Here’s a picture of me from when I went out trail riding on my trials uni. There was this nice wood bench that became the perfect ground for some grabbing. Here’s me getting rubber, pay attention to the translucent red powdercoated United frame, and powdercoated blue Miyata seatpost. billnye (John) can be seen in the left of the picture wearing a white shirt.
http://www.northporttrails.org/graphics/picturegallery/000024-npt.jpg
Did you go straight to the bench in a jump or did you go from a pedal grab?
Getting rubber on a Hunter
Think of how cool you’d look jumping up there on a blue Hunter with a giant Gazzaloddi.
That’s from a pedal grab.
Re: Getting rubber [pic]
sweet pic airbourne! If you can, you should really try to practice
seat-in-front pedal-grabs. They are much more efficient and are really
practical for getting onto things that are uneven, or that are too small for
your whole crank and pedal (which I assume you are doing). Once you are able to
get this down, you are given a much greater array of things you can grab
onto…
-Dylan
I actually fiddled around with the seat on front stuff for a while, it felt a lot firmer but I was having trouble getting rubber and gave up. Since I’ve started riding a lot more aggressively than normal I’m hoping to improve these skills before picking others up, like gliding or wheel walking. Once I get it down I’ll snag some more pictures for you.
How high is that bench? Wow. I know you did the pedal grab first, but wow! Still. I know a skinny guy (a guy from Memphis named Ted) who can just hop straight up onto benches, but it is freaky to watch.
Can any of you other 225 + lb. gentlemen hop straight up onto a bench?
Lewis
The bench was close to 2 feet high I believe, and then in the picture my crank is about a foot above where I grabbed at. I’m just a 5’11" 150 lb skinny kid. 
AccordNSX,
Nice! I weigh 240 and I’m 6’1 when I bother to stand up straight.
Do you have video? That’d rule.
You need to bring a camcorder with you! It is fun. I’d have more video shots except that Chris is on hiatus right now. So, my uni video collection is still really small right now.
Lewis
I know what you mean… I’ve been studying various videos to work out exactly how they jump so much higher than I can, but they just seem to fly into the air seemingly without actually doing anything!
Phil, just me
Re: Getting rubber [pic]
>I know what you mean… I’ve been studying various videos to work out
>exactly how they jump so much higher than I can, but they just seem to
>fly into the air seemingly without actually doing anything!
I find to get lots of height in a jump, you have to concentrate on making the
unicycle weightless, as you snap the tire up into the air, and pull the
unicycle up with you…
hope this helps…
-Dylan
I’ve found that it’s more concentration than an actual skill. When I’m not focusing mentally on doing it, I can’t. I pretend that there is an invisible plan going around me, parallel to the area that I’ve done my crank grab onto. From there I tell myself mentally that I’m going to jump straight up into the air and over a little bit. I pay no mental attention to the fact that I’m on a unicycle, other than grabbing onto the front of my Reeder handle. Works everytime! Once you can crank grab off something, than you’re set. Almost all of the obstacles you crank grab onto will be the same as any other. Your crank is at a certain point, and you’re basically jumping up the same distance regardless of the obstacle.
Phil,
That is uncanny, that’s just what I was thinking. I have video of ted on my website (dig around in the Action Videos at Unicycle Vault ) and its just like effortless magic. Bloop! He’s up on a bench, and he didn’t seem to DO anything!
Very frustrating!
Then again, I cant even quite move on to hopping up curbs on my current cycle because it cannot handle my weight. I have a Hunter, but it is making noise and until I have Tommy take a look-see (the 19th I’m finally going to Memphis!), I have to stay off it. Once my Hunter isnt squeaking, and I feel it is safe to ride, I will finally have a cycle that can handle me so I can just hop up curbs! I’ve tried it a few times on my adult trainer and I felt the whole cycle … give? It was a weird feeling. I didnt try any more after that. 
Accord,
What do you mean by “I pretend that there is an invisible plan going around me”? I don’t know what plan means in this context.
Lewis
Re: Getting rubber [pic]
> What do you mean by “I pretend that there is an invisible plan going
> around me”? I don’t know what plan means in this context.
I’ll bet you an internet dollar he meant ‘plane’.
plan-e.
Adam-
Did you have any problems correctly sizing the six-six-one leg armor you’re wearing? I’ve heard lots of complaints about the Roach armor being too short for tall guys. Do you think the six-six-one has the same problem? Does anyone have sizing problems with the six-six-one leg armor?
Re: Re: Getting rubber [pic]
Duh. I’m an idiot, I didnt clue in on that. Sorry. Thanks.
Lewis
Re: Getting rubber [pic]
>Does anyone have sizing problems with the six-six-one leg
>armor?
I bought mediums because they fit around my leg pretty well, (plus that’s the
only size the bike shop had in) but they are just too short for me, (I’m 6’3).
I’d really like to get custom Roach pads when I have some extra money.
-Dylan
I’m just at 6’ and they fit fine in all aspects.
Re: Getting rubber [pic]
On Wed, 10 Jul 2002 13:48:33 -0500, harper
<harper.7l9ia@timelimit.unicyclist.com> wrote:
>Does anyone have sizing problems with the six-six-one leg
>armor?
I don’t know yet. I ordered Large but it hasn’t arrived yet. I choose
large based on the “openings” on the Size Chart on the sixsixone.com
website. I’m 6’0" tall and my legs are average width (breadth?
thickness? diameter? sturdiness? solidity? fatness? girth? acrossness?
cross section? radius? circumference?).
Klaas Bil