Thank you. I just saw a George Pack video and it was amazing. Tomorrow I’ll start trying to ride up the curbs! He was amazing. I love unicycling
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last time I practiced riding up curbs, I got a flat tire, maybe from a pinch flat. I keep my pressure pretty high, but I could hear/feel the tire bottom out on the rim when I hit the curb. To make the trick work, I need my mass to be significantly behind the uni at the point of impact. A good way to achieve this is to practice riding up to the curb, touching it with the tire, then riding backwards. This will force you to get the uni out in front of you right at the point of touching the curb. If I am too much over the hub when I hit the curb, the tire will slip on the curb and I will UPD off the front. I am not very good at this trick. If I hit the curb at a weak pedal position, it’s not going to happen. There are some parking areas near my house where the height of the curb varies from 2-8 inches. Good place to practice. For anyone concerned about being knocked off by small obstacles…rolling over bigger ones is good practice. There is a fascinating video of Terry (Unigeezer) riding up some steps on a 36".
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Found the video of Unigeezer, but that seems more like rolling over than climb up. I will make a lots of UPD this weekend! In my mind I’m visualizing something like a small front hop to the curb trying to pedal during
Oops, I misunderstood you.
nice video for watching the climbing technique especially on the steeper part. thanx @UniGeezer
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There is a short but very steep dirt hill in my neighborhood I’ve never gotten up. Every week or so, I pass it and give it a few tries. The best technique I can muster, which has gotten me 3/4 the way up:
- Sitting as far back as possible.
- Holding on with both hands.
- Bending my upper body forward as much as possible.
- Thrusting my upper body weight forward, as if I’m sticking my neck out, on every half pedal revolution (but without altering my sitting position / legs).
By bending my body in half at the hips, I can keep my center of gravity over the hub. At the same time, my legs are more in a position to push forward on the pedals. Upper body leans forward / legs push from behind. If I slip forward on the seat, I only have 1/2 more revolutions left and it’s over. The whole technique relies on a rigid connection between my body and the unicycle. I think that connection is important, in particular, for pedaling through the weak position. When climbing hills using this technique, the unicycle creaks due to the leverage placed on it.
The video, above, is interesting, because it shows how different riders use different techniques / setups for climbing hills.
I just watched some of those Peck videos too, very inspiring. Especially seeing what kind of equipment he had to work with and ways he worked around it, all those axle breaks, his custom machined billet splined cranks, etc.
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elpuebloUNIdo, do you want to try something?
For one, are you sitting and then stand when sitting isn’t possible anymore, or are you trying to ride up this hill while sitting down?
-Next time you try this hill forget about where you’re sitting. Your body will go in the proper position without you wasting energy worrying about it or worse, trying to correct it.
-Hold on to your handlebars (if you have them), if you hold on to your seat then use your smaller fingers and your palms to hold the seat and put your thumbs together in front of your saddle.
-Keep your body straight. Do not hinge at the hips. Climbing 101… do not lean forward, keep your weight and centre of gravity in line with your spine. Better grip and reaction time.
-Stay smooth. No surging or bending forward. Keep your body and balance in line so it’s predictable and strong.
-chin up, shoulders back, and look ahead.
Now this is me just being really bored. Please don’t take any offence to my suggestions.
Try it though. I’m hoping you’ll be pleasantly surprised and make this hill.
I look forward to hearing from you.
No offense taken, but I have to clarify some things.
No, I am not standing at all. Once I start to stand, it’s all over. The position of my butt on the seat is important, because my pulling motion on the seat-handle / bar-ends is both vertical and horizontal. Leaning forward does not interfere with keeping my center of gravity over the wheel, because my butt is sticking far out the back. So, I am centered, but my center of gravity is lower (akin to balancing a frisbee on the finger, rather than a stick). My bar setup is fairly low, and leaning forward allows me to push and pull harder on the bar ends, similar, in my mind, to the posture of someone sitting at a rowing machine.
I make it a point to try different techniques on the same hill. When I am holding onto the seat, on my 20", I am holding the grab handle in both hands. On my muni, I have both hands on the bar ends. I have experimented with one handed climbing. The free arm makes more effective ballast one-handed, but I struggle to keep a completely rigid connection with the seat and I tend to shift too far forward in this position. I have also experimented with two handed SIF up the hill, which allows for more weight shifting within each pedal stroke, but the wheel becomes less weighted when it moves forward of my center of gravity, and I slip (this hill is dirt). Smooth pedaling on this hill is out of the question. Between each slogging motion, I am attempting to get back into a position of leverage on the pedals. The hill in question is significantly steeper than the hill in the video, above. My attempts tend to end one of three ways: 1. Slipping, 2. UPDing off the front, and 3. Coming to a complete stop and not having the strength / leverage to pedal through it. When I describe the “best” method, it is the one that produced the best results based on many, varied attempts. I am not familiar with “Unicycling 101”. However, I must concede that the best rider in the Hill video, above, Ben, appears to have a pretty straight posture. So, I will keep experimenting, trying the things you suggested, then let you know the results. Best wishes!
Cool… I think riding upright will take care of #'s 1 and 2.
#3 will come later.
Stillstands are another thing that can really help here.
Thanks for playing!
It’s awesome when people are open to try things.
I’m off to go play in the snow!
I was so impressed by George Peck’s “Rough Terrain Unicycling” video I had to post the link here.
I found it old-school and awesome in the best possible ways. He’s breaking axels (but not hubs, interestingly) and cleverly cobbling together padded gloves and other protective pads. George Peck is an amazing and unassuming athlete and master of the sport.
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UPDate: I returned to the super-steep hill and followed the suggestion of keeping a straight back, not leaning forward, while climbing. The results were not good. I was not able to leverage as much strength against the saddle/handle in this position. I attribute this to the fact that my seat is already quite high. If my seat were lower, perhaps pulling upward would work better. I
Da da, da daaa… duhhhh. 
(that’s Price is Right losing music)
Awe, that’s too bad.
I was hoping you were going to come back with a successful hill climb.
Again, Thanks for even trying.
I just went and measured the distance (height) between the middle of my saddle to the bars on my handlebars and that measurement was 7" on my 29" and 9" on my 36" wheel.
Just to give a perspective on how upright I am when I ride.
Don’t give up on that hill.
Are you mentioning the difference in vertical height between the low point of your saddle and the handlebars? I will measure my own setup. I think my bar ends are no more that 1" higher, vertically, than the dip in my saddle. I can see how different bar setups promote (or not) an upright position.
I am not giving up on the hill. I’ve made it 80% up on my 24". A lot depends on the condition of the dirt, if it is very dry or slightly moist.
“Are you mentioning the difference in vertical height between the low point of your saddle and the handlebars?”
Yes, you’re exactly right.
I’m 6’3" with a very long torso, so maybe that would explain (a little bit) the higher bars. Obviously I prefer a very upright stance.
Here are two shots of my setup I just took.
Thanks for the photos. I will snap one of my 24" when I get home from work. What’s that white stuff all over the ground?
Like unicyclemos said…“atmospheric water vapor frozen into ice crystals and falling in light white flakes or lying on the ground as a white layer.”
Had to…the timing was perfect.
10" so far and still falling as I type.
Side note: I may be looking for letters of recommendation (for my lovely wife) that I should be able to buy my 26" Hatchet for riding on this stuff.
Anyone?..
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Here is the setup on my 24". The bar ends are at, or slightly below, the height of the dip in the saddle. This angle is exaggerated, as well, by my posture on the back edge of the seat. Hard to see from the picture, but there are two sets of bar ends. There is a rear-facing set protruding under the saddle and a front-facing set meeting at a downward facing point. The rear-facing bar ends are attached to the outside of the forward-facing ones. IMHO, the Shadow is the BEST. Strong, rigid, adjustable.
Agree on Nimbus shadow handle.
Strong, rigid, possibility to add storage to under seat rear… Just not good if you are short and need every millimetre! Like me for my 36er. I had a KH handle on it and I managed to bend/twist the metal in an UPD. Also the KH handle is more fiddly to set up.
Also the Nimbus handle is perfect if 1 or more of the threads for the saddle seat post attachment is busted too, you can keep using the saddle. 
I always figured handle bars should be on unis you take on longer rides. A 24" is too small a wheel for longer rides (though I have been using mine lately for 10km runs), so less likely to be used for longer trips. I have mine on the 32 and 36. There they are very comfy.
Would you say that you can get more speed out of your uni with a handle bar, because the balance point is slightly shifted? When I sprint with my Quax 24, I hang forward and then go all in pedalling.