I just purchased my first uni and am still trying to figure out the best way to learn to ride it. I’ve been starting along a short wall and can ride it 15-20 feet at times. I’ve been riding and racing mountain bikes for it seems a hundred years, and have gotten track stands down to a “t”. I thought I had pretty good balance 'til I threw a leg over this thing!!!
I’m wide open for suggestions, so please enlighten me, “Great One Wheel Gods” hehehe
Kenny -
I’m also new at this, and I asked the same question three weeks ago. For the answers you’re looking for, you may want to start by reading this thread:
http://www.unicyclist.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=22451
When you say you can ride about 15-20 feet, you mean while holding onto the low wall, correct? Because if you can travel 15-20 feet without holding onto something, you’re almost completely there! Seriously, the oft-repeated philosophy is “Once you can go 30 feet, you can go indefinitely.”
- Mark
Practice Practice Practice.
And when you practice:
Lean forward and pedal like hell.
Practice Practice Practice Practice Practice Practice Practice
Never give up, and remember that you started just for fun, don’t let lack of progress get you down. Just laugh at your self when you fall.
Daniel
Be confident, relaxed and committed. Always always fall off the front. If you fall off the back, you’re not committed. Keep your weight on the saddle, keep your back straight - pull your backside forwards (don’t hinge in the middle) and look ahead, not down. Count your pedal strokes and aim to beat your best score. Try to meet other unicyclists.
Most of all, enjoy it.
Re: How do I do this???
Ah, trackstands. I am a trackstand master also. I thought the same thing when I got my uni. I though I could just jump on it and go. It takes practice, but you’ll learn fast.
cheers… Mojoe
I learned how to uni by going to a curb on the road, put the back of the tire against the curb so that when you put weight on the back pedal(so that you don’t get a pedal in the leg) This way you just wait until you feel comfortable and put your foot on the other pedal. Its already been said but putting your weight on the seat is one of the most important things to do. Keep your arms out for balance and look ahead. This way you’ll go farther and farther and see your progress, just keep pedaling and keep your upper body straight up, don’t flop your hips around or you’ll fall off the side.
SlimJim
Re: How do I do this???
On Thu, 16 Jan 2003 20:24:38 -0600, Krashin’Kenny
<KrashinKenny.hdp8n@timelimit.unicyclist.com> wrote:
>I just purchased my first uni and am still trying to figure out the best
>way to learn to ride it.
Lots of beginner’s tips at
<http://www.unicyclist.com/links/How_to_Ride/Beginners/>
Klaas Bil
Ride carefully; 25% of the people in the world are caused by accidents.
I got my uni on monday night, and I started practicing the minute I got home on tuesday.
So far I can freemount (successfully about 3 times out of 5) and ride about 1 block length before i lose control.
I started with fences and walls too, but I found that my arms were doing more work than my feet. I figured this was a bad sign, and I didn’t want to become dependent on walls and fences, so the next day I gave up with them.
I found a fire hydrant on my street and decided to mount there and just go for it.
It seemed impossible without the wall at fist, but I got the hang of it in a few hours, and because I really wasn’t even using the fire hydrant that much (it’s really too short), I was practically freemounting all ready.
I’m still working on getting my turns down, but I think I’m starting to get a hang of it. I’m basically leaning a little in the direction I want to go, then twisting my body. The wheel just follows after that.
The walls didn’t seem to help me much (except of course on that first day when I could harldy even get up), but they might help you. Some random guy i met suggested I tie a rope between two trees and ride next to that, but i never found a good rope. 
What can you do?
No matter what method you use, just practice as much as possible and it will come to you.
I try to put most of my weight on the seat, but I often leave my right hand on the saddle handle. It’s easier to balance with both hands out I think, but I use my hand to steady the seat a little while I’m pedalling. Do you think where I keep my hands makes much of a difference? Any suggestions?
Thinking about it, it’s quite strange how quickly you’ll find yourself improving. I remember it seeming outrageously difficult at the time… wobbling around with a turning circle measured in tens of metres, looking extremely unstable with a look of abject terror on my face*… but after not long you get to the point of wondering what’s so hard about it… 
Keep it up… in a week or so you’ll be unstoppable!
Phil
- so the neighbours told me as they laughed…
I like the idea of using the curb, seems like you could get a better feel of the balance point as you sit on the uni. I can’t wait to get off work tomorrow so I can start practicing!
why wait 'till after work? I wake up at 5:00am and ride for 45 minutes, take a shower, and head to class.
good luck
Hell. I can’t hardly walk, much less ride, when I first get up in the morning!
I think I’ve found my new favorite sport, unicycling!!!
Today is the first time that I’ve tried riding free (no walls to lean on) and managed to go 23 feet!
After researching uincycles here on this site, I’ve learned mine is pretty much “bottom of the barrel”
What’s ya’ll’s opinions on the Torker brand?
What about 20" vs 24" wheel size?
Unicrown vs flat tops?
I’ve been looking on Ebay and I’m seriously thinking about upgrading to a new ride!
Torker is a good uni. Their main quirk is that some of them come with a really small saddle that is designed for 7 year olds. But the saddle can be upgraded at the time of purchase if you order it from unicycle.com. The flat crown Torker and the black rounded crown Torker are two of the best starter unicycles.
The unicycle to stay away from is the Savage. The lollypop bearing holders on the Savages rank as one of the worlds worst engineering designs, and the Savage saddle isn’t much better. United also makes lollypop frames that are the same design as the Savage, but United also makes a main-cap bearing frame that is a much better design than their lollypop frame.
The choice of a 20" or 24" depends on where you’re going to ride and how you’re going to ride. If you are going to focus on freestyle and aren’t going to use the uni for commuting around the neighborhood then go for the 20". If you want to ride the uni around the neighborhood then get a 24". The real answer is to get both a 20" and 24" and then a muni and then Coker and then… and then…
I prefer flat crowns because a flat crown makes it easier to do one foot skills and other freestyle skills. If you plan to get into freestyle stuff then get a flat crown.
However, the new black Torkers with the rounded crown are really nice. A very nice wheel and a comfy saddle. Not a uni that you would want to use for freestyle, but still a very nice uni.
Yesterday, I modified your approach a bit and used a cinderblock as a curb and launched off of it as I practiced in the back yard (dirt and grass is a lot more forgiving than asphalt when you fall)
This worked exceptionally well for me and today I moved the cinderblock to the patio and managed to ride the entire length of the patio (27 ft) and had to stop when I ran into the gate!!!
Sure is alot easier to keep it rolling on pavement than dirt, looking forward to upgrading my ride within the next week or so!!!
Thanks for the input and instructions from all of ya’ll, it really helped more than you could imagine!