Today at school we had a welcoming BBQ for all the grade 9’s at our school. I was wandering about when I came across a classmate who had a 20" (i think) trials uni with the seat noticeably low. He let me ride it, and it was my first experience riding a mini uni. I know its not a true mini uni, but I’m 6’3", and I usually ride a 26" with the seat noticeably high, so it was mini for me.
Anyway, this just got me interesting in mini unicycles. I’m just wondering what you guys have in the area of mini unis and what you think of them. How much where they when you got them? Where’d you get them? Has anyone made a mini BC?
I have a 12" uni with a very, very low seat. It’s great for laughs in shows, but not really good for anything else. The pedals hit the ground all the time.
Tricks:
Backward
Seat in Front
Seat in Back (they’re almost the same thing)
Kick-up Mount
Stand-up riding with no hands (seat between ankles)
I haven’t tried big hopping or 180s because it’s a juvenile bike wheel, and I don’t want to destroy it…
Photo:
Please ignore the 1985 get-up. The mini is on top of the UniBus.
It definitely was cool at the time. I bought the ol’ UniBus from Greg Barnier, a member of the Redford Township Unicycle Club, in early 1984 I believe. Drove it to Unicon I with a starter that wouldn’t work after long drives. Lots of push-starting! I got the paint job done in the fall of 1984, just before moving from Michigan to New York. This was preceeded by a bondo job, and a guarantee from the guy who did the work (a friend from school) that “I guarantee this car will start showing rust again within a year.”
But he used a great quality of paint, and the car looked great (despite rust bubbles) long after the engine blew up in early 1986 (prox. 200,000 miles). The amount of deep rust did not warrant repairing the engine. It then served as an in-driveway storage shed at 67 Lion Lane (the Jenack house) for several years before finally being sold to a neighbor who thought he’d fix it up. I saw it once at a repair shop later on, but that was it.
Probably more information than you wanted, eh? here’s even more, even less-wanted info: That bus, a '74, was replaced briefly by a '71. The difference was, the '74 came with a somewhat powerful Porche engine, but the '71 basically contained a Bug engine. No power. After that I got a Subaru wagon. When I moved to CA in 1994 I started with a Dodge Caravan. I had three of those (85, 91, 2000), but now I have a Toyota Sienna. As cool as the old UniBus looked, the Sienna is more comfortable, more reliable, more functional, more luxurious, and about a hundred times safer to be in. In the old VW buses, a moderate crosswind would always translate into a wrestling match with the steering wheel just to go straight…
Note to Unicus: Okay, the seat comes in a little above my ankles. But it’s well below the knees!
I had a go on my friend’s 12" before he broke it… he was doing a show at a bar, and jumped on it off of a bar stool. Several of the spokes snapped, the wheel buckled (obvisouly), and I don’t think the hub come out in the greatest condition either. This all happened during practice before his part too…
Suffice to say though, the 12" did take a fair bit of rough use before this happened. He only had it a couple of weeks though.
