Been lurking on this forum for a while and thought I’d make a post.
So a bit of history I started in January buying the crane unicycle ALDI had which was marked down. Took a couple of weeks to learn how to ride it more then a few feet but after that I was hooked. Kept that uni for over 6 months then bought a 29" Nimbus Muni which really intimidated me at first but after riding it for a couple of months it’s now my main commuting uni which I ride everywhere I used to use my bike.
Later I bought a 24" Nimbus II Freestyle just so I had something portable to take with me when I went travelling to other states in Australia and to help me learn idling/reversing. This also made me realise how good a quality unicycle is compared to cheap ones like the ALDI one.
Just recently I purchased a 2nd hand home made giraffe uni off gumtree which seems to be cobbled together with old BMX parts and big box bar welded into the middle. The whole contraption is very heavy and I tried to ride it yesterday and failed badly (Not injured). I have ridden a proper giraffe once and aside from the slight vertigo it was no where near as hard to ride as this thing.
Anyway that’s my uni history almost been riding a full year, having tons of fun learning something new and unusual. Only downside is finding other like minded people.
Awesome stuff. Which state are you in? I’m in Sydney.
Good job going from the 20" Aldi to a 29" muni too so quickly.
For what it’s worth, when I changed jobs (requiring me to go to the train station), I started unicycling to the train station, it was just over 2 months after I got my balance. As a beginner I found it quite scary though on streets with light traffic or people!
All the best unicyclists in Australia start with an Aldi unicycle!
And as @Gockie asked, where are you? In Sydney there are several small clubs which are the absolutely the best places to get involved with unicycles, meet others and get some training. I’m sure other states have as well. Get to the next Unicycle nationals if you can (location not known yet).
There are many Australian unicyclists also lurking here, perhaps they will come out and say g’day.
I’m from North Brisbane, what unicyclists I hear about are on the south side I think. I just progressed my skills gradually and I mostly stuck to footpaths. When I got more confident I used roads a bit more. I think it took me at least 4 months before I started doing any kind of real distance on it.
As for the ALDI crane I rode that into the ground within the first month, asked a bike shop about why the cranks kept coming loose even with thread locker on them and they told me to take it back something about the threads. Got a replacement which I rode a heap and took it with me when I travelled northwest Qld until I ended up getting a flat tyre in Karumba. I ended up replacing it with a 20" DRS which I found in a bike shop in Mt Isa.
Later when I went south through NSW/Vic I got that 24" Nimbus II not quite as speedy as the 29" but much more portable.
Well done you two; you must be super talented (or have lots of practice time - or both? ;)).
I have been at this for a year and a bit, the last 8 months more seriously, and I would not dare to brave proper traffic yet.
Once you’re skilled enough to ride properly like being able to turn and dismount instantly you should be fine to ride it as you would a bike. Motorists and pedestrians assume you’re an accident waiting to happen and always give you a wide berth. In most cases you’re probably safer on a Uni then a bike because you always attract attention. Just be sure you can dismount and stop in an instant if you have to.
There is definitely a reasonable number of riders in Sunshine coast though.
There are 5 clubs in Sydney
Monday: Northern Beaches Unicycle Club, North Shore Unicycle Club
Thursday: South West Sydney Unicycle Club
Friday: Paramatta Unicycling
Saturday: South West Sydney Unicycle Club
Sunday: Newtown Unicycle Club
There are some really nice guys in Canberra that meet weekly and I had the pleasure of attending one of their meetings. Was great to finally meet other unicyclists. As for around here I did call the Sunshine Coast group but they no longer meet anymore. There is a group that meets weekly in Gladstone and they’re pretty active on facebook. I’d like to go on one of their rides but it’s 3 hours away from here so might look into that next year.
Canberra is heaven for unicycling. So many dedicated paths and an incredible cross country facility.
I was there for the uniNats last month. They have a lot of riders of every age. We had two full heats of eight riders in the Masters (over 40) 100 metres.
Yeah you’re not meant to ride on a road that has a speed limit higher then 50 km/hr, so I mostly stick to footpaths where possible but if it’s quicker to use the road I don’t mind doing it provided it’s safe. Now I don’t go out riding on busy peak hour roads and I wouldn’t do that on my bike either.
You also are not required to wear a helmet but I worry if I was pulled over whatever cop on duty will not be familiar with the laws so I wear one most of the time to avoid being hassled.
Rule 240 has the same meaning in NSW and Queensland but laid out differently.
Effectively:
(1) A person must not travel in or on a wheeled recreational device or wheeled toy on:
(a) a road with a dividing line or median strip, or
(b) a road on which the speed limit is greater than 50 kilometres per hour, or
(c) a one-way road with more than 1 marked lane.
(d) on a road at night
Subsection (1) does not apply to a person who is crossing a
road in or on a wheeled recreational device or wheeled toy, if
the person—
(a) crosses the road by the shortest safe route; and
(b) does not stay on the road longer than necessary to cross
the road safely.
(3) In this section—
road does not include a road-related area, but includes any
shoulder of the road.
I keep rules 240-244 bookmarked on my phone for day when Mr Plod doesn’t know them, including those rules allowing unicycles to ride on the footpath. Of course sometimes it pays just play dumb, like when I rode to Wollongong on the MS Gong ride, all the way on main roads. Nobody seemed to care that day!
I did a 30 km “Ride For Life” at the end of July, most of it illegally. A motorcycle cop watched me ride by then rode past me shortly afterwards. I don’t think they would stoop so low as to make a fuss on an event like that.
I love these opportunities to get out on the bigger roads and actually go somewhere.
Me to, but the law does have merit. I would have liked to practice the Sydney Wollongong ride first, but not legally possible. I rode a section on 2-wheels one day, and as it was still early morning I thought I’d try the unicycle through the national park. Got about 5km and turned back. Rather scary stuff, narrow road with no shoulder, loose material at the side, camber, and very fast traffic leaving no “1m” gap. The unicycle, well certainly this rider, was just not accurate or stable enough to ride that close to traffic on those roads. A UPD at the wrong time would have been disastrous. Best to wait until the road was closed before riding.
The best "“illegal” ride I did was last years’ Spring Cycle Challenge, over the Sydney Harbour Bridge in Lane 2. What a privilege, and perhaps not illegal as I was directed by Police to go that direction…
