The first one I tried to buy fell through - the seller just didn’t have
things figured out and didn’t follow through.
So I found another one in even better condition for about $15 more
from a Craigslist ad in Portland. This guy is outstanding! We first
communicated on Thursday, and by Friday morning he had shipped
it out to me!
According to UPS tracking it is scheduled to arrive on Monday, but
I’m hoping they will be ahead of schedule and it will arrive late
this afternoon.
It was supposed to be my birthday present (Thurs), and I was
really disappointed when the deal fell through on the first one.
(Almost devastated - I haven’t really looked forward to a
birthday present as much as this one for a long time, and when
it fell apart I was pretty depressed - and my wife was disappointed
because now she had nothing for my birthday).
The guy in Portland really salvaged my Birthday.
I don’t know why I’m acting so much like a kid about this, but
by the time I went to bed on Thursday I was so excited I
found it hard to sleep (I had sent him the money and he was
planning to ship it the next morning, which he did).
I’m anxious to start learning.
I think I’ll go call the place where my mailbox is located (we
live out in the country & have a mailbox in town).
Welcome and Happy Birthday! I hope you really get to enjoy your unicycle when it comes. At least for me, unicycling can make you feel like a kid again, I can totally relate to that feeling.
We got my son Drew (He’ll be 12 on Wednesday) a Unicycle for Christmas.
Sherri (My wife) wanted something that he would enjoy, and since he hadn’t
mentioned it for a while, it would surprise him.
I found a Torker LX 20" locally for $75, but it was sold when we called.
So I looked for one Unicycle for him.
For about $110 I could get lesser Torker CX… or for $140 I could
get the Torker LX like the used one I would have bought.
I splurged and got him the Torker Unistar LX in dark grey.
Recently, I decided I would like to learn, and I could practice along
with him, so I started looking for a used one. Actually, I’ve had the
idea in the back of my mind for a few years. It just seems to go
with my juggling somehow.
After some research I conluded I would go one size larger wheel
than Drew’s (24" vs. 20"). After a lot of searching I finally found
a Torker LX in 24" for sale by a private party. It was even the
same dark grey like Drew’s.
The ad was from back in Sept, but it didn’t have a post under it which
said “SOLD” so I figured I’d at least ask if it’s still for sale - and it was.
The seller said he’d find out how much it would cost to ship it.
It looked like a deal was all worked out…
But (sparing all of the gory details) after almost two weeks it fell through.
Where does your son do his unicycling? I live around that area and me and my friend are always trying to find people to ride. I would think about having a gathering beacause im finding more and more people who are riding(the video we made inspired someone in my dads jr high class to start riding too) and it would be cool to do some riding together.
edit: and welcome to the forums. Always nice to see a new face here.
As I said above, the guy in Portland really saved the day.
His ad said: Torker Unistar LX 24 Dark Grey Used only about 30 minutes,
never been outdoors. Basically it is in like-new condition…
So I spent asked if he could ship it to Port Orchard, then took some time
working out whether my wife wanted to visit her niece in Portland soon
(she’d spoken of going down there). We decided to have him ship it so
I could get it sooner. I think I had used up all of my patience waiting for
the first deal which fell through, so I am anxious to get it.
The UPS tracking shows Monday as delivery date.
I’d hoped it might arrive today, but when I called, they said
UPS only delivers express packages on Saturdays… so unless
someone got an express UPS shipment and they put my package
on the truck with it, my package will not be there until Monday.
It didn’t matter too much because I had to go to basketball
games for both of my kids, so I really couldn’t have picked it up.
So Monday I’ll be anxious to get home from work (do I feel a
slight sore throat coming on?)
I’ll post back in this thread how my progress goes.
I’m about halfway though reading the book we got Drew for Christmas
with his Unicycle. I have another book coming soon
because the first one is a bit difficult to read and I don’t think
it’s quite right for Drew - it was translated from German to British,
and we speak english, so it’s sometimes confusing.
I see you’re in Bremerton… my package will probably be at a UPS hub
in Bremerton tomorrow before it comes back down to Port Orchard.
(Say hi to it for me)
Drew still rides pushing an old jogging stroller for support - he only got his
a month ago, and isn’t allowed to ride unless his homework is done,
which combined with all the rain means he mainly rides on weekends.
But definitely let us know if you do have a get together… even if we just
go for inspiration and to meet other enthusiasts.
Well actually due to the general lack of experience other people have it would be more centralized around a riding area, just somewhere big and open and flat. Most of the point would be inspiration, help, and just plain old fun… Its always nice to have other riders around. The more experience everyone else gets the more we would be able to do… Trail riding, long distance, street, flat… It all comes with time.
I would really just like to see things like what they have in Snohomish where they have 40 or 50 kids from the same school riding. It would be nice for the kitsap area to be invaded by unicyclists.
I wonder if a local High Skool or YMCA would let us use their gymnasium.
Some schools have covered outdoor basketball courts.
There is a big cement slab at a local park (locals call it Jackson Lund
because it’s at the corner of Jackson and Lund in Port Orchard).
There used to be a skate park on it (Plywood ramps and obstacles).
It may be a basketball court now - I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone there.
If I ever get good enough for Muni, Banner Forest is 640 acres of Mtn bike
trails through dense forests about 4 miles from my house.
Congrats. You also might want to raise your seat up a little higher if you can. Its usually easier to learn with a high seat rather than a low one. You want your leg at almost full extension when your pedal is down.
Family: My son is on his Uni in front of me on mine in the picture
of us in the hallway - I need to enhance the picture so that it’s
not so dark that you can’t see what’s going on in it.
My daughter says she’ll try my son’s, and it would probably work
for my wife to at least sit on and get comfortable on the seat.
I sat on my son’s a few times, and even though the seat is wat
too low and I never really tried to ride it, I think just sitting on
it a few times made me feel more comfortable on mine when I finally
got it.
I think the seat is higher than it looks - I’ll try to get a better picture
or some video. It feels about right, but I cut the seat post so that it
is about right with it all the way down, so there’s a lot of adjustment
available to go higher.
Almost like 8 months ago, i wanted by first time an unicycle, i tried to get one, but as i´m from colombia, here is a little difficult to get one, and i can´t buy in internet cause i´m only 16, so i decided to build one, it took about 3 months to make it, just some free hours, i expend about $60 and other $20 in repairs and some pieces i bought, it is very well, it has an steel frame plastic pedals, and it is pretty strong, the only problem is that i have really long cranks (220mm) and sometimes the pedals crash with the street, in the curves, but i´m really happy with it, i want to buy an comftable seat, i hope all you, and ur family can learn to ride, it´s really fun to see the face of the people in the street, good luck with your new unicycle
here are take some pictures of it, but i have to search the camera cable hehe, the inly things that had changed are the hub and the seat, now it has a rod at defense, and it is made of foam, much better than the old bike seat that was first there, the hub has been welt, cause the bolts just can´t resist the pressure, it has a nice welding
edit: i quit the images since i have to resize them , these are the links
