Back around 1978-80 I built a couple of unicycles, a small one with fixed wheel around 16-18" and a 16” wheel giraffe unicycle. I learned to cycle them to not fall off very often but never mastered staying stationary.
Any way I fancy taking it up again next year.
My question is will I have to start from scratch or is it like riding a bike. You never forget?
Thanks Tim
Welcome to the forum, Tim!
A 16“ giraffe!? That must be interesting to ride! It‘s been a long time since your last ride, but my guess is if you managed to ride such a thing you shouldn‘t have too hard a time to get back into unicycling. Maybe try a 20“? That‘s a bit less squirrelly. Or go even bigger if you want to cover a distance with the uni. Might take you a bit longer to again get the hang of it, because of the wheel size that you aren‘t used to.
I didn‘t ride my uni for a long time, too, but didn‘t even consider the possibility that I could have lost the ability to do so. And in fact, starting again was very smooth.
Based on my experience, you never forget. I rode a a kid and after a 50 year break picked up a 36er and was able to ride it with no problem. It took a little while to get used to the larger wheel but my basic riding ability was unchanged.
Thanks for the kind comments
You have me questioning my ability to size a wheel now.
I do feel much more enthusiastic now that I can get back on one and not have to start from scratch.
Perhaps someone can figure out the wheel size from a photo a friend took.
Looks like 18“ to 20“ to me. But 18“ is very rare, to my knowledge, so I‘d say 20“.
If you just want to see if you can still ride, I wouldn’t take a giraffe and at that I’d go for a slightly bigger wheel. I have 11 uni’s - nearly all of them different sizes. My go-to unicycles are the 26" and 29", but I also have a 24" which happened to be much more comfortable than I had imagined before I bought it. I wouldn’t go 32" or 36". Those are different beasts altogether. There are enough peeps on the forum that mostly ride 36", but I find it hard to mount and I feel uncomfy so high up.
[quote=“Setonix, post:6, topic:286320, full:true”] There are enough peeps on the forum that mostly ride 36", but I find it hard to mount and I feel uncomfy so high up.
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…but the view is gorgeous! 
I just noticed this morning that at a certain crossing I have a good sight above some bushes, which allows me to check early if there are cyclists coming. With my other unis the bushes block the sight.
But for getting back into unicycling I would absolutely opt for a smaller wheel, too.
I cannot say from personal experience as I didn’t learn until I was an adult, but based on others I have met who have said, “Oh, I rode one of those 20 years ago. Can I have a try?” that almost everyone could ride again within a few minutes (and “never” unicyclists generally take much much longer).
However, I would recommend starting on a 20" or 24". Even though I am tall and learned on a 24", I would still recommend learning on a 20". Mostly it’s just that you have less distance to fall so it’s psychologically easier when you try to ride away from the wall or lightpost for the first few times.
I find it fascinating the responses here center so much on choosing the right size wheel.
The talk about riding from one support point to the next brings it all back. 
So looking forward now to getting another wheel. I was going to wait until spring next year as building an extension now but feel I cannot wait.
Any recommendations on where to buy one?
Before you know what you like/need I would just pick up a used 20". Should be able to find something under $50 on craigslist or some similar used site. Just make sure that the seatpost is long enough as many are ridden by kids who are shorter. Even if you find a good used one with the seat too low, then you can get a new steel (inexpensive but fully adequate) seatpost for about $15 at https://www.unicycle.com/
I think Tim is in the UK, judging by the yellow reg plate on the car in the background as he’s riding what looks like a 20" giraffe. 20" makes sense as it was(is) the most common BMX wheel size.
So gumtree is probably a good place to start and pickup a second hand 20". And when it’s time to graduate to a proper uni, unicycle.co.uk is one of the best uni shops in our niche world.
If you were able to ride confidently and you had clicked, then it should be easy to start again. From personal experience, I rode in my 20s but never became proficient. So when I started again 20 odd years later, I was a complete beginner again.
pierrox
The picture was of the second uni I built. It was a BMX wheel rim to start with then I had it spoked with a gear hub and epoxied a gear onto the hub as the thread fitted.
The rest was a set of forks and the seat tube and hub from an old bike. A bit of metal to reinforce the connection and some paint. I took the seat I build from my original uni. Looking at it I see I used cotter pins and now I think about it there was some slip on the cranks.
I was never proficient so I fear that like you I will have to start from scratch.
I will look on unicycle.co.uk
Thanks again all those who made time to read/answer my post.
Cheers Tim
Considering the seat height in the picture I‘m not really surprised by this assessment. Adjusting it a foot or two higher will help when you start again. All the best!
Hi Tim,
I am now 62. I tell people I learned to ride when I was 44. The truth is I rode a unicycle very briefly when I was 15 or so. It was a neighbor’s which I borrowed, and learned to ride for stretches of 25m or so. I wasn’t any good – I couldn’t idle or ride off curbs; just in a sort of straight line. That experience lasted only a couple of months.
Almost 30 years later, I met some folks that played unicycle basketball and I wanted to do it. I had NO RESIDUAL ability to ride. I had to completely re-learn, and it didn’t come that fast or easy for me. The only muscle memory I had was catching the seat behind me when I fell, as the old unicycles didn’t have plastic guards protecting the saddles.
Having said that, I did learn, and got heavily into unicycle basketball, MUni, and distance, and continue to love it!
