I need help with crankflips, the kick to be exact.

Unicycles and Equipment
1

hi,
I can’t do crankflips at all. I tried today, and I can get the wheel going around a little bit when I jump off, but not very fast. how are you supposed to kick the pedal hard enough to get it spinning fast? I have plastic pedals on right now, which is supposed to help, but I still can’t really figure out how to kick it hard enough.

2

im trying to learn these aswell (well i try them when im riding)

i can spin the cranks 360 but land one footed or place my right foot on the floor.

try gpoing to the thread that talks about crankflippin use the search

3

I have found, that when i kick the pedal straight down, i usually mess up, but when i use more of a flicking dow, slightly backwards motion (if that made sense), it helped, still cant land them but that put me a step closer.

Anyways, i bet if you keep practicing your probably just naturally adapt a way that will work for you… maybe… lol

Best of luck!!!

4

I think the kick is more out sideways and down…like at an angle.

Try http://munimanpete.unicyclist.com/ they have some tips from Shaun under street skills.

KH.

5

Yeah… ok…

You want to be “kicking” when your pedal is slightly higher than the hub.

and you DON’T want to be pushing down on your pedals cause your footwill get stuck in the rotation, end up lower than your pedals and you won’t be able to land it.

You don’t want to kick straight infront either because then it’ll be the same deal, you won’t be able to land it.

Try kicking diagonally. Kindof like a kick-flip on a skate-board.

6

welcome james

7

okay so I jump with my left foot foward but I would fell a whole lot more comfortable kicking with my right foot…its weird…so is it a bad idea to kick it with the back foot and just kick it the opposite way?

8

actually thats what I just found out after practicing for a while. I hop left foot back, but kicking the pedals around with left foot in front seems easier for some reason. and thats all good with me, because I was actually working on hopping goofy footed for trials and the like…

9

alex’s crankflip tips:
fronts:

  1. jump
    2.take back foot off
  2. kick down, back and out with front foot a split second later
  3. commit to actually getting those feet back on the pedals, regardless of nad pains, when you start landing them the pain goes away.

backs:

  1. jump straight up
  2. take front foot off
  3. kick down, forward and out (in that smooth motion you’ve been practicing) with back foot
  4. get your feet back into position
  5. ride away smoothly

i suggest learning back crankflips first… and also full revs and rewinds.

DO NOT get into bad habits like pulling the unicycle out in front of you. or using 2 feet to try to flick the cranks around… you will never get it if you get into bad habits, force yourself to change it if you are doing these.

10

Andrew and Peter would you add this to your site

11

I have just been tryin’ 'cause amanda said i might be able to land one (i dont think she cares if i hurt my self [even if its real bad]) and i always landed with the uni in front ‘cause i was scared of hurtin’ my self. Then i just went for it by keeping above the wheel. When you try, try to land infront of the wheel, jump forwards. Of coarse i am not sure if this is good advice because i have not landed one yet.

Mike

12

being scared of hurting yourself isnt gonna get you landin anything any time soon