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Checkout this site. The site contains a comparison chart.
http://www.muniac.com/mesite.htm
Like most activities, unicycling can be as safe or as dangerous as one desires. That is one thing that I love about it. However, the liklihood of me getting hit by a car is rather slim while I’m hopping on trials gear or ridng in the woods - perhaps the most dangerous elements of our sport. I might get a bump or a bruise but the chances are I’ll live!
Tommy
Scott’s chart is pretty neat.
I’d add pads to the equipment requirements, unless you are indoors on a smooth, polished floor, and
although it is possible to do a low-mod workout on a unicycle, it is also possible to do a high workout on a unicycle, just like all the other sports. Off-road unicycling is very intense aerobically, even compared to most mountain biking.
To add to Scott’s chart, unicycling is much more interesting than running or lap swimming, doesn’t have access fees, has relatively low equipment and maintenance costs, doesn’t have lift fees, and doesn’t require a special court. It’s also the most versatile sport except for walking; you can go almost anywhere and still do interesting things!
He’s actually got a column for mountain unicycling as opposed to just unicycling which lists the things you said.
It’s a nice table, although I wouldn’t agree with his analysis of some of the other sports, especially swimming.
Most unicycling is intense compared with normal mountain biking. It’s far less tuneable though, because you’ll always have sections that aren’t too much work because they’re flat or slightly downhill and smoothish, whereas on a bike you can change up gear on those bits and keep putting in effort. I think if you want to you can definately train harder on a bike, unicycling has a higher base level, but can’t be made so much harder.
Even more so on road, once you’re fit enough to ride close to as fast as you can spin, you soon get so you can keep spinning that speed for ages, the only way to make it more intense then is to go find a hill, or to change the cranks to shorter ones. A good fast road ride on a bike is way way more intense than a road ride on a coker/29er.
Joe
You are absolutely right, Joe. I should have been more careful in my examination of the chart.
I see some bias in his chart…but it’s still very interesting.