Having been into Unicycling for only a short time I know very little history of the sport so I’d like to know the approximate years that our sport has grown over, ie, when was the 1st 20" developed for rough terrain/street/tricks. When did the 26" & 29" appear, was it just road use or did they jump staight to Muni application, when did 36" become the norm for a big wheel, how/when/why did Guni’s evolve…etc,etc
I’ve searched the forums but found very little so anybody who knows, or thinks they know (I’m sure people will believe differently!!!), please add your thoughts.
Actually it’s all there, though I’m sure it’s scattered around. Rather than write it all down again, if someone is good at finding that stuff, posting links to the threads would be greatly appreciated.
The first dedicated offroad unicycles were made by Pashley (England), starting around 1997. I think they came in 20" and 26". DM (David Mariner, also England) came out with the first splined unicycle axle (for MUni) in 1999. Coker Tire created the 36" wheel “standard” when they came out with the Big One in 1997/8. Not sure if that tire was originally created for unicycles or for their Coker Monster bike, which they no longer make.
People started doing Unicycle Trials around 1998. We had a quasi-Trials competition (natural terrain) at the '98 California MUni Weekend. The first “real” Unicycle Trials competition I’m aware of was at the 1999 USA convention in Snoqualmie, Washington. I came in second, which shows how far things have come since then!
The first Street competition was also held at the California MUni Weekend, 2004. Dan Heaton was the winner. I consider Dan the father/inventor of Street, and Kris Holm the father of Trials (though Bruce Bundy and David Poznanter were doing Trials at bike events before Kris came along).
Nobody invented MUni, of course, but some of the pioneers/popularizers of that area of unicycling start with George Peck, Duncan Castling, Roger Davies, Kris Holm and me. The first MUni-type event at a big unicycle convention was an offroad race of about one mile (we called it UMX then) at Unicon IV in Puerto Rico, 1988. Just before that there was an “urban terrain” race at the International Cycling Festival in Hull, Quebec, involving a couple of laps around a paved area with a little grass, stairs, obstacles and maybe some curbs.
No. Unicycles have a symbiotic relationship with unicyclists. The unicycle designs that I am more likely to buy are also more likely to survive. Variation is introduced when previously existing ideas connect in different ways.
Nobody spontaneously put together a unicycle and started riding trials. It was more gradual.
