I might be the only person unable to ride a uni. I’ve decided to avoid the wall altogether considering there is no good ground/wall to work with around my home. I’m able to freemount a little, but am unable to start pedaling when I get on. The balance isn’t there for me to start pedaling. Plus, it hurts my lower back to bend down to mount. It’s not a far bend mind you, but I have to put the uni inbetween my legs to mount. Then I get in almost a fetal position to get on. I move the uni backwards to get it unde me. I have used a wall and I’d be able to pedal a little and it’d hurt my knees. Should I raise the seat? And how should I get the balance to start pedaling?
Also, I have very short legs with thick calfs…really thick calfs. The straps barely fit over them. Anyone else have this problem?
Your seat should be high enough that your leg is fully extended when on the pedal at 6 o’clock, but it shouldn’t be so high that you feel like you’re reaching for the pedal. Once you learn to ride, you’ll be able to ride with the seat lower, if desired, but I believe higher is better when learning.
I’m not sure why your knees are hurting. It may just be the awkward forces you put on your body to learn. I remember being completely worn out physically after 30 minutes when I first started learning.
You might want to ignore freemounting until you figure out riding. Riding is definitely more rewarding. If you don’t have a wall available, you can prop yourself up against a chair and ride away from it.
There are some mounting videos here, if you’re set on learning to freemount first.
The seat is just above my inseam. Should it be to where I put the seat between my legs and step on it to get on like in the video’s linked? I have to hop onto the uni to get on it. Like, I have to put the uni in between my legs and junp to get on…
I think the best measurement is that your leg is almost extended in the 6 o’clock position. I have a hard time imagining from the ground to the top of the uni in relation to an inseam because wheel sizes and crank sizes vary so much.
It’s too bad you can’t put up a video. I’ve seen some people get some wonderful advice after showing videos of their riding on this forum. Are you riding a 20? 24? I can tell you with my 29 if I could static mount I’d need a decent push off (hop) to get on. And still need to jump up/ push off the ground for the 24. But I do a roll back mount which doesn’t require much of a push or jump.
I was recently in St. Augustine at Anastasia Park and then rode across the Bridge of Lions to old town. Perhaps someday if you’d like, we could meet for a ride/ practice session.
I don’t commute as I need to get on the interstate to get to work but I wish I could communte. The ride from our campsite to the Castillo was probably only a little more than 4 miles one way. On my 29 it was an ok ride as I stayed on the sidewalks. The Bridge was a lot less steep than I thought so I was sort of disappointed but the view was wonderful.
I plan to get a Coker soon to start some serious distance. Maybe one day from Jacksonville to St. Augustine.
So far US-1 is all I can find. But there is a charity ride in the spring (bicyclists) that starts at the Acosta Bridge in Jacksonville and ends in St. Augustine. I’m going to find out what route they take. But I have a feeling it will be Route 1. From south Jax to the Castillo it’s about 30 miles. But of course we know the distance is not so much the issue as the traffic on the road. A scenic ride down 13 south and then 16 east might be fun too but would be a lot longer.
I don’t know of any uni clubs in St Augustine or in the Jax area, YET. There definately are more than a handful of unicyclists in our area.
A 29er is great. I never would have imagined I could ride one and enjoy it this much. Thanks to some great advice on these forums last March I bought one and love it.
Wow, I bought my Uni from Sprokets in At. Aug off of US-1 and they say they only get a handful of uni sales a year. I’d like to see where all the uni riders are hiding. I thought I’d be the only one riding in this area.
Are there really peopole who can’t ride a uni? Has anyone ever put a lot of effort in and never have been able to ride? I’ve been trying to ride since November and I’m not even able to take 2 rotations away from a wall and am unable to make 1 after I freemount. I can stand up and hop and all this other junk if I hold onto the wall, but am unable to actually make any progress towards riding. It either goes too far forward or too far back…I might be able to get a video up tomorrow, but should I give up? Is there any way to get the balance? I’m trying not to pedal too slow, but if I pedal too fast I UPD…Is there anything I can do or just keep going? I feel like it’s taking too long…
Thats good. If you you dont want to wait for people in this thread to reply, you can PM me or just send anything to my e-mail/msn. My address is under my avatar or in my profile.
If you can walk somewhat normally walk, you can learn to ride a uni, IMO. I’m proof. I am almost completely parrallysed below the knee, in the glutes, and hips, it’s all thigh and core muscles for me. It took me 2 months to learn to ride using a rail and another 2 before I could do my 2.5 mile commute.
I think you should really look for a long rail, fence, or wall over smooth pavement (rail’s best). Use that to learn to ride. I found a 90 ft. long rail along the parking lot of an elementry school two blocks from home, I found a 25 ft rail at a tennis court a bit further away, and I practiced on dirt w/ a fence sometimes that is behind my housing complex.
There are three mounts people often first learn to mount w/. In order of frequency they are: roll back, static, and jump mounts.
In the link posted above, the first mount shown is a static mount. The second mount of the level three mounts is a reverse jump mount. You can do the same, just have the uni in front of you.
Edit:
When riding you back should be upright, and you shouldn’t need to lean forward. If your knees hurt your knees are going to the inside as you press down on the pedal, that puts a lot of stress on your knee (I had to make a consious effort to avoid this at first), or you prob have the seat too low.
Pleasee post a pic of what you are trying to ride… or tell us what the brand is. Many bike shops sell uni’s that just are not easy to ride. Believe me! Last March I bought a uni on the spur of the moment. Had I not already known that once upon a time I could ride (I rode 25 years ago). I don’t think I could have stuck with it. But I did even though it was such a painful nightmare!
Our area is in desperate need of an informal uni club. But still… even without it there are lots of skilled riders on these forums that can help if they could only analyze a video. Once you get the hardware you need if you are also concerned about putting your image online you could edit or easier yet disguise your face when you are filming. Uh… but please, as a favor to me… no clown make-up!
I think using a long rail would provide much faster progress for learning to ride. If you are loosing your balance just grab the rail. No need to spend so much time trying to remount each time.
Really, look for somewhere that has a long rail. Maybe put your uni in your car and practice there on your way to and from work.
Average learning time is two weeks. I read of one guy who it took a year of practicing along a railing he set up in his basement for an hour five times a week (I averaged the same for two months, I think the long rail helped). After he could ride he picked up some tricks much more quickly.
