Hi, I’m trying to learn to wheel walk on my KH '05 24" muni.
I cannot get more than two steps w/o falling, and my feet just keep getting stuck
I keep getting my heels stuck on the frame.
Also, it feels like my feet are just too big and keep hitting each other between steps
I wear 12.5s in new balance’s widest width, so my feet are pretty large
any suggestions from people w/ big feet? or even anybody who is good at wheel walking?
Re: wheel walking w/ big feet
I dont have big feet but i can wheel walk perfectly on my trials uni with bedford frame but when i try it on my 05KH muni my heels get stuck too. My feet go back to far and they get stuck in the noodles so i dont wheel walk on my muni anymore. (wow, that wasnt helpful at all)
I’m currently learning to wheel walk on the KH 05’ 24’’, and I don’t have it yet, but I wear 11 1/2’s and don’t have that problem. I can get about 4-5 steps before I fall off. I don’t jam my feet up against the frame though either, which I hear is a good way of doing it :- )
My feet are pretty big, but I don’t have the problem you do. But I have a KH20, soo…
Try not going all the way back to the frame with your feet, start your step further forwards. that might help… good luck (:
I wear a size 16 and can make it more than 2 steps. I don’t have the problem getting my heals stuck on the frame - even though that is exactly how I mount.
Don’t let those types of excuses creep into your brain.
Just keep practicing.
Recently there have been a lot of threads and videos with people making it look easy, but in the past, people have noted that it can take longer to learn to wheelwalk than ride.
Keep trying.
yeah i realized i just need to keep practicing
ALTHOUGH i have moved back to the old torker for WW because it has a lower crown
it’s SO hard to do still… i can get 2 good pedals then miss and/or fall on the third
quite a challenge
While you’re practicing, just think: “an 11 year old can do it…an 11 year old can do it…”
(wow, that was the most helpful post in the forums!)
o yeah, helpful indeed 
anyways, i just need to keep workin on it, but it’s raining outside and i don’t feel like riding 
Foot size should not hold you back. (I am a size 12 and can wheel walk a 16" wheel no problems).
One thing that may help is to put your seat up a bit. Trials and Muni riders tend to ride with their seat posts low which makes wheel walking more difficult.
If you watch a good freestyle rider their seat is set quite high. When I began freestyle I was forever being told to put my seat up higher. After I had put it up around 3 inches lots of things became easier to learn. Once you have a skill down you can gradually lower the seat if you wish.
yeah i tried that before i posted, i have it up to where i can stay on the pedal on the bottom of the pedal stroke with my leg fully extended
Another thought on seat height:
I usually wheel walk on a 20 inch freestyle unicycle, with 125mm cranks.
If I switch to my 24 inch Muni, with 170mm cranks it decreases the distance my seat is above the tire by at least 10cm (4 inches).
Couple that with a wider frame and you’ve got a combination which will probably be harder to learn to wheel walk on. Not impossible, just harder. At least the extra tyre width should help some.
Also remember wheel walking is a skill that takes lots of hard work and effort to learn. It is much harder than learning to ride in the first place. Don’t be surprised if it takes weeks of effort to pick it up.
If your feet are getting caught on the frame it could be because your shoes have a heel. This happens to me if I am riding in hiking boots.
Try using some shoes with a flat sole.
mine are flat runners
i think it might be the noodles on the KH frame
as well as improper technique
i’m trying to speed up my foot strokes and have them farther foreward/down on the tire, but i keep getting my feet caught on each other
any tips for keeping the foot strokes going?
I have a difficult time wheel walking my 24" muni. This is due to the reasons that Peter mentions.
I have to curl my legs up more and the whole weight distribution changes. I was playing around with wheel walking the muni after a muni ride yesterday and I was having problems just getting a few feet. And even when I got it and was able to go across the parking lot it never felt stable. It feels very different than my 20" freestyle uni.
If I was going to practice wheel walking with my muni I’d have to raise the seat up past the point where it would be comfortable to pedal. Then I think the wheel walking would work better.
There was also a problem with the fat 3" tire hindering the side to side corrections necessary to keep side to side balance. That also made the wheel walking more difficult than with my nimble 20" freestyle uni.
Bottom line is that I’m going to have to practice wheel walking with my muni if I want to be able to do it with that uni.
I’ve got a 20 inch freestyle and a 20 inch trials uni but several months ago I quit riding them both and just do everything on a 24 muni since that’s my focus. WWing the 24 was tricky since I learned on a 20 inch. With your feet jacked up so high the balance is different, but doable with practice. I’ve also got big feet (13) and my heels get hung up on the crown if I don’t consciously keep my feet down lower on the tire.
we find that when you wheel walk it is a good idea to go along a wall, making each push last longer. when the heel of your pushing foot reaches as far as it goes, start on the next foot going from toes to heal. if you push to quickly, you will lose control easily and fall off. do this along the wall, so you have time to get your balance and at the end of the wall see how far you can go.
you will be able to do it in no time!
I’ve been trying to learn wheel walking too, but the “doing it along a wall” advice doesn’t seem very helpful. It’s not the left to right lean that I have difficultly with as much as the forward to backward lean.
What I’ve been doing as an intermediate step to wheel walking is learning to stall with my right foot at about 8 o’clock in the back and my left foot on the crown and tire. This way I’m getting a feel for where my balance needs to be front to back, and as long as I don’t pick up my right foot I can always start riding backwards to prevent falling backwards. This also keeps me from rushing through each step. I stall, balance, and then calmly bring my right foot up and try to start moving. At this point, I think I just need to smooth out the walking part and keep leaning back.
can u post a pic or vid of that? i don’t quite understand that
i just tried something new tonight
i kept the right foot on the pedal and wheel walked 1-foot with the left
i can get 3-4 pushes and feel way more on top/leaned back on the uni
i like 1-foot better because i can avoid hittin my feet together
Riding along a wall is intended to allow you to concentrate on the forward-backward balance without having to deal with the steering part, and to go as slow as you want. First you lean the foot movements, then you learn to speed them up some. Don’t let your feet bang into each other.
As amanda_and_matt said, use your heels. You have tons of traction in your heels, which gives you a lot of leg extension with each step.
I can see where the KH noodles will get in the way for wheel walking. They are more designed for one-footing and gliding. You just have to learn where your fork is and teach your feet to stay away from there. This was the same for us in the old days when we rode 20" wheels with 24" forks (all that Miyata made).
And practice. Sit up straight. You don’t really have to lean back, as some people say. That’s just what it feels like. Your upper body has to be far enough back to balance your legs, which will be in front of you. But viewed from the side, you’re pretty much sitting up straight.
Sorry, I don’t have a camera of any kind. It sounds you’re doing a similar thing with your 1-foot WW while keeping the other foot on the pedal.