Well after almost a month with my new Torker and 5 or 6 hours of practice I can finally ride 60’ or so with a partner’s shoulder and last night totally shocked myself going a good 30’ feet solo. WOW! What a wicked feeling. Just wanted to give a big kudos to all you regular posters for giving us newbies such excellent advice and support. Of all the web boards I visit, this one is BY FAR the best, and the people that frequent it so very helpful, mature and polite. You guys are great, couldn’t have done it w/out ya 
Spin,
After the initial unable-to-ride shock at seeing someone ride a unicycle (most of us forget what that stage is like), it’s indeed a great feeling to overcome and accomplish something formally foreboding. We’ve found that unicycling is extremely addictive and seems to have no limit to what can be learned next.
Good on 'ya.
Bruce
I would like to second what “Spin” said. This forum has helped me greatly. This is the beginning of my 2nd month and I just broke 50’ last week and went 250’ this weekend. Thanks for everybody who responded to my questions.
Spin,
THE DOOR HAS OPENED FOR YOU!!
Wait til one of the variant Unicycle bugs bites and you enter
another realm.
The MUni bug got me a year ago and it has possessed me, like nothing else. Bruce started around the time I did and he has done great things with it including ordering another Uni.
I will leave it up to him to mention which one. I don’t want to steal his thunder.
Good luck
Let’s just say it rhymes with Reflux Choker which is what I did after Mary gave me permission to buy it. Yeah yeah yeah, I did say she ALLOWED me. In case anyone get the wrong idea, just let me say that I always have the last word in my house…“Yes, dear.”
B
Re: Solo!!
Spin wrote:
>
> Well after almost a month with my new Torker and 5 or 6 hours of
> practice I can finally ride 60’ or so with a partner’s shoulder and last
> night totally shocked myself going a good 30’ feet solo.
Spin,
I would like to be one of the first to welcome you into the fold.
Congratulations! Your progress is about to accelerate at a fantastic
rate. Please keep us posted about your adventures on, ‘the wheel’.
Cheers,
Jason
Re: Solo!!
> teachndad wrote:
> > Bruce started around the time I did and he has done great things
> > with it including ordering another Uni.
> >
> > I will leave it up to him to mention which one. I don’t want to steal
> > his thunder.
>
>
> Let’s just say it rhymes with Reflux Choker which is what I did after
> Mary gave me permission to buy it. Yeah yeah yeah, I did say she
> ALLOWED me. In case anyone get the wrong idea, just let me say that I
> always have the last word in my house…“Yes, dear.”
So can you feel the envy burning your skin right through the screen, Bruce?
I promised myself a Deluxe Coker when I hit level 1.
Can I do all 3 level 1 skills? Sure. All at once? Uh, sometimes. First or
second try? Ha.
My boys each own several unicycles for different applications, you know, freestyle, trials, UW, giraffe, etc. Then we’ve purchased several for use in our club and total inventory ranks at 16 uni’s now (the Reflux Choker makes 17). I use only one, a 24" SEM. The problem is that at my weight, I had to buy the Profile setup on the SEM so total cost approached $600. Now the Coker Deluxe will add another $600 to the tally. Sure glad I don’t have expensive hobbies like golf.
Bruce
By the way, I passed Level 3 at the beginning of summer and am in pursuit of 4. But for some reason, I cannot one-foot ride. I can one-foot idle, mount to one-foot idle but one-foot riding just doesn’t happen for me and I don’t understand why. I’ll keep trying.
Of course the boys have long since passed me up but that’s what I want them to do. During our club meetings (tonight!!!), I hardly do any riding or practicing at all. I’m there for the kids first and want to see them progress up through the levels. We’re just beginning to put together Standards and Freestyle routines for
each one of them to use at Nationals next year.
Bruce
Re: Solo!!
yoopers wrote:
>
> My boys each own several unicycles for different applications, you know,
> freestyle, trials, UW, giraffe, etc. Then we’ve purchased several for
> use in our club and total inventory ranks at 16 uni’s now (the Reflux
> Choker makes 17). I use only one, a 24" SEM. The problem is that at
> my weight, I had to buy the Profile setup on the SEM so total cost
> approached $600. Now the Coker Deluxe will add another $600 to the
> tally. Sure glad I don’t have expensive hobbies like golf.
Hi Bruce,
My family and I started unicycling this summer and so far we’ve
purchased four unicycles. My wife is now learning to ride so…5, I want
a full sized MUni so…6, etc, etc.
That said, if a computer is a hole in your desk for which you throw
money, and a boat is a hole in the water for which you throw money…
what’s a unicycle? Today I would say, a unicycle is a hole in my shin
for which I throw money.
What do all you say?
A unicycle is a ___?
way to go on the solo success! If you can do a 30" solo, then pretty soon you’ll get that point where you can just ride it without warring; it’ll happen soon. Anyway, i’d also like to thank this post for responding to other peoples questions, which i later read, and i know what you mean about the varient unicycle bug, (endurance). And finally i’d say a unicycle is a hole in the UNIverse for which i throw money
Re: Solo!!
Hi Bruce,
I’ve just caught the uni-bug and need advice re: a utilitarian,
indestructible unicycle for my learning curve over this coming winter. I’m
39, 6’, 240 lb, an active indoor/outdoor soccer player and gym rat, and I’m
concerned about finding a unicycle frame/wheel/tire that can handle my size.
Recommendations?
Thanks,
Mark
Salem, Oregon
…well acquainted with Iron Mtn. (many trips to area mills) and the UP!
“yoopers” <yoopers.aqfcm@timelimit.unicyclist.com> wrote in message
news:yoopers.aqfcm@timelimit.unicyclist.com…
>
> My boys each own several unicycles for different applications, you know,
> freestyle, trials, UW, giraffe, etc. Then we’ve purchased several for
> use in our club and total inventory ranks at 16 uni’s now (the Reflux
> Choker makes 17). I use only one, a 24" SEM. The problem is that at
> my weight, I had to buy the Profile setup on the SEM so total cost
> approached $600. Now the Coker Deluxe will add another $600 to the
> tally. Sure glad I don’t have expensive hobbies like golf.
>
> Bruce
>
>
> –
> yoopers - Bruce & Mary Edwards
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> yoopers’s Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/31
> View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/20323
>
Re: Solo!!
> I’ve just caught the uni-bug and need advice re: a utilitarian,
> indestructible unicycle for my learning curve over this coming winter.
I’m
> 39, 6’, 240 lb, an active indoor/outdoor soccer player and gym rat, and
I’m
> concerned about finding a unicycle frame/wheel/tire that can handle my
size.
> Recommendations?
I’m a little heavier and a lifter and so far my Coker has survived my
learning how to unicycle on it (6 months). That said, everyone here seems
to feel that you’ll learn much faster on a smaller wheel. Unicycle.com does
sell a heavyweight adult trainer:
www.unicycle.com/shopping/shopexd.asp?id=510
Re: Re: Solo!!
Mark,
Gotta ignore the unicycle part for a moment and talk about Iron Mountain. It’s not everyday that I run across someone with knowledge of the U.P. By the way, how did you know that I was connected with Iron Mountain? My wife Mary lived there just before we married in '83 and she still has a sister there. Her father was a Methodist minister in the U.P. (long story but he was my pastor in Newberry when I was two years old) and settled in I.M. for retirement. We go back annually and stay overnight in I.M. on our way to Family Camp in Michigamme. Sure is a beautiful place.
Now back to the topic at hand to throw the Topic Police off our trail. I’m a big guy too…Scott, used to be a lifter too but now am just a loafer. When I bought my first uni, the 24" United Trainer for X-tra Large Adults hadn’t been born yet so I bought the 36 spoked model and it worked great for me to get through the learning curve. If the 48 spoked hub was around then, I probably would’ve purchased that one.
The wide white wall tire that comes with it doesn’t last too long for us bigger guys. With the Sun rim though, I pumped mine up to 60-70 psi but it still wore through pretty fast. I wouldn’t pump up a tire that high on a standard steel rim. Now I use the IRC Metro tire which has lasted me a loooooong time. John Drummond was able to get the 24" Metro but I don’t know if he has anymore of them.
The problem with the stock United is that, once the learning to ride is down pat, the tricks start to come quickly. I decided to learn to hop one day and my real problems started from there. My cranks almost started bending as soon as they saw me looking at them. So after much fretting about money, Mary and I decided that unicycling wasn’t going to go away, bit the bullet and purchased the Semcycle XLW with the Profile hub and crank setup. I haven’t been sorry one iota. The Profile setup is great! I can jump around on it all day and even do some minor drops (all I’m capable of) and the cranks are holding up. Now we use the old United for our club.
There has been much ado about cranks in this forum over the months and years and there hasn’t been a cheap solution yet. So
I guess my recommendations would be based on your unicycling efforts continuing. It’s probably cheaper to purchase one unicycle with the equipment you need rather than buy a learning model then buy another one later on. On the other hand, and this may be the key, buying a new unicycle later is a great reward for all the hard work you put into your learning.
Hope that helps,
Bruce
Re: Solo!!
Congratulations Spin, I remember the feeling you get when you first ride and here is the good news, each new thing you learn on a unicycle gives a similar feeling, it’s great.
If there is a cure for this uni-bug, I don’t won’t to know
OT. Bruce and Scott, you say you’re lifters, which kind?
Cheers, Gary
Re: Re: Solo!!
Once upon a time, I was a very offensive lineman in college and the offensive line coach decided that his “men” needed some extra weight training. So after the 2½ hour practice session, we were in the weightroom for 2-hour workouts five days a week.
That was 20 years ago, now I lift my coffee cup.
Bruce
Re: Solo!!
> OT. Bruce and Scott, you say you’re lifters, which kind?
>
> Cheers, Gary
Garage gorilla, former basement beast. I can’t lift in health clubs
anymore. For one thing, the stupid selectorized machines don’t go heavy
enough. And the rules are getting ridiculous: no chalk, no overhead
lifting, no deadlifts (!). No one uses the power rack except guys who
don’t want to lift the barbell off the floor to curl it, sob…
I have the Ironmind poster of Chakarov’s 270 kg triple on my refrigerator,
and try to squat like that: raw, butt-to-floor (a little jargon-editing for
the family newsgroup, there). Less weight, of course, but up to 350# or so
before my stupid knee injury 10/14/1/4 pm. It’s back up around 300 on a
good day. On a bad day, I can’t do a deep knee bend - the ROM hurts too
much - but bad days are getting farther apart. Deadlifts back up around 500
though I don’t bend my knees nearly as much anymore, sigh. A real bench - 1
second pause, 3" bar - is around 250. Since I don’t lift in health clubs, I
don’t have to bounce the bar off my chest to try to impress girls with more
weight. 
Bonus tip for guy lifters: gym bunnies only count 45s anyway,
so relax.
I had more fun playing with the stuff in Brooks Kubik’s book Dinosaur
Training than I expected, but I’m pretty much a heavy barbell guy: dumbbells
and stones and sandbags and so forth were fun and productive, but nothing’s
as much fun as a squat or dead PR. I’d be a powerlifter except a) I don’t
compete and b) I don’t drug and c) I don’t like belts and wraps and shirts
and suits and briefs and chains and bands and so forth and d) I like full
squats, not parallel squats. I am a PLUSA subscriber, though, and a
Westside fan, though I just do the 4 core workouts a week, sort of. In a
nutshell (where it belongs ;-)):
Monday: max effort squat/dead day
Wednesday: max effort bench/overhead day + curls
Friday: speed squats
Sunday: speed bench + chins
So to summarize: I’m the kind of lifter who can’t shut up when you ask that
question.
Scott, pictures…no, poses please.
Re: Solo!!
“Scott Kurland” <skurland@juggler.net> wrote in message
news:unrrbsjk4g6af2@corp.supernews.com…
>
> I’m a little heavier and a lifter and so far my Coker has survived my
> learning how to unicycle on it (6 months). That said, everyone here seems
> to feel that you’ll learn much faster on a smaller wheel. Unicycle.com
does
> sell a heavyweight adult trainer:
> www.unicycle.com/shopping/shopexd.asp?id=510
>
Scott,
Thanks for the feedback…
Saw the Coker and thought it might be an option with the beef-up mods I’ve
seen discussed in archives.
My riding will probably be limited to trips to the gym (couple miles of bike
path, good warmup).
Mark
Re: Solo!!
“yoopers” <yoopers.arohn@timelimit.unicyclist.com> wrote in message
news:yoopers.arohn@timelimit.unicyclist.com…
>
> Mark wrote:
> > *Hi Bruce,
> > I’ve just caught the uni-bug and need advice re: a utilitarian,
indestructible unicycle for my learning curve over this coming winter.
>
> Mark,
>
> Gotta ignore the unicycle part for a moment and talk about Iron Mountain.
It’s not everyday that I run across someone with knowledge of the U.P. By
the way, how did you know that I was connected with Iron Mountain?
Saw the reference on your website. I made a bunch of trips up that way
(Menominee, Iron Mtn., Escanaba, Rhinelander) during a 5 year stint
living/working in Naperville, IL.
> …bit the bullet and purchased the Semcycle XLW with the Profile hub and
crank setup. I haven’t been sorry one iota. The Profile setup is great! I
can jump around on it all day and even do some minor drops (all I’m capable
of) and the cranks are holding up. Now we use the old United for our club.
The Profile stuff does look sturdy. I’m guessing that resale of a Semcycle
(versus the United) would be easier if I decided to upgrade/change in the
future.
> There has been much ado about cranks in this forum over the months and
years and there hasn’t been a cheap solution yet. So
I guess my recommendations would be based on your unicycling efforts
continuing. It’s probably cheaper to purchase one unicycle with the
equipment you need rather than buy a learning model then buy another one
later on.
Yup, I’d rather get at least a couple of “lifetime” components (e.g.
hub/cranks or rim or seat) that could be swapped onto a new/improved setup
later.
> On the other hand, and this may be the key, buying a new unicycle later
is a great reward for all the hard work you put into your
learning.
I’m a Mech. Engr., so tinkering & design is unavoidable. I can already see
myself attempting a custom frame build, hence the bonus of having solid
components “on the shelf” (as mentioned above).
Thanks for your input.
Mark