Omg!!!

Off-topic
21

:slight_smile:
The wheel itself (rim, hub, spokes, tire and inner tube) is only 4kg something. It’s different to ride compared to all my smaller unis though.
After riding a big wheel, a 20 and 24" uni feels squirrelly and unstable. I get comfortable with the weight/force needed for a larger wheel.
The 36er is something I haven’t mastered for mounting though and that’s something I will work on. I could get the odd tire grab static mount to work, but after adding handlebars, that’s not really an option. So i’m planning to learn a rolling mount.

As for being a middle aged woman… I am what I am. :slight_smile:

I’m not super amazing as a rider, but I enjoy it. If I was a guy i’d possibly be more comfortable/have more guts to try to roll off kerbs etc, (I’ve only done it twice in public… Both 100% successfully but I am nervous as all hell when doing it) but not to worry. I’m trying to learn some tricks, and I just need to practise.

And my legs are only just long enough to comfortably ride this KH36 without modification using 125/145 cranks!

22

Only 32” - I thought I keep it reasonable but went too quickly to 125 cranks I think. :stuck_out_tongue:

For the wrist guards, lots of folk seem to suggest the HillBillys. They offer more wrist and palm protection than KH but are a bit restrictive. For me it came down to protection vs freedom and I took the protection path again, risk avoider that I am.

23

Gockie,

Your wheel alone is like 2/3’s the weight of my uni (6.5 kg). All the best in mastering the rolling mount, else you can’t get home :D.

Tinkerbeau,

The price of the hillybilly glove in KL is :astonished: … I am searching for something a bit more affordable. Compromise on the protection I guess. :o

My crank is 114mm. Hmmm …

24

The only way to get prepared is to get on and start working it. There are loads of threads in this forum that go over the learning process from many different points of view, for people of various ages. Advice we would offer would differ between a teenager, a grown-up like yourself, or a small child. For a guy your age we would assume you want to be more methodical than a teenager, and that you won’t bounce back from infinite falls like either of those other two demographics. :wink:

Tire pressure should be low for your early lessons. Higher pressure makes the wheel too easy to twist from side to side; you want rotational grip. Try it around the 45 psi for now. (Note: “Correct” tire pressure is dependent upon rider weight, tire width, riding surface and intended riding style, among other things. But beginner unis all tend to have wheels in the 1.75 - 2" width range, so it’s easier to give out meaningful numbers.)

Many of us bought safety gear after finding out it would be good to have. I learned to ride when I was 17, and bought my first safety gear at 18. This was from my attempts at practicing for Track racing; always falling on hands and knees! I am now a few years older than you, and think you would benefit from wrist protection (protecting the bones more than the skin), followed by knee and shin protection. Start with something cheap and see how it goes.

You’re going to sweat a lot, at least if you have to practice outside. If indoors, stay away from stuff you care about, or anything made out of glass. :slight_smile: Also note that I once punched a hole in an interior wall – while trying to demonstrate to someone else how the uni can shoot out and hit the wall, which can be painful in the crotch area!

If you’re outside, I guess sweat is a given. I’ve been to that part of the world once, doing shows in Singapore for a couple of weeks at Clark Quay. It was great fun, but boy did we sweat buckets! :stuck_out_tongue:

To reduce “empty” time when learning, concentrate on the riding/balancing part. Work on making half-revolutions, regaining your balance in between while holding onto your support. Getting back on takes up a lot of time, so keep the distances short; learn to stop and get balanced before going again. Make sure you spend more time on the unicycle than on these forums. :slight_smile:

25

Thank you for the pointers johnfoss.

Its noon here in KL. I have been practising mounting/dismounting the uni, maybe even crawl a few ft. Wearing shoes and helmet indoors. I have a stair landing at home with a railing, roughly 20 feet in length. I can do about 5 minutes before the heat and sweat overwhelms me. 5 minutes interval with longer youtube rest. Definitely more intense than riding a bike :astonished: . As for now, just trying to build confidence in the bailout manoeuver.

I have reduced tire pressure to 40 psi. The tire rating is 45 to 75 psi, but at 40 psi it is still pretty firm.

I’m telling my body to sit sit sit on the saddle, thighs squeeze the saddle please, but my legs seems not to want to obey me and my thighs do its own thing. Men and thigh squeezes occurs never!! :angry: (ok maybe in WWE wrestling), Ha ha … :smiley:

I have ordered safety gear. Knee pads, elbow guards, wrist guards. Probably chinese manufacture. Once they arrive, I will release myself from the wall (railing).

Ha ha … less posting yes yes. But forum is addictive too coz lots of nice people here.

26

Remember that the pressure rating on a “unicycle tire” is for bicycles, which distribute your weight onto two wheels. Another factor in deciding how much air pressure to use is your own bodyweight. If you are big or fat, you need more pressure (and also more safety gear). What kind of riding you will be doing is also important. When I was learning, I preferred a hard tire. Nowadays, I do too, unless I decide to go out and do a bunch of hopping or ride on rough roads, but I am only one example.

Reading cautionary tales on the Internet when you don’t know how to ride yet can be scary. Of course people who ride a 36" wheel down the side of a mountain while wearing a backpack and tons of gear are going to be unable to run out their falls, but right now that isn’t you. Do be careful, though, of that cabinet you mentioned, and other furniture in your house. If you fall in that environment, lots of bad things can happen to you and to your furniture.

Here is a gif that someone else posted (I no longer remember who it was) that illustrates the learning process as I experienced it, except that I rode only on pavement, never on grass, and was already solidly middle-aged. Over and over, I just did what you see here, and after a half an hour I was starting to ride 5 or 10 meters maybe one time out of 10.

unicycle.gif

27

Weight on the saddle is ultimately an important part of learning but don’t try it too early. Before you can get weight on the saddle you need to be able to keep the wheel very close to right under you or that downward force will push the wheel out.

Start out with most of your weight on the pedals and concentrate on keeping the wheel under you. This keeps the weight lower down and doesn’t require precise wheel position. As soon as you can keep the wheel in the right place, start working on getting weight on the saddle. Put more weight back on the pedals if the uni keeps popping out.

Holding the saddle between your thighs is to keep it in place when you are standing on the pedals. Not for when you are sitting. Moreover it isn’t essential but it helps some beginners.

Keep trying different things. The more variety in your learning the more input your brain has to build the bigger picture.

There are many skills that must be performed together to be able to ride. Try to notice what goes wrong each time and focus on correcting one aspect on each attempt. Sideways balance, staying upright on top of the uni, keeping wheel under you, pedalling over the dead spot, leaning forward just the right amount etc.

Acknowledge your success every time one of the skills is done right, even if it is just once in a while and everything else was terrible. Your brain will appreciate any praise it can get in circumstances that can feel very futile.

There are many ways to fall off. You just need to deal with them all and you will eventually be able to ride. Never doubt that you will eventually succeed.

28

In that video the rider is leaning too far forward and/or not pedalling fast enough from takeoff.

See how the frame is almost vertical. A dismount is inevitable the moment it get forwards of vertical. The frame needs to lean slightly back.

With the wheel further forward he would be in a quasi-stable geometry with his centre of mass above the contact point. Getting the frame in front of vertical would require lifting the weight of the rider.

29

345×540 46.5 KB

Like this? I notice this in some of the videos on youtube as well.

Anyways, I’m on the second day. It will take many many more days and I need to find a bigger space and just let go.

30

OTM, I think what you’re saying is correct. However, for beginners, one of the worst possible things that can happen is falling backwards. So, for anyone at the very beginning stages of learning, I think that erring too-far-forward is maybe okay. If someone asked me, when I was a beginner, to think of tilting the frame back, I’m not sure I’d have been able to do it, or worse, it might have caused me to fall backwards. I don’t know when an appropriate time is for a beginner to start thinking about leaning the frame back. It’s not easy to see when we are riding. Also, I don’t know if it’s a beginner habit that naturally becomes extinct or if it’s a bad habit that follows people into the later stages of learning.

31

Agree. I think “just try it”… For beginners, I think don’t try to analyse it, just try to stay on your uni, and do whatever it takes to make a few revolutions. Let your arms flail. Some people pick it up really quickly (within 2-3 hours). Most people take few hours. Many people give up after a few hours. The rare person never gets it even after trying for years.

The only things I think the adult beginner should need/use to start riding is a 20" unicycle with the seat at right height, helmet, gloves, adequate protective clothing and a fence they can side their hand along on smooth ground. The ability to ride generally will follow.

32

Yes pretty much like that. The ground doesn’t appear to be quite flat so angles are a little deceptive. She may have just come though the lowest point where the driveway crosses the kerb too. We tend to lean the uni back even further to cross such obstacles. Accelerating and decelerating also affect the lean.

See how little she needs to lean forward from the hips and how she is not hunched over. The guy in the video was overdoing the lean.

BTW She has the seat very low. Might have learnt much younger with a cut post then grew taller and that is as high as the seat will go.

33

I am with Gockie on this.
The Uni is a fickle thing, probably more so for those of us who start later in life when bones and connective tissue are less supple, and movements less swift.
You don’t need to “ride a 36” wheel down the side of a mountain while wearing a backpack and tons of gear" to have a nasty fall. For me, I was doing only about 12 Km/h on a flat road but something happened and I fell like a log; couldn’t get my leg under me to stand or run it out. The most uncoordinated way I have UPDed in the year that I am learning to ride. :o

So, my point was less about speed and pushing it but - like others have said here - that whilst we will land on our feet 99/100 or even 999/1000 times, when the one time comes, I prefer to be covered.
If I know that I can get out of a catastrophic fall relatively unscathed, then I am not afraid of falling, and then I am more relaxed on the uni … and so on.
Anyway, that’s my thoughts after a year of learning to ride. You constantly keep pushing the boundaries, so being protected is part of being prepared for the inevitable … in a way that is hopefully less painful. :sunglasses:

34

Definitely for starting out but they have to work towards the goal or they won’t learn to ride. It is a risk-reward trade off. Those totally averse to risk don’t tend to contemplate unicycling anyway.

The backwards lean develops automatically as you learn by leaning the body very slightly forwards because the wheel must be under centre of mass or you are forced to dismount. I don’t find it increases the tendency to fall backwards at all because the body is still leaning forwards.

This geometry is vital to being able to ride. I demonstrate and explain the dynamics to beginners right after “put the wheel under the fall” before they even get on a uni.

That is why most riders believe they are far more upright than they really are. This illusionary sensation is encouraged because many riders don’t understand the dynamics and assume they must be upright to be riding. Unfortunately it also leads to them giving beginners unhelpful advice about being as vertical as possible.

Neither. It doesn’t go extinct and it isn’t a bad habit. It is fundamental to riding a unicycle. I suggest you have someone take a photo of you riding past. It will help you get a better perspective on your own geometry.

As skills improve we trade the stability for responsiveness by bringing the frame closer to vertical but some backwards lean remains. Only when reaching insane levels of freestyle skills on very smooth surfaces can the uni reach vertical.

At about this point my detractors often insist that it is common sense that the uni needs to be upright and in line with the body, even that the frame should be “an extension of the spine”.

I only ask that they provide a photograph of someone riding a uni in the way they describe and usually never hear from them again. (Or provide a photo of a freestyle performer going into a pirouette.;))

Learning to ride a uni doesn’t need to be anywhere near as difficult as it would appear. The learner definitely still needs the practice and persistence but the right advice makes a big difference. Most of us learnt in isolation and that also makes it hard.

Unfortunately it is very rare learners get good advice because of very common instructions like being too upright. Between that and prematurely putting all their weight on the seat and far too long holding onto fences, it is no wonder that most beginners give up.

35

I need to sit and relax on the saddle :o. Next thing is to remember to pedal. Right now I’m like someone just learning to drive stick shift. Jerky and engine keeps dying :p. I don’t think I can tell my body to lean the seatpost at an angle. I guess thats the “click” moment. Either my brain/body gets it or it don’t.

36

I re-read post #19 #26 and #31. I haven’t tried the uni on grass so maybe that is what I will try next time. There is a football field nearby, but no gentle incline. Also as per your advice, I will ditch the wall and just go for broke. Ha ha ha … may the unicycle gods have mercy on me. :stuck_out_tongue:

37

Personally, I’d stick to a smooth surface. Grass is a difficult surface to ride on because there are bumps everywhere that you cannot see. But feel free to try it!

38

The main thing with grass is low impact while getting used to falling. If you are comfortable with emergency dismounts then stay on the hard surface but wear wrist protection.

It needs to be really smooth thick grass without any potholes. Otherwise it will drive you crazy every time you encounter one. I know because I learnt on rough grass. It isn’t all bad in the long term though because it teaches how to deal with the rough but definitely slows down the time to the first ride.

The downhill slope is to overcome the rolling resistance of the thick grass.

Remember, it is about steering under the fall. Put the wheel where you would put your leading foot if walking.

39

I skipped the grass and went to a parking lot as per Gockie’s advice. Just did it, no walls.

My progress so far. I manage to unicycle 5-6 ft maybe 4 times out of 40 tries. When it happens I am just amazed :astonished: and smiled myself silly :p. However, it is not repeatable. Have no idea what I did to make it happen :thinking: .

Also, my safety gear finally arrived. I will wear the wrist guards but skip the knee/elbow pads.

40

Congratulations! I’m not much further on than you, but I can ride around. I still have no idea how I make it happen! My body knows, which is the main thing.