My uni learning experience has resulted in shredded pedals. I’ve also got a click on my left pedal, feels like a bad bearing. Now that I’m not falling over much, I figure it is time to replace them. Any suggestions on replacements?
Chief
PS, thanks to advice to tape up my saddle bumpers, the saddle is still in good shape.
This is still on a learner uni? Odyssey twisted PC’s are cheap and have good grip. And if you tear them up you won’t feel bad. Good wide platform too.
Yes, still a learner. My goal is to ride it around the block without having to dismount due to exhaustion… I jump off a lot and still occasionally can’t catch the seat.
Chief
Don’t try to catch it, learn to crash first and become really good at that, then learn to catch it. Uni’s are pretty tough, they can handle a lot of abuse. It’s a lot of work when learning to ride, both in that it uses muscle that you’re not used to using, and you are over-exaggerating your movements and not putting weight in the seat. It gets natural at some point.
I’m talking about when I intentionally dismount-- I still occasionally drop the uni.
When I fall, I don’t try to grab the uni-- I focus on a favorable landing scenario (protect the wrists with a rollout or at least trying to land on my side).
So the uni is still getting beat up, albeit at a slower rate.
Chief
What unicycle do you have? Some seats are just harder to grab than others. Some have a good lip on the bottom.
If the “click” is a problem then cleaning, lubricating and adjusting the pedal bearing could fix that. Depending on the pedal, special tools may not be needed. There are a few videos with good instruction online.
If you need the “special” wrench/socket, that is not hard to make either. See this
Thanks!
Nimbus II 24"
Are you dismounting off the front or back? If it’s the front try learning to dismount off the back you just hold the handle with one hand and lean backwards till you just step off the uni.
I strive to slow down and dismount off the back, but sometimes my legs get so tired that I kinda panic and jump off the front. That’s when I miss grabbing the seat…
But I’m slowly getting more weight on the seat and my legs / heart are lasting longer each stint.
Chief
I bought Nukeproof Neutron Evo nylon pedals with metal pins… great value and cheap!
IMHO pinned pedals are too aggressive for a beginner. It’s better to learn foot placement by squirming the feet into position rather than having to lift up the foot (which for a beginner is an awkward, clumsy motion).
After struggling with my first pair of Nimbus metal-pinned pedals, which are not nearly as aggressive as some pedals), I filed down the edges of the pins to make them more domed. The most recent pedals I’ve bought are Nimbus all-plastic and Fixation (both sold by UDC). I owned a pair of Odyssey Twisted PC pedals, and I loved them, but it seemed that the plastic wore down more quickly on them (something about the composition of the resin?).
The most aggressive pedals I ever owned (can’t remember the name) had the little machined threaded pins in them. It tore my flesh just looking at them. Blood aside, I felt like they had my feet too-well-locked into the pedals, and that a bit of natural foot-twisting during the rotation of the pedals, made possible by less-aggressive pedals, was a healthy thing. The aggressive pedals seemed to be putting more stress on my knees.
Bad falls can result from either slipping off the pedals too easily…or from staying on the pedals too long. Pedals are half of the equation, and shoes are the other half. I love my 5/10 Freeriders.
We need to distinguish between stability coming from the pedals and stability coming from the adjustments of our feet and legs. Too much grip in the pedals may stop the rider from learning dynamic foot placement.
Bottom line: I think Nimbus all-plastic are decent. There are other, similar pedals out there.
I strongly recommend plastic based pedals for a unicycle that takes falls on a hard surface, or basically any unicycle.
Plastic pedals seem to survive impacts a lot better, are cheaper, and quite often also lighter.
I bought a bunch of Nukeproof Electron pedals when they were on sale and really like them.
Thanks for the great advice as usual!
Chief
Love them too. If I remember correctly, they are sold under a different name/brand in the US.
They’re great for offroad because their gripping power is insane. As insane as the marks they’ll leave on your calf or shin… Wouldn’t necessarily recommend them during the learning phase.
I ended up getting another set of Nimbus plastics. They have metal pins on them but they are supposed to be removable.
Chief
Beginner pedals…
Those aren’t in bad shape by my standards. Here’s what the ones on my casual-practice uni look like. The corners are so far gone that the metal inserts are getting chewed up, the place at the end of the axle has lost so much that the axle itself is starting to wear… but they still work fine!
#8^)
