Hi, I am Kevin from near Solihull in the UK. I have never been on a unicycle but am interested in trying one.
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Welcome to the community, Kevin. Glad to have you here. There are plenty of resources and friendly people here to help you learn. A year ago I was in the same place you are now, and I wish I had found the unicyclist forum before I started riding, because this place is awesome.
Go for it - I did at 51 and itâs been great for health of body and mind. But be prepared that (for most people) learning takes a long time and involves lots of repetition to gradually make the gains that are so worth it. Ebay has for me been a great place to pick up used unicycles from people who either failed to learn or have learned so well theyâve moved on to better rides. Safest bet is to pick up a Nimbus Club - they are decent quality strong basic models (the Nimbus brand name is used by unicycle.com (or unicycle.co.uk over here), frequently referred to as UDC in posts etc - keen unicycles and really helpful (and good people to turn to if you do want to buy new). A 24" wheel size is what I found good to learn on (Iâm 6ft), or a 20" wheel other people have found good. Bigger wheels are harder to come by and to ride - leave that for when you know youâve caught the bug! Avoid anything that is shiny chrome and nameless, avoid anything saying âvintageâ, or âunicycle circus balance bike party tricks funâ (unless itâs actually a good brand being sold by a clueless non-unicyclist). Should hopefully be able to get something for under ÂŁ50 that way.
Most of all enjoy it! Not only is it a great and unusual sport, but youâll find the community of unicyclists is so encouraging and supportive - theyâve been talking on this forum for decades, or more recently (and maybe more volume) on Facebook (eg Unicycle Chat and UK Unicycle Chat)
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Welcome.
Hope you get the chance to meet up with someone local to you on the forum. Learning may be difficult, at the least frustrating. Be willing to fail and keep trying. It is possible to ride these squirly odd modes of transport. Lots of fun to do so.
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Welcome to the forum!
I second this, having learned on a Club unicycle. They may be a little more spendy compared to the cheaper no-name options, but a Club (or equivalent beginner uni from a reputable brand) will be much more sturdy and reliable than a cheap one. The saddles found on most UDC unicycles are also quite ergonomic too.
In terms of which wheel size to begin with, Iâd recommend either a 20" or 24". I learned to unicycle on the 26" Club being that I wanted to ride it longer distances, though in hindsight a smaller wheel wouldâve been easier to learn on. Itâs entirely doable though
Another important thing is getting the right length seat post. Saddle height can really make or break the experience of riding a unicycle. Often with cheaper unis the seat post might be too short, which means to get a proper fit youâd need to order a longer seat post (and sometimes a new saddle if the bolt pattern is different).
Best of luck with your learning journey 
Itâll be frustrating at times, but if you stick with it youâll learn just fine.
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Welcome to the asylum 
Everything @holyroller said is solid advice.
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Thank you and yes, I have had some very helpful replies.
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Very heartening to hear you started at 51 - I am 62! Thanks for the great advice.
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Thanks, more great advice.
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Well Iâm now nearer your current age than my starting age :-). There are a surprising number of late starters - have a look at this thread about riders over 50 - some have recently started, others have been riding for ages, but people are still riding in their 70s and even beyond.
Most people really seem to enjoy the sight of someone unicycling past them - the grins and comments are overwhelmingly positive. But if some youth should decide to make a snarky comment or laugh with his mates, I enjoy the thought that Iâm probably 4 times their age and doing something they would be completely incapable of (although Iâve so far stopped short of handing them my unicycle and inviting them to ride it ;-).
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Please revisit the unicycling after 50 thread, I would really like to see it get some more traction. There are always new riders joining the forum, many rediscovering unicycling later in life. We have had some great topics discussed there.
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Thanks, Iâve had a look. I am still finding my way around here, do I need to join the thread or flag it in some way or do I just have to check in occasionally?
By the way, I partly joined to get information about a Solihull Unicycling Club that I saw in Google but it looks like it might have closed down. You are one of the closest users to Solihull, do you know anything about it?
Thanks,
Kevin
Thereâs a Birmingham Circus Skills club that seems to be in existence still and hosted a Solihull Unicycling Club event that was advertised on Facebook 10+ years ago. They seem to be (or have been) located in Warstock near Kings Heath. Try birminghamcircusskillsclub@hotmail.com (this is all from the web, not from any personal knowledge).
BTW I have/had 4 unicycles which came from much nearer to you than I am, I got a job lot that had belonged to a guy in Walsall.
If you start a thread (like this one) you will get email notifications when anyone posts a new contribution to it, and if you contribute to someone elseâs thread and someone replies specifically to your post (or tags you @KevinG) then youâll get an email about that too. Otherwise (but I havenât played with other possible settings) you do need to check in on the forum to see whoâs talking about what, and if anyone has replied to you or liked a post of yours, or if you have earned yourself a forum badge by doing something significant (or even meaningless), then you will see a blob by your user icon at the top right and can find whatâs happened by clicking up there.
I hardly use the web version of the forum from my computer since I loaded the app onto my phone - thatâs the way I regularly (too regularly) look at it and keep tabs really easily that way - and it can even then send notifications to your phone (or at least I seem to remember it used to, but I seem to have turned them off)
Post something to the thread, that will help to keep it relevant.
When you log in, if you go to âhttps://unicyclist.com/unreadâ it will show threads with new activity.
You can also bookmark the topic, with or without reminder
Your bookmark are located at https://unicyclist.com/my/activity/bookmarks
Thereâs also another bookmark button below the end of the topic.
Or you can set the notifications setting by clicking the bell next to the timeline:
So many options, in the end it depends on how you want to be notified about this topic and its activity 
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