Mounting the 29er (with a guy question)

Unicycles and Equipment
1

I recently bought a Yuni 29er with the Big Apple tyre and KH saddle. It’s a great ride and I really enjoy it much more than my beat up old 24" Schwinn.

What are your favorite mounting techniques for the 29er? I used to do a static mount with great success on the 24", but it doesn’t seem too be user-friendly on the 29er. So far, the best results have come with a rollback mount and the mount where you take three steps and then get on (a rolling mount?).

Finally, a guy question. I’ve been suffering from CTS (Crushed Testicle Syndrome) in learning to mount the 29er. Any suggestions?

Thanks,
Phil

2

I exclusively do the rollback mount on a 29er. I find that with the KH saddle, as opposed to the Viscounts on all my other unis, I’m able to sit back and high on it with most of the contact on my rear and much less weight on my nuts. I don’t know how consistently this can be done with a rolling mount, but with the rollback try starting with the back of the saddle tucked under your rear; this rather than positioning your crotch in the middle of the saddle. I find it much more comfortable that sitting centered in the seat.

Raphael Lasar
Matawan, NJ

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Re: Mounting the 29er (with a guy question)

The rolling mount (yes, that’s what it’s called) is fine for larger-wheel unicycles. Personally, I prefer a static mount on the 29’er, you just have to increase the force on the first pedal as compared to the 24" or the wheel will move out from under you to the front. Also, don’t push the seat to the front with your crotch while mounting, but instead get most of the required body momentum from jumping off the ground with your second foot, if that makes sense.

It also depends on crank length. With short cranks (e.g. 110, 102 or even shorter), the increased first-pedal force is even more required.

Klaas Bil

4

I have been swapping seats lately between the unis in my stable and I just swapped out a miyata airseat that used the orginal plastic base for a KH seat. The first time I mounted the 29er I mounted it with a “crushing blow”. The trough in the KH seat, IMHO, is very deep compared to the airseat combo I had. I think this is a contributing factor to your “package” getting smashed. I am still having problems with this, but I adjust “things” as I am starting off and then I am comfy. But, it’s still a “pain” to get everything settled. Once in the seat, it is very comfortable.

So, maybe you can get a torker seat, that’s which ever one is the miyata copy, then convert it to an airseat. But, that costs more cash.

I don’t do a roll back mount on the 29er - I can’t. I just mount with a static mount, if that’s what it is called. I can’t do the rollback mount because I can’t get the torque to do a roll back mount. I jump up on the uni with the cranks at 3 and 9 o’clock.
I run 140mm cranks.

I never tried this, but what about putting the tire back against a curb and then trying the mount that way. You won’t get the roll back mount, but you crotch will be higher and you can adjust things before you even get on the 29er.

5

I usually use the static mount on my 29-er, it works fine (especially now I’ve got

150mm cranks on it).

One tweak that I’ve found very useful with this mount is, after positioning the

seat (to save damage to testes, position the seat too far back between your legs,

then pull it forward, sweeping them out of harms way) and just prior to performing

the mount, push the uni forwards slightly.

This push seems to make the pedals stay where you want them for longer (i.e.

horizontal) and, for me, works really well.

The amount of push depends on the circumstances, a bigger push makes mounting

facing up an incline possible.

Err on the side of caution initially though, too big a push could result in you

going right ovcer the top of the uni.

I can, and sometimes do, use to rollback mount, but feel that the static is more

usefull, especially on inclines.

6

All of your responses have been very interesting to read. Regarding mounting techniques, it seems that it’s a matter of preference, although many of the responses have favored the static mount. I printed out the thread so far and went out to try some of these ideas.

With the static mount, I still have trouble getting the necessary momentum to get up on the higher 29" wheel (as opposed to the 24"). I have my left foot on the ground when starting…I guess I need to “push off” more forcefully to get up and rolling. I can achieve it sometimes, but it will take practice.

What seems interesting about the static mount techniques articulated so far is that it appears that it’s best to not initially put one’s weight into the saddle on the mount. Klaas Bil said, “Also, don’t push the seat to the front with your crotch while mounting, but instead get most of the required body momentum from jumping off the ground with your second foot…” Does this mean I should try to “jump up” onto the saddle and not “sit into it”? I can hear my testicles applauding that idea, but I’m not sure I’ve got it right.

I agree with Rod Wylie that the KH saddle makes for a comfortable ride but a tricky freemount because of the deep trough. Switching it out to an air saddle sounds ideal (I just need another 100 bucks or so if I’m going to buy it direct from the good people at unicycle.com).

onewheeldave’s ideas about pulling the seat through to position the family jewels is interesting. I usually wear an athletic supporter (a.k.a. “jock”) and this technique seems tough to do when wearing one. I tried another version of the same idea, though, just by pulling the crotch through by hand. It works, but I have to admit it’s a bit explicit.

I love hearing all this stuff. I hope there are even more opinions out there!

Best,
Phil
Indianapolis IN

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Re: Mounting the 29er (with a guy question)

“Phuni” <Phuni@NoEmail.Message.Poster.at.Unicyclist.com> writes:

> With the static mount, I still have trouble getting the necessary
> momentum to get up on the higher 29" wheel (as opposed to the 24"). I
> have my left foot on the ground when starting…I guess I need to “push
> off” more forcefully to get up and rolling. I can achieve it sometimes,
> but it will take practice.

Once you get good it will be more technique than force. I find that
rolling the uni forward and then stepping up into a static mount is
one of the easiest (least physical) methods for mounting. The
momentum of the wheel lets you press down on the pedal long enough to
get the second foot in place … then you can sit down in the saddle
comforatbly.

Ken

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Re: Mounting the 29er (with a guy question)

On Sat, 28 Aug 2004 12:56:07 -0500, “Phuni” wrote:

>Klaas Bil said, “Also, don’t push
>the seat to the front with your crotch while mounting, but instead get
>most of the required body momentum from jumping off the ground with your
>second foot…” Does this mean I should try to “jump up” onto the
>saddle and not “sit into it”? I can hear my testicles applauding that
>idea, but I’m not sure I’ve got it right.

Try to jump up? No, at least not in the way of a jump mount. What I
meant was do a static mount. So you have the seat between your legs
(against your crotch) to start with. Now if you start the mount and
you put too much pressure on the seat during the mount process, the
wheel will be pushed forward. That means that the ‘first’ pedal will
rise, and if it gets near the top you can’t control it anymore and the
uni will shoot to the front and fall. So: less pressure on the seat,
more jumping off the ground with the second foot instead. And more
pressure on the first pedal is allowed, as the uni will not tend (so
much) to shoot from under you to the rear as a smaller wheel does.

When I learned the static mount on a 24" (and on a 20" the effect was
even more pronounced), I had difficulty preventing to put too much
force on the first pedal. My natural inclination was to step on the
first pedal as if I stepped onto something solid, but that caused the
uni to shoot from under me to the back.

With a 29’er and 125 mm cranks, the old natural inclination works
better. When mounting the 29’er after I had gotten used to mounting
20" and 24", I had to relearn the old natural inclination. Now I can
mix them all.

Phew, what a babble! Hope it helps.

Klaas Bil - Newsgroup Addict

“The more you think, the less you have to do. - Leo Vandewoestijne”

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Thank you, Klaas Bil, for elucidating your meaning. I appreciate all you have said!

Phil
Indy, IN

10

Mounting the bigger wheel is easy. Just a slightly bigger hop. Just keep riding. Your mounting will become second nature before you know it.
As for the “guy” question, try to ride in some well padded mountain bike (with the lining) or road bike shorts whenever you can.

11

Phil,

It’s the Torker LX seat found at http://www.unicycle.com/shopping/shopexd.asp?id=777

Then follow directions for making a stock airseat here http://unicycling.org/airseat/

I would use a larger tube than the 12" tube that is detailed in the description. I think I used a 16" tube in my airseat. The 12" was two short.

If you don’t need a CF base, then this is a cheaper alternative than the 100 dollars you had mentioned.

12

Thanks, Rod, for the information in the message above this one. May I ask, what is a CF Base?

Also, are you familiar with the GB4 air seat design? Is the refurbished Torker version a better one?

Best,

Phil
Indy, IN

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Phil,

The seat is constructed of a plastic cover over a piece of foam. then below that is a plastic base for the seat. It is the bottom of the seat if you removed the seat from the seat post. It can be flexy depending on the seat, but for most applications it works well. Most people upgrade them when they get into Muni, because you need it to pull on when you climb steep hills or when hopping. It helps to retain energy with a stiffer seat.

Sure, CF base is the Carbon Fiber seat base that you can get to replace the stock plastic one that the Torker LX seat comes with. It is the same weight as the plastic seat base, but a zillion times stiffer. I think it is 70 or 80 bucks. You have to drill the holes for the bolts that attach to the seat post. You need a drill and some good directions. Check this gallery by John Childs, there should be directions on how he built his airseat. http://www.unicyclist.com/gallery/john_childs

Actually, I wasn’t. I missed that one. I found it just now. The only difference between the one I suggested is that the GB4 comes with a bigger seat cover, which allows you to stick in the full 20" of tube and it is done for you. No fiddling.

I don’t know anything about the “bigger"seat cover. I do know from my own experience making an airseat with a bigger seat cover, is that I didn’t like the 20” tube. It got all sloshy under my bum. Some riders aren’t bothered by that, but I am, so I put in a smaller tube and cinched down the seat cover tightly.

I need to explain something. I have two different airseats. One on my MUni that is built with a ROACH brand seat cover. It uses a CF base, air pillow and I think a 16"tube. I am not sure about the size of the seat tube, but I think it is 16" and I don’t rellish the thought of opening it up to find out what size it is. It took a lot of experimenting to get it where it is now and I hate to inadvertantly alter it. I had to add grommets and some bubble wrap inside. It took some work. I am not recommending this seat as your alternative.

However, I am recommending the description below.

On my old Muni sits an airseat made from an old Miyata seat just like in the directions of the link I gave you. This is the one I was suggesting. I am willing to pull that one apart for you to see what size tube is in there. I can do that on Tuesday. To me, the original seat with foam inside is identical to the Torker LX seat now sold at UNi.com. Call them to confirm. If that is so, then you can just follow the directions in the link. You don’t need an airpillow for this airseat to stick the tube inside.

14

Thank you, Rod, for your information. Don’t feel as though you need to take that seat apart if the directions in the link will do the trick. It’s up to you. I appreciate your advice.

Thanks!
Phil
Indy IN

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Phil,

Yep, just looked, it’s a 16" tube. Let me know if you have any other questions.

Even though I did say I didn’t use the air pillow, I did find that I had wrapped the the innertube in the upward part of the airseat with some electrical tape to keep it from pushing up the cover too much.

I also had added a thin 1/4" piece of art foam available at any art supply store to be inserted inside between the tube and the seat cover. It has compressed a little bit, but it seems to have added a bit of structure to the seat, so you don’t feel like your sitting on a balloon animal.

Airseats are a science when you first start one. I had to adjust and play with it. Expect it to take time, if you undertake the project. A search on airseats might yield some results too.

16

I have kh24 but I think that I can add something to that thread. at start i found that it’s much more comfortable for me to not sit immidiately in the seat. I am just mounting, making few hops, and when I know that everything is ok I am sitting down. another think is that I changed the seat to air miayta. I maked the simplest possible conversion. I put the air tube inside and thats all. but riding for me is now much better and way more comfortable. I can ride down the stairs sitting on the seat and it not hurts :)…