so fast forward to 3:56…around 3:58 when his right foot goes past 6 o’clock…the unicycle rocks forward and he kind of leans back…that is happening to me and i fall backwards…how to you stop that?..when i try to make a full revolution…when i go past 6 oclock the uni shoots forward and i lean backwards and i fall off…any suggestions… I can’t make a smooth transition… https://youtu.be/rWUoIv1ftXc or https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rWUoIv1ftXc&feature=youtu.be&fbclid=IwAR04RGJZTDpJyK13dRQw5HmJrq8-NK4LeGMF-_WxMCPgg3pzoPEV0M4H2IM
You have been on the site for three months and you are apparently still struggling to ride. Clearly you need to change your approach.
I fully respect Chris but he is an expert rider who learnt a very long time ago. I would not suggest a beginner follows his suggestions at all. Trying to idle right at the beginning is taking on a relatively difficult skill. It is far easier to ride than it is to idle.
I recommend not spending more than a few minutes with walls or other supports, just long enough to get a feel for the uni and how to steer by twisting. Then ride away from a support into the open. Instead of thinking of it as balance, focus on driving the wheel under your fall. This is the fundamental skill required to get riding.
Also don’t try to put much weight on the seat until you can keep the wheel under you because it will shoot out unless the wheel is fairly accurately positioned. Start with most of your weight on the pedals and gently grip the saddle between your thighs. Aspire to getting your weight on the seat as soon as you can but don’t obsess about it.
Don’t sit up too straight. Lean your body slightly forwards so that the frame of the uni leans slightly back, keeping your centre of mass above the contact point of the wheel on the ground. An upright uni is an unstable uni.
I’d bet that everyone that has learned to ride a unicycle has experienced the same thing. It may be safe to say that everyone that works on learning to ride a uni already knows how to ride a bicycle and one of the biggest differences between a bike and a unicycle is that you have to hold back on the back pedal to maintain balance in the forward and back direction. The simple and likely only solution to the problem is more time in the saddle. It takes time to develop your muscle memory so that you will instantly make corrections to maintain balance without any conscious effort.
Then after you can ride on level ground, the very same issue will come when starting to ride down hills and even when changing to larger wheel sizes and shorter cranks.
Keep at it and you will succeed.
Well, if you are doing exactly the same as Chris in the video, the issue is that your hand is behind you, and “pulling” you back. And Chris explains what you need to do in the video seconds after.
But I guess you aren’t referring to exactly the same thing, but just falling backwards of the uni. It’s hard to tell what exactly you need to change without seeing you do it. It may be that you are not pedaling smooth enough, it may be the the aforementioned hand being to far back, might be just the fact that you need some time to figure out the balance forward and backwards.
Changing up your practice is probably a good plan. By now, I’ve seen a lot of different approaches to learn unicycling work and fail, so I don’t think there is one method to fit all. Everyone has their individual issues, and different exercises are good at teaching particular parts of the skill. So finding the one(s) that work on your difficulties is important I think. It’s always a bit trial and error, especially with completely new skills it’s hard to self diagnose what you are doing wrong. A video is worth more than 1000 words to describe it when asking on the internet.
Scotty Watty omitted the important info. He is trying to learn on a 29" uni. (Source: Facebook). Use a 20".
Back pressure
What’s the biggest difference between pedaling a bicycle and a unicycle?
TENSION. Keep force on front pedal and back pedal. Otherwise, guess where it goes? Yup…JimT above also mentions this.
I hope you are learning by using a wall or rail, because many “go for it” beginners who just release a wall and go never learn this. 99% will quit, but the 1% with god given balance will get it.
On the wall/rail you quickly learn not to “shoot” the unicycle out. You learn to tense up both pedals and subsequently your whole thigh/leg muscle. That’s why most beginners are exhausted in the early stage.
Good luck…keep trying
btw…park the 29" and get a 20"…you’ll learn quicker…
Hi Scotty! When i was learning to ride, success seemed as far away as ever right up to the point where it clicked and I could start to get some distance. The video I found most helpful was this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-xaYAkuw7Q&t=10s
If you’re looking for a change of approach, what Jeffrey is doing in that video is worth a try. It’s called a “kerb mount”, and it’s a good way into riding without a supporting wall. Good luck! And I second everyone’s recommendation to try a 20".
I agree with Gockie. The most significant thing is that Scott is trying to learn on a 29".
I recall a tutorial where the teacher instructed beginners to “fail in a different direction”. Perhaps just focusing on getting your center of gravity more forward will stop the uni from shooting out the front. Of course, that means you will be having more forward dismounts.
If you are struggling with the fear of falling, maybe riding on grass could be helpful. Many riders have said not a good way to start. However, if you are still at the stage of working past the first 6:00 transition, that concern is not really applicable at this point.
If you have been practicing idling (you mentioned it in a previous post), that could be related to having the unicycle out in front of you (rather than the other way around).
When Chris showed off the wall mount, it looked more like a well-executed static mount with the addition of an outstretched arm. Not very realistic for a beginner.
Maybe someone in SoCal has a 20" they can lend Scotty. Thanks for sharing your struggles!
That’s the method I used to learn, although I used this video as a guide
But I did this with a 24" uni
Chief