Hello there, i have been riding a couple of weeks now and am kinda getting the hang of riding (on the flat) but some advice would be fantastic…
can anyone recommend a good, comfy saddle? i have a Nimbus 20 inch, but the saddle is very painful in the…groin region ( the saddle rises up a lot at the front). My friends Kris Holm saddle is pretty good, but are there any better?
i am also at a stage where i dont seem to be getting better at all…and even seem to be getting worse… is this normal?
also (one last thing!) whats the best irder to learn things is (i want to do trials) i can ride, (not too great) and hop. but only one at a time. what should i concentrate on?
well all sadles are gonna be painful in the groined region until your balls and gooch area streangthen up. but really nice seat is the kh fusion saddle it very comfy
Actually, the KH saddle, if that’s what you have, is really great compared to a lot of saddles. There may be slightly better ones, but at this point, you probably don’t need to invest in a new saddle.
If you are looking for advice on trials techniques, freestyle skills, or other unicycle-related issues, check out The Unicyclopedia. There’s lots of useful information there.
You may not think you’re getting any better but be assured that you are. Everytime you are in the saddle, your body continues to develop the muscle memory needed to ride and improve.
As with so many other endeavors, you should concentrate on the basics. Start at the beginning, the rest will come at just the right time. Concentrate on improving your riding distance. When that’s sufficiently in hand, concentrate on smooth turning, hopping or idling, all good basic stuff for moving toward more advanced stuff like trials. In my opinion, smooth turning is probably the more important issue. Start big and gradually tighten up the turning radius to both the left and right. You can really monitor your riding ability by how smoothly you can control the uni.
Some kids in our club want to learn to freemount or hop before they can ride more than a few feet. I ask them what good is a freemount if you are unable to complete the move by riding after the mount. So, start at the beginning.
Most importantly, always feel the joy of unicycling. Unicyclist are some of the best people on earth and are set apart and above others simply by the ability to balance on one wheel.
Thanks for the advice guys, i will be ordering a KH saddle when i wake up tomorrow morning.
I’m fairly used to being in a saddle ( i used to do a lot of mountainbiking) but my current saddle is definatly very bad for blokes (not just my opinion!)
and thanks Bruce for the riding tips, i’ll keep working on the distance!
I agree that starting with basics is good- and that theory can apply to many things not just unicycling- but isn’t freemounting a basic skill? I know of people who figured out how to freemount before learning to ride- and it is a significant advantage. If you know how to freemount, you are not reliant on walls, trees, shoulders, or pegs- so your learning progress could be quicker. Hopping probably isn’t as good to learn before you learn to ride- because you can cause damage to the saddle if you use bad technique. A friend of mine snapped my first KH saddle while practising hopping before he could ride more than a few feet. The seat was so flexy that it was bound to happen sometime but maybe a more experienced rider would have used less force on the handle. The kids in your club could reply to you “A freemount is good for learning to ride without a peg!”
Thanks, as i said before, i used to mountain bike, so i dont think my hopping is too bad… i’m working on the free-mounting at the moment (i get to the back pedal part, then fall off, but i expect i’ll get it eventually…) this is why i want a better saddle, because i cant adjust my seat position while freemounting.