I’m just learning to ride. I’m wondering, as I do this, is there a way
to determine what speed (roughly) I need to be going to ‘stay up’?
Obviously, if I go too slowly, I’ll fall over, but when I go fast it’s a
bit scary. As one improves, is it possible to go a little bit more
slowly and balance? Or is unicycling, even among proficient riders,
generally done at a rather rapid pace (say, faster than a two wheeled
bike).
Thanks–Dave
Slow and steady wins the race! What I’m trying to say is that going slowly is more important than just going. The slower you go, the more control you have, and it adds to the grace and beauty of unicycling. I can take as long as 10-15 seconds for one revolution of the wheel (I’m practicing still stands rather unsucessfully). Try to go slow, it will sharpen your uni skills.
-David Kaplan
Ride at the pace you need to stay up. In time, with patience and determniation, your skills will progress and you’ll notice that you can slow the Uni down and become more in control with it… good luck!
that is good advise!
belive dat.
Unicycling is normally slower than a two wheeled bike. It is not uncommon
for those on geared bicycles to exceed 20mph. This speed on a unicycle
(even a Coker) is unusual.
The speed of a unicycle depends on two factors. First is the circumference
of the wheel. The larger the wheel the faster you go. I find it difficult
to go as slowly on my Coker as I can on a 20" uni. The second factor is
“cadence” or how many RPMs (or more technically RsPM) you are pedalling.
Obviously the faster you pedal the faster you go (that is until Harper
designs an inverse epicyclic hub <g>).
Observing very skilled riders you’ll notice that there are those who need no
forward momentum to maintain balance. This is what is known as a
stillstand. With practice you will find that you can ride slower and with
more control.
The pace of a proficient rider is mostly dependent on the intent of the
rider. Personally I find that I can comfortably ride a standard sized
unicycle alongside a slow walker as well as someone vigorously jogging. In
the former case I’ll end up more tired than the pedestrian. In the latter,
I’ll be less exhuasted than the runner.
-mg
“Dave/Cheryl Chandler” <dcjzsc@ulster.net> wrote in message
news:3C5F46E2.5B345158@ulster.net…
> I’m just learning to ride. I’m wondering, as I do this, is there a way
> to determine what speed (roughly) I need to be going to ‘stay up’?
> Obviously, if I go too slowly, I’ll fall over, but when I go fast it’s a
> bit scary. As one improves, is it possible to go a little bit more
> slowly and balance? Or is unicycling, even among proficient riders,
> generally done at a rather rapid pace (say, faster than a two wheeled
> bike).
>
> Thanks–Dave
Michael–thanks for the great post. Yours and those posted by others
answered my somewhat vague question perfectly. I guess my main question
was whether it was possible to maintain balance at a slow speed or
whether one needed to move fairly quickly in order to do so. It’s clear
to me now that an important part of the deal, whatever the speed, is the
balance (not just front-to-back, which seems easier to maintain at this
point when I’m going faster, but side-to-side).
Thanks so much–Dave
Michael Grant wrote:
>
> Unicycling is normally slower than a two wheeled bike. It is not uncommon
> for those on geared bicycles to exceed 20mph. This speed on a unicycle
> (even a Coker) is unusual.
>
> The speed of a unicycle depends on two factors. First is the circumference
> of the wheel. The larger the wheel the faster you go. I find it difficult
> to go as slowly on my Coker as I can on a 20" uni. The second factor is
> “cadence” or how many RPMs (or more technically RsPM) you are pedalling.
> Obviously the faster you pedal the faster you go (that is until Harper
> designs an inverse epicyclic hub <g>).
>
> Observing very skilled riders you’ll notice that there are those who need no
> forward momentum to maintain balance. This is what is known as a
> stillstand. With practice you will find that you can ride slower and with
> more control.
>
> The pace of a proficient rider is mostly dependent on the intent of the
> rider. Personally I find that I can comfortably ride a standard sized
> unicycle alongside a slow walker as well as someone vigorously jogging. In
> the former case I’ll end up more tired than the pedestrian. In the latter,
> I’ll be less exhuasted than the runner.
>
> -mg
>
> “Dave/Cheryl Chandler” <dcjzsc@ulster.net> wrote in message
> news:3C5F46E2.5B345158@ulster.net…
> > I’m just learning to ride. I’m wondering, as I do this, is there a way
> > to determine what speed (roughly) I need to be going to ‘stay up’?
> > Obviously, if I go too slowly, I’ll fall over, but when I go fast it’s a
> > bit scary. As one improves, is it possible to go a little bit more
> > slowly and balance? Or is unicycling, even among proficient riders,
> > generally done at a rather rapid pace (say, faster than a two wheeled
> > bike).
> >
> > Thanks–Dave