Hey 36 riders… Joey here! Long time, no post. I have become more aware of an annoying riding condition, or “symptom,” and this has made me desire riding my 36 less because of it. I can’t figure out the cause of it and I can’t chalk it up to road camber because it happens on flat ground as well. When I’m riding, my upper body eventually leans or hovers entirely over the right side. It’s as if I can’t sit up straight and centered over the wheel/hub without fighting this strange force. It makes riding feel awkward and off-centered; not how I remember 36 riding when I started years ago.
Does anyone know what it’s called and how I can feel centered and normal riding on my 36? Is it related to torque? Someone please advise–it’s so annoying, it’s at the point to where I avoid riding my 36 because of this.
Leaning to one side seems to be a problem many rides have for some time and there are several threads about it was various tips on how to correct this.
When i found myself leaning to one side more and more, without roadcamber etc. etc. i always had to adjust seat height. Seems like i need the seat really high when i am in the process of getting used to a new unicycle. Had this happening with the 24", 26" and with the 36".
You might be pressing down harder with one leg as you pedal. Make sure to apply the same pressure and same tempo with both legs. Correct saddle height helps to keep you centred over the wheel. Make sure that your weight is on the saddle as you ride.
I had this issue when I first got my 29er. Well, I say that. The first week or so I was riding it ‘properly’, then it just started happening. I essentially just sucked it up (Even though it REALLY ruined my riding to the point that it’d take me twice as long to get anywhere because I’d jump off all the time in frustration) and eventually I stopped. Try grabbing onto the handle/saddle with the hand that is furthest back to sort of force it forward. It’ll feel horribly unstable, but that’s what I did to try stopping it and it seemed to work
Thank God for that thread…
Went for a ride on sunday, and it was the same for me on my 29"/125mm cranks.
There seem that there are days with and days without. That was clearly a day without… I’m trying to re-learn some of the basics since I seem to have got used to some bad habits.
That’s what muni does to you: you become not too bad in woods with roots and holes, and the second you’re on a super flat concrete smooth area, it becomes impossible to keep the thing straight!
I had similar feelings when switching between my muni and a friends. Adjusting to the different tire size made me unbalanced at times. It took some getting use to. Maybe try to idle or do some small warm up exercises with your 36, like doing circles clockwise then counter.
Ride more is the solution, easy. I always assumed I was pedaling harder with one leg(the inside leg of the twist) and tried putting more weight on the other leg to counter it.
But I found that trying to twist my body in the complete opposite direction helped, sort of…
I also did a lot of slalom riding whenever I had the problem.
Hasn’t been an issue this year
Thanks everyone–I think my saddle is a bit too low because my knees are still bent a little more than they probably should be on full extension. Also, I’ll have to get a new seat post…even though it is a 36" I still have a short seat post and long legs! I appreciate all the advice
I’ve been riding over 40 years, and this has occasionally been a problem for me as well. When it occurred recently, i found it helped a LOT if I pushed down more on the one pedal than the other, on the side I was tilting away from. that is, I’d push down more with the foot on the “high” side of the tilt, almost standing out of my saddle, but just when pushing down on that side. It seemed to straighten me right out.
Let me know if you don’t get what I mean, or if it works for you.
I get what you mean. It works for me. This is how I cope with camber that makes me lean. At the extreme, it feels like one footed riding except I haven’t learned to do that. Almost no weight on the other pedal but it’s still on there.
My situation may be totally different since I’m a beginner. Yesterday I went for a short ride on my 29er after having ridden the 24er exclusively for more than a week. When I first got the 29er a few weeks ago, riding it didn’t feel all that different. Only turning seemed to be much harder. But on the upside obstacles were a lot less of an issue. Keep in mind that I still have little saddle time on the 29er.
Now yesterday I experienced the same “tilt” when I was trying to ride the 29er. I almost gave up and turned around. What finally did it for me was going really slow. As slow as I could without falling off. That seemed to somehow center myself on the seat. During the ride I did it a couple more times when I started feeling myself getting crooked on the uni. Not sure if that’s just me or a mental thing, but it helped enough.
