My friend is about 6’5-6’8 and is just starting unicycling. He’s having LOTS of trouble even going 2 peddle rotations after over 4 hours of practice. I can’t tell what he’s doing wrong. Do any of you have tips for a tall uni-beginner? Is he maybe having trouble because of his height?
What size wheel does he have?
He should be okay, it doesn’t really matter as long as the seat is tall enough. when sitting on the unicycling, when one peddle is all the way down, his knee should be mostly extended and his leg fairly straitened out. And his other knee shouldn’t come up too high toward his chest…
If he’s seat is high enough then don’t worry about. I was lucky to get 2 peddle rotations after 4 hours of practice myself.
He’s probably way too tall for the unicycle, so you may need to get a longer seat post. You can learn/ride with the seat too low, but it’s harder.
Well, not much telling.
He’s tall. I don’t know how much that affects anything. I haven’t really noticed a height trend in unicycling. I think being young helps and being lightweight helps.
For unicycle height, I’ve got a Torker LX with the longer seatpost. I’m about 6’-2". With that longer seatpost all the way down, it was just barely short enough to ride. So it ought to fit someone way taller than me when moved up some.
Some people learn faster than others. I kind of know how long I took, and then I’ve seen some posts that said “I learned how last week and now I’m riding 40 miles with one foot” and whatnot. Maybe your friend is normal and just needs to practice a bunch more. Maybe you were exceptional.
When I was learning (not that I’m done!), I just worked at it a few minutes at a time. Going up and down the hall for starters. Then went to a bike path on a bridge where I had a long unbroken handrail to use. Then gradually started freeriding. But it was a couple of weeks or more before I rode 50’. I didn’t ever work on it 4 hours at a stretch, that would have just been exhausting.
Re: My tall friend needs help!
I’m 6’5" and just started a week ago and usually practice for 2-4
hours a day. I’ve managed to make it 30’ or so, a couple of times. I’m
not learning as quickly as I’d like to be but, I understand that it
takes time.
I’m learning on a Torker DX, 24". When I got it from my buddy, I had
just left the seat at it’s present height. Just today I raised the
seat up to where my leg, at it’s lowest point on the pedal, is just
barely bent and noticed an immediate difference in the feel of the
unicycle. It was like being on a whole new ride. It was only a 1.5"-2"
raise but, an amazing difference.
From a beginner’s standpoint, the only advice that I can give is not
to discredit the seat height recomendation. I didn’t put much thought
into it, until I tried it.
-Rico
Having the saddle too low definitely doesn’t help. I’m not extremely tall (about 6’ 2") but the standard seat post on my learner unicycle was quite a bit too low even at full extent. When I bought a longer one after starting to read this forum things became much better.
It took me ages to learn to ride though - I don’t think he should be too concerned after a few hours. Some people pick it up faster than others.
Rob