This is my first post ever on this site. I decided to start unicycling with a (Red, preferably) Nimbus II 24". I Google Product Search’d and almost every site said ‘Out of Stock’ or ‘On Backorder’ for all Nimbus II colors. Of the few that didn’t say they were out, I didn’t want to order from because I really need it by Friday (1/1/10) and I would hate for them to be out but simply not state it on the site (in which case I wouldn’t know until after I order, delaying the process by many days).
I just need it by Friday because after that I am going back to college and my shipping address won’t be the same as billing and I don’t want that to cause problems…
ahhhh. it was. im in the US. they are out of stock on the US unicycle.com. i didnt see “ISIS” on the US sites so I assumed that was what caused the price difference (245–>340).
I should have been clearer in my first post I guess. Any US sites that have the Nimbus II?
the difference in price is just because of currency differences, when you do the exchange they’re about the same in US $ the one on the AU site is in AU $. if you’re not concerned with ISIS and since you do kind of have a time limit you may want to go with just a torker lx. they’re great beginner uni’s especially if you’re on a budget.
Call UDC - US on Monday. You never know what they have sitting around. Maybe they have a recently returned one… It’s an outside shot but you never know. 1-800-UNICYCLE
If you are a beginner this is a good choice: http://www.unicycle.com/unicycles/cruiser-24-inch/club-24-inch-freestyle-yellow.html It comes in more colors than just Yellow. Don’t be too quick to dismiss a ‘beginner’ unicycle. Depending on how you want to ride you might find that it lasts you longer than you think. There was a time when all unis were square taper cranks and single wall rims.
As you get better you can upgrade it, or then buy the unicycle you want and sell this one or keep it around for lending to friends to learn to ride on.
BUT!!! getting it to you by 1/1/10 is going to be expensive for shipping. Ground shipping from Atlanta to California is 5-7 business days. Using my Northern California address 3 day shippings is $43.73 and 2nd day Air is $64.78
Another option would be to look at the offerings at renegade juggling: http://www.renegadejuggling.com/Web_store/rev3k/index.html but you are not going to find Nimbus there. Take a look at the Slicky 24. And they are just up in Santa Cruz. 1-2 days shipping to SoCal
And lastly it’s up to the vendor to ship to an address other than billing. Usually it just takes a little more verification. If actually getting it at your door at college is a problem in can be shipped for pickup at either USPS or UPS.
Good choice! After a 25 year lay-off from unicycling I got the 24" Blue Nimbus II and I am nothing but happy with it. I have not even upgraded the stock seat. Actually I take that back. One of the cheap plastic pedals it came with disintegrated under foot after about a month. Odyssey Twisted PC pedals make a great ‘upgrade’ and you should be able to find them at any store that does some BMX business and a Pair is under $20
Be careful putting it together, take you time, follow the directions being sure to install all the right-hand bits on the right hand side and Left of the left. The cranks and pedals will be marked R and L. Slot in the seatpost is the back of the uni.
Your cranks will need tightening with an 8MM hex key or socket every couple of days until the crank really seats itself. Also it easy to over tighten the bearing holders. Just snug. A dab of blue loctite is not a bad idea on the bearing holder screws.
One last bit of advice if you hear a creak or something feels funny check it out now not later. Most creaks or something feeling funny, loose cranks, loose pedals, etc. can damage things fast.
Thank you for the abundance of info/advice! It will be followed closely! I found this cool excel spreadsheet that claims to predict learning time based on statistics, check it out here and the site here.
How accurate do you think it is? Its got me feeling pretty optimistic, I said I’m 19, male, will practice 30 mins/day on a 24" wheel, and it generated a histogram and predicted about 9 hours of practice over 18 days to ride 50m forward. (also used the “Quality of instruction” cell set to 0.5 because that was the setting recommended on the site for internet/book based tips, but no actual instructor).
That’s possibly a bit conservative.
How physically active are you?
A gymnast will learn faster than a couch potato, but it’s difficult to quantify these things.
When you assemble the uni, make sure you get the RIGHT pedal on the right hand side and the LEFT on the left hand side.
If anything is unclear, do ask, this forum is a very friendly, very helpful place.
I’ve never seen the spread sheet but young people tend to pick it up quickly. Some (few) people just seem to get it. Others need lots of patience, and most are somewhere in the middle. Don’t worry about time, focus on making each step of learning fun and focus on the basics and it will come. Unicycling is not for the impatient. Even if you pick things up quickly there is still lots of reptition required before you can do a skill every time.
Personally I think you will do better than that predicts. I would think that 9 solid hours of practice would get you to doing big lazy circles/figure 8’s, but everyone is different.
When I as young it took me about 2 weeks of 15 minutes a day to be able to ride 100 wobbly yards. Some days may have been closer to 1/2 hour of practice. If my math is right that is ~3.5 hours. I was about the same age as you and was learning on a 24" wheel. By the end of my 3rd week I was starting to be able to freemount. Learning to freemount is like graduating. No more having to find something to hold onto to mount.
@GILD
I was a lot more active in high school, but I still do stuff like paintballing and swimming. I’d say im closer to a gymnast than a couch potato . I’ll be happy to keep you guys updated on my progress.
In high school my 2nd year english teacher decided it would help us learn how to write better papers if we all learned to ride unis (I’m still a little confused on his logic here:D). I practiced a few weeks like 4 years ago, but its all really fuzzy.
@ezas
That sounds very promising! Aside from the inherent ridiculousness (and awesomeness) of riding a uni, I want to learn as a way to get to class when its raining (I usually ride my longboard when it’s sunny). Will I be able to keep up with bikes in the bike lanes? or is 24" always going to be slow?
You won’t be keeping up with bikes on a 24" Uni. Figure ~6-10mph on a 24" Uni while most recreational bike riders are more like ~12-16mph. Lets put it this way a real fast Uni rider can keep up with a very slow bike rider.
Maybe there is a 29" with fairly short cranks in your future. Short cranks let you spin faster at the expense of leverage going up hills. A 29" gives you a couple of more mph, but it won’t be a life changing difference in speed.
You are worrying/thinking about the wrong things. Learn to ride well on your 24" and then worry about how long it took you too learn and how fast you can go. 24" is a good all-around size to learn on and is fine for riding upto 5-10 miles. First comes learning to ride on smooth ground, then learning to freemount and learning to handle the uneven terrain of riding in the street. You need to consider what your plan is for when you need to stop.
Your options are:
-Riding in circles if there is room
-Jumping off, then needing to freemount again - takes time to git a really solid freemount
-Finding something to lean against - easy, but some places there won’t be anything
-Idling - takes time to learn
-Hopping - takes time to learn, probably less time then learning to idle. Hopping is generally done with lower tire pressure than you would want for distance riding.
To say it again, you have plenty to work on/learn/enjoy before you need to think/worry about speed. If you ride to school is not long a 24" makes it easier to sneak your uni into class, more maneuverable in crowds, etc.
Six months from now you can worry about if your next uni should be a 29" or even a 36". I expected that a 29" would be my 2nd Uni but I’ve decided I want a 20" first. But I don’t commute on my Uni and I find my 24" is fine for the 4-8 mile fitness rides I do from time to time.
hopping… i’ve taught about 50 people who could not ride 1 pedal how to hop and a few of those to do 180s… i just tell them it’s a “pogo stick” when they cover the cranks w/ their feet.
Got my uni on thursday last week, practiced about 4 hours so far… It’s a lot harder than I thought!
I am learning by starting out with the wheel up against the stairs with the pedals horizontal, stepping on the back pedal, then the front, then lean forward and pedal a shaky 5 meters (really anywhere between 2 and 10)… and then crash to the floor.
Any suggestions? Is this method bad for whatever reason? (e.g. make it harder to learn some things later)
. I’ll be happy to keep you guys updated on my progress.
Aside from the inherent ridiculousness (and awesomeness) of riding a uni, I want to learn as a way to get to class when its raining (I usually ride my 