I got my first unicycle for Christmas. It was a 16’’ which I learned was too small for me, so I sent it back and got my 20’’ Torker LX yesterday. As you might have guessed, I can’t ride yet, but I spent a lot of time in the saddle yesterday. It took a lot of focus for me to stop lifting myself off of the seat because when I ride my bike, I hardly sit down at all. I’ve gotten sort of used to staying seated…sort of.
Anyway, My primary hobby is bodybuilding, and I’m hoping to get good enough on my unicycle that I can use it for cardio when I prep for a contest. It’s too easy to coast on a bicycle and you cover so much distance so easily, that it doesn’t keep my heart rate up enough. My first sports were track and cross country. I ran in high school and college until my foot and ankle injuries caught up with me. I have too much scar tissue built up to run much anymore.
I’ve been reading around this board a bit and it seems like a really great active board free of trolls for the most part. I’ve already soaked up a lot of information, so thanks to those responsible.
Habbywall, I had to look up Veronica because of your comment, and she is definitely a cutie. She’s got me topped on skills for sure. I’ll post a picture of me riding when I actually can.
Jeremy, my muscles aren’t sore so far probably because I lift a lot of weights already.
Tumbles, Welcome to the site!
I do have one question so far about my seat…
Maybe it’s too wide or rigid or square, I don’t know. My groin is so sore today that I can hardly ride. It’s not muscle soreness, but more like bruising. Sort of like if you ride a bicycle when you haven’t in a long time, you end up with sore butt bones from the pressure of the weight of your body…it goes away and you adjust. The problem I’m having is bruising on my muscles, not my bones, so I don’t know if it’ll keep coming back or not.
I searched the site, but didn’t find anyone else that had this issue, so my question is…Should get a new seat, or give this one more time?
I disagree. What works for guys…doesn’t usually work for women. I find the Nimbus Gel and the Kris Holm Gel saddle both horrible (comparable to LX’s saddle, even) for any long period of riding. I have yet to find the perfect saddle…but I’m fairly happy with the KH Fusion Freeride.
+1 although I’ve never fitted it to any of my unicycles for more than a few minutes it seems like a very comfy seat. I currently favor the Nimbus Gel seat for my distance unicycle though. However seats are all about preference as you’ll soon find out.
Welcome to the forums !! You will find that unicycling will give you a full workout, much better than a b*ke
Good luck with learning… you can do it…
btw… Great body building photos. I have massive respect for body builders and the amount of effort that goes into getting into that shape, including the diet that you need to go through.
Welcome to the forums(both of you)!
On the soreness bit I would go for a new seat. My personal favorite is the KH(Kris Holm) Fusion seat. Which you can purchase at UDC. I think that if you upgrade your seat you will also have to upgrade your seat post.
hey LifterGirl I have the Torker LX and had the same problem with the pain at first, i changed my saddle to a air saddle with the “air pillow” from unicycle.com I have heard that some guys don’t like it but as a girl it has worked wonderfully for me. hope that helps. welcome !
Definitely invest in some biking shorts if you’re going to be riding/practicing for any length of time. Whichever seat you choose, after an extended period you will feel the burn. The nicer ones just extend the period where you’re still feeling good.
I’d go with a nimbus seat as mentioned before, or a KH fusion. I have a nimbus gel saddle and it works great for me, and I’ve ridden for a while on a Kris Holm and they’re fairly comparable from what I experienced.
Welcome to the forums and to the world of unicycling :~)
For cardio on a uni, you can’t go wrong with UniHoki, also known as Unicycle Hockey.
I’m not sure how many riders you have around your area, but it would be totally worth your while to get some of them together and organise a game.
Now hurry up and learn to ride!
Oh yeah, hanging out with other riders will also give you a chance to try out all these different seats people are mentioning before you just buy something blindly via the web.
If you can get to a uni-gathering of some sort, you’ll get a chance to have a look at even more of a variety of seats.
welcome! im new too. cant really ride the uni for 5 1/2 weeks since my arm was broken and waiting til its strong enough to chance falling. riding in the hallway doesnt really count i dont think. i want to uni because it looks like too much fun! i have been doing some lifting on and off to build muscle since im skinny, to get stronger and prevent injury. so i might want to pm you lol. i actually dont like lifting much honestly so usually i dont stick with it when im active.
glad u asked about the seat. i have the 16" torker. its very uncomfortable but i will get a nicer 20" uni once i learn and figure out what i will need. im a girl too and know guys and girls have different issues with seats since we have different hips and dont have to protect our family jewels. i also am not gifted with a lot of padding back there. i want to do tricks though so not sure if an air seat would be ok.
I think I figured out a temporary fix for the seat until I decide what new one to get…
I found something explaining how to convert the Torker seat to an air seat, but I didn’t think that was going to fix my problem. Instead, I took it apart and removed the foam pad to reshape it. First, I cut down the hard corners around the front and thinned out the middle some. I wrapped the middle and front of the seat with pre-wrap, and then tightly with athletic tape. I was able to make the seat rounder and more narrow. I just put the seat cover back over it when I was done, and it is much more comfortable now. I’ll probably get a new seat later, but I don’t want to spend the money when I can’t even ride yet.
Johnny, Thanks for the compliments. Bodybuilding is all about consistency and the diet is half of contest prep. For now I’m going to put some of that focus into my uni.
Gild, I don’t know anyone else who can unicycle in Louisville. There’s probably a couple, but I would be really surprised if there were enough to play unihoki. It sounds like fun.
cbs, feel free to ask any lifting questions, diet questions too. I know there’s a lot of opposing information about diet and exercise out there, and it can be hard to decipher sometimes.
i also am not gifted with a lot of padding back there. i want to do tricks though so not sure if an air seat would be ok.