My static freemount

Riding Advice
1

hi all,

after many years doing roll back mounts and struggling to do static mounts i have kind of got it now so i thought my tips might be of use to others in similar postion.

i struggled to get my head around how to lift second foot off the ground without putting weight on the first pedal. i found if you put weight on the first pedal uni comes backwards and if you put weight on your bum uni moves forwards so its all about doing both together to stall the uni briefly.

i found that by standing behind uni with first foot on the pedal and doing a small push forward whilst jumping up but not trying to get on the uni you can feel it stayed still.i kept doing little push hops whilst playing slightly with timing of the push and how hard to push forward to get the feel for it staying put.

once i got better at the push hop i played with trying to get onto uni and played with pedal angles as ive found that horizontal didnt work for me,i now do first pedal down slight say about 8 oclock postion then push forwards whilst hop up and hey presto im on and pedal off!

another thing i found is try with different sized unicycles as i spent ages on my 20" as there are meant to be easiest and got nowhere.i still cant do it on 20" but do fine on a 26 muni and hatchet which comes up at almost 29"

i understand that everyone will find there way to learn but hopefully if others can benefit from time spent then happy days.

1 Like
2

Mounting my Uni.

+1

this mount and my own reminds me of the invisible
“Step over the box challenge”

3

I just learned to do this as well.

My favorite static mount video/thread is this one:

Chief

1 Like
4

I find that the small push forward whilst jumping up becomes even more important with larger wheels. On my 36er and most others that I look at closely do put a considerable down force on the leading foot to help with a boost up. That extra boost up helps some with a static mount and even more with a rolling/running mount.

5

“Break the egg,” every single time.

6

+1 on both.
UniMyra describes this very nicely in his video, too. Thinking of it as going over rather than on top of the uni also helped me a lot. And I too somehow find this easier with slightly larger 24 or 26 inch wheels; must be due to more inertia in the wheel, making the balancing of forces that bit easier.

I recently but a (short) handlebar on my muni and whilst this initially felt weird it certainly helped mounting. I assume due to the hand being further front with a better angle to apply pressure onto the saddle thus adding to the “bum pressure”.

7

I remember struggling with this when I was learning to mount. It seemed like a very delicate balance that was hard to get.

Much later on, after learning lots of other unicycling skills, I noticed something. It’s not a question of balancing forces if you don’t move your knee joint. In other words, don’t straighten, don’t compress, just leave your knee at the same angle until you get up where you want to be.

Does this make it any easier? Probably not, but it might work for you, I think part of the reason I figured this out was because later on, my legs were stronger and had a lot more experience making all the pedaling motions involved in unicycling. I had the power to just make my leg stay put.

But you can try it and see if it helps. :slight_smile:

8

I think in my case when I want to static mount, I never know in my head how hard I have to jump. As I mount I feel my foot get to the pedal and feel safe, so I can take off, but it is never the same. Occasionally when I hop on, I sort of balance in the air before leaning forward to take off. That actually gives me time to get my bearings, but other times I jump too fast and just hop over the uni.
Especially when riding different wheel sizes, the first hop will always be over, so I know where the balance point is. The 29" seems to be the sweet point and I can get on 100% of the time. Smaller wheels are too twitchy and bigger wheels I have to jump higher, which make it more difficult for me.

9

Between UniMyra’s video and this concept this has really worked for me
Chief

10

It did for me, too. I think the knee-advice was mentioned before and it all works much better and consistently since I started my mounting mantra: “over the uni, pressure on saddle, knee fixed, over the uni, pressure on saddle, knee fixed, over the uni, pressure on saddle, knee fixed…”. These three things together make the difference for me and I notice immediately when I get lazy and forget one aspect.

11

Hi all,

I have been trying to tidy up my static mount, i am making progress and can now do it on my 20"

I am finding that the important thing for me is the push forward which needs to be a strong confident push although if done correct the uni doesnt actually move forward but gives me a solid step up.

I am not holding on to seat but have seen that some people do and do not hold the seat during the static mount,is it better to hold on to the saddle with hand or not ?

thanks

12

I say hold the saddle for a lot more control.

13

When static-mounting I hold the seat with both hands just for the step up. I immediately let go of one or both to help balance myself.
I can also mount using either a single hand or none with no particular difficulty but it feels weird.

14

I always hold the seat with one hand, and as soon as im on i let go to gain balance then take off and hold the seat or handlebar. While mounting i often hang towards the left instead of stright forward so i need some space to take off

15

I currently mount with both hands on the saddle 100% of the time. After reading some discussion about mounting, I practiced mounting with both hands in the air the other day and found it quite difficult. As far as I am concerned, there is “no going back” to the old way of mounting.

Arms in the air create a win/lose situation. You win balance, but you lose stability. The loss of stability makes you need your arms for balance. The only way to overcome this is to keep your hands on the seat, fight the urge to throw them up for balance. Yes, it’ll feel like a step backwards, resulting in many, many failed mounts, but you will force yourself to get your balance into your hips.

16

I agree with you

17

You say you agree Gockie, so you also mount with both hands on the seat? I think it is quite difficult, but I do expect I would be more in balance and not hang towards one side.

18

Sometimes, after I write something on the forum, I have to take a ride and “put my money where my mouth” is. To clarify, I start all mounts with both hands on the seat/handle. Yesterday I rode on my 24", and on a few of my more poorly executed mounts, I threw one hand up in the air somewhere between mounting and riding.

I am almost a foot taller than many riders on this forum. The largest wheel I ride on is a 26". And my physique is somewhat “top-heavy”. For shorter/lighter riders, hands-out may be necessary, depending on the size wheel.

If you want to practice mounting with both hands on the seat, I suggest:

If you don’t already have one, get a 20". Personally, the 20" has been the base of my food pyramid, the foundation of everything else I know.

Place the 20" on some soft grass. Put the first pedal in the 6:00 position. Hold the seat in front of you with both hands. If the seat is pushing against your abdomen, that is fine. Try holding the front of the saddle with one hand and the back with the other. This will give you maximum leverage and stability.

The correct seat height will put the saddle in a position where you feel the most strength with your hands, somewhere around your core. At this height, the saddle may be too high to get your butt on from the 6:00 starting position of your foot. No worries, the goal is not to sit on the seat.

Now that you’ve re-adjusted the saddle height, mount on the grass starting in the 6:00 position with both hands on the saddle. Lift your second foot off the ground slowly and bring it toward the 12:00 pedal. You will feel your arms working hard to maintain balance as you keep both hands on the saddle. You may succeed in riding 1/2 - 1 revolution in this position, but the important thing is that you’re using the leverage in your arms and the movement of your hips to maintain balance.

Setonix, I am sorry to hear you have limited time to ride. I probably would not have learned what I did without putting considerable practice time into it. There is another danger with having limited practice time; you may be more interested in seeking gratification during the limited time you have, rather than struggling through the humiliation of learning a new technique.

The classical guitarist Andres Segovia, in the preface to his scale studies, said that if a guitarist only had 20 minutes to practice in a day, they should spend that time on scales. That doesn’t exactly translate to the unicycle. With the uni, perhaps a limited practice time is better spent struggling with a new technique. Emerging techniques, those we suck at, IMHO contain the keys to better riding, rather than trying to perfect what we already know.

I am also curious if Gockie can mount with both hands on the seat. I don’t think it’s necessary to be able to do a technique…in order to agree, in principle, that it’s a good technique. As I said above, however, YMMV.

19

I don’t understand that bit.
Even after looking for ‘balance’ and ‘stability’ in the dictionary.

20

By stability, I specifically mean that the rider and the unicycle are acting as a single mass, locked together, rather than two masses. The source of that stability is the hands on the seat/saddle. The greatest stability happens when both sit bones are pressed on the saddle and both hands are holding the seat handle / bar ends.

If you take away that stability, the physics of mounting becomes more complex, a two-mass system rather than a single-mass system, and it is more likely you’ll need your hands flailing for balance while mounting.