This looks fun! I should definitely try and come at some point 
Moin
I can ride up much steeper hills on a 18 speed bike than I can on Uni. I can grab the handle bars and bare down on the peddles with upper body forces along with leg strength.
On the Uni you press down for what it’s worth until you lift off the seat. I suppose if I had a seat handle it could help but I can ride to town on a manual / non-ebike in a pinch. I’ve done it. The hills are much to steep to ride a standard Uni into town. In my opinion.
Oh, I almost forgot. My 1,500 watt 18 speed Mountain E-Bike.
1,500 watts = 2.1 Horse Power + however much I can contribute to the drive-train.
I’m sorry, I don’t envision you overtaking me uphill on a Unicycle. I hit over 30 mph on flat ground and climb very steep hills at 5 to 10 MPH sustained for great distances. I went trail riding with my son and with a 100% charge on the battery I went 16 miles on rough trails with moderate hills and the battery had a 90% charge when we were done. He was visiting from out of town so I rented him one to use. I can go 30 or 40 miles at high speed on a charge. Vermont is one steep hill after another. When you’re doing 25+ mile an hour it drains a battery. Lance Armstrong was said to develop up to 500 watts of peddle power when he was in his prime. I’ve got a 3 Lance Armstrong Motor and my contribution to boot. So, I don’t know what e-bikes you are defeating uphill, but I suspect they are of the bargain basement variety. Just saying.
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Correct. Ebikes have multiple advantages: freewheel, two wheels, gears and power.
And I wrote that I overtake many human-powered non ebikes (but also not the really fit bike riders). I specifically wrote non ebikes as uphill they come flying by (whether on a unicycle or bicycle).
But the unicycle is a different purpose than maximum speed: simplicity, challenge and especially fun while still getting somewhere.
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Hey, if you think it’s not possible to enjoy riding uphill on a unicycle, maybe you should not spend your time posting in a thread on riding uphill on a unicycle, or trying to convince us that we should be riding a motorcycle instead.
Some people actually enjoy riding unicycles.
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I’m ex-military, spent most my years as a rough carpenter & plumber and as a result. I’m stronger and more athletic than your average person overall, and the vast majority of those I worked with over the years.
Sorry you don’t like my opinion.
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I’m sure your background really helps when you’re yelling “you shouldn’t be doing that!” when riding your motorcycle past people unicycling uphill.
Still don’t understand why you’re in this thread.
Sorry, I’m jumping in mid-thread. I loooooove riding uphill on a unicycle, as it allows me to work on my cardio, strength, and balance all at the same time. There aren’t many opportunities to work on strength on a unicycle, and this is the easiest way to do it. It’s on hills that the difference in performance between cyclists and unicyclists is the smallest.
To answer the original question, I would say that the size of the unicycle should be correlated with the slope, the skill level, and the strength of the rider. A large wheel (29 or 36) can be useful on moderate slopes for someone who has above-average strength. For my part, beyond 7-8%, I think I would be better off using a 29“ rather than a 36”.
Sometimes I overtake very powerful cars when they are stopped at traffic lights or in a parking lot.
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I simply expressed my opinion and it appears you’re offended I posted it.
“ In my opinion, the odds you will ever enjoy riding a unicycle uphill is low.” Blah Blah,Blah.
I’m no longer apologizing for expressing my opinion in a forum.
I once tried to race a 4th of July parade float going uphill on my 36er… I was able to successfully sprain my left wrist in front of a handful of people 
Needless to say, not my finest moment!
Expanding upon my first post, on most hills I’d prefer something much larger than a 20” or a 24”. As @PedalSprell mentioned earlier in this thread it’s probably better to use an appropriate size wheel for whole route rather than just for an uphill, and in my case my route is usually fairly gentle. I can push a 36er up a reasonably sized hill with a bit of effort, so that would be my go-to 
Another thing for me when it comes to unicycling is I enjoy riding a steep uphill more than riding a steep downhill. A steep downhill I quickly feel limited by how fast I could crank, while riding on an uphill I feel like I could push my limits… If that makes sense? There’s probably a better way to phrase it
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Well put! That is actually what I was trying to say too, but you phrased it so much better.
And I would agree that I also really enjoy the combination of strength, coordination, balance, cardio and skill that uphill unicycling involves.
I don’t enjoy unicycling on the flats nearly as much as I so often feel like I’m going too slow (and should spin faster, which I’m not so good at). I also enjoy downhill unicycling (muni) so the uphill+downhill is a win-win combination.
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That’s why you should ride uphill with a G36er! You can ride steep downhills at full speed after having pushed your limits really far 
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You guys gave me a great idea: obviously, this smaller/larger issue needs to be investigated. I need to buy a few larger unicycles “for science!”
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someone had a 48" UW. Just put a frame on it and see if you can ride uphill with it.
Then someone else on here has a 16" uni or something. Just use a wheel from a shopping cart and put a frame on it, basically. Not sure about the cranks then. 
I do have some hills around me and a variety of wheel sizes (20,26,28) So I’ll test it out soon and tell you what crank length I used too.
I’ve also climbed Fargo street on a 29er several times, outfitted with Velocity Dyad rim and narrow road tire. I was surprised that it was so doable, and it also helped with 165s.
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