Wheel size for skill development

One wheeled community-

I have a 24" Zephyr on which I have been practicing skills up through level 4, which I intend to attain before my 50th birthday. I am at the point where I must learn to ride one-footed, seat-in-front, and seat-in-back. The Zephyr has a round crown at the top of the fork. I want to buy another unicycle. The Coker I bought recently did not sate but rather whetted my appetite for more unicycles. To learn skills, I was thinking of buying a 20" Torker because I can thrash on it without losing a large investment and it has a flat crown for foot placement. I am 6’2", 180 lbs. and, irreversibly, 49 years old. What do you experts and novices think about 20" versus 24" for skill development considering my size?

Thanks in advance for any input.

There’s recently been a long discussion thread called “Decisions,
decisions… What size wheel, etc.?” that discusses different tire sizes.
You may want to read this interesting thread. I’ve also compiled some
comments and thoughts about all the more common uni sizes at:

http://torontounicyclists.tripod.com/unisize.htm

I can only speak for myself. I have a 20", 24" and 26". By far, the 20" is
the easiest to learn and perform tricks and new skills, with the exception
of hopping. Juggling, picking up balls from the ground, idling, one foot
idling, backwards riding were all easier for me to learn on a 20". I’m
still learning one footed riding, which I’m doing on a 20".

I found learning hopping on a 24" with a fat 2.6" tire at a low psi (25
psi) bouncier and easier to learn. Hopping up stairs is also a lot of fun.
I found hopping over the 10 cm obstacle much easier on the 24". The 20"
tires just aren’t as fat and bouncy.

A 20" is more maneuverable. You can turn more quickly and correct your
position more quickly. There’s less centrifugal force to deal with. Sharp
turns are easier to carve. You also need less space to learn your skills,
because a 20" simply doesn’t cover as much ground as a 24". This is
important in a small gym you may be sharing with the rest of your club.

Good luck on your Level 4

Don_TaiATyahooDOTcoDOTuk, Toronto, Canada
http://torontounicyclists.tripod.com

harper wrote:
>
> One wheeled community-
>
> I have a 24" Zephyr on which I have been practicing skills up through
> level 4, which I intend to attain before my 50th birthday. I am at the
> point where I must learn to ride one-footed, seat-in-front, and
> seat-in-back. The Zephyr has a round crown at the top of the fork. I
> want to buy another unicycle. The Coker I bought recently did not sate
> but rather whetted my appetite for more unicycles. To learn skills, I
> was thinking of buying a 20" Torker because I can thrash on it without
> losing a large investment and it has a flat crown for foot placement. I
> am 6’2", 180 lbs. and, irreversibly, 49 years old. What do you experts
> and novices think about 20" versus 24" for skill development considering
> my size?
>
> Thanks in advance for any input.
>
> –
> harper Posted via the Unicyclist Community -
> http://unicyclist.com/forums

I do know that the unicycle wheel size matters for learning. The 26" is
easier to the begginner, My friend learnt on the 26" wheel and now hes
getting used to my 20" plus another friend had learnt on the 26" wheel so
I dont think its one off. But for the skill development i dont think it
matters because i havent got a larger wheel or a smaller wheel than 20 and
i can still do tricks and im learning them fast without going on other
sized wheels.

Trev

On Sat, 13 Oct 2001 02:40:52 GMT, Don Tai
<Don_Tai@yahoo.co.uk.fake> wrote:

>There’s recently been a long discussion thread called "Decisions,
>decisions… What size wheel, etc.?" that discusses different tire sizes.
>You may want to read this interesting thread. I’ve also compiled some
>comments and thoughts about all the more common uni sizes at:
>
>http://torontounicyclists.tripod.com/unisize.htm
>
>I can only speak for myself. I have a 20", 24" and 26". By far, the 20"
>is the easiest to learn and perform tricks and new skills, with the
>exception of hopping. Juggling, picking up balls from the ground, idling,
>one foot idling, backwards riding were all easier for me to learn on a
>20". I’m still learning one footed riding, which I’m doing on a 20".
>
>I found learning hopping on a 24" with a fat 2.6" tire at a low psi (25
>psi) bouncier and easier to learn. Hopping up stairs is also a lot of
> fun. I found hopping over the 10 cm obstacle much easier on the 24".
> The 20" tires just aren’t as fat and bouncy.
>
>A 20" is more maneuverable. You can turn more quickly and correct your
>position more quickly. There’s less centrifugal force to deal with. Sharp
>turns are easier to carve. You also need less space to learn your skills,
>because a 20" simply doesn’t cover as much ground as a 24". This is
>important in a small gym you may be sharing with the rest of your club.
>
>Good luck on your Level 4
>
>Don_TaiATyahooDOTcoDOTuk, Toronto, Canada
>http://torontounicyclists.tripod.com
>
>
>harper wrote:
>>
>> One wheeled community-
>>
>> I have a 24" Zephyr on which I have been practicing skills up through
>> level 4, which I intend to attain before my 50th birthday. I am at the
>> point where I must learn to ride one-footed, seat-in-front, and
>> seat-in-back. The Zephyr has a round crown at the top of the fork. I
>> want to buy another unicycle. The Coker I bought recently did not sate
>> but rather whetted my appetite for more unicycles. To learn skills, I
>> was thinking of buying a 20" Torker because I can thrash on it without
>> losing a large investment and it has a flat crown for foot placement. I
>> am 6’2", 180 lbs. and, irreversibly, 49 years old. What do you experts
>> and novices think about 20" versus 24" for skill development
>> considering my size?
>>
>> Thanks in advance for any input.
>>
>> –
>> harper Posted via the Unicyclist Community -
>> http://unicyclist.com/forums

Thanks for the informative responses. So, it sounds to me as if you both learn skills on a 20" wheel. Are you using a flat crowned fork for foot placement (one-footed riding) or do you think that makes a difference? How about learning new mounts with respect to wheel size? I’ve only done standard right/left, reverse, and side mounts on my 24" and I have a bit of trouble (60% success rate or so) with the reverse mount. With the smaller wheel I wonder if perhaps that would be easier because the wheel rotates less when one applies a force to the pedals. I know I would not yet try any advanced mounts on my Coker!