Hockey and basketball are something very different compared to distance riding. I presume having a skill in Trials helps with these field sports. Ive tried this once and I found it very difficult to stay on and maneuver in between othere players. I hardly ever use my freestyle uni as it is more suited for indoor riding.
Yes. B/C level is recreational though, everyone can try.
Trials: control your unicycle with your hands, lots of balance in slow-motion or stationary situations.
Basketball / hockey: control your unicycle hands free, constantly moving with high speed.
Why do you think you need same skills for these sports?
Im not saying they are the same. I mention trials, because it requires moving around in a small area. Sure you need the speed to get to the other side of the field, but I imagine peeps are often gathered around the goals, falling over each other. It would be perfect practise for me with the quickly freemounting. I always dawdle too long with that.
Oor Wullie is a cartoon character in Scotland. Oor is the Scots pronunciation of ‘our’ and Wullie is a contraction of William. I was often compared to him as a child! And my real name is William. Lacking much imagination, it seemed like as good a username as any 
Until the schedule is announced I don’t suppose I can really plan what events I might enter, but I would like to have a go at the road race and the muni.
On that note, how are the racers categoriesed? Having never competed I imagine I’d go for the beginner races, probably xc and downhill if the schedule allows alongside the 10km. Although I enjoy muni riding I definitely need more practice, I fall off too much to set good times at the moment!
2 Likes
With this approach, you can refer to any discipline.
The competition data shows a strong correlation between results in team sports and track events, especially short distances — such as the 100m and IUF Slalom.
You’re basing your comparison on a practically irrelevant, imaginary situation. The YouTube channel you linked above features a lot of basketball and hockey content. You can watch it yourself to get some perspective.
Like “one” said, I think freestyle and track skills transfer the most to basketball and hockey. Trials is quite a bit different as you don’t really “ride” or at least not quickly.
Track riders are very fast which is really important in hockey and also helpful in basketball. And from track UIF Slalom helps with sharp and quick turning.
Basic Freestyle is of course very helpful as it improves your general control of the unicycle, also at slow speed or when stationary as in idling or backwards riding.
But I think there is the most crossover between track and unicycle hockey in most of Europe, particularly Germany (in France everyone plays uni basketball).
2 Likes
The 10k is one of the most popular events, and there are usually no scheduling conflicts with this race. However, you can only participate in either the 10k Standard or the 10k Unlimited — not both.
The 10k Standard is an individually timed race, organized in waves based on skill level, followed by age and gender. You do not need to select an experience level for road races.
Track races are grouped by age and gender categories, followed by Expert finals — featuring the top 8 times per gender.
Basketball and hockey typically include a competitive Tournament A and a recreational Tournament B (or even C). You select your level in advance.
I was at a UniNats comp years ago and a rider with a Nimbus basketball 24 was disappointed because their wheel was too big for the 24 class.
I have a Nimbus 26 racer with the tyre that puts it in the 24 class. It is quick in a straight line but a LOT more difficult to control than my 24 x 1.95, especially on curves.
The stock Nimbus E-Sport comes with a 1.95" Kenda tire and is well within IUF regulations. If you install a 2.3" tire, you’ll exceed the 618mm limit for the 24" Class, but you’ll still remain within the 640mm limit allowed for basketball.
In my experience, a 2.3" (possibly 2.35") tire is the largest size that fits the latest version of the Nimbus E-Sport frame. It is a great frame, by the way — but the hub is a disappointment.
Again “one” is spot on in regard to track.
As to Muni, yes, the beginner Muni class is intended to be suitable for unicyclists who may not be so familiar with Muni and are significantly shorter and easier.
There are separate courses for XC Beginner and Intermediate/Expert(or Elite). Downhill often has a Beginner course, an Expert Qualification and Expert Final (Bemidji and Grenoble).
At Unicon there is generally only Expert Uphill. As a beginner it is likely difficult to complete as you must ride every uphill part but isn’t dangerous or probablematic to try. Many national Muni events (Germany, France, Austria, Italy) also have Beginner/Standard uphill mostly for young riders.
Without much Muni expertise you can definitely sign up for the XC Beginner, even at Unicon. For the Beginner Downhill it is probably wise to be able to use a brake.
That would explain it. Funny the spec for basketball is different.
For basketball a few millimeter more doesn’t make a lot of difference (so what if a player is 1% faster, that player may also be slower to react with the larger wheel), so the idea is any 24" unicycle (so no one tries to play with a 36" unicycle to gain a significant height advantage and potentially be dangerous to others).
This is also evident in that over half of basketball players usually ride 20" and depending on the country only approximately 40-70% of the top basketball riders use a 24". So many top basketball players are choosing to ride a 20" instead of 24" (for improved agility and reaction speed while accepting slower max speed and sacrificing a little height). Additionally, most trials, flat, street and freestyle riders are also more used to a 20" than 24". I personally generally play basketball with a 20" as I’m more used to it from freestyle and hockey. In both you can improve speed with short cranks that are not allowed in track. I’ve tried the 24" a few times and I didn’t feel I was any better even though it effectively makes you about 2 inches “taller” (you have to pay more attention to where your cranks are as the distance for one revolution is larger: e.g. shooting with cranks up/down is much harder than cranks horizontal). It’s also harder to find a non-marking tire in the 24" size.
As discussed above, even a few millimeters difference can make a significant advantage for the best times in track.
2 Likes
Why should basketball follow the limitations used for track or 10k?
Do you really see that many similarities between riding straight on a track and playing basketball?
Should MUni and urban also ban metal pedals, brakes, and black tires?
That would be nice to see those white tires riding in the forests. Unicyclists will be noticed more often and more peeps will be interested in trying to ride uni.
Why make such a point of it all. Let people see the similarities and differences they like!
Does anyone know if the 24*2.1” Kranium K1052 tire really fits the standard regulation of track racing?
It depends on your rim, tire pressure, and tire wear. I have a Nimbus II with a 24×2.1 (54‑507) Kenda Kranium K1052‑001, and it measures 622 mm. A worn 24×2.3 (58‑507) Kenda K‑Rad Sport on an identical Nimbus rim is exactly 618 mm at 45 psi (with just a few hours of intense riding left).
Your link shows a basketball unicycle with the 640 mm IUF size limit. Both the 2.1 Kranium and the 2.3 K‑Rad easily fit the 640 mm limit.
I’ve ordered a Krarnium for my 24” Qu-ax Onlyone unicycle. Hope it will be under 618mm.