Does anyone have good ideas for learning one foot riding, one foot
idling and seat out in front riding. Other than practicing a lot.
Thanks
Rusty
hmm
Heh i dunno i am wondering the same thing seems really hard dosent it , well to me it does but im learning.
Search the fora for the many posts that have covered these topics before.
One-foot idling is relatively easy. If you can already idle with reasonable proficiency, get next to a wall and get far enough away that you can just touch it. Lean on the wall slightly and lift your weak foot up and put it on the crown. Push against the crown with it. Start idling and gradually touch the wall less and less. Keep your weight on the seat. You should be able to do this fairly quickly. Once you know how it feels it is relatively easy to go to one-foot idle from two-foot idle and to one-foot idle directly from mounting.
To ride one-footed, don’t try to start from one-foot idle. You need more initial inertia. Ride along normally at some moderate speed and bite the bullet, lift your weak foot off the pedal and stick it quickly on the crown. You’ll fall off a couple of times because it feels weird. In short order you should begin getting a few revs and start to see what it feels like. Try a slight downhill slope. Keep your weight on the seat.
Seat out front is easier to learn if you have already done stomach on seat. Lower the seat an inch or so initially to make this easier. Ride along and stand up tall on the pedals QUICKLY and pull the seat out QUICKLY. Place it against your thigh firmly and IMMEDIATELY and ride like that. To put it back in, stand up tall again QUICKLY and put the seat back in QUICKLY. Progress slowly to holding the seat away from your body and to raising the seat back up.
Tell us if you come up with clever ways to learn these skills and about how long it takes you to learn them.
For seat out front, I started standing next to a pole, pulled the seat out and tried to ride. At first it was hard to even stand like that. I thought it was relatively useless to learn to get into and out of seat out before I could ride a fair distance. Or maybe I’m just in a rush.
For one foot, I had the opposite feeling. I have seen a few kids trying to start one foot from a wall, which is probably as hard or harder than starting from one foot idle. I thought it was important to learn to ride and put one foot on the frame before I worried about how far I might be able to go one foot. I would mount against a wall so I didn’t waste energy or driveway real estate, ride three revs and on the third raise my non-dominant foot off the pedal and put it on the frame.
I also see kids riding around with their leg dangling to the side. This is really only good for a few revs and I don’t think it really helps you learn one foot. I didn’t know how to idle when I learned one foot, so getting the foot on the crown took a few days of practice.
Some good advice here…
but when I read the title, “One foot seat out in front”, I thought that would be a pretty good trick. I think I can balance like that for a couple seconds though. Never tried riding it like that. 
I know, I know. I’m real helpful.
its posible if you put the other foot on the frame,
i’ve never tried riding like this but i learned to idle one foot seat in front with my spare foot on the frame when i was learning to crank idle.
one foot extended seat in front would be sweet,
side ride is a bit like that but i’ve not tried it.
A good lead in to learning to ride one footed is to practice riding normally but try to use only one foot to provide the power. The other foot just stays on the pedal for balance. You can work into this gradually, all the while trying to get one foot to do more work than the other one. Eventually the other foot is just going around for the ride, helping a bit to balance.
This exercise helps you learn the “feel” of one footed riding before jumping straight into it. One footed riding doesn’t use smooth pedaling like normal riding does. Your foot goes through a sequence of press down hard, relax, press down hard, relax, etc. You have to make the most of the downstroke to get enough power for the wheel to turn around to the point where you can make another downstroke. Relaxing so there is less resistance on the up stroke will help the wheel continue on into place for the next downstroke.
As already pointed out it is easier to start 1 footed riding from riding forward with two feet. It is much harder to get into it from idling. If you do what to start from idling I recommend finding a door frame or some such so you can give yourself an added push with your arms to help get over the initial dead spot where your foot cannot push down yet.
I would suggest learning to 1 ft idle first though as many people find that an easier trick and it will give you some feel for what it’s like to have a foot off a pedal.
Note the best place to put your foot when its not on the pedal is up on the frame. Some frame shapes are really suited to this. Unicrown frames are not so good and it may be worth putting some grip tape where your foot rests on the frame to prevent the foot slipping off the sloped fork crown.
Combining 1ft riding with seat in front is a difficult trick (level 9 I believe). It is best learnt holding the seat into your body to begin with. The same goes for all seat in front skills. They are all easier if you hold the seat against your body for added stability. When you are more proficient you can extend your arm to hold the seat further away.