hey…i got a unicycle as a gift from my sister and i really want to learn how to ride it. i’d appreciate any suggestions. thanks!
Just don’t give up on trying to learn it. Some people learn it relatively fast and others take a while. For example I learned in about an hour and my friend is still trying to learn after several weeks. Also try holding onto a wall when you first start. Good luck and welcome to the addicting world of unicycling!
i am new to… kinda
i got a unicycle last thursday and am already almost rideing completely. first of all get to a deck witha railing or some place that is flat and has a wall to hold onto. while holding onto the wall mount your unicycle and start slowly rideing along the wall. do not take your hands of the wall at all! i know it is tempting. do this for a few days until you are very comfortable on the unicycle. then slowly start to try to go a few feet without holding onto the wall. after a wile you well get farther and farther. it will seem like you will never get better, but today i was doing this and all of a suddent i took off and i am now going across the whole driveway. stick with this and you will lear, trust me, i used this method and i am rideing across my driveway which is about 50 feet long and i have only had the unicycle for 5 days! i hope this helps.
practice practice practice!
wow…thanks for the quick replies.
i’ve been riding with my hand against a wall and am doing pretty good.
i have gymnastics in my background so that helps with my balance.
i really want to do this.
I’m evidently one of the slower ones at learning, but still did it. What I did was just started out in the hall here in the house, where I could put a hand on either side. From there, I went to a bike trail that goes over a long bridge near my house, which gave me a long uninterrupted handrail to hold on to. Then just started riding using the parked car for support and gradually got where I could ride farther and farther.
It seems to be easier when you start off if you have the seat up higher, so one leg is almost straight at the bottom of the stroke.
Ditto to the “don’t give up” comment. I suspect a lot of people that could have learned to ride just gave up too soon. But it’s been fun for me, and I’m glad I kept at it. I’m still learning, too, and still improving.
oh and i’m a girl.
i’ve seen some guys around on the trails on one wheel.
are uni riders generally friendly people?
i could do with with all the help i can get.
so far it’s so much fun!
Learning for me was long and slow (80 hrs over 2 months). I found a 80’ + rail a few blocks from my house and held on for dear life. When I could ride the rail, the idea of riding away from it and possibly falling was terrifying for me, so I came up w/ all sorts of ways to make it a bit harder.
I road w/ the seat too low/high, w/ too litle/too much air in the tires, adding/removing focusing aids, closing one eye, holding handle, riding along my fence on gravel w/ too much air in the tires, and mixed it up. I ended up w/ many different riding setups, and changing back to what at one time was ideal was harder just because I wasn’t used to it.
Yes.
I’m friendly. But when I’m riding, I’m generally concentrating on what I’m doing, so I’m not usually looking back over my shoulder to see who is hollering at me. In other words, it might work better to catch the guys when they’re stopped if you’re interested in talking to them.
Once you have the general idea of what to do on a unicycle, you really don’t need help, you just need practice. There’s not much that someone else can do to help you at that point.
Riding is not just a matter of making conscious decisions about what to do, but training your subconscious to make the little adjustments that keep you upright.
Just sitting on the thing is weird
And getting used to the idea that you must always pedal. So finding a place with a long wall is best. It takes a little while to break the bike riding instinct that you can coast.
I was able to ride away from the wall a bit the second afternoon. I taught a friend and it was about the same with him. Only he seemed to be born with the instinct to free mount, and started doing that the second day ! I didn’t bother with free mounting for a few months.
Hey, first of all welcome to the forums.
There are two things I consider helped me ride without a support. First was leaning forward. I kept falling behind the unicycle, probably because I thought it was less scary that way. Well, that became a problem, so I decided to always fall forwards.
My tip is, try to analyze why you fell and correct it. If it is backwards, try leaning more forward. If you always fall forward, you’re probably pedaling too fast.
To avoid falling sideways, I twisted a lot in the beginning. Yeah, I mean really a lot. Use your arms to help with balance.
And as someone said, practice, practice. Good luck! 
this may be out of place, but is there anyone with a name suggesting their inexperience of the sport (like rookierider or 1whldnewbie) that has kept that name and is now a decent rider?
edit: all the good suggestions have been said…
stephen, how long did it take u to ride, because i don’t practice much and can only just ride after all this time! FRUSTRATING!
- Keep your weight on the seat.
- Look at the horizon, not the ground in front of your wheel.
- Ride.
Lather.
Rinse.
Repeat.
a new unicycle is an awesome gift. it really gives you something to do that is extremely funa nd addictive.
yea, i got mine last thursday and i am already free mounting, and rideing around my block without holding onto anything. i know what you mean by being born with the instinct. i am enjoying it so much!
I got my unicycle the day before Thanksgiving (US) last year. I’ve got a video from Dec. 16 where I rode maybe 100 yards down the street. So that’ll give you some idea. I guess that was 3 or 4 weeks, and I was probably practicing 3 or 4 hours a week.
I’m still getting better and better at freemounting. I didn’t ever do that when I started, and learned later.
One other tip: Flail your arms around. Seriously, keep your arms out to the side or sort of in front of you to help balance. It’s not instinctive for me to do that, and I don’t need to now, but it does help balance.
i am ok now. i have all the basic skills now and mountain unicycle alot. i can do small 2 foot jumps off of things.