Newbie- I've got MUni fever (cha, cha, cha)

General
1

Greetings,

I just thought I would post an update. Me and my daughter are still rolling along for about an hour a day. We have had our Uni’s for three weeks as of yesterday. She has started putting some effort into freemounting and should be doing it soon. We have been riding each day for about a mile in the neighborhood and then another mile or so at the running track. I am proud to say she is a ‘solid’ rider! Once she’s balanced and going, she can pretty much ride until she gets tired. I’m still getting bucked off every once in a while.

Yesterday when we were at the running track I was investigating two large wholes in the school yard fence where a stolen auto had driven through it and into the woods. I then looked at the dirt walking trail in the woods with a sense of adventure- can I do it? Oh yea! I made it all the way down the trail on my first attempt- that included a freemount on the dirt which took a couple of tries. I rode the 20 yards or so long trail back and forth about six or seven times and it was a blast! I also noted how easy it was to ride on the pavement after coming out of the woods. Riding through the woods greatly improved my overall balance and control. At one point, I couldn’t help but yell out like some sort of (M)Uni Cowboy. I was really happy to be riding well, especially through the woods!!! On the way home I even jumped a curb.

This was a really good experience for me. Ever since Saturday I felt like I wasn’t making any progress. :frowning: I actually felt like I was starting to loose some ground. I couldn’t ride very far before becoming fatigued or falling off and I was having a heck of a time freemounting. This prompted me to take a break from riding on Wednesday. I thought maybe I just needed to give my body a rest. However, I was still having problems at the start on Thursday. It turned out to be the darn seat again! I guess the seat has been creeping down after each crash/adjustment. I raised it a good inch and half and instantly started freemounting on nearly every first attempt. I rode a half mile around the track and didn’t even start to get tired. That’s when I decided to go into the woods for the MUni attempt. I am going to score the seat post or mark it with tape to ensure this never happens again. Any suggestions on how to mark it?

This weekend I am planning on riding a nature trail at lake near my house. It looks like something I can do. We’ll find out…

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I found that when i was learning my tire pressure kept creeping down. When I noticed and made it high again, I found riding to be much easier. Not sure if that helps you. Glad to hear you like muni! I too posted recently about how it feels to stagnate then make a big break through. It’s so encouraging. Sounds like you are making awesome progress! Good luck!
-gauss

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Once I found the seat height that was right for me, I drilled a hole through the frame and seat post. I then threaded a bolt through the hole and secured it with 2 nuts. This also ended the problem that I had with my seat twisting. :smiley:

If this is a bad ideal I hope that someone will speak to the contrary.

4

I just scratch it with my bike tool screwdriver. If you are worried about rust, then you could put a gob of grease on the scratch.

5

I used a sharpie marker to mark my seat post when I was learning to ride. Only after I started reading the boards did I realize that my seat was way too low. So now I estimate about 2-3 inches above the marker line I have on the seat post. :smiley:

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I find myself doing the oppisite. I have been lowering my seat lately arround 2-3 inches shorter than where I started riding from. I wouldnt say it’s easier to ride, but deffenatlly more fun and you get that extra little bit of travel when you hop up :slight_smile: But as you guys know by now I’m Crazy. Muah ha ha ha ha

I have even had to cut down the lengh of my seatpost in order to lower my seat that little bit more.

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Ohh I forgot the part about how I marked the seat position I liked… well I just used a paint marker thing. Worked fine for me