I was wondering what people’s thoughts were on this. More specifically, I am curious to see if anyone has done this and if there exist any videos of it being done since I cannot find any info on either. Apparently it is possible for 6-footers, and I can running mount my Torker giraffe, but I want to know if it’s even worth the trouble attempting this with a 7-footer.
It’s mostly a question of whether the unicycle can tolerate the stress. If it’s not built to take a lot of sideways bending force, it’s a bad idea. Worst-case, your crotch could take the brunt of a broken frame… 
I’ve done a one-foot running mount to a one-foot idle (other foot never touches pedal) on my Schwinn Giraffe many years ago, but that resulted in a bent seat post. On a lower-end giraffe it probably would have broken the frame at the crank barrel (bottom bracket in bike terms; which doesn’t seem to fit well for giraffes). I think I could learn it on a 7’ (both feet), long as it was strong enough.
I have memories of coming accross a tutorial for running mount a 7ft giraffe bu tcant seem to locate the file. I will check my home pc later.
As for video, have you checked youtbe for giraffe unicyles 7ft. I think i can remember seeing 2 (then again it may not have been youtube).
One was of some guy in a playground (running mounted end of vid) and the other some guy in his back garden showing many failed attempts before showing him getting it.
I may just be going crazy and these may not exist in reality or they may have only been 5ft but i’m almost certain im sane:o
I knew a performer who would free mount a 7 for his show
What sticks in my mind was a spring loaded slide bolt, with a foot rest on top, was at the back of the uni. To mount, he stepped on the slide bolt foot rest, which was a foot or so above the wheel. The bolt would then slide down and lock the wheel, he would climb up and get a foot on the pedal, and when he stepped off the slide bolt, a spring retracted it, automatically unlocking the wheel.
I don’t recall if he invented it himself, or if this was a feature of a tall custom uni. This was 25 years ago, and it was the tallest uni around then, maybe higher then 7 feet, but I don’t remember a number.
That spring loaded bolt sounds really cool.
A bit of a thread-jack: Would you mount a 2:1 geared giraffe the same way you would a normal one? I’m thinking that it is just harder.
I have something like that on my 9-footer, built by Tom Miller in 1986 or so. It’s a step on the back, spring-loaded to press a piece of metal down on the tire when you’re on that middle step. At the time, I got to where I could freemount the thing about 30% of the time, but practicing was tough due to the repeated landings and need to catch the (heavy) unicycle so cranks or seat wouldn’t get bent.
On a 7’ you should only need such a step if you can’t make the step from tire to pedal. So it’s a leg-length thing.
How do you mount a 2:1 geared giraffe? Carefully. There’s less margin for error, so you have to do it clean. A running mount would be either way hard, or out of the question due to lack of leverage.
Well I’m going to borrow my friend’s 7-foot Nimbus Performer and take a whack at it. I’ll be sure to post a video on Youtube if I am able to get it.
I tried some running mounts today, and I got no where even remotely close. I’m going to practice running mounts on my 5-footer for the next few days and improve my tecnique before I try them on the 7-footer again.
On a semi-related note, I tried the climbing mount on the 7-footer a few times and did get quite close on a few attempts. I’ll probably have these nailed in no time.
Thanks John. I was was wondering if I should be careful or not.
Well, not a running mount, but I don’t see that happening any time soon.