Bit of an oddball curiousity question but after I was pushing my 24" across the street crossing on the way home after engaging in midnight mischief. I noticed it felt slightly lower than would be comfortable for me if I had to do this for a longer distance, like up a hill, then I remembered a few old Ed Pratt and Chris Coolski videos where they had to extended push their 36er Nimbus up a long hill and it got me to thinking that height looked like the perfect position for involuntary pushing at an inopportune hill.
So curiosity got me wondering, even with everyone’s height and saddle adjustment differences what do you think would be the most ideal unicycle size for if you had to push it along for a bit?
This depends on how even the ground is and how steep the hill is. And I guess how heavy loaded your machine is. I think I would prefer pushing my machine from hip-height with my right arm close to the body. Pushing with my hip essentially.
Another matter is HOW you would push your machine. I always did it like this:
This was not intuitive for me, but it is SO ergonomic, and I can turn the unicycle easily. I imagine rolling a big unicycle backwards while holding the handlebars will be a good idea as well.
Going up a steep hill, I would tilt the unicycle a lot, having the seat directly in front of my chest and pushing it with both hands while leaning forwards with my knees bent.
Going up a very steep hill or a difficult steep path I would usually drag the machine after me or rather lift up behind me.
Regarding seat height, I would just tilt the unicycle accordingly. But having the seat height just above the hip would probably be best. Rather higher than lower. Instead of pushing a really low unicycle I would carry it under my arm or over my shoulder.
This is a 24", and I practically never push this machine. When I hop off my 29er or 36er I actually never turn them backwards. I just grab the middle of my seat and walk the rest without thinking about it. I found a picture of me and my friend pushing our 36ers up a hill and I am indeed holding the middle of the seat and my friend is holding the handlebars with the seat below, and not the way I suggested.
I think with a long handlebar, turning the 36er the other way around will point the force of pushing more downwards instead of forwards, actually. Or it will feel unstable, so you have to use your wrists actively to stabilize it.
The cool thing about the big wheel is that it can even be pushed up a stairway. I use both hands when doing this and have the uni right in front of me.
My smaller unis aren’t equipped with T-bars, so I push them in the same manner, but I grab the saddle’s plastic handle instead. This way of pushing the uni has the disadvantage that it can put some stress on the wrist, but the advantage that you only have to balance it left/right. If I’m getting tired I grab the saddle and push the unicycle in a vertical position.
If the uni has a brake, I often push it with the brake slightly engaged, thereby helping to keep the front/aft balance. That’s not the most efficient way to push a unicycle, but kinda fun.
I noticed that when pushing my 36" with 75 mm cranks it is a bit high yeah. But on other wheels and crank lengths i haven’t really noticed much of a difference.
I have tendonitis in my forearms so pushing a unicycle any other way than the sort of reverse grip could give me quite severe pain pain. This is especially since i dont really push the uni other than for example when taking a “shortcut” across a field with 30 cm snow or on very rough terrain.
I find gripping my 24’ in the middle of the seat is the right way to push it. It’s at the perfect height for me. I also carry it over my shoulders if I need to. But of course, I never have to carry/push my unicycle… that would be undignified
