Hey i got my first unicycle a week ago and im getting pretty damn good at it. Ive been trying smal drops, just of curbs and stuff but i have a question. when is it better to ride off and when is it better to just stop and hop off? also, for future referance when you go off larger drops how do you absorb the impact? do you extend your legs on the way down and then bend or what?
u can usually do drops by stopping and hopping down if they are just strait down
if they are long gaps like stair gaps then u wanna do rolling ones so u can clear them
on larger drops u can either roll out when u land to sort of help absorb it otherwise u just gotta absorb it with ur legs
The decision to rolling hop or static hop down drops is up to you. Both have their uses.
Do a search on landing drops and rolling out, etc. I know that i’ve already written on the topic. But, the short answer is:
To absorb impacts:
- Bend at knees
- Bend at waist
- Roll out (best if you land on a downward slope)
Im not sure what you mean by ‘when is it better to ride off’ or hop off. Its best to land with the pedals horazantal, is that what you mean?
With drops (like curbs) were its smooth and flat on top and on the landing, its okay to just ride off. But when the takeoff-landing is bumpy, small, irregualar, etc. its usual easier to hop off. Also, when your dropping higher than you know how, IE your biggest drop, its better to hop off. Assuming your comfortable with hopping.
What uni do you have? You might need to be careful with drops depending what kind it is. But at curb height I wouldnt worry about it.
Good luck!
Congratulations on your accomplishments thus far!! Welcome to the diverse world of unicycling.
What I’d suggest is that you view Andrew Carter’s website. Go to the trials and MUni sections and watch the vids, especially the Kris Holm trials demo vids. The address is: www.unicycle.2ya.com
Your drop technique will improve the more you practice, and the more you practice the tips in those tutorials.
For future references, what gets absorbed in a higher drop is your momentum translated into the rolling of the wheel. You have to watch the tutorials to see exactly what I mean. Essentially you roll out of a drop. Meaning, that once you come into contact with the ground, you put your weight on the forward crank, and try to roll the wheel using this weight, when you touch down. Sometimes you will land a big drop with the upper half of your body bent all of the way forward…like your chest maybe touching the front handle of your seat. Then, you just use your abs to get you back into the upright position. Your legs stay locked, or at least pretty close to being locked. You wouldn’t want to smash ‘things’ on the seat upon impact.
Stopping to hop, or just riding into a drop depends on what a particular drop is like. You can practice dropping in both crank orientations. That will allow you to roll more into drops, and then land with either foot forwards. Sometimes you’ll only be limited to dropping a certain way. For a bigger drop you may be comfortable with doing in only one crank orientation. If so, it’s always helpful to learn how to flip your wheel. Okay, think of this: If you come up to a curb and your cranks aren’t going the right way for you to hop up onto it, what do you do? You hop and spin your wheel 180 degrees, and land with your cranks going the right way–oh and landing in the same spot you did the little hop from. And then you hop up the curb.
For other drops you do even different techniques. Some drops may not have good roll outs, and if you have a nice set of splined cranks, you can just do the drop seat-out/seat-in. Which leads me to gapping. If you do a gap-drop, your cranks will need to be going the right way before you hop over/down or both, and some gaps done with accuracy cannot be done with roll-outs.
Did this make sense?
If it didn’t, download all of those videos first, and then come back and read this message after you’ve seen the techniques demonstrated visually. Then you’ll get what I mean.
Later,
Evan
afraid of drops
I am afraid of doing any drops on my Coker due to the “weak” frame. 
And any kind of hops I do is about 3’-5" only.
Oh well, until I get a stronger Airfoil frame… no drops for me. 
Andrew Carter’s and Peter van Boekhout’s, but thanks.
Andrew
Rolling out is the best way, but also bend at the waist like you are trying to hit your head on the ground. As for when to do rolling hops/ stationary, do whatever you want. For trials, thrers not many times when you can do a rolling drop.
Because of my weight I damage equipment.
I’ve found that it’s best to keep rolling if possible.
It reduces impact, saves equipment, and seems softer on the body (which is good for conserving energy) as well.