With good weather, and almost 2 years in since I started UW, figured was time to share an update. One of my main goals since first learning UW was to ride without it touching my legs at all. I’m not 100% there, but I’m finally feeling pretty good about it:
Thank you guys for all the advice and support!!!
Kudos for riding that thing (I sound like a non unicyclist, I know) for nearly two minutes! You must have have thighs like the Hulk. 
Ha! Thanks man!
Yeah, a lot of hours practicing and building endurance. But just as important loads of time trying to refine the technique to be smoother and less tiring, just like seated uni.
Fwiw to anyone else who wants to work on this, I recommend focusing on and/or drilling the following:
Last thing I was told by a fellow rider that made no sense at the time:
“Balance on the wheel.”
Just because you’re off the ground and the wheel is holding you up, that doesn’t mean you’re balancing on the wheel. I understood better once I could even achieve a 5 second stillstand on seated uni.
Incredible!
Well done on your UW progress. Do you also ride a 28” and if so is the 28 easier than the smaller one?
The only way to keep the wheel rolling is by having enough space btw ur legs and the wheel. Protection makes the space too small and might en up braking the wheel.
I dont quite understand by balancinfg on the wheel. As soon as you ride the UW, while not touching the wheel throught the rotations, so just standing on the pedals, ur in perfect balance, which in turn makes the rolling the easiest.
To me riding UW feels like slugging through deep mud, which craves a lot of energy
Thanks!
For me, for the riding I do, 20" or 24" is the most comfortable and easy for me. I’m usually riding around Park Slope Brooklyn down sidewalks, dodging strollers, kids on scooters, dog walkers with 5+ dogs, etc. Think the video game Paperboy. There’s a premium on slower more nuanced movement, and on gentler UPD’s and lower energy free mounts. I have people walk straight at me while staring down at their phone, never realizing a guy on a wheel just rode past them. My riding has a lot deceleration and acceleration, and my legs aren’t strong enough to achieve that on a larger wheel for very long. Often I’ll get stuck behind a crowd of people walking slow on the sidewalk, and I challenge myself to not fall off. I slow down to their speed, sometimes doing various sloppy stillstands, trying to keep some semblance of good form, and try to last it out till they turn or the sidewalk opens up some and I can whizz around. For me, especially fighting to climb up a hill, or fighting to control my speed down a hill, 24" is big enough for me. I could go with a larger “crank length” UW setup for a bigger wheel, but I don’t like that much leg motion.
Yeah, UW uses a ton of energy, at least for me, especially with hills and upturned sidewalks. After just a 2 mile ride, including plenty of breaks, I’m totally wiped. But, I feel physically good, and I’ve usually had more good interactions with people than unfortunate interactions along the way. Even (or maybe especially) if I still pass people who call out: “nice tricycle!”
mhm that does make sense what you say about a smaller wheel. Less leg motion. I had made a wish lists of unicycles, I still want to have, but I think a 24" UW should be part of that list.
The reason I had to stop with my UW training was that I had overdone it too much. I had been practicing intensively for a few weeks and when I finally could free-mount, I wanted to take it to the forest on a long bike path, but my right knee hurt so much, I had to stop. I must have twisted and overexhausted it. Nowadays I can only ride for max 30 mins and because I don’t do it that often, it takes a few tries to free-mount it.
I like how small it is that you can just throw it in the car and take it wherever. The 36" doesn’t fit in the back of the car and has to be in the middle on the seats, but then my kids don’t fit in the car anymore.
Ok on municycle.com, they still show the 24" but I had to send a message if they still have it available. Then before I could send they wanted to verify I am human and I had to click pictures of b#kes…
I hate it when people do that! I see myself as a rather considerate human being, but in such situations my motto is: “no mercy with phone zombies”.
just add a brake! 
Time to choose your priorities
ur right, the kids stay home nowadays.
Today rode the UW 28”, but havent been able to freemount. I should prolly have a few sessions again. Did manage 30 metres, but I had forgotten how much of a strain it gives on my legs. After 30 mins I was drained of all energy.
I noticed that with every rev I touch the side of my leg which helps with the balance, so Im not balancing in the middle.
I understood a 24 is harder to ride but it should surely help already being able to ride on the bigger wheel.
@dreamisdestiny i’d certainly recommend you to try a 28 as well. With a bigger wheel you will go faster and balancing is possibly easier. So you will get the hang of it in no time.
If only it wouldn’t be so tiring, otherwise it is a great means of short transportation.
Add a seat! 
I think a big reason people get UWs is because of how uncomfortable the saddle is.
I’ve actually had UW sessions every day this week and it isn’t as tiring as it was from the start. I just need to relax more while making the rotations and while keeping my knees bent, it is easier to keep the wheel in the middle. It is good there is no saddle, coz this way it is a good work out and I can get rid of my belly
In my case that is true, it definitely got me curious enough to try one. It of course doesn’t replace a unicycle, at least for me. I did a light up ride last week on my unicycle, 14 miles. No shot in hell of me doing that on any UW. But, as it’s own thing, no expectation of logging tons of miles, I have a lot of fun on UW.
Nice! Congrats! Yeah, it definitely gets easier over time. And yes, for sure, bent knees, and smooth rotations, helps a ton. Great workout for sure. And yeah, riding helps one to lose weight, and losing weight helps one to ride.