Newbie tender bits

General
1

Greetings all,

Just bought a Pahley muni from Roger at Unicycle.uk.com - arrived promptly
earlier in the week. Its a beautiful bike: it looks great with the metallic blue
paint and feels really solid. I tried one a couple of years ago before they
upgraded the saddle, and I’ve been waiting for Pashley to improve it: the new
saddle is much better. Its now got really nifty pedals and thick spokes as well:
it may be more expensive than some, but I love it.

I took it out for a midnight spin up and down my road when it arrived on
Thursday: and gave it an off-road outing in the park today. Seems such a shame
to get it muddy, since it looked so nice and shiny and new!! However, the bike
appears to be easier to ride in mud than on tarmac - must be the tyres I guess.

My previous uni a couple of years ago was a 20 incher, and I had just about
mastered the art of step-on freemounting and could turn reasonably tightly on
it, especially on a smooth surface. Now the Muni is an entirely different kettle
of fish… I have a few questions for you experienced Muni-ers out there…

On the male dangly bits… Gentlemen, how do you avoid crushing your nuts when
riding a uni? I already wear cycling shorts, but do you have any other tips to
help me avoid problems down there? I am in awe that you can ride across
Minnesota or wherever - never mind your sense of balance, you must have steel
balls. Mounting and dismounting seems to be the most dangerous time!

On Muni freemounting… The higher saddle than the 20 incher seems to make the
simplest step-on mount just that bit harder. Should I try and learn on tarmac
first, and then take to the mud? What is a good height for the saddle? Do I need
to be able to idle to freemount a Muni?

Going round corners… How do you turn a Muni? It seems to be much harder than
a regular uni to turn. Are there any tricks to this? - it seems to get stuck in
the mud. For some reason I can turn left much more easily than right.

Any info gratefully received! Thanks!

James

Maidenhead, UK

2

Re: [Newbie tender bits]

On the male dangly bits… Gentlemen, how do you avoid crushing your nuts when
riding a uni? I already wear cycling shorts, but do you have any other tips to
help me avoid problems down there? I am in awe that you can ride across
Minnesota or wherever - never mind your sense of balance, you must have steel
balls. Mounting and dismounting seems to be the most dangerous time!

The trick is to have them where they will not be crushed! When mounting the
first step should be to place the seat under you with the male dangly bits
carefully out of the way. A discreet adjustment can be made using the seat
itself to make sure one’s vitals are forward and up. Once the important things
have been dealt with you can place a foot on a pedal and get up.

The pain you feel is caused by placing your weight on the painful bits rather
than your nice safe rear end. Much of the problem will disappear if you mount
correctly as everything should be out of the way. There is potential for
movement though when you stand up off the seat and the like. A discreet
adjustment may be in order before settling down again.

On Muni freemounting… The higher saddle than the 20 incher seems to make the
simplest step-on mount just that bit harder. Should I try and learn on tarmac
first, and then take to the mud? What is a good height for the saddle? Do I need
to be able to idle to freemount a Muni?

It’s not the saddle height so much as the wheel diameter. A larger wheel makes
everything more sluggish and things like idling become a lot more difficult.
This also makes things likes turning harder. To free mount a 26" wheel you need
more force than a 20".

I recommend learning on flat ground to begin with as it is hard enough already
without compounding it with rough terrain.

When mounting outside remember that things like mud and ice change your traction
and you may need to use more or less force to get up. It helps to learn a
rolling mount too as this will give you more versatility.

The easiest way to mount when on a slope is to turn the uni sideways so the you
are not trying to mount up or down hill. Instead your uni follows the path of a
contour line.

Going round corners… How do you turn a Muni? It seems to be much harder than
a regular uni to turn. Are there any tricks to this? - it seems to get stuck in
the mud. For some reason I can turn left much more easily than right.

Lean your lower body into the direction of the turn and your upper body the
other way.

Have fun, Peter

o o Peter Bier o O o Juggler, unicyclist and mathematician.
o/|\o peter_bier@usa.net

Get free email and a permanent address at http://www.netaddress.com/?N=1

3

Re: Newbie tender bits

In a message dated 2/13/00 6:09:26 PM EST, james@6xzzz7.com writes:

<< I took it out for a midnight spin up and down my road when it arrived on
Thursday: and gave it an off-road outing in the park today. Seems such a
shame to get it muddy, since it looked so nice and shiny and new!! However,
the bike appears to be easier to ride in mud than on tarmac - must be the
tyres I guess. >>

im sorry, but did you actually refer to a unicycle as a…bike? i understand it
mightve been a slip off the fingers(i wouldve said tongue, but he wasnt
talking), so ill let it go this time. ::evil music plays:: but watch out if it
happens again! ::zoom in on shifty eyes::

<< On the male dangly bits… Gentlemen, how do you avoid crushing your nuts
when riding a uni? I already wear cycling shorts, but do you have any other tips
to help me avoid problems down there? I am in awe that you can ride across
Minnesota or wherever - never mind your sense of balance, you must have steel
balls. Mounting and dismounting seems to be the most dangerous time! >>

there is a sugery that can be done, but im pretty sure you dont want to go to
that length. my advice to you would be to just not sit on…well, you know.
take a second and move them out of the way. but, do try not to make a big deal
out of it. neighbors might not appreciate it.

Keepin’ it real on the jive side of the sway swamp, Johnny T :smiley:

4

Re: [Re: [Newbie tender bits]]

“Jake Cooper” <JLynx@worldnet.att.net> wrote: [lots of good advice snipped]

I’ve been trying to mount my 6’er, and I’ve come across an extremely horrid
“dangly bits” problem. I have to jump from the pedal to the seat, and land…
hard… on the seat. I’ve never been able to make this jump because I freeze
once my foot is on the pedal. I’m too worried about my dangly bits. Any
suggestions? Sex change is NOT an option!

Jake Cooper A couple of things may help you. Bike pants will make this a lot
safer for you although there is still room for pain.

When learning to freemount your 6’er try setting the seat lower than you would
normally have it. This will make it easier to get up and you can increase the
seat height once you are comfortable with the mounting technique.

Another thing that may help is to learn to ride “seat out in front” with a
giraffe. This is harder than with a normal unicycle as there is a lot more force
involved. You will find the unicycle really wants to escape from your grip. The
bonus is that once you can do this you don’t need to mount straight onto the
seat. Instead just get to a point where both your feet are on the pedals. Ride
seat out in front for a bit and then tuck the seat under you. I’ve seen this
technique used a fair bit as often you get up but can’t quite make it up and
over on to the seat.

You might like to try mounting with a couple of people holding the frame. That
way you can practice the motions without worrying about falling over.

If you are going straight from the ground to the pedal and then on to the seat
you may like to try a different mount. First step up onto the wheel with your
weak foot, next place your dominant foot on the lower pedal and then step up
onto the seat. Alternatively if else fails try side mounting:-)

Hope that helps, Peter

o o Peter Bier o O o Juggler, unicyclist and mathematician.
o/|\o peter_bier@usa.net

Get free email and a permanent address at http://www.netaddress.com/?N=1

5

RE: [Newbie tender bits]

> I’ve been trying to mount my 6’er, and I’ve come across an extremely horrid
> “dangly bits” problem. I have to jump from the pedal to the seat, and land…
> hard… on the seat. I’ve never been able to make this jump because I freeze
> once my foot is on the pedal.

Can’t blame you. I think your brain is trying to tell you something.

When I mount my 6’, there is a small jump when I go from the tire to the pedal,
but the rest is definitely a series of steps, not jumps. Many people put their
feet on both pedals before getting their crotch on the seat. I remember my old
show partner, always having his Schwinn seat cover fold over as he mounted his
6’ in shows. He’d end up sitting on a folded over seat.

I mount with my left foot hitting the pedal first. I stand up on this pedal, and
swing my other leg over the seat before hitting the other pedal. I am
essentially sitting down first. My right foot hits the pedal from the front,
pushing it back similar to a “standard” mount, and giving me the necessary
forward lean to ride away.

Try it like that. It only takes a tad bit more time, but gets you on the seat
every time.

Stay on top, John Foss, the Uni-Cyclone (reply to jfoss@unicycling.com)
http://www.unicycling.com

Still searching for the MUni thieves (hopefully looking a little harder than
O.J.'s search for ‘the killer’)

6

Re: [Newbie tender bits]

[lots of good advice snipped]

I’ve been trying to mount my 6’er, and I’ve come across an extremely horrid
“dangly bits” problem. I have to jump from the pedal to the seat, and land…
hard… on the seat. I’ve never been able to make this jump because I freeze
once my foot is on the pedal. I’m too worried about my dangly bits. Any
suggestions? Sex change is NOT an option!

Jake Cooper

> o o Peter Bier o O o Juggler, unicyclist and mathematician.

So many seem to be…

7

Re: Newbie tender bits

James wrote:

> Going round corners… How do you turn a Muni? It seems to be much harder
> than a regular uni to turn. Are there any tricks to this? - it seems to get
> stuck in the mud. For some reason I can turn left much more easily than right.

The new Pashley is greatly improved, it is lighter, stronger, better made, has a
half decent seat on it and has 2 lots of bosses. What is very poor is the tyre,
the centre ridge version that they use as standard is crap. It is causing a lot
of your turning problems on the road. If you fit a half decent big tyre on you
will really notice the difference.

I have discussed the changing of the tyre with Pashley and I am hoping that they
will fit a decent unicycle one on soon.

Roger

 The UK's Unicycle Source <a href="http://www.unicycle.uk.com/">http://www.unicycle.uk.com/</a>