When I was learning I always rolled back when mounting.
Sorry the leaning forward is prolly not the best advice. You are not leaning forward as much as trying to stay over top of that left pedal. It starts in the back you are in back, you step on it and become on top of the uni. Now as your right foot finds the other pedal you want to push with the right foot while keeping control of the left pedal, which is now in the forward position. You arn’t gonna be leaning forward, but you dont want to be so far back you cant push the pedal back down.
I’m sorry, that came out pretty confusing.
Sorry I didn’t realize you were trying to do a roll-back mount. Anyhow, IMHO the static mount is much easier since you are taking the uni out of the equation. Really it’s just sitting there and if you do it right you end up on top and just ride off w/o worrying about it rolling backward, going to dead-spot etc… At least for me the static mount was the first one I learned and I’ll stand by it being the easiest way to free-mount and also the most useful for later uses i.e. mounting on skinnies, mounting on trails, mounting uphill etc… But if the roll-back mount is already ingrained, then as a novice it may be more difficult to “re-learn.” Good Luck!
My input is to have your pedals horizontal with your left foot resting on the left pedal. Hold the seat with one hand, your preferred hand. Push up from the ground with your right foot. Then (these two happen at the same time) put your right foot on the pedal making sure you have most of your weight on the seat, and push away with your right foot, which is in front.
Hope that helped… the rolling back thing seems a little confusing because you end up swapping your front/back foot position… but I suppose it works for people who mount with one foot back and hop with the other foot back .
If you learn the static mount first, you won’t have to learn it later. You need the static mount for MUni, big wheels, basketball, and pretty much anything else fun you can do on a unicycle. And it isn’t really any harder than rolling back.
Just put less pressure on the back foot, and jump higher. You’ll get it, though it seems impossible at first. Lowering the seat might make learning easier.
i was just outside for 2 hours experimenting with the mounts.
i tried rollback mount but usually ended up falling off.
i ended up doing the best with the static mount.
however, im not sure if i’m doing it totally right. here’s what happens:
i set up with pedals at 4-10 position. uni is in front, seat against my crotch. i put my left foot on the back pedal.
i apply “light” pressure to the back pedal [the pedal does go down a bit, maybe 30 degrees (one hour on a clock), as i do this. is that ok or should i try to make it not move at all?] and get on the uni. the action of getting on the uni can be best described as a hop/slide onto the seat. as this happens my front foot goes for the front pedal.
at this point i have a very awkward moment. i am on the uni and am trying to throw my weight forward enough so that i can move. this seems to take a second or two, which feels too long. this is when i usually fall off (80% of tries). the other 20% i manage to lean my body forward and pedal away.
any suggestions?
should i try to make the back pedal not go down at all?
and finally, how do you do a jump mount (im sort of chicken, so if it is what i think it is, then im probably not going to do it.)
jump mount: get your cranks and pedals horizontal, grab the front of the seat with one hand and jump on. its scary at first but if you just go for it you won’t upd. i never failed it after i got the courage to try it for my first time.
It sounds like you’re doing OK; if it gets you up on the unicycle, you’re doing it right. Just think about trying to get it smoother, with less roll-back and a cleaner mount.
To jump mount, put the pedals level to the ground, straddle the unicycle with your legs behind the pedals, and jump. It’s not hard, but if you’re doing OK with the static mount, just keep at it.
What seems to me the first mount people learn:
1 roll back
2 static
3 jump
For me, w/ the roll back, the possition of my back foot varies from 7 and 10 o-clock, depending on the wheel size, crank length and amount of Q-factor of the cranks. When your other crank gets the the forward possition of 12:30 or 1:00 put your foot on that pedal w/ your toes angled down a bit and push back and down on that pedal untill they are horizontal and it is now the back pedal, then ride away.
W/ the static mount I think it would be ideal for your back foot to start at 9 o-clock and for the wheel to not move at all, but for me it’s usually easier if it’s at 10 o-clock and let it roll back to about 8-8:30.
For me the roll back is a lot easier and I’ve never been able to ride out of a jump mount.
I agree w/ tholub, that the static mount is prob the most usefull.
Try the other foot and maybe you balance will be of set by using another method. Another idea is try to keep the pedal you step on all the way down then swing your momentam on top de unicycle.
Here… but I don’t think you should try this until you can mount other ways sucessfully. Cleaner means that it goes smoothly, and you don’t nearly bail or anything.
Look forward not at your feet. I think you got the static mount. keep practicing and it will get smoother. I start at about 3 & 9 and my pedals rotate back to about 4/10 or 5/11, that sets me up for a good power stroke. try throwing your body a little past center, then you can mash on the front pedal.
From http://www.xs4all.nl/~klaasbil/uni_beginners.htm you can download a booklet in pdf format called Learning to Unicycle, that covers both the static and the rollback mount (as well as a whole lot more beginners stuff).
What works for me:
Put one pedal at the 6:00 position, all the way down.
Lean the unicycle over as required to position the seat.
Step/hop onto the other pedal. Sometimes you overshoot, sometimes you undershoot, sometimes you do just right but can’t get going.
Repeat 8,000,000 times until it works.
More specifically:
-Learn how to hop on just so-so
-Learn how to balance, recover, flail your arms about, etc. when you don’t hop on just so-so
-Learn to push forward on that second pedal instead of down
-Learn to ride when your 2nd foot isn’t in the right position
-Learn to reposition your feet while riding
-Do this where it’s level or just a bit of a downslope, not an upslope
-High seat position makes the unicycle easier to ride but harder to freemount, it seems to me.
-Do it when no one’s around. If someone is watching, it’ll take a dozen tries to get on.
When I first started, I had the seat up higher, and I would always mount up holding onto the car, and set the pedals so pressure on the first pedal rolled the unicycle BACK under me. When freemounting, you don’t want that, you want things going the other way, so that’s why I start at the “dead” position and avoid a backslope.
What works for me:
Put one pedal at the 6:00 position, all the way down.
Lean the unicycle over as required to position the seat.
Step/hop onto the other pedal. Sometimes you overshoot, sometimes you undershoot, sometimes you do just right but can’t get going.
Repeat 8,000,000 times until it works.
More specifically:
-Learn how to hop on just so-so
-Learn how to balance, recover, flail your arms about, etc. when you don’t hop on just so-so
-Learn to push forward on that second pedal instead of down
-Learn to ride when your 2nd foot isn’t in the right position
-Learn to reposition your feet while riding
-Do this where it’s level or just a bit of a downslope, not an upslope
-High seat position makes the unicycle easier to ride but harder to freemount, it seems to me.
-Do it when no one’s around. If someone is watching, it’ll take a dozen tries to get on.
When I first started, I had the seat up higher, and I would always mount up holding onto the car, and set the pedals so pressure on the first pedal rolled the unicycle BACK under me. When freemounting, you don’t want that, you want things going the other way, so that’s why I start at the “dead” position and avoid a backslope.
Lately I’ve been trying to keep my wheel from rolling back when I mount. I try to have a bit of forward momentum to fling myself up to verical on my 26". I wouldn’t call it a rolling mount because the wheel is definitely not rolling. Is this a static mount?
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