I’m using it strictly for freestyle and to lend to people. I’ve got a whole bunch of friends who want to learn to unicycle but won’t fork out the cash. It’s got a basic and cheap 20" wheel with plastic pedals and a savage seat. I’ll change the seat to the Viscount that I’ve got as a spare here at home. The pedals are great because I can now ride barefoot which I definately prefer for freestyle. The only changes I can see myself making are getting it power coated and maybe putting a high pressure slick tyre on.
The Ride
I had a test ride tonight and was delighted with it. My main observations are that I love riding with bare feet because it gives you a really good feel for things and more control over the wheel, and that I actually like the curved crown. I’m not doing any stand-up skills (apart from hopping on the wheel) and don’t see myself doing any in the future so it’s all I need and it fits the positioning of my feet. The other thing is that I find 1 foot stuff easier now that there’s more clearance above the tyre. On my old 20" I had a knobby 2.25" Max Daddy tyre which changed the angle of my foot when trying to glide. The current cheap slickish tyre is great.
Improvements
While I was test riding it tonight I decided out of the blue to try some 1 foot riding. I’d never gone more than 30cm before and tonight I went for almost 2m. It felt so much more natural and I can really see myself being able to glide soon. Also, I’ve been able to go from 1 foot idling to 1 foot riding on my muni every now and then, but it felt so easy on my cheap new 20" uni!
Now I’m going for another short night ride in the street and I’m really looking forward to a great day of freestlye tomorrow.
For my level of freestlye, this cheap 20" uni is perfect…and really, really cheap! I’m excited.
Im so excited too! Im getting my Trials wheel back tonight… with KH hub and cranks.
Its been away (at rogers) for a while, and in it absence, I kept going out and doing a bit of Freestyle on my Nimbus (YUni), which I used to do freestyle on, but sort of lots interest in it when I got my MUni and Trials… but now i love it (again).
I forgot how fun Freestyle is! And the feeling you get when you finally hammer that trick you’ve been working on for ages! I love it!
Even when I get my Trials back, I will definatly still work on my Freestyle.
good one andrew! i’ve made a freestyle frame to go on my old Dm 20" after getting my trials(with KH hub/cranks), its got a flat crown and i find that helps so much. as for barefoot ive never tried it but i can imagine gliding would be very painful.
That’s good to hear about your future wheel Joe. By now you’ve most likely got it…congratulations. Nailing new tricks and skills is definately fun. Today I managed to 1 foot wheel walk for 5m and only stopped because is was raining outside and I ran out of garage.
Barefoot riding is great. My feet didn’t hurt at all today when practising pull-gliding, gliding, and 1 foot wheel walking and I’ve got pretty wussy feet. You should try it Iain.
As for frame-less unicycles, I’m going to build myself an UW. I’ll get some bits of metal threaded to put the pedals in and screw them onto the wood. That’s good to hear about yours. Have you got any photos? Can you ride it properly yet? I haven’t ridden my BC wheel for ages. I really enjoy riding it by pushing off a handrail and rolling for 10m or so, but I’m still too intimidated by the rolling mount. I guess I wouldn’t be if I tried it more often. Have you got any photos of your BC wheel? Does it have pedals or pegs (you’ve probably told me but I’ve forgotten)?
Today I spent 6 hours helping to build a BMX track then had a 2 hour drum lesson so I only had a little bit of unicycling time, but I still made some good progress. As I said, I can now 1 foot wheel walk for 5m and pull-glide. I’m really excited because I can see myself gliding soon. Also, I rode inside a 1.5-2m diameter circle one footed.
The main lesson for the day was that downhill barefoot gliding on a slick tyre in the rain is very difficult. I can’t wait to try it out when it’s not raining. I can feel it getting close!
Today I did a nice slow 4m downhill glide and 1 foot wheel walked for about 10m. Tomorrow I’m hoping to glide for 10m down a hill. Gliding for any real distance on a flat surface will take some time I think.
I’ve been going from 1 foot wheel walking down a hill. I guess it’s not proper gliding because I’m using a hill to keep going, but I enjoy it. I’ll move onto flatland gliding when I get a bit better. When my old 20" with a knobby tyre was in working order I was going from riding with one foot on the left pedal and the other on the wheel. Then I’d take the left foot and try to put it on the frame. I think I’m better off going from 1 foot wheel walking because then I can go slowly and more controlled.
Today I did a 7m glide down a hill. It was really fun and started to feel like proper gliding. Now that I’m up to 7m, the wheel and my foot are starting to heat up a little too much. At my current skill level I still need to put a fair bit of pressure on the wheel the whole time and it get’s surprisingly hot. I guess I’ll have to wear some of those $10 coral-walking shoes I used to use.
I went out for another half-hour session this afternoon and did a 32m glide! It was such an amazing feeling. I’m still only going downhill for now. I’ve been setting up next to a tree and doing one biggish push before gliding down the hill. I love gliding!
It depends what your defitnition is. I can ride about maybe 5 revolutions. I guess i could do more if i practiced it more, since i have higher priorities with my other unicycles.
I cut off some cranks, put some pedals on it, and screwed the cranks onto the axle.
When i did my physics presntation on unicycling, my teacher took a picture of me freemounting my giraffe. If you look below me, you can see my BC wheel on top of my UW. Sorry that’s my best one.
Well good luck building your UW and riding your BC wheel (remember rolling mount just like suicide mount: its all mental)
But the thing is, I’ve done both a rolling mount on a BC and a suicide mount and after doing one suicide, they all became easy and not at all intimidating…not the case for rolling mounts on the BC.
I love it!
