Ok…before I get flamed for asking a question that has been posted 2,000 times…I have read (what feels like) all of those postings…and I am still unsure what to get.
I want to get my 18-year old college freshman daughter a unicycle for Christmas.
She is 5’ 6" tall (I have no idea what her inseam is), she weighs about 125 and is very athletic (college soccer and track athlete).
From what I can gather, a “Torker LX” would be a good starter uni, but I keep going back and forth between a 20" and 24". She probably wouldn’t be doing any tricks on it, but I can surely see some of her male friends jumping on it and screwing around. But, I am not buying the uni for them.
Anyway, I am looking for recommendations…both on model and size. If this goes anything like the guitar we bought her in 7th grade, it’ll start collecting dust really soon. So, I don’t want to break the bank on this either, less expensive is good.
If you think she might want to ride it to classes, get the 24".
I’ve always felt that the 24" is the best starter uni for a person of average height, you can learn basic skills on it, ride moderate distance, and even ride on trails. It’s a good all-around size.
I’m no expert in the field and just got mine, I got a Torker LX 20" and its great! I have the post all the way down and feels good and so I can increase the height for quite a bit! I’m 5’ 6", so I think she will be fine with a 20"
I ride, my son rides, my 19yo daughter sorta rides.
Last Summer I sent my daughter a 20" unicycle to use, I insisted that she had to ride it 100" before she could have my slack line; her slack line had been stolen.
She rode it 100’, posted a video of her feat, and hasn’t ridden since.
Her friends have all tried the uni, but to no avail, so it’s like your daughter’s guitar…covered in dust.
Get her a unicycle that you would want to ride once it starts gathering dust or better yet, make it a family affair and have everyone learn to ride over Winter Break.
An inexpensive 24" is where I’d start, maybe a Nimbus Trainer. UDC.Com ships complete unis for free, Christmas prices may drop, at worst you can sell it used on this forum to another hopeful parent
Unless you still believe in Santa, don’t expect miracles at Christmas, uni is hard
Since this is mostly a matter of preference, I can’t exactly tell you which one to get, but I’ll tell you my experiences:
I ride a 24" mountain-unicycle, and I love it.
My girlfriend, who is about equivalent to your daughter in height and weight, also wanted to learn to unicycle, so I bought her a 20" thinking that since she was smaller she would be better with the 20".
Turns out she likes riding my 24" much more!
In addition, I ride with some other college-aged friends. One bought a 24" while the other bought a 19" trials unicycle, and now he is contemplating getting the 24" because it is so much easier riding on the road.
Get a Nimbus if you can afford it, it’s a better uni, but the Torker LX is a great starter unicycle.
Right now there is a Torker LX 24" on Ebay for $119 with free shipping. Or you can buy one from Unicycle.com for $149.
I picked up a used 24 Torker LX from a Craigslist ad for $60 to replace my old Schwinn and I’ve been impressed with how sturdy it is. You might check your local Craigslist and see what you can find.
If I were you I would absolutely make sure you buy her elbow,knee, wrist and shin guards…Helmet too. Tearing the flesh off the palms of your hands and knees can put a halt to unicycling real quick…I went to Dick’s and got all I needed for a very good price.
Well, I just thought that I’d post a followup on how the Unicycle Christmas present turned out…
I ended up getting a 24" Torker LX for a great price.
My daughter was incredibly excited and totally surprised when she opened it.
We cut down the seat post to the right height and she went out to practice
After a week of practicing, she is incredibly frustrated. Apparently, the 24" wheel is just too big. She was able to ride a smaller one for short distances after messing around with it for just 3 hours.
While the 24" will definitely be the better fit once she learns to ride since she would be riding it around campus, I fear that her frustration in learning on the bigger wheel may prevent her from ever getting to the point where she will ride it around campus.
Get her to start reading all the learning journals on this site. I learned on a cheap 24 and it took hours, days, weeks (:D) but reading about others really helped. Uni riding is just really difficult, but she can get the 24 if I could. Tell her that an old woman over forty years older than she is got it, so she should be able to too!
It’s not the wheel size, if you can ride a 20" you can ride a 24", unicycling is more mental than physical.
Tell her that “we” said to stop being stubborn and learn to ride what she has, it’s just a wheel.
I ride all sizes and though it takes a couple minutes to adjust to a different sized wheel to ride at my best, all said it is still just a wheel, they all roll.
But, I am not buying the uni for them.
