It’s easier to idle on a smaller wheel, yes, but its not paramount that you have one to do it on - you should be able to learn it on the 24 and eventually the 29.
Hmm…clearly the over-reaction of someone who knows absolutely for sure that they were wrong.
In learning to idle, always remember to keep your weight on the seat, just like you did when learning to ride. This goes for riding backwards, also. The tendency is to tense up and stand on the pedals. Relax after each correction and settle back down into the saddle. This will help speed up the learning process for idling more than anything.
I think that is a big part of my problem with learning to ride one-footed.
Keep practicing. You will figure it out. It took me a long time but I finally figured out idling and now it is easy. I can also one-foot idle with either foot.
Not sure if anyone said this yet, but if pedaling backwards is still scary, then try: pedal forward, stop, pedal forward, stop, etc. This will help your legs learn to apply controlled back pressure on the pedals. Also, be sure to wear a helmet. I cracked mine in two falling backwards onto my back when I was first learning.
It’s worth buying a small wheel to learn to idle
I’m using a trials uni, but I’m sure any cheap 20 " with a good seat would be as fine.
The larger wheel is harder to idle on, takes more room ( important if you are watching TV), plus it’s harder to step down off of and catch yourself when screwing up while going backwards. I am sure you could learn these skills on a larger wheel, but it’s a real advantage to have a small one.
This was exactly what I was going to say. Just learning to stop, then continue riding is a good start.
Also Learning the roll back mount is good too.
As mentioned before. Idling and riding backwards is a very similar skill. I learnt both at the same time.
My steps were.
- ride then pause then ride.
- ride then half rev back then continue forward.
- then try another half back.
If you wanted to try backwards riding, try a full rev back or more.
I think one of the most important skills is learning to stop. Whether forwards of backwards.
Another skill is the leaning position is different going forwards and backwards so you will need to understand the body positioning. Try to keep the body upright and move the wheel with your feet.
When I was learning to ride backwards, there were times i would try to ride faster to overcome me leaning too far backwards and that got me into trouble in the end. Control is the key.
It seems like being able to idle is just one of those things that comes with enough seat time. Same as riding backwards. Along with doing other stuff, spend some time here and there next to a wall and just goof around. Don’t let yourself get so frustrated to the point of throwing your uni into a tree, so relax and have fun, but spend a portion of your time next to a wall and don’t worry about picking everything up right away.
I have ridden a bike backwards, many times (sitting on the handlebars).
IMHO, unicycling is much more difficult.