I ve been riding uni for about a year and yesterday during one of my trials training rides I came across a group of cyclotrialists(?)( =on bikes) and they were really good (at least what i can tell from my unitrial experience :). I showed them some of my stuff (rollhopping some 50cms, unispining, railing…) and they have been staring at me
like i was doing something impossible.
They wanted to try to ride my uni (without succes of course:) but then i tried to ride and hop on their bikes and i couldnt do anything they could.
Now I would like to know your opinion: Can you tell what you think is more difficult (to do/learn) unitrial or cyclotrial? Is there any of you who is good at unitrial AND in cyclotrial?. Who deserves bigger respect ? unitrialists or cyclotrialists:)
I think it’s easy to ride a bike, hard to do anything truly cool on one (BMX, Moutainbiking, Trials, etc.) However, it’s hard to learn to ride a uni, but easier to get good at MUni, trials, etc.
This is just my experience, I bet other people will disagree.
As for abilities, unis are generally better than bikes at trials. we can hop higher, be more precise etc. etc. It’s also easier to do these things. (I’m sure some biketrialsers are more precise and can hop higher than me, but not with the same amount of practice and time riding.
My experience with bike trials is only from watching competitions with top-ranked riders. They are definitely better than us. Certainly some of this is due to bike trials being a more developed sport, with more participants.
But the bikes can also jump higher. Even though the bikes weigh more, they can be levered to allow them to get higher off the ground than I’ve seen anyone get with a uni. Plus having two wheels has some advantages the unicyclists must do without.
I guess to point out the main difference between uni and bike trials, it would be coold to build a course that bikes can’t fit on, but unicycles can hop right through…
Back to the original questions. What is more difficult to learn? I have no idea. My guess would be that both are pretty difficult, and the unicycle side is cheaper.
Who deserves bigger respect? Interesting question. Do you automatically respect a person because of an activity they do? You should respect the person for who they are, not what they do.
Sometimes what you do comes with a name or title that says you have already proven yourself. For example, you might be an Eagle Scout, a Navy SEAL, a certified level 10 unicyclist, or a world champion bike trials rider. All of those are worthy of automatic respect.
If a rider of a bike or a uni does stuff I cannot do, they get respect from me for that.
Me n pebbles just met a group of trials bikers in glasgow the other week. They were all really good, but I beat them in a “hopping-up-then-down-big-stairs” race!
Watching them do gaps and stuff all on the back wheel I was thinking “how can they move the bike so far?” but I’m sure they were thinking similar stuff about us.
One of them could uni, not very well but he could hop in place quite high. Pebbles can hop on the back wheel of a bike, I tried it and was hopeless. There’s more to think about when on a bike.
We were about the same ability at trials-ing as them, except for one of them who was really really amazing. He jumped straight up onto a wall that was 4ft high, landing on just his back wheel !!!
I reckon if you are just as good on a uni as you are on a bike, then the uni will be easier.
Unicycles are definitly harder to learn, just about anyone knows how to ride a bike. But for me bikes are MUCH harder to do stuff on. I will ride tons of things on my uni that I would be way to chinken to do on my bike. But thats just me. (and some majority of unuicyclists)
They can hop higher because they can hop with their front wheel already elevated, use it to “grab” the next surface, then use leverage to lift the rest of their bike up.
I disagree. Per capita, unicycle riders vs. bike riders, the unicyclists are far better at trials. Can bikes jump higher and go faster? Sure. But, I would pit the average unicyclist against the average mountain biker/trial rider/bmx any day. Ultimately, it depends on the terrain.
You and I disagree. You followed this statement citing respect due to people for what the DO. Respecting people for who they are (even family) isn’t wise.
any even semi serious rider doesn’t run straps. you flat out don’t need them (or clipless pedals) when doing jumps/rtials stuff. doing anything else clipless is nice as it helps you pedal nice circles, but it’d just be dangerous for anything trials related.
That looks like a cool site. But there was nothing stupid in that video! I was waiting for the guy to bail with his feet stuck to the pedals or something, but he completed his skillful ride with no problems.
I highly doubt that guy was strapped or clipped into his pedals.
So you’re saying you believe the average trials unicyclist is better at trials than the average bike trials person? To prove this out, wewould need to pit one against the other on the same course. My observations above were based on watching competitors on the trials lines at the Sea Otter Classic a few years back; courses that I don’t think any of us could make it through. “Us” included Kris Holm one of those years. Though we hopped around on the courses after the competition was over, there were jumps and gaps none of us were able to do but the majority of bike guys seemed to do them relatively easily.
Anyway, to some degree we’re comparing apples and oranges. Top riders at either sport are great to watch.
Yes, my example wasn’t a good one to back up what I said above it. The examples I gave were of people who had been tested to prove a very high level of competency in their disciplines. This makes them worthy of respect at those disciplines, though the individuals may be dicks otherwise.
To respect a person for who they are was meant to be about the quality of person they are, not association/family/race or other similar assumed status. A person worthy of respect is one who can also respect others, is trustworthy, humble, etc.
I started with bmx/freestyle then went to moutainbike trials and now im into muni and uni trials.
Am I the only one who thinks trials on bikes is easier. I was no pro but I could easily make my way up/down a picnic table or any other similar object (with regular pedals)… Maybe it’s because i’ve been on the uni less than 6 months but I still can only make it up a 6" curb.
‘The Obie’ or whatever his name is rides both uni and bike trials. He rides a mod trials bike, the same wheel size as the trials wheels we ride.
I can’t really say I ride bike trials, but I dick around on my friends stock trials bike (26" wheel size) and can side hop higher on his bike, and just about any bike than I can on my uni.
I like both. I’ve considered buying a mod trials bike, but I don’t have enough time to ride a trials bike, uni, and coker.
As far as skill goes, I have a more difficult time with a trials bike. I am more precise on a uni, and can plant my wheel wherever I want, but a developed trials biker can do the same, as well as much bigger moves. Elite trials bikers can get up some things that a uni will never be able to make it up. There, I said it. Trials biking is also much more developed than unicycling is. Luckily we have Kris Holm on the norco factory team, which has some amazing riders… Ryan Leech is one that comes to mind. Just got his Manifesto DVD in a couple weeks ago. Amazing stuff.
When it gets to the elite level, you cannot make a judgement on what takes more skill. The elite riders of both are pushing the limits of the sport and with competition, the sport will evolve. Kudos to the people that are riding uni’s and even bikes that are taking trials to the next level.
I wonder if this is true. How many people remember how long it took them to learn to ride a bike? You were probably six years old and highly motivated because everyone you knew rode bikes. But how long did you spend on training wheels or launching and riding or riding with someone running behind you holding the seat? Not that many people are highly motivated to learn to ride a unicycle and we know that only takes 10 or 20 hours for most.
