OK, a couple days ago I changed pedals, seat and tire.
I think maybe I’m just not use to the seat (Kris Holm Saddle), which is a more aggressive seat than the Sun seat I’ve been learning on. The pedals are larger than the originals (Bulletproof Alloy Platform Pedals), I would think that would make it easier to control. I even turned my seat around putting the left pedal to the right and vis versa. Still same result, keeps pulling to the left. I’ve tried angling my body differently, I don’t know whats really causing this difficulty.
I can still ride but at times this matter is a struggle to stay in control. I’m hoping its just a familiararity issue with the seat.
What tire did you change to?
Some tires don’t do well on unicycles while others are more unicycle friendly. Can you post a link that shows a picture of the tire?
For unicycles you want a tire with a round profile rather than any kind of a “V” profile or any kind of a ridge going around the middle. Tires with a “V” profile or any kind of a ridge tend to pull to one side or the other since you’ll be riding on one side or the other of the “V” or ridge. Tire pressure can also make a difference.
Tire profile and tire pressure frequently make big differences. The road crown will accentuate this. Try riding on the other side of the road (which means going the wrong way) to see if it is UNI relatated or just YOU related. If the uni pulls the other way it’s not something you are doing. It’s something tire pressure or technique will fix for you.
Apparently its a combination of the tire and seat, because I put the old tire back on, which made things smoother and easier but it still pulls.
It definitely seems different, riding on dirt feels easier (less slippage) but when I’m on the pavement its harder to turn, which, is mostly what john_childs was talking about, the profile of the tire. That sharp edge of the tire makes turning really difficult.
Crown pull is one of the biggest problems I have with unicycling. (That and my slow muni progress.)
I like the explanation that the tire is attracted to the dirt/lawn along the road and is drawn there, causing the pull. It just takes time and patience to properly train a new wheel.
I haven’t the patience to train new tire types, I still have unused Coker, and Arrow tires in my basement, since I’ve gone back to the TA and Duro Wildlife tires which i had initially trained to.
You don’t want to leave it this way it will cause your peadles to come loose and will end up damaging the threads in your crank arms.
The pulling to one side will go away as you ride it more. A friend of mine who hadn’t been ridding for too long had this happen when he got a muni. He swore that there was something wrong with his unicycle. I would ride it and it rode perfectly normal. After a while he no longer had this problem.
So it’s probably something that will just go away. It will be worse on pavement so try riding on dirt and stay off the pavement until you get used to it.
I really dont think the uni is the main problem, at least not with me. If you stand in one spot for an extended period which leg do you favor or which leg do you put your weight on, I feel my hip favors a tilt to one side more than the other and that is where I get my lean to one side , Idont do it all the time but what I recently tried to overcome this is when I stand I try favoring my other leg now and when driving long trips I have tried putting something small under that side of my a@# and I dont seem to sit crooked lately. Who knows it could be B.S. but it works for me
I’m hoping its just a familiararity issue with the seat.