What is the best training device you’ve seen?
Not a method, just a device.
Made either by a professional or amateur.
Adam
Training for what?
While waiting for the answer I’m going to submit “Unicycle.”
I think a stick is best for all-purpose training.
You could use it for training to ride a uni, too.
I used a shopping cart to learn to ride forwards and am in the process of using one to learn to ride backward.
use a wheel chair ramp with metal handrails on each side
And for Morris dancing.
For all purpose functionality at a budget price, buy new Stick.
The best training for unicycling (except unicycling) is one of those horrible cross-trainer devices where the feet go up and down, turning a wheel via treadles, and the hands go backwards and forwards - but hold onto the fixed handle in the middle. You are now supporting your weight on slightly bent legs and doing a pedalling type of motion, not unlike riding a MUni over rough ground or up MOPE.
That would help!
a device for training new riders.
I invented a device that I recently patented.
Until I complete my licensing agreements I can’t bring it public.
I have used the device strictly to conduct video focus groups locally with the people I have already trained.
I am curious to see what other devices are out there that aren’t yet patented which will also do a good job to help decrease the learning curve.
Thanks for your input,
Adam
Sizable cash incentives would probably work quite well… 
Adam its good to hear your makeing progress i cant wate to see the finished trainer good luck
Thanks Nick!
Why would you want a training device? The challenge is the whole point, when it becomes easy it ceases to have value. If you really have your heart set on unicycling then you’ll learn eventually, if you don’t then switch to something easier. Also ‘training’ sounds a bit militant, a bit too serious, most people ‘learn’ to unicycle.
A fence
Handrails
Ski Poles
All have been done and discussed at length here.
I like the shopping cart idea. I’m gonna try that for improving my backwards riding (which still completely sucks).
Probably the most unique one I’ve heard was a friend of mine had a daughter who, a couple of years ago,made a uni trainer using one of those walkers that old folks use for balance. Only she retrofitted it with wheels on all four corners. It was for a school competition, which she won.
After hearing the answer, I will submit “Unicycle.” The only thing one learns by training with an aid, is riding with that aid. If the goal is to ride unassisted, I believe one should train by riding unassisted.
Just recently my favourite training gadget has been my shiny new Garmin Edge GPS. It has a “Virtual Partner” mode which lets you race a course against a previous time; it should really be called something like “Virtual Evil Sadist Taskmaster Mode” because racing yourself is so leg-achingly difficult it’s either going to make me really fit or kill me off completely. It’s amazing how much harder it is to go even slightly faster than your normal cruising speed; I’ve used it on the bike before going up to the top of the Malvern Hills, and while giving it everything I had I got to the top a mere 10 or so seconds in front of when I took it steady.
I’ve used it for biking, unicycling and most recently running, where it proved most interesting in recording the speeds at which I ran each mile of my first half marathon last Sunday.
Phil
True, after a point. However, if I had been left to learn to ride with out some sort of an aid (fence, in my case) to help me get a sense of balance and control, I may very well have given up. And lest you say I tend to give up easily, search for some of my early posts. I took a VERY long time to learn and tend to be VERY stubborn. An aid to help one gain a little confidence in their sense of balance can be helpful. Anyone who is serious about learning to ride will, indeed jump from the safety of the nest when they are ready.
i think the best device is no device a all. i learned just fine without one. or a parent. parents can be good for help mounting.
That sounds like teaching people to ride by having them push off from a wall. But holding onto the wall, or fence, or better yet a spotter, is a much better way to learn the balancing needed while not spending all your time getting back on.
So now that we know the search is for training devices for teaching people to ride it narrows things down nicely. Human spotter is the best thing, but it’s not a device. A railing is pretty useful, but is also not much of a device.
I do agree with Maestro to an extent. If you learn to ride pushing a shopping cart, at some point you’ll have to un-learn some of the posture and body position the cart requires. In other words, your hands are more helpful if they’re out to the sides rather than in front of you. You will also tend to learn to ride with a bent back.
So what could Adam be working on, and why is he so afraid one of us will start manufacturing and marketing it first? If it’s something that can be proven to teach people significantly faster, that will be revolutionary!
It’s kind of the “catch 22” of patent law. It’s the ‘non-disclosure’ clause that states something to the effect of, if you disclose any invention that you’re trying to patent, it is then considered “public knowledge.” If it’s public knowledge or ‘in the public domain’ it can’t be patented.
Answer!
[I]QUOTE-Why would you want a training device? The challenge is the whole point, when it becomes easy it ceases to have value. If you really have your heart set on unicycling then you’ll learn eventually, if you don’t then switch to something easier. Also ‘training’ sounds a bit militant, a bit too serious, most people ‘learn’ to unicycle.[/I]
What you are doing when you ‘learn’ to unicycle is ‘train’ your body and mind.
The challenge should be learning specific skills, tricks, developing different riding styles and not having to waste time learning how to ride.
Take a poll, I bet at least 90% of those people asked would have been more than happy to skip the learning to ride part and go right to learning different skills, tricks and enjoy other types of riding (MUni,Trials).
Just because most people don’t have the patience and can’t learn to ride without extra help(training device/motivation) it doesn’t mean they should find something else, it means they need something else to get them riding.
The reason us unicyclist’s don’t have more company to ride with is because of the grueling learning curve.
You don’t realize how many people buy unicycles and let them sit and rot in the garage/basement because they didn’t have the patience to get past the initial part of the learning curve.
Think of how many bikers there would be out there if there were no training wheels. More than there are unicyclist but allot less than there are now.
In Japan there are more than a million unicyclist’s why, because they have people motivating and training them.
Motivation can be a substitute for training wheels but as we can all see there hasn’t been enough of that around the world.
To get the masses unicycling around the world it will take motivation and/or the proper training device to help remove the initial part of the learning curve.
I just wanted to see what types of training devices people have been using in the past and what they are currently using today.
Thanks again for all your input.
Adam
that sounds like a lot of fun