has anyone got any tips on how to hop on the wheel. we can do the hopping bit fairly well , about 10-15 hops , but can’t ride into it, then back out of it.
I’m not an expert at it either, but watching my brother, I found that he sticks one of his arms up in the air. After trying this, I was able to get about 50 hops.
that sound quite diificult, but if it helped him…
we will give it a go.
how does he get back onto the pedals?
I would recommend meeting lots of other riders at the next SWUM meet in less than 2 weeks, see the attached link:
These meets are a great place to learn from other riders and swap skills, there should be a fair number of people able to give you a demo and advice. It is also very local to you (when I reach Bristol it feels that I am nearly there!).
Keith
like so
I couldn’t fit it in, but you compress at the knees a bit
And this is just how I do it
hopping.bmp (398 KB)
I’m sorry, I thought you just meant hopping. I thought that when you said “on the wheel” you meant “on the unicycle” I was just not thinking that well. At least you got a cool picture, though.
I still have a horrible time with getting out, but heres what I know about it…
For the transition into hopping on the wheel, I jump off the pedals with the seat in front, and do a 90 degree unispin like thing, which is really scary at first, but not that hard. You could practice by doing the quarter spin onto the wheel from the ground. Getting out is way way harder (at least for me). First make sure hopping is REALLY solid, then just jump off the wheel, spin the uni around so it is facing forward, and land with both feet on the pedals, with the seat either in front or in. I hope that made a little bit of sense. there are other methods, but that is what I use, also check out
I just finnished learning this skill and had a bunch of trouble with it. I agree with the last person that the best way to do it is to jump off, spin the uni 90 degrees and land simultaniouly on both pedals, like a jump mount. It’s the scarriest skill I’ve learned, and I strongly recomend shin gaurds and solid shoes. The boost confidence a bit. When you hit the peddals, try jumping a couple of times with seat out while regaining ballane, and finally NEVER try to ride out of it if it feels like your foot is caught in the spokes. Jump around a bit and slide your foot back on.
good luck,
unicyclemichael
If you can wheelwalk then you can sit down on the seat from hop on wheel, turning your knees outward and wheelwalk out. That’s probably not a very good description, but its the way I learnt first - much less scary than hopping back down onto the pedals.
+0||>-
You can watch this vid
Freestyle
or
Freestlye2
Pfft if you want more, click on the link in my sig, but that the only 2 with hop on wheel(cept movies).
If you can’t wheel walk but want a slightly less scary way of getting out of it, try stepping down one foot at a time.
This can be done either seat in front style if you prefer directly sitting on the seat.
To learn this first try the following exercise:
Stand holding the unicycle with both feet on the ground with the wheel parallel to your feet (like you are in hop on wheel position but not yet on the wheel). Hold the seat with both hands.
Step one foot up onto the tyre. Tilt the frame slightly in the direction that does not have a foot on it (but keep your foot wedged cloesly to the frame and tyre). You should now be able to lift the other foot off the ground and balance for a short period of time before having to put it back on the ground. If the wheel rotates and your foot comes off it is natures way of telling you that you’re leaning the frame the wrong way!
Practice doing this one footed tyre still stand till you get a feel for it. Then try and do the following:
Starting from the both feet on the ground position take the OTHER foot and place it on the pedal (which should be in its lowest position) You will need to swivel your body to do so.
Remove the remaing foot from the ground so it is in the air and see if you can balance for a little. Before you lose your balance place the foot that is in the air on the other pedal so you are ready to ride off seat in front.
Practice doing this until you can balance one foot on the pedal with the other in the air for a wee while.
Now you can put the two together:
Start with both feet on the ground
Step one foot up onto the tyre (remember to tilt the frame)
Then place the other foot on the pedal
Remove the foot on the tyre to the other pedal
You’ve just learnt a funky mount that can also be used to get out of hop on wheel:
Start with both feet on the tyre,
Tilt the frame so you can balance on one foot
Place the other foot on the pedal (as you swivel)
Remove the foot from the tyre to the other pedal
This needs to be done fairly quickly and is dependant on the pedals being in the correct position. If you are flexible you can swivel and sit at the same time instead of going into seat in front.
Hope that helps some.
Peter
Sorry, that should have read
This can be done either seat in front style OR if you prefer to directly sitting on the seat.
Fancier transition than the common one:
hopping on the wheel to pedal ‘leg-around’ variant (1)
hopping on the wheel to pedal ‘leg-around’ variant (2)
yesterday I did this one:
hopping on the wheel to wheel walk