(i don’t actually have a uni, yet, but i’m saving upo to get one)
I started being interested in it when i was at the annual childrens gala in the town i live in (i’m a member of the scouts and i was handing out leaflets). I started talking to one of the entertainers, who was riding a unicycle. i asked him if i could have a go on his unicycle, so he stopped and handed me the unicycle. i got about 3 feet then fell on my arse. now i want to get a unicycle, so i can actually learn to ride one properly. The fact i’m a skint teenager doesnt really help things…
so how did you get into it? hopefully some of you have a more interesting story than me.
I heard someone on campus say that he knew how to ride one. Given, he legitimately wanted to join the circus. That was when it was first brought to my attention. Then after taking the Greyhound Bus-line home for spring break, I waited in the station for my parents to come pick me up and saw a man dressed in a business suit walking with one in hand, briefcase in the other. He attempted to free-mount but fell rather humorously while trying to do so, despite grabbing the railing next to him. I had remembered seeing another person doing this in the city before, but then again unicycling is big in NYC so I suppose it is no surprise. I do not live in the city, so other than there I have seen nobody else on one.
I seriously considered riding one. Bike theft is skyrocketing on my campus. I would love to see someone try and steal my uni and claim it to be theirs. I can carry it inside class like the skaters do and it can be stored inside my dorm…these thoughts built up and last summer I wanted one.
I was able to afford one this year. And after watching a tutorial last year and some Kris Holm videos, I was really excited about buying my beautiful uni.
And now, I can almost ride. I take longer than most people it seems, but that is okay. So long as I can ride and free-mount before college, I shall be fine.
unis are pretty common in my university , (i mean for average mass of people) i guess there are 30 or 40 unicyclists in the campus, i always wanted some uncommon and challenging sport that never get boring, and i found it, im riding from about a year ago, i like doing more distance and uphill downhill than tricks, actually looking for a coker
Don’t worry about ‘everyone’. Every one learns that their own pace. Just be consistent in your practice and it will all come together at some point. It did for everyone here so you know it can be done.
I am a juggler/circus skills person but hadnt given unicycle a go because I had never found a quality uni in any store where I live. When a mate offered to sell me his KH24 cheap I jumped at the chance to learn it and have been riding it almost everyday since.
People always ask me this… and I have no idea! I wanted one when I was 10 years old(I dont know why) and my father bought me one at the 11th birthday:)
I found an old rusty schwinn 24 in unicycle in my grandparents shed years ago and I thought that it would be cool to try it out, but it didn’t have a tire or a seat so it sat in my backyard for a few more years. In May saw it and thought I would fix it up. So I bought a tire and a bike seat (bad idea), and starting riding. I loved it. Now I ride everyday.
I was in the backseat of my parents 1964 chevy Belair, on our way to the beach. We had passed this same bike shop many times before on our way to Redondo Beach. Each time we passed by the bike shop, I noticed this strange one-wheeled “bike” hanging upside down; you could see it through the big glass window of the shop.
I had expressed my interest in going in to see it, and on day, on the way back from the beach, my parents decided to stop there and let me see it up close. I knew immediately that I wanted this odd looking cycle, and wanted to start learning how to ride it asap!
They bought it for me then and there. It was a 20" uni with a whitewall tire, a candy apple blueish frame, what I think were “lolipop” bearings and a really cheapo seat…I won’t call it a “saddle”, lol. I seem to remember the vinyl seat top cover had tufted (or molded) lines going down for front to back, with each line about 1" apart.
And of course, no lift handle. Just a steel bar to help prevent the front and back of the seat from getting torn up when you dropped it.
As soon as I got home I started learning, and I was riding in 2-3 days! In what seemed like no time, I was able to ride one-footed, backwards, spin in a circle, ride down curbs. I also remember the rim got tweaked pretty quick; I think it has maybe 12 spokes total! And of course, a very weak single walled steel rim. This was about 1965, and I was 9.
After 20 years or so of water skiing I damaged my ankle and had to give up - I had a look around for another sport to take up and a work friends brother bought his unicycle in for us to see! It looked like a challenge and it was not too long before I tracked down where to buy one and now I am hooked!!
When I was about 10 my Dad brought one on ebay for My older brother and I to learn and I thought it was stupid:o but when my brother started to learn how to ride it, I had a go and thought it was good fun. after I learnt how to ride it I stopped riding it and so did my brother (he moved out). And about a year and a half ago I took it up again and have been riding since.
I did not fall in love with unicycling at first sight. It was not before I stepped across some Muni or Trial video that I became interested in it…
My sister had already had a take at unicycling some years before (and given it up again), at that time I had never felt inclined even to have a little try…
but when I did put my mind to it then, I rode quite intensely and made quick progress in the course of a few days.
Around the age of ten, I had an obsession with things that were quirky, (I still do) and at that time, my area was in love with the idea of BMX and Skating. At one point during the summer, I saw a show with a unicyclist on it, and he apparently had the record for the longest unicycle grind at the time. After seeing that, I started watching youtube videos and being amazed by what a unicycle could do.
Four years after that, people in my school started calling me quirky, for my array of colorful jeans, top hats, fedoras, and numerous other things. Hearing quirky so much made me remember unicycling, and I looked back to find those videos that I loved.
I never found those exact ones, but a comment on a video linked me to unicycle.com, and I was in love with the look of all the unicycles, and I couldn’t afford any that would be a good one to learn on, and could take some basic punishment. So I went on E-Bay, and found a Torker LX Pro, and that was my first unicycle.
I now ride every single day, whether it be midnight, the morning, or the afternoon, and I plan on unicycling until my body can’t.
I had a buddy at school who used his to get to and from classes, and about a month before the school year ended I decided it was time, so I learned to ride on his uni in about 4 - 5 hours of practice over a couple days. Then when I got home I went through some severe Uni withdrawal, so I bought my first uni. $130 piece of CRAP. Exchanged it a week later for a 24" no-name muni. 3 weeks in a bent the cranks. about a week later (and one week ago from today) I got a used KH20", and it is my baby. So a month and a half of riding and three Uni’s This is an expensive addiction, but so worth it!
I wanted one when I was 10 years old(I dont know why) and my father bought me one at the 11th birthday:)