Hey all. I’m Mike, I’m 16, and i just purchased my first unicycle off of the internet on Friday, so I’m still waiting for it to get here. I have never ridden a unicycle before so it’ll be pretty interesting once i get it. I used to skateboard a lot but i stopped that for music, but recently i purchased a unicycle so i wouldn’t spend my money on drugs. I’m really excited about getting it so I believe that I’ll have enough motivation to learn how to ride. Any tips for a newbie? I looked up youtube videos, but I’d like to have different opinions and whatnot. My biggest worry is about falling correctly and whatnot.
I’d say the key to falling is not to get ahead of the unicycle, specifically your legs/calves.
One of the most annoying (Not the most painful, but annoying) is to have your leg go in front of the pedals when you fall, and the unicycle keeps going in motion, so the pedal scrapes up your leg.
So whenever you fall, try to get off behind the unicycle.
Bad advice from plainodd regarding trying to fall off the back.
When learning to ride, one of the bigger steps is keeping your weight on the seat, and forward. If you’re trying to make sure you fall off the back to not hurt yourself, it’ll probably take you a lot longer to learn to ride, if it helps, get plastic pedals.
thanks guys! I plan on being decked out in pads when i start out, but would it be a bad idea to learn on grass or carpet? Im thinking that starting out on either would make it harder to ride on concrete when i first start riding on it.
I ordered a 24" sun. My inseam is 30" so im assuming i ordered the right size.
to be honest, pads will only hinder your learning. you shouldnt fall too much–on a unicycle you usually land on your feet. i only fell once on a unicycle and that was trying to go backwards. wear a helmet and gloves maximum.
Don’t worry about falling untill you graduate to a 36 and get some serious speed. On a standard unicycle (20 or 24") they tend to just go out from under you and you land on your feet, even better you are already making a walking motion.
Find a good place to practice, grass is fine, but the most important thing is to have some sort of wall or railing to start against. If you find the wheel too lively when you try it on pavement you can just lower your tire pressure untill you get used to it.
Thanks again. I plan on using an chair to lean against or something. Ill figure it all out when my uni comes in the mail. So i guess ill post my progress in here and whatnot.
I started learning in the garage and very quickly learned that was a bad idea courtesy of a badly sprained ankle a few days later. The sprained happened when I fell off backwards and my foot somehow wedged between the wall, uni, and floor. As a general rule it’s a good idea to learn in a wide open space without stuff to break yourself on.
A month later when I was able to start again I kept to the grass. The bonus of learning on grass is that once you move to concrete it seems incredibly easy!
A chair probably wont be enough to hold onto, you’ll likely need something taller and sturdier like a fence or, in my case, goalpost. Expect to get frustrated and annoyed at the process. You’ll have days where you make progress and others where you make none or seem to go backwards. That’s just the way it is, but it’s worth it in the end.
Oh damn. If I cant use a chair I don’t have anything to use that’s on flat. I’ll have to improvise i guess. I’ll find something. Gah my uni comes tomorrow and im leaving for vacation tomorrow! I hope this is the only time UPS comes before 11am
I bought my first unicycle last Saturday and vijil is correct, it can be very frustrating trying to make progress. A wall next to a parking lot seems to work well. I saw on u-tube where someone recommended using crutches to steady yourself?
I just rode mine for the first time today. Im making slow progress. I’m riding on the grass and im using a railing on my back porch to steady myself. I have a little trouble balancing, but it’s the first day. I don’t expect to get too far yet. Leaning forward seems to help. My neighbors were looking at me funny :D. Love it.
but if you cant get a new uni right away then learn other tricks, like idling and riding backwards, then one footed. trust me, those 3 will occupy a lot of time
I’ll probably practice all of that when I get riding down. So far i can ride for 5 to about 12 feet without falling. Usually after that I’ll lose control and be forced to jump off. Will that go away naturally? Could my low tire pressure have anything to do with it since im on grass and it’s a bit bumpy?
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