I just bought a Unistar LX Thursday night from Aurorua Cycles in Seattle but I’m wondering if when you push the unicycle with you hands if it is supposed to have two spots where it gets harder to push and then easier.
Also, when you were first learning did it seem like you un-learned things when you stopped practicing for a few hours? I was able to make it around 20 feet without too much trouble then went to diner came back and had a lot of trouble with that.
Is having the seat exactly straight that important? I know on a bike it isn’t too important but I’ve been riding a bike forever.
Lastly, do any of you know how much it costs to get new rear and front seat guards for this unicycle? Once I learn to ride and quit dropping the thing so often I’m thinking about getting new ones.
I think I’m learning this pretty fast (day wise at least) I’ve only had the unicycle around 42 hours and have gone 25 feet today. I’ve practiced 4 hours since I got it, once you get on a unicycle you just don’t want to get off!
Welcome to the wonderful one wheeled world of unicycling. It seems like you’re making excellent progress. Try to keep the seat as straight as possible. It will make riding in a straight line easier. The uni shouldn’t have tight spots as you roll it. The bearing holders may be overtightened a little. Try backing the nuts off about a quarter of turn to see if it rolls smoother. You can purchase the saddle bumpers seperately from unicycle.com
Tube failing: worry about it when it happens: I am 3 years in without a
problem.
But it should be little different to changing a bicycle tube. once you get
the wheel out of the frame.
> Ohh and how do you change the tube? I know from luck on a bike that
> thing will explode in a few days and I’ll be stuck changing it.
It is probably easier to patch the tube than replace it. You can
usually take the tire off the rim and find the leak without taking
the wheel off the frame. A least I assume so, I used to do this on my
non quick release bicycle.
Patching a tube is really easy and though I’ve had tubes with nearly a
dozen patches, every one has held up.
>I’m wondering if when you push the unicycle with you hands if it is
>supposed to have two spots where it gets harder to push and then
>easier.
No shouldn’t be. Indeed probably the bearing holder nuts are (or have
been) overtightened. If you follow Krashin’Kenny’s advice, make sure
you don’t “overloose” the nuts or you will lose them.
>Also, when you were first learning did it seem like you un-learned
>things when you stopped practicing for a few hours?
Yes, learning will go like that. But the overall line will be up.
Seems like you’re doing excellently anyway. Check
<http://www.xs4all.nl/~klaasbil/agelearn_short.htm> to see how long it
took other people to learn.
>Is having the seat exactly straight that important?
More important than on a bike, but a uni is still rideable with a few
degrees offset.
>Lastly, do any of you know how much it costs to get new rear and front
>seat guards for this unicycle? Once I learn to ride and quit dropping
>the thing so often I’m thinking about getting new ones.
Usually, seats with metal bumpers are cheap and uncomfortable. If you
experience discomfort in the crotch region, we would have some
recommendations. Or, better still, do a search for ‘seat comfort’ on
this forum.
Klaas Bil - Newsgroup Addict
I like the idea of not having to balance when out on a ride - joe
On the note of changing the tire tube. I changed mine by taking off the four nuts that clamp the bearings on, but I think I did something wrong because I screwed up the nylon lock nuts and had a (not) fun time trying to find replacements…
asupercoolguy that’s what i was worrying about. Is taking the 4 screws that clamp the bearings on what you do to take the tire off?
Progress report: after about an hour of practice today I’ve made it a long ways, a little more than half the length of a city block with some downhill at the end. Now the balls of my feet hurt so I’m going to stop for a little.
> asupercoolguy that’s what i was worrying about. Is taking the 4 screws
> that clamp the bearings on what you do to take the tire off?
Yes. Removing the bearing clamps (2 bolts each side) releases the
wheel on must unicycles. I have no problem finding nuts with nylon
retaining washers - the local Ace Hardware stocks them in both english
and metric sizes.
New question now. Is there a certain way to freemount a unicycle? (Is that the right word? mounting without holding onto anything) What I’ve been doing is getting the left pedal to just above the ground and pushing it so the unicycle goes under me then hopping on and giving it a half pedal backwards untill the pedals are horizontal then start pedaling forward. Using that method I was able to get it right 3 times in about 20 minutes but only go about 1 or 2 pedals before losing balance.
>New question now. Is there a certain way to freemount a unicycle?
Certain as in (1) ‘defined’ or as in (2) ‘fail-proof’?
(1) There are many recognised ways of freemounting. Many of them are
described here: <http://www.unicycling.org/unicycling/mounts>.
(2) There is no way of freemounting with guaranteed success. The
static mount and the rollback mount are considered the most easy ones
to learn.
>(Is
>that the right word? mounting without holding onto anything)
Yes, that is called freemounting. You may hold onto yourself or the
unicycle though, but not onto any external support.
>What I’ve
>been doing is getting the left pedal to just above the ground and
>pushing it so the unicycle goes under me then hopping on and giving it a
>half pedal backwards untill the pedals are horizontal then start
>pedaling forward.
Sounds like the rollback mount.
Klaas Bil - Newsgroup Addict
“The more you think, the less you have to do. - Leo Vandewoestijne”
Thanks much! While waiting for your answer I kept practicing that way because it was working and now I can get it around 30% of the time.
Onto the next question now that I can freemount (sometimes) and ride forward fairly well. Is there a certain way to turn other than just leaning your weight and flailing your arms? My family finds my method of turning great because it gives them something to laugh at but there must be a better way like using the pedals to help somehow.
And Klass are you still looking for the info from the talent.xls file? I tried emailing it to you but it was resent to me as an undeliverable message. Heres my info anyways:
Age: 17 (18 on the 25th)
Gender: Male
Instruction: None but the help in this thread and website
Wheelsize: 20 inch
Time to ride 50m: 8 hours
Calender time: 3 days
This’ll probably be my last question for a while as I’ve got a lot to master if I want to ride this thing to school before it gets too cold. Riding straight, turning, mounting, and going up and down curbs. Plus the distance, going a city block makes me tired and it’s a mile to school.
>And Klass are you still looking for the info from the talent.xls file? I
>tried emailing it to you but it was resent to me as an undeliverable
>message.
Yes I am, see my response in the “How long did it take you to learn?”
thread.
Well, the email addres (which appears in the bottom lines of
talent.xls once you have entered all your data correctly) is still
valid. I sent myself a testmail and got it just fine. Maybe you
mistyped it?
Klaas Bil - Newsgroup Addict
“The more you think, the less you have to do. - Leo Vandewoestijne”