I am about as noobie as they get, I borrowed my cousin’s unicycle yesterday and worked for about 2 hours trying to figure it out. I can now go the entire length of my car holing it with one hand, and I can sometimes go a few pedals further.
My major dilemna is that I am 5-10 and 225lbs, and the uni is a fixed seatpost 16in. cycle. And on top of that I cant buy one for at least 30 days because of my parents.
I am afraid that I will be held back because of the cycle, is that true?
Even if that is true and I learn how to ride it does that mean when I do get a better cycle I will be much better?
I will learn on this one anyway, but I would really like to hear your input on my problem.
Wow, I’ve never heard of a fixed seatpost unicycle. With a 16" wheel the seat must be uncomfortably low for you. Yes, you will find it easier to learn to ride and to do tricks, etc on a 20".
Check out the ‘Basic Riding’ tips at www.freewebs.com/andrewcarter/home.htm . There’s a Word document there that Klaas Bil and I wrote that may help you.
if you are that big, and riding a unicycle that small, you are going to have a heck of a time learning. if you want a good learner unicycle, find torker CX 20" (the silver ones). they dont cost much, and give you a good unicycle, considering you only paid like 50-60 bucks. if I were you, I would wait the 30 days. either that, or get down on your knees and kiss up to your parents, and beg alot. if they are anything like mine, they will get annoyed very quickly, and just give up and let you get one. haha.
on second thought, after reviewing your weight, you would probably want to find something with a bigger seat. a Torker LX (black ones with cotterless cranks) would be a better bet. still get the 20", that wheel size would be your best bet. they would offer alot more strength than a CX, but are still VERY reasonably priced. get on Ebay, type in “unicycle” and you can get one for about 60 bucks. the seat would be better for you, the hub and crank assembly is stronger, plus, when you get better at riding, the big flat crown makes it a breeze to learn some tricks.
Yeah, I mountain bike to and I beat my equiptment to hell. Anyway I was hoping to save up to around $200 and get a cheap trials uni. after I learn the basics. Its to small for bikes, nut I live on the water with tons of those big jetty rocks, over land and sea, so I aspire to ride trials tipe stuff on those. So I think I may save until the summer and just ride the small one for now.
PPS. The seat post is removable, but its ridiculously short (like 4in.)
You can prolly learn just fine on it, it’ll just be more uncomfortable. My first uni was a 20" I found at the local landfill, the seatpost was way too too small for me (5’9", 200lbs) and even after getting a new seat post for it, it was too short.
I would recommend when you get your new uni, whichever it might be, that you see about unicycle.com’s kid seats. They’re small, but cheap (they had a special last year, 3 for $20) and they’ll take a hell of a beating. I put one on my 2nd uni to replace the goddawful savage seat (metal bar in the front of it got deformed and was rubbing the inside of my leg) and the kid seat took quite a beating, and was comfortable enough for me to go on longer rides. It last 4 months before it got deformed from my weight, and 2 days after I switched it, I killed my uni. Don’t take a $50 uni offroading
Oh yeah, get wrist braces.
I found a Sun uni at my local bike shop. It is a 20in. so I think i may just buy that at the end of the month. Will that hold me for a good year until I can afford (and ride) something better?
Not if you ride it like you describe with your mountain bike. Lots of Trials will “age” the unicycle real fast. You can fix or replace most parts, except the axle.
So are your parents preventing you from buying a unicycle sooner, or are they just not financing you?
The new Sun will be much easier to practice on than that little one you have now. Another approach, as a temporary measure, would be to get or build a much longer seatpost for the 16". Then you can practice on that until you can afford the Trials uni you really want!
They were just trying to prevent me from buying it, but today I showed my dad how after 3 days I could ride like 50ft:D , and he is letting me buy it instead of my new MTB tires. I am going to pick up my new SUN 20 incher tomarrow afternoon, and hopefully break the 100ft mark. I am going to spend about a year just learning to ride well on lfatland, really well, and then I may grab a trials uni.
