MY HUSBAND AND I JUST BOUGHT A MIYATA DELUXE FREESTYLE 20’, OFF OF EBAY FOR A GOOD PRICE, BECAUSE ONE OF THE BOLTS WERE STRIPPED, WELL WE GOT IT FIXED AND TOOK IT OUT TO RIDE THE OTHER NIGHT AND WE WERE VERY ANXIOUS TO SEE HOW THE SHORTER CRANKS, (I MEASURED THEM AT 4’’) COMPARED TO OUR OTHER 5’’ CRANKS ON OUR OTHER FREESTYLE UNIS WOULD DO, WELL… WE WENT VERY FAST ON THE TENNIS COURT BUT AS FAR AS TRICKS GO, IT WAS PRETTY AKWARD! AND I WAS WONDERING IF 4’’ IS TOO SMALL, AND WHAT THE IDEAL CRANK LENGTH FOR A 20’’ FREESTYLE UNI WOULD BE… I WAS THINKING MAYBE 4 1/2’’ BUT I WOULD LIKE SOME ADVICE…, BY THE WAY, UNICYCLING, WHETHER IT BE, FREESTYLE, TRIALS, OR MUNI, ARE THE BEST SPORTS EVER, AND SHOULD BE RECOGNIZED BT THE X-GAMES!!!
I’m not sure about the freestyle crank lengths, cause im not a big freestyler myself.
what about street? its a new style and should be included! but i agree, we should be in the x games, and i think eventually it will happen.
When I put on 4" cranks, it took me at least a month to get used to them.
What exactly is street unicycling? It sounds like it would be the same as trials, but I don’t know.
street unicycling is pretty much doing tricks while doing trials i guess. no corrective hops should be used and no prehops either. i guess its kind of like street skateboarding (actual street skating, not with ramps and stuff). you know, jumping down stairs while grabbing the wheel, grinding 9 stair handrails, hopping onto something straight into a glide. that sort of thing. its a great style, and lots of fun, but it does involve a lot of pain. anyways i hpoe that explains it a little better, dan heaton might have a better explanation.
see ya, Kevin
sorry… street riding too!
Oh, I get it.
4" is 102mm, right?
Anyway, the first freestyle uni I got was in December and it came with 4" cranks. It doesn’t seem at all strange to me because that’s what I’m used to. Maybe if I used longer cranks I would think they give a lot more control, but I don’t know!
I learned to one-foot idle with either foot down on it without much of a problem. I can hop several times in a row, but not terribly high.
I think 4" cranks are fine if you get used to them, but if you prefer longer ones, that’s what you should use.
Nikki
Opinions will vary, but I’d say 110mm cranks (four and a third inches) cranks are a good all round size on a 20. They ar efast enough to cover distance quickly, but they offer enough control for confident one foot idling, etc.
I own 20, 24, 26, 28 and 36 inch unicycles, and I’ve mixed and matched cranks ranging from 89mm (three and a half inches) up to 170mm (6.7 inches).
I have 102mm (4 inch) cranks on my 24, and it’s great fun for storming about, on and off road, as long as it’s not too hilly. I found 89s too short for comfort.
I have 110s on the 28, and that’s good for long distance, and reasonable speed. It’s a very light wheel, though, so that might helpwith the control.
On the 20, which is what you asked about, I started on 125s (5 inches) and I’ve tried sizes down to 89mm. 110s are the comfortable ones.
I’m no freestyle genius though. I can idle one footed, ride seat out in front, and do a couple of easy trick mounts. I use the 20 in performances now and again, and I feel like I have 100% control in a crowd situation. I wouldn’t go back to 125s on the 20.
Before they put unicycle trials in the games they’ll have to put bike trials in there. And I don’t think they have street bmx or skateboarding so I think those would have to come along before Uni.
Logan
Did you see the big controversy about putting unicycling in the Gravity Games? They were definitely going to do it, until the Gravity Game people found out that we were all voting hundreds and hundreds of times, which they regarded as ‘cheating.’ Which is probably was.
If we want to get into any games we have to get out there and get noticed. We have to have trials set ups with our budies in courts or our driveways where people can see us we have to take the time to talk to every friendly person out there even the stupid ones that ask us why were trying to hop up this crazy tree because we won’t be able to ride around when we’re up there.
We’ve got to have comps that will have a lot of none unicyclists come through and see us like TOQUE (at the toronto bike show).
Logan