Leg Pull

Hey all. So I have been struggling for a while while riding my 29er and 36er. I constantly feel like I am sitting on an angle and that I am being pulled to one side (left).

I first thought my seats were bent, or crooked and forcing me to sit on an angle but I don’t think that is the case.

Does anyone have any suggestions on how to eliminate the pull on larger wheels?

Before I read this I figured this was probably a joke or spam thread since the title had to do with pulling a leg. :stuck_out_tongue:

What you are talking about is probably due to road camber. It tends to affect larger wheels more. Since you are experiencing it on more then one wheel this indicates that it isn’t a problem with the unicycles, it’s the environment. Roads are not flat, they are slanted up toward the middle to make water run off of them and this is called camber. It’s a common issue that pops up frequently.

There’s an easy way to test whether I’m right and it is really road camber, just try riding on the other side of the road and see if the invisible “pull” goes to the other side. If it does, then it’s road camber because on the other side the road is slanted the other way. If you safely can, try riding in the middle where it is flat and there should be no invisible pull.

There are numerous threads on dealing with camber so search for and read through those for more information and how to deal with it.

I’ve never thought of that! Makes sense. Thanks for the tips

Hi Wiretap :slight_smile: Welcome to the forum.

I have that problem all the time, on all my unicycles. :frowning:
I’m thinking about fitting a T bar to my 26’’ so I may be able to pull myself round a bit and straighten up. I thought i would have grown out of it by now but alas no. :frowning:
Funny thing is…when I ride along in ‘auto pilot’ I ride straight forwards with my back nice and straight as well. But that doeasn’t last long :roll_eyes: But know I’m capable of doing it so not too upset about it.

EDIT
Just read properly the post by Shmolagin. Camber…ah yes… In which case disregard this …

Pulling to one side or another is something we’ve all been through. Good advice above, especially about road camber. Moving to the other side of the road is always reasonable to try.

Another thing I’ve experienced is when I have more weight on one pedal at the bottom of the stroke than the other. If for whatever reason I couldn’t make my left foot unweight the pedal when it’s all the way down, that made me go to the left. The simplest fix was just to keep a little more weight on the other pedal until I got over whatever was making me do that.

The suggestion of riding on the other side to reverse the camber reminds me. I have managed to learn to deal with normal road camber. We drive on the right-hand side of the road here, so the camber leads to the right. The opposite camber still twists me all up; surely because I have done a lot less riding on it. And/or because I am usually compensating for normal camber on some level so the compensation works against me. It does come up on a lot (but not a majority) of the sidewalks around here, which slope down toward the gutter.

I think most beginners must go through this at some time.
I believe that the reason is not in the road nor in the unicycle (in most cases). The problem seems to be that the rider is sitting somehow tensed.
Try to relax your hips and to tilt them slightly to one side and then to the other.
This has helped me and a friend of mine.
It still happens to me sometimes. Then i go in little curves like some kind of slalom to unlock my hips. It often disappears when the road surface changes from hard surface to bumpy ground or loose gravel which forces me to move more on the seat.

Sometimes both sides of the road might have the exact same camber in the exact same direction so switching sides isn’t going to be a big help. I’d suggest simply riding on the exact same spot of the road but in the opposite direction.

And I agree that camber or no sometimes pulling to one side is something that just happens. I’ve vertainly been there. In those cases it just takes more time in the saddle, it takes a little while to iron out the wrinkles.