Im 51 and my son is 11…Looking to get in to uni because simply I have never
seen or heard of of anyone riding one in my town of 100 thousand people.
My son is not a quitter , but does get discourage if he does not perform up to my expectations, which to me is just having fun, but he thinks differently…So my goal is to start off on something we both have never done, but can encourage each other in learning and hang out together before he finds out im not cool anymore .I have only heard of a Kris Holm and Impact unicycles and that is the choices im waning help with. any advice is noted…I looking for a good brand to learn on and keep, not learn and trade up…Thanks for the imput…Jerry
Welcome to the forum, Jerry! You and your son are both the perfect age to start unicycling. If your expectation is to have fun, realize that you have to work through the delayed gratification part to get to the fun. Or you have to find the fun in the tiniest of improvements.
There are many threads on this forum where experienced riders argue over the right unicycle for a beginner. I started on a 24" Torker LX. It has a more comfortable saddle than the CX model. If I had to do it all over, I would start on a 20". Maybe that’s because after I got my first 20", I picked up a lot of skills.
Go to unicycle.com … They sell KH and Impact as well as Nimbus. All three brands are good quality. I tend to think of Impact as the nicest brand. I have a 24" Impact hydroformed frame…sweeeet! Also, I have Impact cranks on my trials uni. They are the best, strongest cranks I’ve owned. A rule of thumb is: you pay more for lighter stuff.
Are you looking for one unicycle to share with your son or two unicycles? If you are more than a little bit taller than your son, there may not be enough range of adjustment in a seat post for both of you to ride the same unicycle. A long-neck model unicycle has a greater range of adjustment, but the minimum will likely be too high for your son. I would start your research by measuring the inseams of you and your son. Wearing shoes, inside of the leg from the floor as far as possible. I bought a beginner unicycle for my cousins that was designed with extra seat post adjustment.
Thanks for the words of wisdom on the Fun part…I get it, I just have to figure out how my son must “Get It”…I will be buying 2 uni’s…The measuring tip is stuff i need to learn…I will chat with the folks at U.com…Again thanks for chiming in…Im in the moment of scared to death and excited to try something new and different…
I won’t say anything about the unicycle, being a newbie myself.
But for the motivation, have a look at this playlist.
Well I have no excuses now…That kid cant be 5 years old.
I know you are saing:
But I’d advise against that. Start simple and cheap, until you are good enough to know what you want. A UDC club will cover all your needs as a beginner. Unless you are very heavy, it will likely even survive hopping up and down curbs.
Then, once you have the basics, get a unicycle that suits what you want to do. That might be a 26" to cruise around town, or a 27.5 to ride trails, a 19" to do flatland etc…Hell, maybe you are even going to be happy just riding the 20" around the block. If you start on a KH and find out you want to only ride long distance, you essentially wasted 440$. That versus risking spending 135$ more because you might want to end up buying a KH 20" for trials doesn’t seem like a good deal to me.
KH vs. Impact is a LONG debate. Both are good, and more capable than you and your son for the next few years, even if he is a very fast learner. By that I mean, neither is going to break, or limit your learning. You can’t answer the question in a general fashion, since what is better depends on what you want to do. A round crown Impact gravity is better thana KH for trials, a reagent better at standup tricks, and a KH better as a unicycle that does both.
Totally agree. It’s not even about money, it’s just easier that way until you figure out what you want to ride. I wanted to get into muni so I got a 24" with a knobby tire. After several months of no progress, I got a cheap but well made 20", and that really was the best thing I did. I sold it 6 months later and didn’t lose much.
I don’t think learning on bigger than 20" is a good idea, unless you’re a master of parkour and slackline already. And I would avoid getting a trial uni as a beginner, I find the long cranks on a small wheel, the lower saddlel and the big tire are making it harder to just ride.
The link was intended for your son. But if it works for you, all the better 
Im listening to you all…Going to go with a less expensive Brand/model…
Im now looking at the Impact Athmos and the Nimbus 2. Any opinions or thoughts…Going to be a 19-20"
19" and 20" unicycles have the same outside tire diameter, but the 19" carries a thicker tire. Good for absorbing drops, more practical for running at lower pressure. You probably have more flexibility moving forward with a 19" wheel. Not that the difference is going to matter in the short term.
The crossing-over-point between between cheaper and nicer unicycles is frequently in the crank interface. If the interface is the more modern ISIS, then you’ll be able to swap cranks between it and any other ISIS unicycles you have. Again, doesn’t matter so much on a starter unicycle.
Both the Athmos and Nimbus II have ISIS cranks. They both have heavier, steel frames. They both seem pretty indestructible.
I fully agree. Both solid designs, probably made by the same people in the same factory.
The Athmos seems like a really good deal currently. I still think it should be branded as Nimbus, but Unicycle.com has different ideas with their branding. Nimbus and Impact are run by the same people, if anyone doesn’t know.
Don’t let people scare you with crank length or advantages/disadvantages of wide tires for learning. For everyone telling you that slimmer tires are easier, there is another one saying the opposite, same applies for crank length. As long as you are in the 19"-24" range with standard cranks, it will not make that much of a difference.
Agreed. So on a 19 or 20, that’s cranks between 114 and 125mm. Some trial unis have 140 or 145mm cranks…
I’ve seen enough people learn on Trials unicycles to not consider 140mm cranks that a big of an issue. I’m pretty sure some cheap beginner unis have longer than 125mm too… A badly adjusted seat can be a hinderance to learning, as some of the rules of thumb don’t work with long cranks, but I think that’s about it.
I think most often, when people suddenly learn after switching unicycles, it’s psychological. I’ve seen adults suddenly learn after switching to 24" because they were convinced it would be better, kids that begged me to try my 19" when I gave workshops suddenly riding when they tried on mine (and magically then being able to ride on their unicycle too). Even switching a kid from one shitty cheap unicycle to another shitty cheap unicycle helped a lot one time.
I concluded that trails unicycles were the ideal uni to learn on after teaching three riders who all learnt very rapidly. The long cranks provide a lot more control and the fat tyre helps dampen the response.
But my recommendations for learning style are not typical either.
That is because unicycles are like horses. You had already tamed your uni so it was easier for others to ride it.
Once they had ridden the tame uni they knew how to tame their own.
I’m learning on a trials uni (19" rim with a Maxxis Creepy Crawler, 138mm cranks).
After a bit of fiddling with the height during the first week, I’m happy with it.
The only difference i saw was a double seat post nut on the nimbus if i remember correctly…
If you’re sharing the unicycle, you might see if UDC offers the option of a quick release for the seat post clamp.
If you zoom in on the bearing caps, there’s a bit of a difference in the engineering of the bearing caps/bolts…between the two models (and other unicycles as well). I doubt the difference is significant performance-wise.
For crank length, I would suggest 138mm (so the unicycle will remain a proper trials unicycle), or maybe 125mm as a second choice (my first 20" had 125mm cranks), but I would avoid 114mm for a while. I bought some 114 Venture cranks, tried them for a short time but found them to be incompatible with my oafish, inelegant style of riding.
Full disclosure, I am a weight weenie! The Athmos weighs in at a chunk-o-rific 13lbs. I think I would notice that after riding my 10 lb Equinox. Like swinging a heavier tennis racket. The Nimbus II is only 11.5 lbs, closer to what I’m used to.
Learning on the very cheapest piece of junk is a kind of badge of honor. johnfoss has described the poor quality of his first unicycle in several posts. Kind of gives you serious street-credibility…learning on a POS…and then gives you the permission to pick whichever premium unicycle you want as a second unicycle. Right now, you’re looking at middle-of-the-road unicycles (the Athmos and Nimbus II). Good quality but heavier / steel frames. It’s possible that, when you and your son succeed in learning to ride, you’ll be drooling over more updated stuff. Just a thought.
I would give the same advice to someone learning purchase and learn to play the guitar. Buy a cheap classical guitar made by a reputable company, learn to play, then decide what kind of “nice” guitar you want.
Good luck!
Well I decided on a Kris Holm 20 for me and the Impact Athmos for my son.Wainting on them to ship from Canada. Can’t wait for the challenge to begin… Thanks for all the imput…