I know I complain a lot, but I was just wondering if going fast makes anyone else’s riding very choppy. When I start going fast I bounce up and down and side to side on the seat. When I raise the seat it does it a bit less but not enough to consider it cured.
Also when I spin my wheel the unicycle rocks to the right and doesn’t return. If I held it y the post and spun the wheel hard enough it would eventually do a 360.
Any suggestions?
Don’t try to ride fast, try to ride far, and smoothly. Speed will come with technique and experience, feeling completely at home on the unicycle. The choppiness you are feeling is because your legs are pumping up and down rather than round and round, and you are putting too much effort in.
Even a Coker (36 inch) is a low gear compared to a bicycle. A 24 is a ridiculously low hill-climbing granny gear for a bicycle. So, in such a low gear, you shouldn’t need to put huge amounts of effort in. You just need to put the right amount in quickly and smoothly.
So get some miles in.
As for the other problem: don’t worry, it’s simply that your unicycle is defying the laws of physics.
So go for circular, rather than slamming it? Good to know. I rode two miles friday night.
Yes, exactly. Get smooth.
When you spin at high speeds with long cranks the mental image is to not put any concious effort into the downstroke, but instead thing about scraping your feet back at the bottom and picking your feet up on the upstroke. The muscles you use to do this are small muscles on the front and outside of your hip. They tire easily and are usually way out of shape. (Disclamer - I’m drawing on bicycling experience, not unicycling experience, though I doubt there is much difference at the elite unicycling level.)
With short cranks it’s a lot easier to spin faster as more of the motion is just in your feet and ankles.
I had the same problem: A need for speed.
Duaner recommended that I just go out and sprint.
I did.
I got much faster in a short amount of time.
Sprinting (speed) is a skill - just like hopping.
Practice it like you would any other skill and you will get faster.