Hey everyone! My name is Devin and I am 16 years old. I just bought my first unicycle and am learning how to ride. I assembled my unicycle, a Torker LX, yesterday. I had a carpenter friend of my moms cut my seat post, and although we took many measures to make sure it wasn’t too short, I am afraid it is.
At it’s highest level, its almost to the point where when my foot is lowest it is almost straight, but not quite. BUT, I found it is easier to learn and have been making better progress when I set it a little low, but not too low. I am about 210 lbs, so I am not tiny, but I usually pick up on stuff like this pretty quick.
So, I need everyones advice… Would it be better in the long run to get a longer seat post, or leave it the way it is because I seem to be making a bit of more progress if its lower.
it realy depends on what kind of riding you want to do, long distance riders
have there seat abit higher and its easyer to hop SIF (seat in front)
with your seat higher.
i would just have it on whichever hight feels most comfortable to you.
You could buy a quick release clamp so it would be more easy to change the hight
depending on how your feeling.
My knees don’t necessarily start to hurt… My legs get tired, but that happens anyway I put it. I’m really starting to catch on, and am really enjoying it!
I find if I put my seat up too high, I feel like I may have a bit more control but don’t exactly feel as secure and confident. I do better when I feel more confident so I think thats the key!
When I learned, I found it most comfortable to have my knee slightly bent when at the lowest position of the pedals. Now, I have my legs slightly even more bent than when I learned.
At first I liked my seat so high my leg was almost straight. After a few months of riding I got a 36, and put a lot of miles on it, with my leg almost straight, like a bike.
Lately, I have been riding the 19 instead, learning to ride backwards. I have lowered my seat a lot. Small wheels are geared so low that having bent knees isn’t more stressful. A low seat can have a lot of advantages in handling, and just being closer to the ground. I don’t fall down often, and I fall down less with a lower seat. It’s easier to just put my foot down and catch my balance with a lower seat.
Long distance riders have no need to do SIF hopping, and he’s learning so that’s nothing to do with any particular styles.
When you’re just learning, it’s ideal to have your seat high enough that when your foot is at the bottom of the revolution, it should nearly be fully stretched.
If your seatpost is too short for you to do this, then it is not the end of the world, as long as wit isn’t too uncomfortable.
When I learned, my seat was just a bit lower than how I have it now. The important thing to me was consistancy. If I raised or lowered the seat by an inch, I felt like I had to re-learn from scratch again. But as long as it stayed constant, I could make progress.
As long as your knees aren’t too bent and they don’t start to hurt, and as long as your not stretching your leg to reach the bottom, then you’re in the right ball park.
Once you’ve clocked up a few miles and feel comfortable with riding, then you might like to start playing about with the seat height as you try out different types of riding.
I actually agree that if I readjust it, I feel like I am starting from scratch. Last night I think I found the perfect height to where my legs don’t hurt as much and I can still put a little of my foot down to catch myself quicker and easier. If I put it up too high, to where my leg is almost straight, it seems to be less comfortable.
I decided to start unicycling because I am the school mascot, a gopher, and we haven’t had a mascot in probably 7 years. Our old mascot used to ride a unicycle, and ever since I was young I wanted to be the mascot. So, after a year of doing it, I decided I would try to learn the unicycle as well for next year.
I have doctors orders to ride with a high seat. Riding with a seat not as high as it could be lead to me over-developing some parts of my quads which lead to a muscle imbalance causing my kneecap to track to the side causing pain.
When you are going over 100km in a day you will understand that keeping your seat high is better for your knees.
Just make sure you still have at least 2" of the post still in the frame.
Learning for me was horribly slow. Although I didn’t really need the rail anymore, the idea of riding away from it was terrifying. So I found that by changing the set up it would be harder at first, then I’d get used to it, and changed it again. (I changed the air pressure, seat height, close one eye, and held onto the handle to make it harder. Falling was a little more scarry, but a high saddle was generally better while learning, as well as about 50 psi.) When I did end up going away from the rail it was no longer terrifying.
Lesson being, only cut off an inch at a time (for future reference).
Yeah, I tried to tell her that… It really does make me mad, when I figured I had it all planned out and somebody tries to come in and take over my plans just to save time and cost me 30 bucks in the long run.
Oh well. It’s done and over with. I can put the seat up pretty high anyways, although I seem to make better progress when it’s just a tad lower, so my leg is not completely straight, but enough to be more comfortable for me, mentally and physically. My legs get tired, haven’t noticed about my knees, but thats pretty much the same anyway I have it.
Plus, I am not going to be riding long distance, just for fun on occasion once I learn.
Like, experience actually makes unicycles more comfortable. I bet I could ride a 13 inch wheel with 7 inch cranks and a stone seat for a mile on a bet.
I still advise buying a good seat as anyone’s first uni purchase. A really crap uni is fun to ride and learn basic skills, if it has a great seat. Sadly, there are no great seats on cheap uni’s.
I don’t mind the seat so far… takes awhile to get comforable once I get on. And, yes, I am a girl, so need to worry about anything else in that category…
I plan on taking it to work today, they have a nice long hallway that would seem to be good for practicing, as my hallway is short but I have been making good progress.
I don’t fall down often, and I fall down less with a lower seat. It’s easier to just put my foot down and catch my balance with a lower seat.