i’m shopping for my 13 year old son (5’3" 100lbs) who has
never used a unicycle before. i’m leaning toward the Torker
Unistar LX 24-inch with 48 spoke alloy and miyata style seat.
it’s a hundred bucks and seem like a good beginner, but
my wife saw a bunch of Torkers on Ebay so she is wondering
about the quality (like people might be unloading these
on Ebay, 'cause they’re cheap)
ANY suggestions would be greatly appreciated…
I’m 10 and have only been unicycling for a year oe two. I think a 24" wheel is a liitle big. I use a 16" ,but i’m short. You should get a 20" uni for him. I think the torkers are suppose to be good but I never had one.
Hi. I’m thirteen years old and I’m about the same size as your son. The torker is a good choice, I also used one to learn. Although he can probably fit on a 24’’ you might want to bring your son to a local bike shop to see if he’ll fit on a 24". I wouldn’t buy the unicycle from ebay because if you have any problems they will be hard to deal with. Unicycle.com has a great custermor service and will help you with any problems. When I got my toker it didn’t have the bolts to asemble it so I emailed Unicycle.com and the shipped them to me for free. Good Luck.
torker is a good quality uni for the money, my first uni was a cheep norco (which cost more then a torker) and looking back i which i had gotten the torker. i now have a schwinn and am fairly happy with that. i agree with uni412 that the you should make sure he will fit on a 24, you can always make the seat post shorter tho. the mane difference between a 20 and a 24 would be speed, a 20 inch is slower and so you wouldnt want to go any long distance on one. hope that helps
The Torker LX model is a great value for price! The 2004 LX model is a somewhat improved version of the already good 2003 black unistar model.
BUT unicycle.com “Torker Unistar LX” links are still picturing the 2003 black unistar models (with the round crown), and their descriptions say “the 2003 Torker line”.
So, you may wish to try your local bike stores.
5’-3" is more than tall enough for a 24" wheel. For a new rider, I think this is a good all-around size. You can go places, you can learn tricks, you can get an introduction to pretty much anything. The cycle you are looking at is an awesome deal for the money.
Enjoy!
You’ve made a good choice. The BLACK Unistar is an exceptional uni for a beginner, especially when the price is considered.
I love Torker. They make very good unicycles for their respective prices. Any black Torker is a good choice and worth the money. Just stay way from the chrome ones, they are much poorer quality and not worth the price. 20 or 24 inches are good for learning on. I am 5’ 6" and I had to get my seatpost cut on my 24 to ride it. It was no big deal.
BTW: Do you ride? If not, what interested your son?
True, doesn’t look like uni.com is selling the 2004 LX yet, they are selling both the 20 and 24 DX.
I do question the honesty of some e-bay sellers, one says he is selling 2004’s but his pics are of the 2003. I sent him an “ask seller a question” earlier today asking which crown style he was selling but haven’t heard back yet.
There is nothing wrong with the 2003 LX for a beginner unicycle. But the 2004 does have a flat crown.
Good Luck.
Size-wise, my son started on a 16 at age 6, graduated to 20" at age 7, 24" at age 8, 29" at age 11, and just recently to 36" at age 11 3/4. He is 4’ 10 1/2" 90 pounds. So 24" is a fine size for your son. The benefit of it over 20" is that you can really go somewhere on it.
The Torker is a fine starter unicycle, but as you know, you get what you pay for. I don’t recommend buying anything expensive to start since you don’t know if he’s going to love it or not.
Good luck,
Nathan