Did my first free mounting on my 29er tonight…boy was that painful. I have to get shin guards ugh. I wear a helmet, wrist guards, knee pads, and elbow pads but never needed shin guards until tonight. I landed about 3 out of maybe 100. But it is a start. I watched so many youtube videos on freemounting. I tried quite a few but came to the conclusion (for me) to grab the tire while rolling forward. Freemounting is definitely a necessity if you want to ride long distances on a rail trail…
Mike A.
I haven’t tried grabbing the wheel. When I mount mine I do just a bit of a rolling mount where I start with the pedals about the 4 and 10 clock positions with the lower one AWAY from my foot (i.e. if I am mounting with the right foot down the right pedal is the one in the 4 o’clock position) roll forward a little. Plant my lower foot on the lower pedal, stopping the wheel but my momentum brings me up and over. While I am going over I try to plant my foot on the top pedal and if I hit it it is enough to get the pedals out of the 6 and 12 position so I can start riding away. Usually if I don’t make it it is because I miss the top pedal and end up going over the top with the unicycle ending up behind me. Whatever works for you is good but that is how I do it.
How long are your cranks? That would change the advice I have of what kind of mount to recommend.
With my 29er I was able to do a rollback mount with 125’s even as a very new rider. On my Coker I use a static mount or a rolling mount with 140’s. If the wheel is moving a bit as I get on it’s much easier to get the momentum to become stable.
It is true that if you are setting out for a long ride it’s nice to be able to freemount. You never seem to have a tree, or fence right when you need it.
I use a modified static mount. My down pedal is at about 7:00-7:30 and up pedal at 1:00-1:30. I always adjust the up pedal so it is in line with the crank arm to give my foot the best chance for a nice initial position. Just like a static mount I put little to no weight on the down pedal, but instead of keeping the wheel from moving I allow the wheel to roll forward quite a bit as I step to the up pedal. When my foot hits the up pedal the cranks have moved to nearly 9:00 and 3:00 or sometimes even a little further and my upper torso is ahead of the seat tube so I get a good strong start.
I also use the rolling mount, and the tire-grab mount, but neither very often.
Hope this helps.
Hi madams, One week ago I was where you are with mounting my 29er.
I wear the KH shin protection which give me confidence to attack the rolling mount. I practiced on grass which also helped confidence…soft landings :).
For me confidence and positive visualisation are everything. Good luck, Joseph.