freemounting look painfull, to me it looks like your not commiting when you freemount. it seems like you arch your back so that you wont fall hard…try experimenting with freemount pedal positions…and the riding on the wall i dont recomend it, i think you should just get a helmet and go for it…
A picture is worth more than a thousand words!
I’m not an expert rider by any means but can ride so want to add my 2 cents… ok maybe 5 cents… 
I can’t give much advice on the freemount because it appears as if you are trying the static mount… I’ve not been very successful with that. But for myself when I was learning to freemount I made sure I had someplace to go once I got up. I preferred smooth open spaces. Being on the walk like you are facing the grass only inches away would have made me bail so quickly even on successful tries.
On the wall. I’ve heard a lot of people recommend using a wooden railing on a wooden walkway. But wooden surfaces are bumpy and filled with other irregularities… again… I prefered smooth spots. Also I notice you are grabbing the rail with both hands. My advice would be to find a rail located on a smooth surface then just hold it with one hand. Rock back and forth to get the feel then go forward… but don’t try to twist your body to grasp it with both hands. Your shoulders need to be straight and you should be looking forward.
I think you will be riding soon…
Just gotta make the conditions a little better.
I’m going to watch your videos again. Hopefully there will be responses more helpful than mine.
Unibugg
I do have a better place to ride, but my digital camera that had video capibilities doesn’t have the USB. I have to buy another and I’ll post more at a better place… I usually do ride with 1 hand, though…
when free mounting put the pedal more to the 8 to 9 o’clock position. When you bring your top foot up just push down and start pedaling. The commitment spoken of in the other thread was right. Go for it. As for the wall riding, start trying with only one hand on the wall for a bit. Keep trying and you will be riding in no time. Keep us posted!
It looks like your legs are kinda short, so I would lower your seat another inch.
When your riding along the wall, it looks like your grabbing ahead of yourself, then pedaling to your hands, so this makes you hunched over a bit.
I also noticed the same thing when you’re free mounting. You hunch way forward and cause the unicycle frame to tilt far back, making you look like this < .
So next time you are on the wall, stay straight with your back and hips. Keep only one hand on the railing, so your are not twisting too get both hands on there. Also, with your free hand, keep this flailing around for balance, not purposely flailing it, but you will flail it around when you need to. With the hand on the wall, don’t keep it in front of you, and let it slide along beside you.
When you notice yourself tipping, then grab onto the wall to re-balance yourself. Don’t rely heavily on the wall, just use it to catch yourself every now and then.
For your regular mounting, it seems like you’re doing a rollback mount, which is ok, cause lots of people learn that way, and you can learn the other mounts later. But you are leaning forward way too much. Step onto your uni, and keep your back straight. You will lean a little bit when you are riding, but not as much as you are doing.
You should be able to get it very soon now, specially once you start riding away from the wall, and not with it.
How tall are you im twelve years old and im 5feet 5inches my legs are 31 inches and i ride a 20in. When i got it 2 weeks ago… i had to get it cut 1 inch from the seat. ive on rode it 4 times and i can almost free mount but i can ride when i get on otherwise i can only pedal 4 about 15 feet so dont be so DOWN dont worry be happy you will get it…
-Kokomo
(_/)
O 0
(><) THE BUNNY WILL DOMINATE THE UNICYCLE FORUMS BUT ITS UP TO YOU
Also you mite not wanna were such tight clothes, i used to but i couldnt mount ride nothin! so now i were running pants because its cold but in summer i were shorts i also were shorts 4 footbagging!!!DONT SWEAT IT!
-Kokomo
(_/)
O 0
(><) THE BUNNY WILL DOMINATE THE UNICYCLE FORUMS BUT ITS UP TO YOU
“The way to change the world is one random act of kindness at a time”
IMO the seat doesn’t look too low. Your leg is just bent a little in the 6 o’clock position. For learning I think the seat should be comfortably high as it will give you better balance that is if you are learning to ride on a smooth surface. Later when you are comfortable riding you could lower it to try riding off road or small drops. But I’d like to hear what othes think.
I do agree with Kokomo about the tight clothes. I don’t wear tight pants while unicycling as they don’t give me enough room and pinch my thighs. Your jeans appear to have that thick double seam which can also be uncomfortable.
That porch looks like so much fun to ride on. I love riding on wooden walkways. (Not as a learner… but now.)
By the way, do you practice a little each day? I think that is important. Several smaller practice sessions over a regular period of time rather than a few long practice sessions sporadically.
Keep at it and Happy New Year,
Unibugg
I meant to say it doesn’t look too high.
Thanks for the video, I hope this helps.
From what I see, you must get unicycle frame closer to vertical. The frame and your back will align to become nearly straight above the center of the wheel. This allows for all your weight to be put onto the seat. It feels more precarious at first, requires less strength and then you will be able to balance on that wheel.
I’m going for a session today and I printed some of the answers that I got here. I’ll tell you how it goes…
one more thing…are you sure your left foot dominant…try freemounting with your right foot…i think your close
Thanks all.
I think I’m still leaning foward too much. Here are some videos from today:
I was able to ride from one side to the other without falling off a few times, but think that I extend my arms forward to catch the wall ahead of me. I was also able to ride along the wall without holding on for a few rotations!
I practice for about an hour a day. Is my seat hight ok? Also, can someone see if the uni is too high for me to mount on?
You’re really close to getting it. Maybe try to ride along the fence, rather than away from it. You can use the fence as a support if you start to lose it.
What helped me with some really good tips is:
" Ride the Unicycle ~ A Crash Course" by Gregg Vivolo. It’s nice guide for starting out and then some…
Cr.
Here’s my 2 cents (Canadian) (But I’ve just been able to ride since mid-December so factor that in!)
Learn one thing at a time. Forget about freemounting until you can ride solidly. Then, go onto freemounting and once you do get a good freemount, you know you’ll be able to ride off from there.
Use a rail that is higher if you can. I used one closer to shoulder height than waist height because shoulder height was more or less where my arms wanted to flail around. I also just used a bit of moulding rather than a wide rail. I think you just need something to run your hand along as you learn, not something to lean on.
Look forward always. Flail like a banshee.
Practice in short sessions every day. No more than 30-60 minutes.
Watch all the uni videos you can on Youtube and dream of doing that stuff!
Never quit.
Anyway, that’s what I did. And still, some days are better than other when I get on my uni. I think it has to do with the position of the planets.
Dave
Hey Divebomber,
You are going to get this soon! But it’s frustrating isn’t it.
If you prefer to let go of your support and ride away from it like it appears in the video, you should have the support to your side rather than behind you. At least that’s what I would do.
That’s the boardwalk near Marineland, isn’t it? If so I remember it was really beautiful and fairly smooth. I rode there on my way back from riding the trails at Washington Oaks State Park. This boardwalk has little inlets, doesn’t it? So you could have a rail to your side momentarily and still ride to the other side with nothing beside you.
You might also want to include riding with nothing in your way. Like forward down the boardwalk instead of just across.
Keep flailing your arms. Yup… it might make you look stupid. I know everyone said I did. But it really does work.
Did you lower your seat?
This early stage of trying to muster more than one revolution is probably the slowest one, once you start going 10, 20, 50 and more feet the progress will be much faster. Keep at it!
I bought a unicycle in summer 2005 and spent most of that summer trying to teach myself. I had the same slow frustrating experience you are talking about. What sped my progress up was finding people who would walk alongside me and let me lean on their shoulders as I worked on it. This way I could cover some ground without the repeated frustrations of falling off every two seconds.
With the helpers, doing it for only an hour each Saturday morning, I was riding a block or more on my own in less than two months. (but I was 45 and learn things a bit slow, younger kids doing the same thing got it a lot faster).
That looks like a pretty ideal place to practice. Looks like to me your seat is too low, even in the first vid. For learning you usually want the seat a bit on the high side, but not so much that your hips rock or you feel like you really have to reach. I’d raise it 1.5 - 2 inches from where it is in your most recent vid. Once you can ride several revolutions consistently experiment to see what works best for you (give it ten+ min or so, for me at first it was harder just because I wasn’t used to it).
That’s it just keep at it and you’ll get 3, 5, 10, 100 revs!
I strongly recomend riding along the rail. Rather than a UPD, just grab the rail and stabilize yourself then continue to ride. You’d have MUCH faster progress IMO.
When you can consistently ride the full length of the railing (both sides), start riding all over the place and maybe practicing free-mounting again.
It looked like in your earlier vid like you were doing a static mount (wheel doesn’t move). You need to push off w/ your back leg a lot more, esp your calf muscle.
If you do a rollback mount (rolls back a half revolution) try stepping over the other pedal instead of on it a few times. Then when you step on the pedal roll back until the cranks are horizontal then ride away.
One hour practice sessions is what worked for me. If I had the time I did one early in the morning and one in the late afternoon or evening.