If I plan on getting any decent practice in on this no name brand before I purchase the 29" (I think I’ve decided for sure on the 29"… going distance on this 24" is so tiresome sometimes.
So, before I go to the LBS and am at their mercy for ordering a saddle to fit this “lovely” unicycle they sold me in the first place, will practically any saddle fit this seat post? Or am I at the LBS shops mercy and must go by their recommendation?
This seat is beginning to cut into my leg. I’ve ripped two pairs of thick pants and am on my third already. It goes without saying that practice is not very enjoyable lately.
Well not any. There are two 4-bolt patterns Miyata style Traditional
Make sure you get the right diameter and if you ever aren’t sure about the length order a long one. You can always cut it down, do it an inch at a time so you don’t do too much.
If the LBS sold you a cheap unicycle that actually hurts to ride they probably know nothing about unicycles, you’d probably be best off mail ordering it from a unicycle seller.
Assuming your seatpost has 4 bolts on it and looks kind of like this at the top you can put most unicycle seats on it except miyata. If that’s the case, then you should probably get one of the Kris Holm seats, they’re nice and comfy and will last you. Given you almost certainly have to order it even if you go to the shop, you might be best ordering direct from unicycle.com instead, and have the full choice of good seats, rather than whatever the bike shop does.
Your comment made me realize that if I need to change the seat anyway, but I also might want a nice seat on the upgrade 29" that I plan to buy, it would make more sense to just buy the 29" now. Then buy an upgraded seat for it and put the AX seat on the 24".
I’m going to sleep on it.
Now to justify an upgrade to my husband after buying this one only 3 weeks ago. Dinner tomorrow will be something special.
The Torker AX comes w/ a LX saddle and when I tried it, it felt like I was litterally sitting on a brick. The Nimbus comes w/ a much nicer gel saddle, but for me insufficient for bumpy or longish rides (for me 1 hr plus).
The best reasonably priced saddles are the KH Freeride and an air saddle. Although a LX can be converted to air w/ an air pillow, seat cover (1, 2, or 3), and 20" tube. I liked a 2.5 trials tube the best, but harder to do SIF than a skinnier tube.
I prefer a standard KH Freeride seat to an airseat. Maybe I just never got the airseat situated just right, but I seemed like I was always futzing with it and could never get it comfortable for long rides. The new KH Freeride seat, OTOH, remains quite comfortable, even for two hours w/no breaks. YMMV.
I’d totally agree with you. Airseats are minging, uncomfortable once you’re an experienced rider, lose you control. They also have a habit of pissing off the people you’re riding with, because you have to fiddle with them, or worse, you get an airseat flat.
Airseats feel comfy straight away, but just aren’t as good as a stock KH fusion seat once you’ve ridden a few miles on it. It’s similar to bike seats, where you can get a sofa, which will be great instantly but not work well when you start doing proper rides, or a harder less silly seat, that once you get used to it, will be good for doing distance.
I can see the energy in your foot as it pushes off the ground. But it doesn’t look as if your weight is in the seat once you get started. Most of my failed mounts I actually have both feet on the pedals at 3 and 9 o’clock. But then I go no where. I am not sure if it is because I am scared or because I am not leaning forward because I am scared. Ya… it is because I’m scared.
A step jump over the unicycle? What do you mean. If the pedals are horizontal to the ground do you mean hopping over the front peddle instead of landing on it?
You are correct that the manager knows very little about unicycles. And he admits it. He said he once tried it but scarred up his leg. You can still see the scar. I decided to give them another chance as it really is a nice shop with kind people. It is also the closest shop to the park where I ride.
I brought the unicycle in yesterday. It was in sorry shape. I had the seat clamp on sideways since the adjustable clamp stuck out way too far constantly hitting my leg. The lever on the clamp was tied down with a rubber band. I had door frame insulation taped wrapped around the seat bolts that were so long they dug into my leg. And then thick orange rubber tape wrapped around the seat and around the bolts to keep the insulation in place. It looked a mess!
I showed him everything that was wrong with the design. But I admitted that I knew the uni had its shortcomings when I bought it. This morning I picked it up. He cut the bolts down on both sides. Removed the adjustable seat clamp and crank and bolted the seat post tightly.
It looked so much better. After thanking him, I started to head to my car. But he asked me if I would give it a spin out in the back parking lot. So he could watch.
The ride was sooooo much better. Ok… I admit the only way to improve the comfort of the seat is to throw it away but at least it is rideable now.
I went around the parking lot and when I came back towards the shop door, he was smiling so wide! He said thanks to me he just might give unicycling another try.
So maybe a few more unicyle customers and that shop will get with the program! I’d prefer that rather than looking for a shop far away. You have to have a convenient local shop.
That’s fantastic that he’s altered it so it isn’t hurting you. You’ve got a seat that is just uncomfortable to sit on, which is fine for a learner uni, and saved yourself having to upgrade the seat. For absolute beginners, often pretty much any seat is uncomfortable, so it doesn’t matter too much which seat they use until they’ve learnt to ride.
If your bike is that good, maybe ask him if he’d consider becoming a unicycle.com dealer, if he did, that’d mean you can buy stuff listed on unicycle.com through them. So you get the combination of good shop, plus access to good equipment.
What I mean by step / jump, is to go for the mount as normal, except deliberately jump up off the back foot really hard, so your front foot goes right over the unicycle and lands in front.
If you’re getting to feet on the pedals at 3 and 9 o’clock, you’re probably doing almost the right thing already, but get up there, teeter and fall off the back? If that’s the case, you just need to jump slightly harder so that you fall off the front, and start pedalling once you’re up there, in order to turn the falling off the front into riding.
I went off the paved paths onto semisoft dirt trails… (this is Florida … most trails are soft). I had a good time manuevering around and over small tree roots. When I saw a large root in the distance I safely dismounted and headed pack towards the pavement.
A little later after removing my knee pads and helmet (but keeping gloves on) I was riding on one of the widest and smoothest parts of the park. I fell off the front onto my hands and knees hard. It happened so fast I was practically already on the ground before I even realized I was falling.
Prepared and decked out with all the safety equipment while doing something I’ve never done before on an inappropriate skinny wheel and nothing happens. Sans equipment, I trip over a piece of dust. Go figure!
I know how you feel. Sometimes I UPD on very easy terrain just like what happened to you. So I always wear knee pads, wrist guards, and helmet (I commute in traffic on my uni). Strengthening my core muscles, practicing dismounts, and then riding demanding terrain at slower speeds, concentrating on smoothness decreased UPD’s and I landed on my feet more often.
Tripping over dust…very common, at least among my muni group. It’s weird how common the experience is…ride something crazy hard, make everything and feel great…then relax when the trail evens out and gets easy, only to trip over some little pebble and off you go. I attribute it to relaxing after making the tough stuff, and then not being alert to react to the small thing that upd’s you.
It’s life’s little way of shrinking your head back down after it swells when you impress yourself by making something hard!
So now you’re off the pavement eh? Riding the soft dirt stuff is only the beginning you know. The dark side awaits…
Strengthening my core muscles. It is what is making me so sore lately. But I’ll be in shape in no time.
I feel sort of disappointed in myself for removing my helmet lately. The other day one of the mothers in our neighborhood kept asking me in front of her kids where my helmet was. I am sure she was thinking of my safety but also trying to make sure her kids saw something wrong with ‘this picture’. I should set a better example. One of the little ones even wears a helmet with his tiny bike on training wheels. I never went helmetless unicycling as a kid. Didn’t wear knee pads… but then again I don’t remember any nasty falls either. We come down harder as we get older… well some of us anyway.
No doubt. Carol Burnett was once asked if she still got butterflies before appearing on stage. She said of course she does. She added that the one time she confidently appeared on stage without the butterflies, she flopped.
I look forward to the dark side. Though I know there is no return. I go willingly… um… someday.
It goes without saying that practice is not very enjoyable lately.
I look forward to the dark side. Though I know there is no return. I go willingly… um… someday.