first of all, hi.
now lets get to the part about the unicycle, about a year ago, i saw a mechanic from a bikeshop riding a unicycle. it was so hilarious watching him, i don’t know why… it must be because whenever i see a guy on a unicycle(which is very rare here in the philippines) the first thing that pops in my mind is a clown then i start hearing clown music… anyway, i asked him if i could borrow his unicycle for a week, thinking that i would learn in that short amount of time. i didn’t, and that kinda challenged me a bit. so after more than a year of searching, i finally found a beat up 18" unicycle, i was hoping for a larger wheel size so that i could do muni once i learned how… oh well.
today will be my first day to try it out, hopefully i won’t crash or hurt myself in the process… i’ve watched a lot of videos already on youtube, but feel free to give me some tips. btw my balancing skills is crappy so any tip will be appreciated.
one more thing, is it ok if the unicycle is a bit small for me. the seatpost is already at its max but i feel my knees are a bit too bent? i seriously doubt i can find a replacement for the seatpost, finding a unicycle alone was difficult enough.
thanks.
Welcome to the forum. Since GILD isn’t greeting noobies anymore, I’ll say it:
That’s one more of us and one less of them.
I don’t know what to tell you. If you’ve watched the how-to videos, you’ve heard all the advice. You’ll have to go for it and tell us what happens.
Don’t worry about balance skills. If you are stubborn enough, you’ll learn. Don’t worry about hurting yourself either. You don’t really fall from an 18" unicycle, you just put your feet down.
It’s ok if your knees are a little bent. But if you feel like you’re squatting when you sit on the uni, then it really is too small. It’s hard to ride with your legs really bent.
If you don’t get a lot of feedback here, try making a thread in the Just Conversation & Introduce Yourself forum. More people read there.
The seat post should be fine to learn, it just may make it a little more difficult. I’ve taught a number of friends to unicycle, and my tips are to practice getting on holding on to something first, practice next to a handrail or something like that. At fist you may need to put a lot of weight on the rail, and pedal. When you get more comfortable start putting less and less weight on the railing, then practice going along the rail and just attempt to keep going, don’t put your hand on the seat when you ride it decreases balance, your arms should be out kinda keeping balance. You need to have your back nearly straight leaning forward slightly, and pedal fast. You will become better just trying to go as far as you can on the unicycle and you eventually will be able to turn. After just practice mounting it and pedaling forward, thats all you need to know. It may take time but I’ve taught friends in as little as two days(like three hours each day). It just take commitment to learning.