I have always liked Giraffe unis. The first time I had ridden one i was hooked. During one of the meetings of the Unatics of New York, a group of guys on giraffes showed up. they all did rolling mounts to get on their giraffes. Basically, they took a few steps and JUMPED onto the saddle. After a lot of practice, one of the founders of The Unatics has been having quite a bit of success with the skill. I just bought a 5 foot giraffe in the hopes that it would be a little easier to freemount. I was wondering how much success people have had with the climbing on method, and the rolling mount for giraffes (especially five footers).
-David Kaplan
I’ve had a five foot for about 4 months now, and i still haven’t got the free mount worked out. I was at one stage getting 3/5 mounts, but i haven’t ridden it in ages, i spose i would if i could free mount. I’ve never tried the running mount, don’t know why it never occured to me to try. They are heaps of fun, cept a little slower and i takes me a while to re-adjust when i ride it. Oh one other thing, not that this post is very helpful at all, be careful if you ride it on the footpath (side walk), often people don’t cut there tree’s back far enough and you end up eating leaves.
forum.member@unicyclist.com writes:
>I’ve had a five foot for about 4 months now, and i still haven’t got
>the free mount worked out. I was at one stage getting 3/5 mounts, but
>i haven’t ridden it in ages, i spose i would if i could free mount.
>I’ve never tried the running mount, don’t know why it never occured to
>me to try.
It certainly never occurred to me, either, when I was growing up. I have
had my Giraffe since I was about 15, and tho I probably could have jumped
it back then, it never dawned on me that there was any way to freemount it
oter than to climb. When I saw the guys that David Kaplan referred to (the
ones from the Bronx who ride theirs everywhere), I asked if they could do
it with mine, since mine is a 6’er and theirs were shorter. Not
surprisingly, they had no trouble. After a number of failed attempts, I
finally learned the jumping method – it’s just as much a mental hurdle as
a physical leap. The best advice was from one of the Bronx riders who told
me to push out my chest mid-jump. The other useful thing to know is that
you MUST pedal backwards in order to schuss the thing up – otherwise it’s
almost impossible. The backpedal is going to make the giraffe shoot up
since your momentum is going in the other direction; it’s easier to see
than to explain.
>They are heaps of fun, cept a little slower and i takes me a while to
>re-adjust when i ride it. Oh one other thing, not that this post is very
>helpful at all, be careful if you ride it on the footpath (side walk),
>often people don’t cut there tree’s back far enough and you end up
>eating leaves.
>–
>skunker
My favorite giraffe story: I was riding on my block when I was much
younger, and these teens across the street were hooting in admiration, so
I looked their way. Then I SUDDENLY noticed that I was about to smack into
a low canopy! I had less than a second to react; I put both arms up to try
to grab hold of the canvas of the canopy as the uni dangled below me. Then
I backpedaled and rescued myself from certain humiliation. I was
embarrassed, but not as badly as if I’d splatted on the ground below. And
I had a bruise above my eye where I hit one of the bars of the canopy.
>
>
David Stone Co-founder, Unatics of NY 1st Sunday / 3rd Saturday
2:30 @ Central Park Bandshell
> their giraffes. Basically, they took a few steps and JUMPED onto the
> saddle. After a lot of practice, one of the founders of The Unatics has
> been having quite a bit of success with the skill. I just bought a 5
> foot giraffe in the hopes that it would be a little easier to freemount.
> I was wondering how much success people have had with the climbing on
> method, and the rolling mount for giraffes (especially five footers).
With a six footer, the climbing method is much, much easier. But as the
giraffe gets taller, the rolling mount gets easier. The climbing one does
too, but at some point they more-or-less even out.
A caution about rolling mounts. The taller the giraffe, the more stress
they place on the frame. I would not recommend rolling mounts onto “cheap”
giraffes, especially by riders of respectable weight. My old Schwinn
Giraffe has held up to everything I’ve ever done to it, but I did bend my
seatpost in the process of learning the running mount one-footed.
Running mounts involve timing and committment. You have to hit that pedal,
and drive it down to pull the wheel back and under you. Often the final
step is to then pull the top pedal back, completing the motion of getting
the wheel back where you need it.
Climbing mounts can be learned more slowly, and are easier to “abort”
from. Step on the tire, then on the bottom pedal, then sit, then put your
foot on the other pedal. Depending on your height relative to the
unicycle, you can skip the tire and step directly onto the low pedal.
Good luck, John Foss, the Uni-Cyclone jfoss@unicycling.com
www.unicycling.com
“Freedom is not free”