Wait, who beat Ryan’s record yesterday? And who’s your mate that got 111? Joe Hodges? Wow this is crazy, Ryan needs to go out and film something crazy right now.
In this thread
Everyone seems to think that Ryan Atkins can hop higher then Zack, but if Zack can hop 110 cm and Ryan can only hop 109 cm… then im confused
Ryan didn’t hop clean onto the wall though
This is why i don’t like trials. Too much is placed on just the verticle. Verticle is just leg strength with form. Ryan has the perfect form, so does Zack, and I guess this guy. All that’s left is stronger legs. This guy may have stronger legs, or just just busted his unicycle into the ground harder. Lets go with the highest unispin: 24.5 inches. Keaton Miller, which at the height you know it’s more form than leg strength, until it gets up over 40".
-Shaun Johanneson
hahahaha me too!! It’s incredible!!! 
That is insane!.. Yeah his prehop is probably higher than my regular hop lol…
It looks like he could jump maybe max 50 or 60 cm seat in, but when he pull that uni up tire almost touch he’s ass. Ryan doesn’t pull uni so high and his prehop is actually pretty small.
Yeah it was, I gave him a call yesterday and he was quite annoyed haha. He was so happy he got 111cm though.
Anyway, he said that he thinks that he might be able to beat it. Look out for the BUC videos… Look for Joe Hodges and Mike Swarbricks video… Joe’s part is dope.
Mike
Either he’s taller than he looks or he’s riding a 16" wheel - It just looks so tiny.
Looks like a White Widow to me…
OMG!
That blows my 80cm out the door! Holy SH*T!
I just watched this like 100 times…
omg
This comment really pissed me off. With the same kind of vain reasoning, I can quickly deduce that street is all spins, nothing very big, and no vertical hight to any tricks that look the same. So basically it’s just the mental aspect and how fast you can flip. Shaun J is good at it, but all he has is good flipping techniques. What is the difference between a double and a triple? They both look the same so why do it?
I’m not saying your shitting on trials (though you kind of are), but you should respect people.
+1 i totally agree with you
side hops in trials riding are really technical… and not only influenced by leg power
I still think he hopped in the 104- 107 range. But I sopose now if you asked him to do a 109cm high hop onto pallets he would probs be able to do it
This is also interesting as it applies to existing olympic events. Track and field events can all be measured. Swimming races can be measured. But there are olympic events (completely lame olympic events in my opinion) which rely on judges to determine “form” and evaluate the outcome. Diving, figure skating, and gymnastics are examples of these. Even team sports are questionable because they require officials. What kind of competition is it when some panel decides that your costume is prettiest, your hair looks the best, or they think your form has the attibutes required to make it more artistic? Was that really a foul?
If the result can be measured, it is a sport. If someone says Billy’s pants are cooler and his double flip is more aesthetically pleasing than Bobby’s triple flip, it is an art. How HIGH can you jump? How FAST can you cover 100m from a dead stop? How FAR can you throw a javelin? How FAST can you swim the backstroke 100m? These are olympic sports. Nice dive. Good rings performance. Great futbol game, glad we got that favorable call. Great skating routine, nice costumes. These are not olympic sports.
How do street and trials unicycling fit into this? You can have an opinion about the best street rider. You know damn well who can do the highest verticle sidehop.
+10
First of all… Amazing job by this guy. I couldn’t imagine hopping that high.
Secondly, I don’t think anyone said he was an amazing trials rider. Just that his hop was probably the current world’s best.
I think there is a tendency from the general public to look at one or two easily measured things in a discipline, compare riders based on those things, and declare a best. I kinda think thats what Shaun J. was talking about. It seems that most every discussion about who is great in trials quickly turns to who can jump the highest.
Several people have tried to compare unicycling to track and field in the olympics. How fast, how far, how high. Things that are easily measured. I think the only event that really compares to trials or street tho is the decathalon. Its not just about who jumps higher… A decathalete has to be very good at 10 different things… A great high jumper will probably not win the decathalon, and a great decathalete will probably not win the high jump.
I think most people in this thread agree… What a great high jump! Amazing…! Congratulations!
Now… I don’t know how good of a trials rider he is. I will go watch some of the other videos linked here and form my opinion on that. For me… one hop doesn’t vault him to the top of the trials world. BUT, if he can do lots of other stuff really well, I may personally rank him very high. I’ll form an opinion that probably hardly anyone else will share cuz its based on personal preference.
Maybe we should put more weight on NAUCC/BUC/FLUCK/etc rankings and Unicon rankings… At least at those competitions, the same (hopefully well trained) judges are using the same criteria on the same day at the same course to compare the riders, and declare the best. True, being a trials champion is about as subjective as being a figure skating champion, but at least there is a basis of comparison and guidelines for that honor.
Just my two cents worth… sorry if I rambled too much…
Keld
I don’t think so. Because at competitions like that it only compares the people who were able to go to the event.
For example, I won the street comp at last year’s NAUCC, but does that compare me to any other street riders? No way.
I agree with the first part of your post though. 
You hit it right on.
I’m guessing he is one of the best trials riders. I’ve found that out of the people I’ve ridden with, the ones who can hop the highest are also the best and most consistant trials riders.
Show me one example of a rider who can static hop over 95cm but ISN’T awesome at trials! Which riders can you think of who can hop high? Ryan Atkins? What a coincidence, he’s also mind hurtingly good at trials.
If you’re able to hop 109cm, your form has to be good down to the smallest detail. Therefore, you’re very likely to be good at other aspects of trials.