Hi everyone,
I’ve just been studying some videos and trying to figure out how to jump heigh on a unicycle. If you jump with the seat out in front then simply pull the unicycle up by bending at the legs, will you really jump higher? Is that all there is to it? I was thinking that there must be a most appropriate time to pull up the uni. Would the unicycle ever pull you down instead of you pulling it up?
I know this thread’s not very well worded.
Thanks,
Andrew
Re: Hopping technique question…
I think it’s one of those things that only practice will answer. I’ve often wondered the same; I have difficulties with high pedal grabs in that you hop but end up going higher than the unicycle, landing on the object while just holding the uni rather than still being on it.
There’s probably a point somewhere in between that and keeping your feet solidly on the pedals but not going very high. I don’t think I’ve found it yet…
Phil
My experience of hopping in ‘real’ situations is limited, although I’ve done a fair bit ‘on the spot’.
To answer your specific question about the unicycle pulling you down as you pull it up, this is basic Newtonian physics. Yes, there is an equal and opposite reaction. However, my MUni weighs about 14 Pounds, and I weigh about 145 Pounds, so for every 10 inches (approx.) of ‘pull’, I would come down about 1 inch and the uni would come up about 9 inches.
Of course, it wouldn’t be quite that simple as my legs weigh a fair percentage of my bodyweight, so as my legs came up with the uni, other parts of my body would move down.
There is a limit to how far you can lift the centre of mass of the unicycle/rider combination, but for hopping height, you are mainly interested in how far you can lift the wheel, which is only a tiny percentage of the weight of the whole ‘system’.
As with all physical activities, trying it is much more useful than analysing it - except at the very beginning, when you want to understand what you’re trying to do, and much later when you are really tring to refine your technique.
With seat in front you can hop higher because you have the advantage of bringing the wheel underneath you in the air.
To see my point Jump up as high as you can but keep your legs straight the whole time. Now jump and bring your knees up to your chest in the air, which do you get higher off the ground on?
When you jump seat in front and bring the unicycle underneath you your doing the same thing, and eliminating much of the dead space that your legs and the frame take up when they are straight.
It takes alot more techneque to get higher with seat in front than it does initally to do it seat in. But the end result is more height than before. I am just starting to get higher with seat in fronts and for jumps under 2 feet I dont think seat in, or in front really matters.
I hope that helps a little
Chex
hey hey, i have yet to find much use out of hopping with the seat out in front. i do kind of use a mixture of both though. i keep my seat very low so that i can get more height as checkernuts clearly illustrated. i find that taking the seat out takes way too much time, and doesnt help a great deal. with the seat very low, you get the benefits of both the seat in and out. you can jump, and then bend your knees to get that extra height, and you can have the balance that having the seat under you offers.
im not sure how useful this may be to others, but its how i like to do it.
see ya, Kevin
Tugboat,
I used to go with the seat really really low method too. But you hit a point where you cant lower it more and still ride comfertably the rest of the time when your riding.
Thats the nice thing about learing how to jump seat in front, you can ride comfertably and still make thoes high jumps. I took me a while to be convinced of this too.
Chex
yeah i know. i have a limit to how low i will put my seat. if you looked at my video, its not too low. i keep it at the height so that i can touch both feet barely flat footed with the unicycle straight under me.
and i dont have the time to get the seat out cause anything i do, i do it straight out of a ride, cause hopping seems very boring to me. anyways, its my style like i said, no one has to adapt to be like me.
see ya, Kevin
Thanks everyone,
Chex,
Can you jump 2’ with the eat in?!? If so, nice work!
Once it stops raining, I’ll get to work.
Andrew
Re: Hopping technique question…
On Mon, 3 Feb 2003 15:55:25 -0600, Mikefule
<Mikefule.iaoqm@timelimit.unicyclist.com> wrote:
>To answer your specific question about the unicycle pulling you down as
>you pull it up, this is basic Newtonian physics. Yes, there is an equal
>and opposite reaction. However, my MUni weighs about 14 Pounds, and I
>weigh about 145 Pounds, so for every 10 inches (approx.) of ‘pull’, I
>would come down about 1 inch and the uni would come up about 9 inches.
>
>Of course, it wouldn’t be quite that simple as my legs weigh a fair
>percentage of my bodyweight, so as my legs came up with the uni, other
>parts of my body would move down.
Yes, and two important effects to be added to this analysis:
Armored knights raised their visors to identify themselves when they rode past their king. This custom has become the modern military salute.
Well I dont know about chex, but I can. a couple inchs higher too. but seat out for just cant get more than a foot and a half…
I just came back from a ride (5 mins ago) and i didn’t do ONE hop seat-in! It was super technical, and lots of fun. Once you get better at your seat-out front hopping, and you keep only doing that, it WILL eventually become easier that hopping seat-in. The control is amazing! the gaps, Ups, and everything you can do is amlified. I agree that at first, you need to get good at seat-in, and lowering your seat does give you a bit more height, but i think that in the long run, seat-out is the ultimate. posted is a picture of me doing some flat jumping. see how i tuck the uni up? that gives alot more height! also, with seat in, the most i could hop was around 55cm. Now i can do 86cm (over a bar) and even higher when getting onto stuff, all because of seat-out front! oh, and it’s kinda a old picture, and you can tuck it more, but this was good for me at the time. oh, and it’s on a shiny floor, so i am higher than it looks 
way to show me up max 
22 inches has been my current max with seat in stuff. But I havent been trying any more seat in stuff since then. I have been forcing myself to get better at seat in front. At first I was really bad at seat in front I couldnt see why anyone would do it. But thats just because I’m a cry baby, I pushed on and now I’m just about at the same with seat in front as seat in. But there is alot more room for me to improve my technique to get higher. Hopefully I’ll be jumping up 2.5 feet (76cm) by the end of the semeter
ok, that picture has convinced me almost. im going to learn my seat out technique for when i need higher hops, but rest assured, it will not be willingly! i still think seat in is gonna be better for my style, but we’ll see. anyways, thanks for convincing me, cause it is most likely going to help me.
so see ya, thanks again, Kevin
I just meant that since the question was for you, and i was answering, that I would clarify that it was my abilities, not yours. but 22 is pretty darn good. that’s about what I coud do until about 8 months ago.
Its all good max. I can hop higer with seat in front than you can 
Did it take you 8 months to gain 2- 6,8 ??? inches more. If so damn I was hoping to progress quicker than that. Right now I can do about 2 feet with seat in front stuff
Does anyone work out specifically to build jumping muscles? I was thinking about doing this untill I realized I hate going to the gym. But maybe if it helps alot I might just do it anyway…
Chex
And dont forget the record was set with seat in front.
It was almost beat by Dan Heaton at the Unicon, he messed up for the official one, but then landed it after. I dont know how high though, but he used the rolling hop style.
I find that seat in front works best for meh. Rolling hops are the funnest because everything connects and happens so smooth.
You’re all freaks! Of course I mean that in a nice way. I’d better start practicing because I can see how much fun I could have if I could jump that high.
Andrew
no, it hasnt gotten any higher in the last 5-7 months. i havent been doig as much trials as I should be doing.
