My standard mount is ok, it’s time to move on. Which mount would you recommend as the second one to learn?
Side mount is described as either going with right leg between left leg and saddle, or as going with right leg behind and over the saddle. Which one is more easy to learn?
goldenchicken (has moved into the forum)
Do a standard mount with your other foot (if you can’t alrealy) then maby mount with it behind you. Maby try a kick up mount, but what do I know?
The second mount I learned was the side mount with the leg going in front of the seat. Practice the mount s-l-o-w-l-y at first to get a good feel for balancing the unicycle / yourself.
Also try: reverse mount (like standard, but the unicycle’s behind you), rolling mount and (if you’re adventurous) suicide / jump mount. They’re not much harder than the standard mount and will give you the skills needed to do harder mounts.
the jump mount is really really easy and once you can do that you can try the jump/spin uni 180 mount. I learned that one last night in like 5 minutes.
Side mount is definately the easiest “other” mount to learn. Leg around front is slightly easier, although I learned leg around back first.
wow
wow, i must be strange; the first mount i learned was the rolling mount.
Re: time to learn a new mount
In terms of being useful, I’d pick the jump mount slightly ahead of
side mount, since the jump mount is a step towards a fluid (and quick)
rolling mount. I found the side mount helpful when learning to idle
and ride backwards, and it may be the least stressful mount for times
when your knees hurt. Be warned, I ruined a cheap wheel (26", steel
rim) learning to side mount.
Getting back to the jump mount, I have a really easy way to learn it.
It’s ugly, but effective: roll the unicycle forward as you jump (about
1/8 revolution), and land the near foot first. When the far foot
lands, the unicycle should have stopped (maybe just started
backwards), and you are pretty much in the same situation (position
and momentum) as you are in the middle of a standard mount. This
method is surprisingly easy, and from there you can transition to a
more elegant jump mount (landing your feet simultaneously) or just
push the uni faster and do an ugly rolling mount.
Regarding the reverse mount, I must be missing something because it
seems hard. I seem to be picking up the side mount swinging my leg
around an extra time about as fast as I learned the reverse mount.
Ken
Do the suicide mount, you don’t even need to use your hands much for that one.
learn the side mount. it can lead to the kickup, which looks really cool 
is your standard mount a 'roll back" or a “step up/static mount” learn both of those with both feet then work on the other stuff. you’ll learn the others much faster if you do.
Another good way to learn the jump mount is to put the seat in the normal freemount position, set the pedals at the correct angle, then jump up to the pedals. The advantage of this method is that you don’t have to worry about landing on the seat properly. After a little experimentation with this, move on to the jump mount.
I think you should learn the rolling mount.
It was my second mount after the normal freemount.
The rolling mount is good beacuse you have a little speed allready before you start pedaling.
I think the rolling mount is my favourite mount if im just mounting on a flat smooth area, it just feels natural for me to take a few steps with the uni in front of me then ride away.
Re: Re: time to learn a new mount
Im worried about this. Will my old schwinn handle this…?
Is there a required tork on the spokes …?
(my spokes are flexable, no ‘tune’ when plucked)
Thanks guys. All good advice. As a first step, I tried the standard mount today with the “wrong” foot and it went ok. First time I tried, actually. After that I tried the side mount as maestro8 recommended: slowly.
I found it almost impossible, but tell me: how much do you tilt the uni away from you when throwing your leg in front of the saddle? And where do you hold on to the saddle? The rear seemed the only place to me if I didn’t want to sit on my own arm.
As for the jump mount: I put the pedals in position, bent my knees and … just stood there. Ain’t got the guts to jump. Yet.
All this mounting makes me pretty exhausted. I bought a 24" as my beginner’s uni and haven’t regreted it, I love to cruise with it, the speed is perfect. But as I am not tall 178 cm (5.8) it would perhaps be easier for me to learn mounts and other stuff on a 20" and then taking it to the 24"
Heading for the shower …
goldenchicken
Re: time to learn a new mount
“DigitalDave” <DigitalDave@NoEmail.Message.Poster.at.Unicyclist.com> writes:
> > I ruined a cheap wheel (26", steel rim) learning to side mount.
>
> Im worried about this. Will my old schwinn handle this…?
> Is there a required tork on the spokes …?
> (my spokes are flexable, no ‘tune’ when plucked)
First, get your wheel tensioned! Spokes should sing, not thud. The
wheel will be much stronger when properly tuned. You can’t trust
torque to set spoke tension. Instead, pluck the spokes and listen for
the right tone (compare to a well built wheel of the same size). You
can also use a tensiometer, whick calculates tension by measuring the
deflection of the spoke when it is pushed sideways. If you have
patience and a good spoke wrench, you can do a credible job yourself
(if you lived in northern Colorado, I’d offer to help). See Sheldon
Brown’s web site for information about wheelbuilding. Otherwise, your
local bike shop can probably do the job.
I don’t know for sure what kind of stress a Schwinn can handle, but it
is fair to assume you have a better wheel than my cheapo Sun unicycle.
The rim is probably stronger and the smaller diameter should help,
too.
Ken
Every one should try a suicide mount or a jump mount they’re so easy very easy. It just looks scary but you’re likely to just land it the first time. Then you say !!! why was I afraid of that?? Well if you are afraid its because you dont want to land only on the seat and miss the pedals ending with unwanted pain like I was.
Jump mount
Just hold the seat in the front having the unicycle in front of you and jump to land on the pedals. I found it easier you put the pedals in the posision of that is the way you hop (mine is left back, right front). Make sure you jump so that you are over the seat and land standing up on the pedals.
Suicide is the same you just let go of the seat just before jumping.
Ken C,
Thanks, I’m all ‘tuned’ again.
I went out and got a haircut and a universal spoke wrench for under $10 today 
It’s gotta be at least 15 yrs since I did any maint.
Some squeeks are gone now too 
The ‘feel’ seems more firm (could be my imagination)
And … the suicide mount …?
I’m not afraid of falling … just crushing my jewels !