Finally went for it…got my first unicycle…got a lot of practicing to do…but looking forward to learning and being able to ride it.
Show us a picture!
Promising trait. “got my first unicycle” rather than “got a unicycle”.
What kind of uni did you get?
LOL! Too true!
Also welcome scotty watty.
From one beginner to another, welcome! I got a ton of great help here.
Chief
Nimbus 24"
Welcome scotty watty
Congratulations on getting your first Unicycle.
Enjoy !
Status Report!!
If you have the time, let’s have a weekly report of your progress.
Whether you have a “break through” or you “finally got it” doesn’t matter.
There are a few “other people” in your same situation, and you may be able to inspire them to continue.
Also, do your own “independent research” on what the internet/youtube has to offer on “tips”. Then let us know if it worked or not.
Keep on.
Will keep in touch regarding my progress…got a Nimbus 29" Road Unicycle…went big…what the heck…i wanted something sturdy…should arrive on monday…awesome support here…been looking at a lot of videos regarding how to start off…i should learn in about 1/2 hour… lol…just joking…will be patient … i know it will take a lot of time and practice… but it looks like a great workout…which i am looking for… 
i guess i should have said “bought”…monday i can say “got”
That is pretty ambitious as a starter. The saddle will seem a very long way off the ground. But people have learnt on all sizes. The advantage of a big uni is it responds slowly so doesn’t pop out as easily as a 20.
Definitely get protection, especially wrist protection and a helmet, before you even start.
If it has multihole cranks put the the pedals on the longest.
OneTrackMind…for sure…got a helmet, wrist protection and well as knee and elbow…safety first… 29 is ambitious… but looking for a crusing bike for the cardio…hopefully get into the mile(s) range once i get it wired… i was hit by a drunk drive a long time ago and it messed up my left shin mucsle…so it makes it hard to jog…my left foot flops after a while and i end up tripping (same with power walking)…looking for something new…a new challenge…along with a good workout…
You will definitely get all that on a 29 inch unicycle.
I see that you are very tall and quite heavy so the 29er is probably a good choice ultimately.
We might be able to help especially if you can post some videos. A view from the side can be particularly useful. It’s difficult to stay in shot from the side once you get moving but you probably won’t have to worry about that for a while.
I always encourage beginners to start out on grass because the first skill to develop is the emergency dismount. You won’t be riding far at first. The grass needs to be really smooth so no holes or tussocks. Thick turf and a slight downhill to compensate for the rolling resistance is ideal. A big wheel rolls over grass quite well. Once you can routinely abort the attempt when it is going wrong and occasionally stay on for a couple of turns, then move to a smooth flat surface.
Spend a little while getting the feel for the uni while holding onto something but don’t linger too long with fences. The skill is less about balance and more about steering the wheel under a continuous fall so riding into the open is important.
You might consider picking up a cheap 20" on CL for learning. If you keep at it, you will learn on the 29", but it may take you more time. Mounting (getting on the unicycle) in particular is going to be more of a challenge on the larger wheel.
Looking forward to hearing about your progress. Good luck!
I, too, wanted to start on a 29", but got good advice here to pick up a smaller wheel to learn. I called unicycle.com before they shipped my order, and they also strongly suggested I start smaller and they actually swapped out my order.
The other thing to think about is you will beat the CRAP out of your first unicycle as you learn (seat and pedals especially), so you may want an additional “sacrificial” uni to start.
I am very glad I started on 24". I plan to get a 32" by this summer once I have more basic skills down.
Chief
One other point on the quest for cardio-- this also was the reason I wanted to get to a larger wheel. I kept seeing videos of people buzzing around on 20-24" unicycles effortlessly…
However, I’m about 1.5 months into riding, and I can mount and ride the 24 for as long as my heart rate can stand it-- which is only about 200’. Then I have to jump off before my chest explodes.
That’s because at my stage I have way too much weight on the pedals vs. the seat, which is due to using legs/pedals too much to balance as I ride. The result is my legs constantly fight each other every rotation and it ramps up my heart rate big time.
I am trying very hard to get more and more weight on the seat but that is a slow process! That’s why I think it won’t be until summer before I can benefit from a larger wheel for any kind of distance riding.
Chief
Welcome as others have said you should start with a smaller wheel 20" or at most a 24". Trying to learn on a 29" straight away could be dangerous as depending on your height you will need to jump on to the seat. When you’re learning you want as few complications as possible and you will fall off it countless times which would help if you have less height to fall off. As for safety gear I’d recommend at least hand/wrist protection and maybe shin protection if you’re worried about pedal bite but usually a couple of good whacks to your shins is enough to teach you not to do that.
As for cardio exercise in the beginning it will be an extremely strenuous workout while you learn the basics and up to a couple of months it will be hard going. Once you get comfortable and relaxed then you should move up in Uni size. Personally I started out with a 20" ALDI Crane which I rode for about 6 months and upgraded to a 29" Nimbus Muni and that was a pretty steep learning curve even for me. The jump from 29" to 36" was also huge especially when it comes to mounting. It’s taken me much longer to learn to mount the 36" and even still I have some difficulty.
Currently I’m riding a 36" KH with 127mm cranks and this seems to be a really good cardio exercise for me as I can’t keep the uni at speed indefinitely as it requires a lot of energy to keep the large wheel and small cranks going.
One way to force yourself onto the seat would be to raise the seat…
Scotty Watty is 6’ 3" and weighs 235 lbs. Many of the cheapies would not handle that load for long.
I’ve raised mine I think as far as I can go (legs nearly straight). That definitely did help.
Chief
For taller fellows I really disagree with the whole “start on a 20 inch” thing. It’s said alllll the time as if it’s going to apply to everyone. As we all know, every wheel size behaves in its own unique way, and one of the benefits of a larger wheel is that it’s not as sensitive to weight on the pedals.
A perfect example is a 36er, I can mount a 36er with the pedals parallel and my full body weight on that rear pedal… and it hardly moves at all, definitely doesn’t shoot out backwards. I personally think that the 24" is a much more realistic size for taller people to start on, because that little uni isn’t going to just fly away when they put their body weight on it. I don’t like riding the small uni’s, they’re too sensitive. I feel like I’m battling them all the time constantly overcorrecting, that’s why I sold everything I had under 26".
I always rode bicycles the same way, favoring the higher gears, I liked a lot of tension and torque. I feel like I’m much more coordinated.
All you need is persistence. If you want to ride that 29", you’ll ride it. It’s not a matter of “if” it’s a matter of “when”.