I started unicycling recently after a friend kept bugging me to (good man!). He has, for a long time, wanted to get a partner to do promotions with him. He has businesses interested in sponsoring the 2 of us. He is set on getting a giraffe (nimbus performer). After reading the forums, my interests are in the direction of Muni and distance. Giraffe’s seem to be very limited.
If the sponsorships do come through, we will probably only be able to get 1 uni each. We both think it is a better idea to get the same type of unis, so we can do the same types of promotions together.
For thoses of you who have done promotions, what type of unicycle or style of riding will generate the most exposure for a sponsor?
i would do freestyle or trials because they are good for in small spaces like gyms or parking lots, and the people organising the promo don’t have to rent or rope off as much space
these are just the ones that are best for promo’s, if you prefer other types of riding, do that as well, (or only, if thats what floats your boat) .
If you are getting them for the sole purpose of promoting the client then I would recommend getting a giraffe or a Coker. If you get a Coker they could take bicycle spinners (the clip on ones that clip onto the inner hub), and put large circular weighted (so as to always be readable) banner inside the wheel.
The giraffes will definatly also get noticed though, and people will look at them longer than a muni.
However it also depends on whoe the client is. If they are a mountain bike company or something similar and they are going to want you to be imipressing other mountain bikers or extreme sports enthusiasts then the muni would probably be the best choice.
If the client really doesn’t care I would totaly just go with the style of riding that appeals to you most. Hell you are getting free unicycles you might aswell enjoy them.
On another note, people if he lists three options, he clearly isn’t looking for the others so be accomodating and work within those.
Hopefully that didn’t come out too rude and is helpful to you WOFT.
The simple answer is to go with whatever you enjoy most. The more you enjoy it, the more you’ll do it so the better you’ll become. The better you are, the better it will reflect on your sponsor.
It also depends on the environment that you want to ride. If you mainly hang out off road somewhere, then you’ll have to make a special effort to come in to a shopping mall or somewhere to get noticed on a giraffe.
Likewise, if you don’t tend to ride long distances, then there really is no point in a Coker. Just riding about town all day on one of these is going to get boring very quickly.
At the end of the day, the only person that can answer your question is you.
sponsor.the.monkey (Hey, do you like my new tag line?)
i’d say get a muni…or a street unicycle. I think people are far more fascinated when they see someone jumping ledges and doing things that were thought to be impossible on one wheel.
it depends on what you’d be doing as promotions. riding around a parking lot or stage or fair, then get a giraffe. doing demonstrations for audiences(schools, where ever) freestyle. riding good distances around town as a moving billboard, get a coker.
Consider getting a giraffe only if you won’t be riding in crowds… it’s very eye-catching and you can perform a number of tricks on it, but it’s too dangerous to be riding around people with. It’s a travelling billboard nonetheless; it’s hard to miss a message when someone’s flying it 6 ft above your head!
If you get a Coker, you’ll have no choice but to ride with some speed, and your trick options are rather limited. If you’ve got a sponsor’s banner with some writing on it, people might not get a chance to read the writing as you whiz by at high speed.
I’d say a trials / street / freestyle uni is your best choice. You can perform the most tricks on a smaller wheel, it’s nimble enough to ride around in crowds, and it’s still eye-catching. If you’re ever doing any trade shows, conventions, even sidewalk promotion, such a unicycle will require very little space to perform with, and it’s safe enough that you don’t need a barrier between you and the crowds.
Thanks for all the advice. Currently, we seem to be going the way of giraffes. Hopefully, we can make our sponsors happy, and branch out into other forms of Unicycling. It also seems easier to get to promotions at short notice with giraffes. Ideally, I would like more exposure to other styles of unicycling before making a descision, but we need to start getting the ball rolling with quotes, etc.
Thanks for all the advice! Currently, we seem to be going the way of giraffes. Hopefully, we can make our sponsors happy, and branch out into other forms of Unicycling. It also seems easier to get to promotions at short notice with giraffes.
Ideally, I would like more exposure to other styles of unicycling before making a descision, but we need to start getting the ball rolling with quotes, etc.
this might interest you.
This is all hand made and for pretty nothing. PM me if you want details on the way I made it.
Have fun;)
see attached files for other pics
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