Lately people have been talking about the clown steriotype in unicycling and how they dislike it. So my question is what would you like it to be when someone see’s you riding on the street, do you want it to be oh cool all unicyclicts are nice people so go talk to him childeren, or run away kids dont make eye contact its a unicyclist, hopefully this question makes sense if not just post it a question and ill explain more.
Brian
I like it when they say that I am amazing and repeatedly mutter, “I could never do that”. But it annoys me when all they talk about is it harming the “Family Jewels”. Around our town, some people don’t even turn a head because so many people ride.
yeah, I must admit, it does get annoying when people constantly talk about the “family jewels”. I did a drop off of a picnic table outside my grandma’s house, and the first thing that came out of the guy walking past was, and I quote: “HOLY M***** F***ING CHRIST!!! DOESNT THAT HURT YOUR BALLS!!!” I would have appreciated a nice, “I could never do that.” I wonder if they all think that they are the first ones to come up with that little question? haha. Personally, I would like to think that most people would see us as friendly, and approachable. and to my knowledge, pretty much all unicyclists do fit this description. at least, from my experiences.
Ya, I got a very similar reaction today jumping of a table. Even the guys at the bike shop ask me when i mention Muni or if I get new parts put on mine.
So, who is going to be the first one to ride around with “It takes steel balls to ride a unicycle!” or “Unicycling is more comfortable with hardened steel balls!” on his tee-shirt. 
(Ball bearings, that is. Would probably work better with a picture of a sealed cartrige bearing on the shirt. Wouldn’t want people to get confused and jump to awkward conclusions.)
i like it when people quiver in fear, huddle down in a fetus position, and only utter a high pitched, “oh g-g-g-god, its H-H-H-Hell on Wheel!!!” And then I pedal grap their face.
I get a 50/50 splits between insults and compliments.
Insults:
“Man…that is soooooo fcked up!"
"Look at that asshole on the clown bike!”
“Don’t look down–you only got one wheel, d*ckhead”
Compliments:
“Holy S*it! That is so excellent!”
“Look at the hipster on the clown bike!”
“I can’t believe you only got one wheel, champ!”
These are approximations–usually I am zooming past them, but it is amazing how close the compliments/insults sometimes sound with the wind/traffic noise in your ears…
I only ever get compliments, but I really really hate this misconception. I haven’t once hurt myself that way and I honestly don’t expect it to happen.
Andrew
It’s me and one other lady who ride. I’ve never met her but apparently she just rides up and down a really steep hill doinf different freestyle tricks (I’ve heard from those who have talked to her that she’s training to be a clown).
So in summation, I always get “Hey do you know that one lady?”
And I say “Yeah, we all know each other.”
I’ve had (honestly) “look at that gay bike” from a freshman when I was riding my uni in school (it was the last day, what did I care). I jacked him in the face though.
Re: unicycling cliche?
I’m happy with positive comments and genuinely humourous comments.
I’m happy to be ignored- at the end of the day me riding my unicycle is equivalent to a cyclist riding their bike.
I don’t like: -
being associated with clowns/circus
cliched crap comments about missing wheels etc
cars pipping their horns- even though this is often done in support, it is nevertheless highly distracting (horn pipping=danger), and I believe that in many places innapropriate use of horn pipping is technically illegal?
I’m currently done to pretty much zero stupid comments these days, which is really nice 
I used to get soo many insults and cliche/comments about missing wheels but the more the three of us ride in town the less we get it which is good. I mainly get alot of comments now or people seeing me try and ride street and then suggest an obstacle. there will be a least one unicyclist out in my town everyday now so people just say “hey i saw you riding the other day with those others”.
my mate lewis got invited up for a drink by some people in a flat that saw him ride past in the morning after our all night riding session on saturday, “Hey, you ride a unicycle, ive seen u aorund with some otheres riding that thin wall in town, do you drink brandy? come up and have a drink!” form their flat balcony.
I have gotten a few comments about me joining the circus, when people find out that I am learning to unicycle. Some people say our site is a circus, of course having made stilts a while ago didn’t help. We are all nuts as it is, always thinking of fun things to do.
aparently the public doesn’t think so… or if they do we’re at least damaged nuts…
I’d rather people think it’s cool. The circus association is so foreign to me anyway, because I never liked circuses as a child so my parents never took us, therefore I never saw clowns riding unicycles.
Speaking of reinforced testicles…
Austin has a sticker that reads: “My nuts are titanium”
umm, is that austin the shop, city, or town? cuz i need to find that sticker to put on my uni, cuz its awsum, cuz i get annoyed, cuz i get a lot of those comments, cuz i unicycle, cuz im cool, so its a very complicated dilemma that can only be solved by me purchasing that sticker, cuz it’s cool…
circus stigma
Everyone seems to want to change this,in a way I love it.I get called circus boy and stuff by people who have never seen me ride and stuff but when the do see me i get a new found respect in a sense.
I also love it when people think o they are clowns or they shout something like that and you do a sweet ass trials line or hop onto a bench or something,and to see there faces is amazing!Maybe I am the only one who feels this way I don’t know?
I wrote this a few days ago no one replied.
Ben
I don’t mind the one wheel comments and all that, but I get a little pissed when someone points and just laughs 
I’m french and it seems like there are much more unicyclist in the US than in France… I have actually never been insulted when riding my uni. Of course I’m often asked “where’s the other wheel?” “are you part of a circus?” and I try to be as kind and friendly as possible because I really want people to stop thinking that riding a unicycle is for an impossible challenge. you know, there’s still a lot to do for our brend new french federation (FFM: Fédération Française Monocycliste)
Concerning the “family jewels” I found that answer:
"Oh yes, that hurts the two first months of practice…
…Then everything dries up and falls painlessly 
Riding day… dream away
still riding… still dreaming