I’m attempting to learn how to unicycle, and got myself a used uni. Paid (converted to USD) around 100 bucks for it. 24"!
I read loads of threads here and some people have suggested that 20" is more suitable for learning, but I want to be able to go about the neighborhood or atttempt Muni in the future. I am only 5’3". I’ve had only 2 hours attempting to ride. I took half an hour before I could move a meter while holding to a rail. Now I can go up and down a railing with some difficulty.
I mountain bike as well, glad to have shin/knee guards and a helmet. It’s hard as hell, but I’m going to keep trying!
The unicycle is a cheap knockoff. The rim is decent, the seat sucks. With a square taper hub it’s not really suitable for MUni.
The noise is probably one of the bearing holders being loose. Tighten them to be a little bit more than hand-tight, but not so tight that the wheel won’t spin freely.
He’s a beginner. For learning, the seat and the rest of the unicycle are fine. Your seat is not the most comfortable, but it will take nearly unlimited drops (unlike the stuff that was available when some of us were learning). Stick with the 24", the difference between 20" and 24" for learning was slight. I know I would have done better on a 24" (I learned on a 16" tricycle wheel with solid plastic tire).
When your axle breaks, then it’s time to get a beefier MUni.
Hey, it’s just a spacer between the hub and the bearing, i am not sure how difficult they are to move, but you could slide you bearing so that its touching, which would have been how it was from new. But if the noise doesn’t bother you then i wouldn’t worry about. Hows the learning going?
Today I went mountain biking, but when I got home I rested a bit and went outside to try unicycling again for about 1.5hours.
I wear “sock” type knee/shin guards, which only covers half of my shin… unfortunately I hit my shin on the pedals where it was not covered. At the end I scratched my calf on the pedal pins as well. Nothing serious, didn’t hurt much. I will be buying plastic pedals tomorrow, and wearing longer socks.
And on to the good part, I managed to get in a few rotations of the wheel. My best was about 4-5 revolutions at the end of which I crashed into a bush, lol! At first I had one hand on the rail and the other holding the front of the seat, but I realized that not holding the seat seemed to be better.
Also, I found out that you have to control your hips forward/backward position. I kept falling backwards, so I tried “thrusting” my hips out more. It worked, but the feeling is kind of scary.
Glad I got a used uni to learn on, I fell off so many times!
I read this over and over again in the forums, and it’s true. I think I will make this thread my “learning diary”.
Today I bought plastic pedals and long socks to cover up the exposed areas of my shin/calf.
Day 3 (3.5h-5.5h)
I practiced for about 2 hours. For a bit more than an hour, I did not make any progress, making only 2-5 pedal strokes. Once I got 10.
I tried to sit straighter, and use my hips for speed control (hips front = go forward, hips back = go backward). This seemed to work really well as a mind trick!
I made 20 strokes, then 30. After that I had a few more 10s, and one or two 20s.
My sister was jogging around the neighborhood and I asked her to take a video of me using her phone. (Will upload later when I get the video!)
Congratulations. If you are already making 20-30 consecutive strokes you’re not far off at all.
One thing I remember doing in the beginning was going to a school with a track. I used the track to measure progress/distance and it was nice because it was completely level and had some gradual turns to practice turning.
Day 4 (5.5-7h)
For the first 15minutes, I could only do a few strokes. At around 20mins it started to come to me, and I could do >10 strokes. Highest I’ve gotten was 72strokes. I’m starting to be more consistent now, really happy I stuck with it!
:):)
Hurt my ankle on a awkward fall though… probably will be okay by tomorrow.
