I never liked the “zero-weight-on-the-pedal-foot” thing. A combination of factors can allow you to put a natural amount of weight on the first pedal:
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A smaller wheel unicycle makes it easier
It may help to be taller
Get more weight in the seat
Get your center of gravity more forward
Bring the first pedal up higher than 9:00
Raise your seat height
If you can get your center of gravity more forward, you can point your toe more toward the ground and push backwards on the pedal with your foot, helping to hold it into place.
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A true static mount, to my understanding, has these characteristics:
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There is no forward or backward rotation of the pedals
It can be performed very slowly
Weight on the first pedal is counteracted by weight in the saddle
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The “zero-weight” thing may be necessary on larger wheel unicycles or where it is physically impossible to balance the opposing forces. But it seems like a real kludge of a mount. It’s like a jump mount, only really awkward because you have to keep one foot on the pedal while jumping with the other foot. No wonder you also hate it.
If the roll-back mount works for you, that’s great. You might still consider trying to learn a real static mount. For this I suggest practicing on a 20", then adapting what you’ve learned to larger wheels.
IMHO, learning a static mount is a big deal. It is related to so many other uni skills. When I practice wheel walking, for example, I static mount directly into the wheel walk. After learning wheel walking using this method exclusively, I had no trouble transitioning from regular riding to a wheel walk. Also, a slow static mount emulates the removal of one foot for one-footed idling or riding. Again, better done on a 20". Static mounts are related to still stands. And still stands helped me learn how not to panic going up steep hills and take it easier.
And the bottom line, a true static mount is safer because it can be done slowly. Many of falls I had as a beginner were the result of trying to rush a mount.
The no-weight-on-the-back-foot mount is essentially a one-footed jump mount with most of the disadvantages of a jump mount. It takes explosive power especially on a big wheel.
It’s only advantage over a two-footed jump mount is that one foot is already in place on the pedal.
The tire-grab method is what helped me get there. And super fast.
At first, balancing the weight on the seat - which pushes the wheel forward - with the weight on the back pedal - which rotates the wheel backward - was impossible. It had to be perfect. Since it wasn’t, it felt as if someone kept pulling violently the carpet under my feet, with me ending up most of the time on my butt or my face.
Then I heard about the tire-grab mount.
Put whatever weight is there on the seat, same thing on the back pedal and the rest of it on the front of the wheel by grabbing it with a straight arm. The whole thing balances itself automatically and then a gentle push is enough to bring the other foot on its pedal and let go of the tire.
I succeeded at my first attempt. After a dozen more or so, it started to feel weird to be bending that much forward to grab the tire (I have a 20" wheel). So I tried without it, i.e. a regular static mount. And here it was, out of the blue. As if those few minutes of tire-grab-mounting had been enough for my brain to figure things out.
Of course it took some more practice to get the momentum right, but the hardest part was done.
That was 3 weeks ago. Today I can free-mount in slow motion with the wheel no moving and the cranks horizontal about 9 times out of 10. When I fail, it’s due to either the amount or the direction of the momentum beeing off.
In the end, I don’t know if it would help anyone else, but for me the tire-grab method was a savior, even if I ended up using it just for a few minutes.
I would 100% second this - grabbing the wheel was an instant success back when I was learning.
I’ve been riding for years now, and can do lots of mounts, some with either foot, but I’ll still grab the wheel when I’m not feeling confident. When I’m tired, when I’m getting on an unfamiliar wheel, or on tricky terrain, or on a big wheel with small cranks… it’s a great technique.
An alternative to a tire grab may be using a brake when mounting. I leaned to free mount on a 36er and have no problem with a simple step up, rolling or jump mount (jump mount with brake). Then after about a year of riding the 36" I tried free mounting a 24" and could not without using the brake. The timing and pressure required on the pedal are totally different when going from a 36" to smaller wheel. There is quite a bit of pressure put on the back pedal of a 36er when doing a rolling mount. That pressure does help to boost you up to the height needed. I still almost exclusively ride a 36" and for mounting the 24" I do a jump mount with or without brake or do a simple step up mount with the brake engaged.
About learning to free mount in general. I like what John Foss wrote ages ago, try it till you succeed once and then simply repeat a thousand times to get relatively proficient at it. That worked for me. I keep a log of miles ridden and free mounts and am currently up to about 4000 successful free mounts on a 36er. But not so good on smaller uni’s because I have not put the time in.
I’ve never done a successful tire grab mount either. But in the first few months when I curb-mounted most of the time, I did think about getting my upper body out over the saddle far enough forward that I could touch the tire if I wanted to. The idea was a useful mental cue for getting my weight ahead of the wheel so that I could pedal away.
That could be a fragile old man thing though. I’ve done some practice sessions lately where I’ve only mounted with my feet reversed, right on the ground and left on the pedal whereas I usually do the opposite. And it took a few tries to convince myself that it was OK to commit my weight far enough forward, even after several years generally taking free mounting for granted. There was some real mental resistance to it.
The tire grab mount forces you to get your center of gravity more forward. I’m guessing that’s why it was such an effective bridge toward you doing a static mount.
Another thing I like about the tire grab mount: It can be done slowly. Prior to learning the tire grab, I was rushing my mounts, and that had some pretty bad consequences when I missed the second pedal.
Congratulations, Garp! You must be stoked on your free mounting success.
Never tried the tire grab mount. My back doesn’t bend like it used to. Was able to free mount my 36" pretty quickly using the jump mount. I had to focus on getting a good push off so my center travelled a bit over the top, gave me a little momentum to get moving.
Hi All,
I’ve been trying this for some time but started to notice some lag or delay before the free mount failed…just like i was frozen for a split second and just needed to shift my hands or something to get going…
Another thing I discovered that may be helpful to some of you: I saw the Terry Peterson video and added the following twist…I dorsiflex my starting foot slightly (point the toe down towards the ground). Doing this helps me to stop the roll back phenomenon and delay adding too much weight to the pedal.
Even though I can free mount now, it is not completely consistent…
My two cents,
James
Just wait until you experiment with diff crank sizes. Then you will be very very inconsistent. I can mount my 29" with 150mm cranks 99.9% of the time but lately have been focusing on a bigger wheel and it took 3 tries to mount the 29er. Eventually I can mount them all, but sometimes a trial mount is needed to get the feeling.
To me mounting a bike is still easier than mounting a uni. It is as if i have to mentally prepare each time I hop on.
For me using 114mm Cranks and sometimes 100mm i can freemount reasonably well most of the time on the flat or downhill. But give me even a very minor incline and it becomes almost impossible unless i do a rolling mount.
I use the the same technique when mounting directly into a wheel walk.
Not only are you pushing your foot backwards…but the posture of the dorsiflex mount forces you to get your center of mass more forward…which in turn helps you succeed with the static mount.
I would not characterize what you’re doing, however, as a variation on Terry’s mount, because you are putting (backward) pressure on the initial pedal. In Terry’s mount, the idea was to use no pressure on the first pedal (demonstration with egg).
OTM brought up a paradox earlier in this thread. One, don’t waste too much time practicing mounts as a beginner. Two, when you improve as a rider, you will spend less time mounting. Which begs the question: When do you practice mounting?
I spent a lot of time practicing mounting as a beginner. Looking back, I think it was the right approach. Not only was I practicing mounting, I was practicing dismounting. For all the detailed discussion about unicycle technique on this forum, I don’t recall anyone writing about the technique of dismounting (particularly in regard to beginners).
A controlled dismount off the back, to me, seems like a time-reversal of a static mount. But it took me a long time to get to that point. Anyhow, my point is, beginners bail out in a pretty imprecise way, which can create unsafe situations. Practicing mounting as a beginner gave me a lot of practice bailing out. By practicing this way, I learned what pedal position to be in during a dismount and how to avoid removing both feet from the pedal. This made learning safer.
Congrats on your progress, Jfwdc. I see you’re in Pasadena. In the last few years there has been an occasional flatland meetup (all different levels of riders) at a park in Pasadena. Are you on the email list for that and the muni events?
I think it is natural to put some time into mounting as soon as you can ride a few 100 metres. That will make it easier to find other spots where you can ride. Every now and then I choose to focus an hour or so on my freemounts. On the other hand mounting is easier after youve warmed up to a wheel. Starting cold is more difi for me.
I realized just yesterday that my dismounts - front or back - were anything but ‘graceful’, as the IUF put it. They consist mostly of getting my feet on the ground and catching the seat, whichever way it happens.
Dismounting off the back as a static mount in reverse seems like an excellent move to practice. Thanks for the tip
Something I forgot to mention. A static mount relies on even weight between the foot-on-the-pedal and the butt-on-the-seat. Flailing the arms during a mount causes sudden changes in the weight on the seat, making that isometric balance harder to achieve. When mounting into a wheel walk I place both hands on the seat until I am stabilized on the unicycle and ready to push forward. Then I let my arms out for balance. This technique may seem harder at fist, but I think it’s actually easier in the long run. It’s also safer, because the hands can be used to guide the unicycle away from the body during a failed mount.
I’m doing good on my static mounts and can pretty much get it right off or within a couple of tries. I can’t free mount on any kind of an uphill incline no matter how slight. Also no go on soft ground like deep gravel or mud. I am getting free mounts with the pedals in the three and nine o’clock position also. Overall I can mount whenever I am on flat or downhill ground.
I’m the same here. I think free mounts going slightly downhill are the easiest because you apply some back pressure on the first pedal (enough to keep it in place) and you only need a bit of pressure on the second pedal to get it to go. Whereas static mounting going uphill means you don’t put any pressure on the back pedal at all and the second pedal you need a lot of pressure. Plus the step up to get onto the unicycle is lower going downhill.
Just my thoughts.
is hopping with left foot behind.