Being new to the sport, everything seems brand new to me. To some, this sport has been something they’ve been involved in for years. But what about to the non-unicycling public? Where would we like this sport to sit in their minds? Are we happy with where it is, something that is known, but still obscure? Do we want the sport to blow up, expanding to the X-Games, the Gravity Games, the Olympics? Is it too big already? What direction would we like unicycling to take, if any?
I like unicycling where it is. It holds something VERY special int he hearts of all who participate. It has blown up over recent years, but unicycling and its divisions are still underground sports. If unicycling blows up everywhere, then it will be like BMX. what I mean by that is, everyone will do it, so it will be like, “there is ANOTHER unicyclist!!” in the minds of the non-uniing public, instead of the, “WOW!! look at that!!!” attitude we get now. I like the fact that not a whole lot of the population rides. I think that some others would agree with me on this. It gives me a great feeling inside that in my town, I am the best at something. when it gets too popular, it loses that feeling. No one wants to lose that special something that it means to us. It is what attracted me to it in the first place. so to make a long story short (too late!!! 
) Unicycling for me should stay in the underground.
Unicycling is fine where it is, in my opinion. That is, it is difficult enough to keep it from becoming a fad, but interesting enough to constantly attract more riders willing to make the effort.
One thing that I’ve been thinking, quite seriously though it’ll never happen, is what would be the impact if an astronaut either on a space station, or more thrillingly on the moon or someday on mars, were to ride a unicycle. I’d bet the sales of unicycles would skyrocket, but more interesting would be how many people actually learned to ride.
Course, kraze, on a smaller scale what would happen if a genuine war hero were to be filmed in Iraq and broadcast back to the States riding a uni?
Cheers,
Raphael Lasar
Matawan, NJ
I like the sport just where it is. I think that it’s growing, but not too fast and in thirty years when I won’t be able to do trials and DH anymore I hope to be able to turn on the T.V. occasionally to see some pretty cool unicycling on the X- Games.
-Zac
here i wrote this in “uni in the x games” and it is what i think on this subject.
"to be more main stream, and that would be nice cuz then there would be more places to get uni stuff BESIDES unicycle.com, i wanted to buy a uni and before i had had 3 days to save up it was sold out til later this year.but if it was more mainstream it wouldent be as cool and you would start see’ing little unicycles on those no bike,skateboard,rollerblade signs and that ould stink for all the street unicyclists. but i dont think it will be mainstream for a long time, prettymuch nobody wants to spend weeks just to be able to go in a straight line without falling off. like bikes, who dosent know how to ride a bike? roller blades are so easy i dident have to lern them i just put them one and went. and a skateboard is as easy or hard as you want it to be. "
Jedd
isn’t that what we call a freudian slip? 
…i wonder if that was on purpose
-grant
I think uni will only get so big…probably about twice as big as it currently is. I don’t think it’ll ever be mainstream. The learning curve will always keep it fairly small IMHO, even if it was featured in the X-games only so many people would go through the whole learning process.
That is what we call creative writing and putting aside my natural modesty for the moment, I’ll take credit where credit is due. 
Raphael Lasar
Matawan, NJ
If somebody is going to ride a unicycle on the Moon or Mars, I’d like it to be me. It would be real interesting, like learning all over again. Then you’d be able to start inventing, or extending the tricks. Riding in zero gravity, I must say, would probably not be any fun. The cost of lifting a unicycle up into orbit or beyond would likely be way too prohibitive for it to happen until space travel is more common (and inexpensive).
Unicycling will not become mainstream, so don’t worry. I’m not saying it’s impossible, but it’s highly unlikely. People are too lazy to learn something that takes so much effort.
In Japan unicycles are very common, found on the playgrounds of most elementary schools. I’m looking forward to trying to glimpse more of what the average Japanese thinks about all of that. Mostly we’ll be talking to Japanese unicycle people though. But riding a unicycle in Japan is not so uncommon, at least for kids.
The Razor scooter craze, for example, is very unlikely to happen with unicycles in the United States. The learning curve is too steep, so you can’t get immediate gratification if you buy one. People will be reluctant to buy one, regardless of price, because they’ll be afraid they can’t do it.
As unicycling becomes more visible, this attitude may fade, but I still think the percentage of the (American) population that’s interested in unicycling will remain pretty small. I can’t speak for other cultures though.
Where do I want it to be? Mainstream. I could make a living at it.
It’s an interesting phenomenon this: people take up a minority interest, and then worry about whether it should, or might, become popular. How do we get more people into this minority sport? But then it won’t be a minority sport.
Those of us who are already involved need the sport to be big enough to support an industry manufacturing the equipment we need. For most sizes of uni (excluding the Coker) that means frames (simple enough to make) and hubs, seats and posts, and paired cranks. Everything else is available elsewhere (rims, tyres, pedals, bearings…)
I guess we all cherish the notoriety that our sport gives us. We’re all show offs to some extent. However, I’m sure that all unicyclists who get beyond riding a few metres in a straight line continue in the sport for their own personal enjoyment. I’d still ride if no one else in the world rode. But it’s nice to ride in a pair or a group now and then.
Unicycling will never become mainstream, because the time needed to learn to ride is longer than the life-cycle of a fad. It might become more popular, but never widespread.
And let me tell you a cautionary tale from 25 or more years ago… I used to be heavily involved in another minority hobby: 1950s rock and roll and rockabilly. There were a few clubs in Nottingham, and most of the regulars knew each other. Then Shakin’ Stevens, Matchbox and (to a lesser extent) the Stray Cats (all perfectly good rock and roll bands who had been around for years) had hit records. There was a sudden surge of interest in 50s style music. New faces appeared at the clubs, but they were rockabillies rather than teds (the costume is easier!). The regulars started to drift away, put off by these brash incomers. Then the new faces started to drift away, following the next trend, and when the tide had gone out, the clubs were empty, and many closed.
Moral: it’s not necessarily a good idea to encourage large numbers of new people into a minority interest group.
I think unicycling should be in the Gravity Games/X Games, but I don’t think it will be. People still don’t know what cool stuff is possible on a unicycle. Someone should put together a national Street/Trials team, and go on some tour giving trials demos, or something… Sorry, that’s just my funny little brain coming up with strange ideas.
Unicycling won’t be in the X-games for the same reason Flat Lands was taken out of the X-games…lack of speed. Seems like the X-games is more concerned about fast action that truly concentrating on all gen-x sports.
There is basically one big reason unicycling will never really take off: the 10 hours it takes to learn how to ride in a staight line. Most folks have no idea about trials, street, to say nothing of MUni (which sounds and looks insane to the layman), so “unicycling” is generally thought of as a novelty, a circus or carny enterprise, not an athletic/adventure persuit. If unicycling was thought of as a sport, like stick and ball games, 10 hours is nothing. Consider how long it takes someone to hit a fastball or shoot a freethrow. But as a “novelty,” outside-the-area passtime, 10 hours is significant, since few understand where you can actually go with unicycling once you can freemount and ride.
However, if the perception changes from carny activity to hardcore adventure sport, the floodgates could open fast and wide.
I personally would like to see unicycling to become a bit more popular. That will help normalize the activity, take some of the freakiness out of it, and reduce the asinine comments we encounter into at nearly every bend of the trail.
JL
I’m thinking about it, but only in the sense of wondering what the words mean. Is this something to do with some recreational activity popular in the former colonies?
If I follow your argument, which is well put together, you’re saying that when unicycling ceases to be perceived as a novelty activity and becomes perceived as a “respectable” sport, then people will invest the time to learn.
Superficially, this is a good argument, but how many people actually PLAY football to any standard in England (cue topical jokes)? how many people actually play basketball, baseball, American football to any standard in the USA?
I guess that in all cases, more people watch than play, and of those who play, only a tiny fraction put any effort into developing their skills.
I do fencing (foil) which is a very personal one-to-one sport, with centuries of tradition behind it. It attracts people who want to learn an allegedly noble art. It is a minority sport which attracts people who don’t follow the herd, and who are quite competitive. You can’t just pick up a sword and start. It takes several hours to learn the very basics, but months to start to understand the rules “in action”. But against this background, only a small percentage of fencers put any genuine effort into systematically improving their skills.
So, I like your argument, but I don’t think it works.
That is also not the question. To me the question is how many people are willing to put in the effort required to ride a unicycle 10’ (3 meters)?
You can toss a baseball into the air and whack it with a bat. You can throw a basketball at a hoop. You can kick a ball. For those more traditional sports, you already have enough skill to play an entire game. If you’re playing against people of similar skill, you can also have plenty of fun at it.
You cannot have much fun at all with a unicycle, until you put those 10 or so hours in. Until then it’s a hunk of metal with no reward. This hump will remain whether or not the sport is “understood” by the masses.
What will change as unicycling grows is its image to the general public. The more people that do it, the more it will become obvious it’s not impossible to do. In Japan this surely has already come and gone, as the unicycle there is a piece of school playground equipment.
With acceptance of this, the public will be less likely to peg us as circus performers, and somewhat more likely to come and join us riding them. But that 10 hour (or so) learning time will never go away, and only the people willing to cross over that bridge will get to enjoy unicycling with us.
[QUOTE]
Originally posted by Mikefule
[B]
Superficially, this is a good argument, but how many people actually PLAY football to any standard in England (cue topical jokes)? how many people actually play basketball, baseball, American football to any standard in the USA?
I guess that in all cases, more people watch than play, and of those who play, only a tiny fraction put any effort into developing their skills.
Yo, that post was totally dashed off, as is this one, so if you expect a coherent thesis, your expect too much.
My point is that unlike fencing or soccer or diving or whatever, unicycling is not part of any nations athletic ethos (excepting, perhaps, Japan), so the general consensus amongst layman is reflected in the jackass comments we routinely hear while peddling, be it on the trail or on the street.
For most, unicycling is a fringe, oddball activity rather than a serious athletic and/or adventure pursuit. With soccer, even a fatso can “be like Beckham” in his dreams, and spending 10 hours a month kicking a soccer ball around is no big thing. Spending the same time simply learning to unicycle is probably a stretch, given the lack of public stars. In a sense, it’s all in the perception. A little more public exposure of trials, Muni, et al, might ease the carny connotations many attribute to unicycling, but ultimately I’ll keep riding either way.
JL
I am a fan of unicycling so long as it involves propelling oneself about on a single wheel. I am relatively unconcerned with the politics or future of unicycling, so long as I get to enjoy it with my friends.
im sorry, didn’t mean to “misunderestimate” you
-grant
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Originally posted by vivalargo
[B]
I would say it has a lot to do with it. Remember when the US women’s soccer team won the olympics? Children’s soccer was really popular for a while afterwards.