’ve always wanted to try, too (mom, 5 ft 8, 130 lbs). Sound like people like a Torker of some kind, a 20 in Avenir Mountain Bike, available on Amazon in Canada where we are, or a Schwinn.
Any suggestions about sizes or further advice on brands or what to look for?
Elke
Out of those options, I’d say a torker is the best bang for your buck. A torker LX is definitely worth the extra money over the torker CX as well. It’d probably be best to start with a 20", all of you should be able to learn on one.
I am teaching my 7 year old. He can almost use my wife’s 20", but not quite tall enough. On the 16" he’s got the post extended almost to its limit.
I am thinking of cutting down my wife’s frame because although he’s making decent progress (he’s riding maybe 3 to 4 revs without holding on to me) I suspect he may do better on a 20. The 16" wheel is really twitchy, and I notice it’s hard for him to keep it moving smoothly.
Wow, a thread started twelve years ago, man you guys are really diggin for gold 
Elke, any old uni will do, just so long as they fit inseam wise. Get the biggest wheel you can fit them to, measure their inseam, the kids grow fast.
You can use Unicycle.com for info, they have an inseam guide to use in fitting kids. Don’t forget to add a little bit to the inseam for shoe thickness.
My Sun 20" learner has a minimum inseam of 26", so a child with a 24-25 inseam is the smallest rider it’ll work for, though with the original “flatter seat” it would probably be good down to 23" or so.
I’m thinking that the kids would fit a 20", worse case scenario you have to get someone to cut down the frame, which is easy with a hacksaw and dremel.
Also, crank length can make a big difference in fit, so short cranks require less inseam length than longer cranks. Some of the 20" unis come with cranks as short as 114mm (Nimbus Club), whereas the Sun Flatop 20" has 125mm cranks, so ~1/2" more inseam required on the Sun.
Make a 20" fit, your kids and your wallet will thank you 
The limit for kids is often the inseam. You may want to measure it. Do they have a bike that fits them well, with nearly full extension for their legs? If so, then measure the distance from the seat (top, center) to the lowest position of the pedal–that is the inseam measurement you want to use for a unicycle.
A 20" is a nice size if they can manage the inseam. Both Torker (LX by preference) or Club (Unicycle.com) are good quality starter unicycles. Do not get very short cranks to begin with because it makes it harder to learn. My recollection is that 125 mm would be OK.
You can also learn on a 20". By the time you cut down the seat post for the kids, it will be much too short for you to ride. The cheapest approach would be to get a second seat post and a seat. You can then use the 20" by switching to your higher seat. Alternatively, you could take the plunge and just buy another unicycle.
Have fun learning to unicycle.
Scott
Thank you.
Thank you for all this great advice. I’m glad I didn’t buy one blindly! I’m going to start by looking at the inseam lengths of all of us.
inseams measured
… ok, my kids have inseams without shoes of 24.5 inches, and without shoes I’m nearly 33 inches… looks like with shoes the 20 inch would just fit us all. My kids will have room to grow, and I’ll eventually shrink to fit perfectly! I would need 2 seat posts, I see, though. Would that be better than getting a 16 inch cycle for the kids?
I’m leaning toward the Torker LX.
Elke
I think it would be, 20" really seems to be the sweet spot for learning. Getting another post without another saddle would be hard as torker LXs use a non standard bolting pattern but for $40 you can get a seat and post
http://www.amazon.com/Torker-Unistar-DX-LX-Pro-Saddle/dp/B0037N54IK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1376751659&sr=8-1&keywords=torker+lx+seat
that would work. Or, there’s a reasonable chance you could still ride a cut down seatpost if you raised it up. Let me go check the basement to see if it looks like it would work with just one.